There's much to unpack from today's "Meet The Press" special edition on Facts and a Post-Truth Society. However, as a jumping off point it's worth pointing out that at this moment in time, there is a party that is most responsible and a party that is most irresponsible in this country.
Most responsible to the attack on truth and our institutions is Donald J. Trump. Over 15,000 misleading claims since he has become president with countless attacks on individuals all to satisfy his own ego and greed for power. Executive editor of The Washington Post, Marty Baron, pointed out that the public may be numb to all of Mr. Trump's misleading statement but that it's important to keep holding political leaders accountable. But that's the problem. Ultimately, Mr. Trump has not been held accountable in the slightest. Mr. Trump has been impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives but the Senate will acquit or let's say absolve him of any wrongdoing, which will only enable him to continue on this destructive course.
Russia, specifically the Kremlin, is almost a sidebar from this perspective because the Trump Administration has done little to beat back their propaganda because Mr. Trump has personally benefited from it. The president acting in the best interests of the country over himself is quickly becoming an antiquated notion. Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times, said that it is the responsibility of journalists to separate the fact from the fiction and to be more open minded when reporting. These are qualities that entities like The Washington Post and The New York Times demand of themselves and it is what the public demands. But it is not demanded from the president of the United States.
Whether you agree with the viewpoints of those respective journals' editorial page, they strive to be responsible in their reporting.
This brings us to the most irresponsible for the assault on truth, unregulated social media and it's biggest offender of taking no responsibility whatsoever, Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg, the hero, has now lived long enough to become the villain. The dream of connecting people around the world has become a dystopian nightmare. As Kara Swisher explained, Mr. Zuckerberg has conflated free speech with hate speech, and we'll say propaganda as well. A media and content distribution platform that demands no accountability of itself as Mr. Zuckerberg has irresponsibly defended.
Chuck Todd mentioned the phrase 'toxic cynicism' where nothing is on the level and everything is for sale. This is what Mr. Trump and Mr. Zuckerberg have propagated; it's what they have in common.
Panel: Matthew Continetti, American Enterprise Institute; Kara Swisher, technology journalist; Joshua Johnson, NPR, Susan Glasser, The New Yorker
Sunday, December 29, 2019
Sunday, December 22, 2019
12.22.19: Trump Formally Impeached... What Now?
This week for the third time in American history, the president of the United States has been impeached by the House of Representatives so what's next?
There's already been a lot of back and forth with the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) describing the senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as a rogue leader of the Senate, who has already said that he is coordinating with the White House on the Senate trial. Senator Lindsey Graham has also stated that he does not intend to be impartial at all, but none of this comes as a surprise to anyone as the sides have already dug into their respective positions.
As for procedure, Speaker Pelosi is holding back on delivering the 2 articles (abuse of power and obstruction of Congress) to the Senate until Mitch McConnell and minority leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) negotiate what the rules will be, namely if additional witnesses will be called. Marc Short, chief of staff to vice president Mike Pence asked how you reconcile the statements of Speaker Pelosi that this is an air tight case against the president but that the Senate should call additional witnesses. Mr. Short must not have read the second article, which is obstruction of Congress. Additional witnesses must be called because the White House has refused to have anyone in the Trump Administration testify and has provided no requested documents with regard to the withholding of aid to Ukraine. It is an air tight case, but so that the American people know to fully know all the facts, administration officials must testify. And speaking of witnesses, what about the Bidens? Senator Corey Booker said he was exhausted with this angle of the Ukraine affair because calling them as witnesses is not germane to the president's actions and it's not.
What is also exhausting is person's like Mr. Short defending the president's reprehensible comment he made this week about deceased Congressman John Dingell (D-MI) at a rally in Mr. Dingell's home state, in which he said Mr. Dingell was 'looking up at us' [from hell]. Mr. Short also said that evangelicals are not a monolithic group in response to a query about Christianity Today's editorial calling for the impeach and removal of Mr. Trump on moral grounds, but how is one anymore able to accept or take seriously anything that comes from evangelical leaders who still support Mr. Trump? Answer: You can not.
The president is guilty of obstructing Congress and if he were innocent, these administration officials would testify under oath about what they know. Why is the president blocking this? It's not because he did nothing wrong. If the president has nothing to hide then he would provide documents and witnesses, however, this president has run his administration accountable to no one, putting himself above oversight and the law.
Chuck Todd asked the question of whether impeachment would curb the president's monarchical behavior or accelerate it. With the easily predictable acquittal in the Senate, Mr. Trump will be given a green light to break norms and laws in what ever way he decides. A sham trial for a slimy man in the presidency will only embolden him more. Also, it will not keep him for seeking foreign interference in the U.S. presidential election because in his mind the Senate will have said that it is OK to do so.
The chaos that is the Trump presidency will continue and the acceleration of it will be lead by one of the worst people to ever hold political office in American history, Senator Mitch McConnell. Democrats are hoping that in November that the electorate will vote Mr. Trump out, but sadly the same result as in 2016 may happen. The administration will more quietly (this time) welcome foreign interference and Mr. Trump will once again lose the popular vote but sneak by in the electoral college. Former Congressman Tom Davis (R-VA) said that voters have already sorted themselves. There is no middle.
But have voters really sorted themselves or have politicians sorted the voters? You want more civility, more truth, more compromise in U.S. politics? Make all the congressional districts square. All gerrymandering has done is further divide the country to keep ultra-partisans in power.
Panel: Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Rich Lowry, The National Review; Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian
One more thing...
Helene Cooper clarified a tragedy of American society when discussing the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. She explained that this shooting prioritized gun rights over children's deaths. For defenders of the NRA, let that sink in hard...
There's already been a lot of back and forth with the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) describing the senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as a rogue leader of the Senate, who has already said that he is coordinating with the White House on the Senate trial. Senator Lindsey Graham has also stated that he does not intend to be impartial at all, but none of this comes as a surprise to anyone as the sides have already dug into their respective positions.
As for procedure, Speaker Pelosi is holding back on delivering the 2 articles (abuse of power and obstruction of Congress) to the Senate until Mitch McConnell and minority leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) negotiate what the rules will be, namely if additional witnesses will be called. Marc Short, chief of staff to vice president Mike Pence asked how you reconcile the statements of Speaker Pelosi that this is an air tight case against the president but that the Senate should call additional witnesses. Mr. Short must not have read the second article, which is obstruction of Congress. Additional witnesses must be called because the White House has refused to have anyone in the Trump Administration testify and has provided no requested documents with regard to the withholding of aid to Ukraine. It is an air tight case, but so that the American people know to fully know all the facts, administration officials must testify. And speaking of witnesses, what about the Bidens? Senator Corey Booker said he was exhausted with this angle of the Ukraine affair because calling them as witnesses is not germane to the president's actions and it's not.
What is also exhausting is person's like Mr. Short defending the president's reprehensible comment he made this week about deceased Congressman John Dingell (D-MI) at a rally in Mr. Dingell's home state, in which he said Mr. Dingell was 'looking up at us' [from hell]. Mr. Short also said that evangelicals are not a monolithic group in response to a query about Christianity Today's editorial calling for the impeach and removal of Mr. Trump on moral grounds, but how is one anymore able to accept or take seriously anything that comes from evangelical leaders who still support Mr. Trump? Answer: You can not.
The president is guilty of obstructing Congress and if he were innocent, these administration officials would testify under oath about what they know. Why is the president blocking this? It's not because he did nothing wrong. If the president has nothing to hide then he would provide documents and witnesses, however, this president has run his administration accountable to no one, putting himself above oversight and the law.
Chuck Todd asked the question of whether impeachment would curb the president's monarchical behavior or accelerate it. With the easily predictable acquittal in the Senate, Mr. Trump will be given a green light to break norms and laws in what ever way he decides. A sham trial for a slimy man in the presidency will only embolden him more. Also, it will not keep him for seeking foreign interference in the U.S. presidential election because in his mind the Senate will have said that it is OK to do so.
The chaos that is the Trump presidency will continue and the acceleration of it will be lead by one of the worst people to ever hold political office in American history, Senator Mitch McConnell. Democrats are hoping that in November that the electorate will vote Mr. Trump out, but sadly the same result as in 2016 may happen. The administration will more quietly (this time) welcome foreign interference and Mr. Trump will once again lose the popular vote but sneak by in the electoral college. Former Congressman Tom Davis (R-VA) said that voters have already sorted themselves. There is no middle.
But have voters really sorted themselves or have politicians sorted the voters? You want more civility, more truth, more compromise in U.S. politics? Make all the congressional districts square. All gerrymandering has done is further divide the country to keep ultra-partisans in power.
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| United States Congressional Map |
Panel: Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Rich Lowry, The National Review; Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian
One more thing...
Helene Cooper clarified a tragedy of American society when discussing the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. She explained that this shooting prioritized gun rights over children's deaths. For defenders of the NRA, let that sink in hard...
Sunday, December 15, 2019
12.15.19: After The President's Impeachment Acquittal, His Problems Will Only Be Just Beginning
The conversation with voters in Kent County, Michigan that includes the city of Grand Rapids was the most informative bit on impeachment from today's program. Six individuals, consisting mostly of Republicans, were individually unsure if the president had committed an impeachable offense but were very certain on the outcomes - that House Democrats would vote to impeach and that the Republican-controlled Senate would acquit.
The result, as one person put it, is baked in. What you could glean from the conversation was that the group of voters were leaning toward not impeaching the president, however also very informative was the fact that they all agreed that the president, on a daily basis, does something wrong.
If you consider that conversation and the panel's discussion of how there will be more information coming out after the impeachment saga is over, what we can expect is that the president will be deeper underwater in his approval rating he can anticipate. Heidi Przybyla explained that after impeachment some will say that he's already been exonerated (Republicans) and some will say that he walked (Democrats). However, the information that will come out - the trial of Lev Parnas and potentially criminal charges against Rudy Giuliani coupled with the Supreme Court possibly ruling that the president's tax returns will be released to Congress and or the Southern District of New York. The president will be pushed into some very awkward explanations as to why he may have paid no taxes. For the American people, it's one thing to explain that one has paid little tax, but it's another to read that he may have cheated on paying tax. The latter is something that the American people will not look kindly upon.
Regarding the Senate impeachment trial, Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) said that it was in the best interest of the Senate that Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY), work across the aisle to set the rules. However, if there is one thing that we have come to learn, it's that Mr. McConnell has never had the best interest of the Senate, as a body, in mind - only maintaining power. Mr. Coons also said that it is in times like these that we miss the late Senator John McCain who was able to speak truth to his own party, not to mention keep the president's chief toadie Lindsey Graham from making a mockery of the institution.
Senators will have to take an oath, invoking God, before the impeachment trial begins that they will be impartial jurors. Despite what they say at this moment, the oath means little to them especially if you listen to Senator Graham and that Republicans' loyalty is solely to this president. Just writing the name Lindsey Graham causes this column to throw up in its mouth a bit.
However, there are Senators like Pat Toomey (R-PA) who take care to be honest brokers to their principles. He may not vote to impeach and remove the president but he was not dismissive of calling witnesses. Maybe it's setting the bar too low, but at the very least it's refreshing that Mr. Toomey stays away from the hyperbolic partisan rhetoric.
There's also Mr. Todd's question about how the Democrats could vote for impeachment this week but then turn around and approve the USMCA trade deal (the new NAFTA), wondering how it makes sense. Ultimately, it's a longer game the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is playing in as much as that it shows that Democrats can legislate and conduct oversight at the same time. It weakens the president's argument that Democrats are only obsessed with impeachment. If you look at it objectively and consider that Senator Toomey was disappointed that the president capitulated to all Mrs. Pelosi's demands, who is more obsessed with impeachment? The House Speaker or the gas lighter in chief? The only protections, Mr. Toomey explained, would be for the automotive sector and no others, which won't help his constituents in Pennsylvania.
The results of impeachment may already be baked in and the president will be acquitted, however, come June when it will seem like a distant memory, Mr. Trump's problems will only be beginning.
Panel: Heidi Przybyla, NBC News; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute; Eddie Glaude Jr., Princeton University; Peter Baker, The New York Times
The result, as one person put it, is baked in. What you could glean from the conversation was that the group of voters were leaning toward not impeaching the president, however also very informative was the fact that they all agreed that the president, on a daily basis, does something wrong.
If you consider that conversation and the panel's discussion of how there will be more information coming out after the impeachment saga is over, what we can expect is that the president will be deeper underwater in his approval rating he can anticipate. Heidi Przybyla explained that after impeachment some will say that he's already been exonerated (Republicans) and some will say that he walked (Democrats). However, the information that will come out - the trial of Lev Parnas and potentially criminal charges against Rudy Giuliani coupled with the Supreme Court possibly ruling that the president's tax returns will be released to Congress and or the Southern District of New York. The president will be pushed into some very awkward explanations as to why he may have paid no taxes. For the American people, it's one thing to explain that one has paid little tax, but it's another to read that he may have cheated on paying tax. The latter is something that the American people will not look kindly upon.
Regarding the Senate impeachment trial, Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) said that it was in the best interest of the Senate that Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY), work across the aisle to set the rules. However, if there is one thing that we have come to learn, it's that Mr. McConnell has never had the best interest of the Senate, as a body, in mind - only maintaining power. Mr. Coons also said that it is in times like these that we miss the late Senator John McCain who was able to speak truth to his own party, not to mention keep the president's chief toadie Lindsey Graham from making a mockery of the institution.
Senators will have to take an oath, invoking God, before the impeachment trial begins that they will be impartial jurors. Despite what they say at this moment, the oath means little to them especially if you listen to Senator Graham and that Republicans' loyalty is solely to this president. Just writing the name Lindsey Graham causes this column to throw up in its mouth a bit.
However, there are Senators like Pat Toomey (R-PA) who take care to be honest brokers to their principles. He may not vote to impeach and remove the president but he was not dismissive of calling witnesses. Maybe it's setting the bar too low, but at the very least it's refreshing that Mr. Toomey stays away from the hyperbolic partisan rhetoric.
There's also Mr. Todd's question about how the Democrats could vote for impeachment this week but then turn around and approve the USMCA trade deal (the new NAFTA), wondering how it makes sense. Ultimately, it's a longer game the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is playing in as much as that it shows that Democrats can legislate and conduct oversight at the same time. It weakens the president's argument that Democrats are only obsessed with impeachment. If you look at it objectively and consider that Senator Toomey was disappointed that the president capitulated to all Mrs. Pelosi's demands, who is more obsessed with impeachment? The House Speaker or the gas lighter in chief? The only protections, Mr. Toomey explained, would be for the automotive sector and no others, which won't help his constituents in Pennsylvania.
The results of impeachment may already be baked in and the president will be acquitted, however, come June when it will seem like a distant memory, Mr. Trump's problems will only be beginning.
Panel: Heidi Przybyla, NBC News; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute; Eddie Glaude Jr., Princeton University; Peter Baker, The New York Times
Sunday, December 08, 2019
12.8.19: The Weary American Soul
There will be many in Congress weighing in on what articles of impeachment will be drafted, but they will certainly be drafted. Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, couldn't say which ones specifically but did say that it is clear that abuse of power and obstruction of Congress were two that were certainly clear. The latter is without question something that the president is guilty of as Mr. Trump has instructed his administration officials to refuse to testify or to hand over any documents pertaining to his seeking Ukrainian help leading up to the 2020 presidential election. This blanket refusal is something that no administration has ever done. Donald Trump has obstructed the Congress's Constitutional right, by law, to conduct oversight of the executive branch.
The Washington Post's Robert Costa explained that Republicans behind the scenes are weary of how an impeachment trial will go, with vulnerable Republican senators and evidence that is clearly not in Mr. Trump's favor. Regarding such evidence he also explained that he spoke with Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) who said that if the evidence and the Senate trial isn't going the president's way that he would call a vote to dismiss. The 'take the ball and go home' strategy. The Republican-controlled senate may have to employ such a strategy as they have no counter evidence and only attack the process, which if you're paying attention in the slightest is bogus on its face.
There is also the counter argument by Republicans that Ukraine also meddled in the 2016 election, which the intelligence community has widely condemned as a false narrative, but today we have Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) saying that he believes that Ukraine meddled citing an OpEd piece as evidence. Senator Cruz is definitely no profile in courage, that much is clear. Mr. Cruz supports a man who defamed his family, who he himself called a sniveling coward, but here we are. The political animal that he is, Texas right now goes for Trump so therefore Mr. Cruz is on board.
Mr. Cruz also said the Chuck Todd called Senator John Neely Kennedy (R-LA) a stooge for Russia, to which Mr. Todd refuted. However, this column will resolve that by saying that Mr. Kennedy by repeating Kremlin talking points is indeed a stooge. We'll get to Congressman Denny Heck (D-WA) more in a minute, but he said he is tired of politicians on the opposite side of the aisle continually taking views that are absent of truth.
Speaking of an absence of truth, there is fmr. New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani who is at the center of this scandal in Ukraine this week concocting evidence to what end, no one seems to know. Under investigation by the very office he used to lead, the Southern District of New York, Mr. Giuliani's fall from grace and respect has washed away all good deeds in his past. Supposedly, he intends to present his findings to Congress and to this end, Speaker Pelosi should review the coming articles of impeachment and sit on them and compel other potential witnesses to testify, namely fmr. National Security Advisor John Bolton who would effectively render Mr. Giuliani's finding void. Kristen Welker explained that once the articles go to the Senate, majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) could set a rule that bars any additional evidence from being presented or considered once the trial has started. However, Mr. McConnell should be weary of setting such a rule because if new evidence/ testimony comes up given the light and attention of the American people during an impeachment, it could easily steep public opinion away from his party, jeopardizing the Republicans slim majority in the Senate.
This brings us to the Congressman Denny Heck's (D-WA) retirement from Congress, who said he is tired and that his soul is weary from all the investigations but really it is from what he called the absence of the greater sense of decency and truth from Republicans. He also cited the lack of Constitutional principles on behalf of Republicans who have abdicated their responsibility to country. He said that the reelection of President Trump is a nightmare scenario, one that this column feels is an all too real possibility. If Mr. Trump is reelected, there is little doubt that American democracy will be changed forever for the worse. The equal rule of law will no longer apply to those in the president's favor.
Panel: Stephanie Cutter, fmr. Democratic campaign manger; Kristen Welker, NBC News; Robert Costa, The Washington Post; Carlos Curbelo, fmr. Republican Congressman of Florida
One more thing...
It's looking like that the Saudi national that shot 3 people at a Naval base in Pensacola, FL was an act of terrorism. We'll see how the investigation plays out but an apology from the Saudi government is hollow at the least and disingenuous at the worst. What's really disgusting is the president of the United States being the apologist in chief from despotic regimes.
The Washington Post's Robert Costa explained that Republicans behind the scenes are weary of how an impeachment trial will go, with vulnerable Republican senators and evidence that is clearly not in Mr. Trump's favor. Regarding such evidence he also explained that he spoke with Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) who said that if the evidence and the Senate trial isn't going the president's way that he would call a vote to dismiss. The 'take the ball and go home' strategy. The Republican-controlled senate may have to employ such a strategy as they have no counter evidence and only attack the process, which if you're paying attention in the slightest is bogus on its face.
There is also the counter argument by Republicans that Ukraine also meddled in the 2016 election, which the intelligence community has widely condemned as a false narrative, but today we have Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) saying that he believes that Ukraine meddled citing an OpEd piece as evidence. Senator Cruz is definitely no profile in courage, that much is clear. Mr. Cruz supports a man who defamed his family, who he himself called a sniveling coward, but here we are. The political animal that he is, Texas right now goes for Trump so therefore Mr. Cruz is on board.
Mr. Cruz also said the Chuck Todd called Senator John Neely Kennedy (R-LA) a stooge for Russia, to which Mr. Todd refuted. However, this column will resolve that by saying that Mr. Kennedy by repeating Kremlin talking points is indeed a stooge. We'll get to Congressman Denny Heck (D-WA) more in a minute, but he said he is tired of politicians on the opposite side of the aisle continually taking views that are absent of truth.
Speaking of an absence of truth, there is fmr. New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani who is at the center of this scandal in Ukraine this week concocting evidence to what end, no one seems to know. Under investigation by the very office he used to lead, the Southern District of New York, Mr. Giuliani's fall from grace and respect has washed away all good deeds in his past. Supposedly, he intends to present his findings to Congress and to this end, Speaker Pelosi should review the coming articles of impeachment and sit on them and compel other potential witnesses to testify, namely fmr. National Security Advisor John Bolton who would effectively render Mr. Giuliani's finding void. Kristen Welker explained that once the articles go to the Senate, majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) could set a rule that bars any additional evidence from being presented or considered once the trial has started. However, Mr. McConnell should be weary of setting such a rule because if new evidence/ testimony comes up given the light and attention of the American people during an impeachment, it could easily steep public opinion away from his party, jeopardizing the Republicans slim majority in the Senate.
This brings us to the Congressman Denny Heck's (D-WA) retirement from Congress, who said he is tired and that his soul is weary from all the investigations but really it is from what he called the absence of the greater sense of decency and truth from Republicans. He also cited the lack of Constitutional principles on behalf of Republicans who have abdicated their responsibility to country. He said that the reelection of President Trump is a nightmare scenario, one that this column feels is an all too real possibility. If Mr. Trump is reelected, there is little doubt that American democracy will be changed forever for the worse. The equal rule of law will no longer apply to those in the president's favor.
Panel: Stephanie Cutter, fmr. Democratic campaign manger; Kristen Welker, NBC News; Robert Costa, The Washington Post; Carlos Curbelo, fmr. Republican Congressman of Florida
One more thing...
It's looking like that the Saudi national that shot 3 people at a Naval base in Pensacola, FL was an act of terrorism. We'll see how the investigation plays out but an apology from the Saudi government is hollow at the least and disingenuous at the worst. What's really disgusting is the president of the United States being the apologist in chief from despotic regimes.
Sunday, December 01, 2019
12.1.19: The Whining and Complaining President
If impeachment inquiry of President Trump ends up with the Judiciary committee drawing up articles for a vote in the House which passes and then goes to the Senate for a trial where they vote to keep the president office (both votes along party lines), it will be what the American people already expect. This is exactly what will happen.
Republican strategist Al Cardenas explained that what President Trump did was worse than what Richard Nixon did, but that opinions on the president have already been set. Worse than Richard Nixon... think about that for a moment.
Impeachment must go forward even if the outcome is predetermined, which it seems it is because of the larger point that Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) outlined that the president has betrayed the trust of the American people. He consistently puts his personal advancement above the agenda of the American people. What kind of person who wins the presidency of the United States to become the most powerful person in the world constantly whines about unfairness like Donald Trump. This column for one is sick and tired of Mr. Trump playing the victim card.
He has gotten nothing done as president with the exception of a wasteful corporate tax cut and two Supreme Court justices. Healthcare, nothing. Prescription drugs, nothing. Opioid crisis, nothing. Gun violence, nothing. Foreign policy, worse than nothing - the American people have taken hits all over the world for the impulsively poor decisions that this president has made.
As for the circumstances of impeachment, it must move forward, popular or not, because you can not let the president's lawbreaking go unaccounted for. Of course, the president is going to muddy the waters and talk about the unfairness of it all. Please, he's the president and he's a whiner. All he does is whine and complain and Americans have little tolerance for someone if that's all he does. Yes, you could say that this column is filing a complaint about the president's whining and complaining.
The converse of this is what you heard from Senator Kennedy (R-LA) who seems like a pleasant person, but a person who had the gall to say that this president has a demonstrated record on fighting corruption. Where did this notion even come from? He also said that the former Ukrainian head of state, Petro Poroshenko, actively worked with Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election. Simply stated, Mr. Kennedy is spouting Russian talking points. After Fiona Hill's testimony, an expert on Russia, the Senate was briefed by the intelligence community on Russian versus Ukrainian interference and the information on Ukraine is fiction. Mr. Kennedy told Chuck Todd that he wasn't briefed and that Ms. Hill is entitled to her opinions. It's funny in the most profoundly sad way that these are the people representing our country. Mr. Kennedy, sir, do your job and go to the briefings on national security.
And that's what is at stake here. John Kerry and Arnold Schwarzenegger started a World War Zero project to combat global warming and climate change. However, what's really should be in the works is a cyber-informational WW III in which America and it's allies stand up to Russia and cripple the economy and disinformation infrastructure. Russia is a petrol state and the two are tied together. Talking and doing something about climate change and the environment directly impacts Russia and its misinformation hegemony.
However, not with this president, and not with this Republican senate, blindly loyal to a petty commander in chief who whines and complains about unfairness. Speaking of unfair, David Brooks reported that many Trump supporters were disgusted with the president's intervention in military cases involving Navy SEALS acting unlawfully. What sets America apart from others is our morality and our belief that we fight for good with honor, but the president not having any understanding of what it is to be in the service of one's country has decided that one of the aspects that makes the United States exceptional doesn't matter.
Mr. Trump makes irresponsible decisions all the while complaining and whining about fairness when he has broken the law. Life's not fair Mr. President, get a helmet.
Panel: Theresa Maria Kumar, Voto Latino; Betsy Woodruff Swan, The Daily Beast; David Brooks, The New York Times; Al Cardenas, Republican strategist
Republican strategist Al Cardenas explained that what President Trump did was worse than what Richard Nixon did, but that opinions on the president have already been set. Worse than Richard Nixon... think about that for a moment.
Impeachment must go forward even if the outcome is predetermined, which it seems it is because of the larger point that Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) outlined that the president has betrayed the trust of the American people. He consistently puts his personal advancement above the agenda of the American people. What kind of person who wins the presidency of the United States to become the most powerful person in the world constantly whines about unfairness like Donald Trump. This column for one is sick and tired of Mr. Trump playing the victim card.
He has gotten nothing done as president with the exception of a wasteful corporate tax cut and two Supreme Court justices. Healthcare, nothing. Prescription drugs, nothing. Opioid crisis, nothing. Gun violence, nothing. Foreign policy, worse than nothing - the American people have taken hits all over the world for the impulsively poor decisions that this president has made.
As for the circumstances of impeachment, it must move forward, popular or not, because you can not let the president's lawbreaking go unaccounted for. Of course, the president is going to muddy the waters and talk about the unfairness of it all. Please, he's the president and he's a whiner. All he does is whine and complain and Americans have little tolerance for someone if that's all he does. Yes, you could say that this column is filing a complaint about the president's whining and complaining.
The converse of this is what you heard from Senator Kennedy (R-LA) who seems like a pleasant person, but a person who had the gall to say that this president has a demonstrated record on fighting corruption. Where did this notion even come from? He also said that the former Ukrainian head of state, Petro Poroshenko, actively worked with Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election. Simply stated, Mr. Kennedy is spouting Russian talking points. After Fiona Hill's testimony, an expert on Russia, the Senate was briefed by the intelligence community on Russian versus Ukrainian interference and the information on Ukraine is fiction. Mr. Kennedy told Chuck Todd that he wasn't briefed and that Ms. Hill is entitled to her opinions. It's funny in the most profoundly sad way that these are the people representing our country. Mr. Kennedy, sir, do your job and go to the briefings on national security.
And that's what is at stake here. John Kerry and Arnold Schwarzenegger started a World War Zero project to combat global warming and climate change. However, what's really should be in the works is a cyber-informational WW III in which America and it's allies stand up to Russia and cripple the economy and disinformation infrastructure. Russia is a petrol state and the two are tied together. Talking and doing something about climate change and the environment directly impacts Russia and its misinformation hegemony.
However, not with this president, and not with this Republican senate, blindly loyal to a petty commander in chief who whines and complains about unfairness. Speaking of unfair, David Brooks reported that many Trump supporters were disgusted with the president's intervention in military cases involving Navy SEALS acting unlawfully. What sets America apart from others is our morality and our belief that we fight for good with honor, but the president not having any understanding of what it is to be in the service of one's country has decided that one of the aspects that makes the United States exceptional doesn't matter.
Mr. Trump makes irresponsible decisions all the while complaining and whining about fairness when he has broken the law. Life's not fair Mr. President, get a helmet.
Panel: Theresa Maria Kumar, Voto Latino; Betsy Woodruff Swan, The Daily Beast; David Brooks, The New York Times; Al Cardenas, Republican strategist
Sunday, November 17, 2019
11.17.19: The President's Torment
This column cannot hide its feeling that Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) is the ultimate partisan and that he's one of the worst representatives of our country ever elected. He speaks of the constant torment that the president has endured since he's been elected, but when Chuck Todd called him out for blaming everyone but the president for the situation we find ourselves in, he said that he wasn't blaming others, but he's also not blaming the president? Despite all the finding from the U.S. intelligence community, Mr. Johnson still calls Russia collusion a false narrative. Not to mention that when he is interviewed his tone is erratic and he's always on the defensive which clearly illustrates that he knows the facts are not on his side.
The president's torment is of his own making. Hard. Stop.
There is no one else to blame, but the president and if he conducted government business for the sake of the government and not himself then there wouldn't be impeachment hearings that had begun this week. In two days of testimony State Dept. official George Kent, Ukraine ambassador Bill Taylor and fmr. ambassador Marie Yovanovitch provided a compelling portrait of a president that is more concerned about himself and his reelection than he is about the United States and its security. Obviously, it didn't help that the president tweeted a derogatory message about Ms. Yovanovitch while she was testifying. As Peggy Noonan explained, this was an embarrassment and discomforting to Republicans during the hearing and that they had to change their strategy in as much as they couldn't go on the offensive to start that she is not a fact witness, but only a material one that really had no bearing. With the president's tweet, she, in real time, became a fact-based witness in reacting to his tweet. Self-inflicted torment on the part of the president.
Quid pro quo? Bribery? Extortion? No matter how you phrase it, this is what the president and specifically Rudy Giuliani were up to with regard to Ukraine. The only real argument that is left is that this shouldn't be happening in an election year and that the American people should decide next November. However, Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) made the cogent argument that this has to happen now because the president's actions are motivated by reelection.
No matter how the impeachment shakes out, despite Danielle Pletka saying most people have already made up their minds about it, it is going to be damaging to the president and his reelection prospects. As Eugene Robinson said, the president is poison to suburban white voters who want nothing to do with him. And speaking of elections, the president has made all the subsequent elections after 2016 about him and it has been a disaster. Despite visiting the state twice in eleven days, a Democrat, John Bell Edwards, won reelection as governor.
The impeachment hearings are only going to get worse for the president given what has come to light with through closed-door testimony and the upcoming Gordan Sondland appearance this Wednesday.
Also...
It pains this column to spell out fmr. governor Deval Patrick's (D-MA) last-minute entry into the presidential race in cynical terms, but here's how we see it. Given what he said that he is not going to block Super PAC money, in which Chuck Todd specifically cited Bain, as in Bain Capital, one would have to surmise that Mr. Patrick received some endorsement and advice from such entities. And what does an entity like Bain Capital see? They don't want another term of Donald Trump but they also don't see a candidate on the Democratic side strong enough to beat him. His advisors have most probably told him the Joe Biden is too old and falling in the polls; Elizabeth Warren is too radical in her huge government proposals; and Pete Buttegieg though the best candidate at the moment in his moderation, his elections prospects are in doubt because of his lack of African-American support and the fact that he is gay, which factors into the calculus that America is not ready for an openly gay president. Again, this is the cynical view of why Mr. Patrick is getting in the race.
Panel: Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Jeff Mason, Reuters; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post
The president's torment is of his own making. Hard. Stop.
There is no one else to blame, but the president and if he conducted government business for the sake of the government and not himself then there wouldn't be impeachment hearings that had begun this week. In two days of testimony State Dept. official George Kent, Ukraine ambassador Bill Taylor and fmr. ambassador Marie Yovanovitch provided a compelling portrait of a president that is more concerned about himself and his reelection than he is about the United States and its security. Obviously, it didn't help that the president tweeted a derogatory message about Ms. Yovanovitch while she was testifying. As Peggy Noonan explained, this was an embarrassment and discomforting to Republicans during the hearing and that they had to change their strategy in as much as they couldn't go on the offensive to start that she is not a fact witness, but only a material one that really had no bearing. With the president's tweet, she, in real time, became a fact-based witness in reacting to his tweet. Self-inflicted torment on the part of the president.
Quid pro quo? Bribery? Extortion? No matter how you phrase it, this is what the president and specifically Rudy Giuliani were up to with regard to Ukraine. The only real argument that is left is that this shouldn't be happening in an election year and that the American people should decide next November. However, Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) made the cogent argument that this has to happen now because the president's actions are motivated by reelection.
No matter how the impeachment shakes out, despite Danielle Pletka saying most people have already made up their minds about it, it is going to be damaging to the president and his reelection prospects. As Eugene Robinson said, the president is poison to suburban white voters who want nothing to do with him. And speaking of elections, the president has made all the subsequent elections after 2016 about him and it has been a disaster. Despite visiting the state twice in eleven days, a Democrat, John Bell Edwards, won reelection as governor.
The impeachment hearings are only going to get worse for the president given what has come to light with through closed-door testimony and the upcoming Gordan Sondland appearance this Wednesday.
Also...
It pains this column to spell out fmr. governor Deval Patrick's (D-MA) last-minute entry into the presidential race in cynical terms, but here's how we see it. Given what he said that he is not going to block Super PAC money, in which Chuck Todd specifically cited Bain, as in Bain Capital, one would have to surmise that Mr. Patrick received some endorsement and advice from such entities. And what does an entity like Bain Capital see? They don't want another term of Donald Trump but they also don't see a candidate on the Democratic side strong enough to beat him. His advisors have most probably told him the Joe Biden is too old and falling in the polls; Elizabeth Warren is too radical in her huge government proposals; and Pete Buttegieg though the best candidate at the moment in his moderation, his elections prospects are in doubt because of his lack of African-American support and the fact that he is gay, which factors into the calculus that America is not ready for an openly gay president. Again, this is the cynical view of why Mr. Patrick is getting in the race.
Panel: Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Jeff Mason, Reuters; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post
Sunday, October 27, 2019
10.26.19: A Parting Gift for President Trump
There's no doubt that the killing of Abu Bahr al-Baghdadi is good news. However, today it came with a lot of qualifiers from the panel, reporters and analysts. The common thread through out was that American Special Forces don't get al-Baghdadi without intelligence on the ground, which the Kurds instrumental in helping us get.
As fmr. DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson pointed out, now was the time to go with U.S. Special Forces pulling out later down the road would have been much more difficult. While the U.S. Military, specifically U.S. Special Forces, are commended for they work, professionalism and bravery as they should be and are, the heavy hand of politics weighs on this entire episode. Andrea Mitchell explained that it is Putin who is the leader in Syria and has influence over Turkey, Assad in Syria, and in effect Iran as well. President Trump completely ceded control of northern Syria to Russia and as a parting gift the U.S. got al-Baghdadi.
At this point it's to be expected, when thanking people the president in his statement started with countries and at the top of the list was Russia, even though National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien clearly stated that Russia is not our ally, though pointing out that interests do overlap.
You can watch the president's full statement:
Since a 'Russian' thank you at the top is no longer considered odd, one aspect of Mr. Trump's statement was his repeating and rephrasing a description of how al-Baghdadi screamed and cried, running in fear, humiliated; the president even used the word 'terrorized,' certainly done to send a particular message.
Maybe it was a metaphor for what he'd like to do with his Democratic adversaries in the House after this devastating week for the president in terms of the impeachment inquiry. Mr. Trump needed something good to happen.
As Amy Walter pointed out, the impeachment is underwater in the polls in the swing states of Minnesota, Wisconsin et al. The question that Mr. Todd brought up is how are Democrats going to deal with this is an election year? That's why the Democrats need to get the public phase quickly. The consensus is that the House will vote to impeach and then the Senate will acquit the president. W
However, the panel didn't explain that given this inevitable outcome, Nancy Pelosi has laid out the case of why the president is unfit for office through public hearings. The Senate for its part doesn't impeach the president's breaking the law, voting down mostly party lines so Mrs. Pelosi has Republican senators on record as supporting lawlessness. The House is aiming to finish around Thanksgiving and when the smoke eventually clears it will be fresh in the minds of Iowa caucus voters.
So for the Democratic candidates who have to answer a disproportionate amount of questions on impeachment, the House Speaker has it covered.
Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC; Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report; Lanhee Chen, Stanford University; Jeh Johnson, fmr. DHS Secretary
As fmr. DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson pointed out, now was the time to go with U.S. Special Forces pulling out later down the road would have been much more difficult. While the U.S. Military, specifically U.S. Special Forces, are commended for they work, professionalism and bravery as they should be and are, the heavy hand of politics weighs on this entire episode. Andrea Mitchell explained that it is Putin who is the leader in Syria and has influence over Turkey, Assad in Syria, and in effect Iran as well. President Trump completely ceded control of northern Syria to Russia and as a parting gift the U.S. got al-Baghdadi.
At this point it's to be expected, when thanking people the president in his statement started with countries and at the top of the list was Russia, even though National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien clearly stated that Russia is not our ally, though pointing out that interests do overlap.
You can watch the president's full statement:
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| CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO |
Maybe it was a metaphor for what he'd like to do with his Democratic adversaries in the House after this devastating week for the president in terms of the impeachment inquiry. Mr. Trump needed something good to happen.
As Amy Walter pointed out, the impeachment is underwater in the polls in the swing states of Minnesota, Wisconsin et al. The question that Mr. Todd brought up is how are Democrats going to deal with this is an election year? That's why the Democrats need to get the public phase quickly. The consensus is that the House will vote to impeach and then the Senate will acquit the president. W
However, the panel didn't explain that given this inevitable outcome, Nancy Pelosi has laid out the case of why the president is unfit for office through public hearings. The Senate for its part doesn't impeach the president's breaking the law, voting down mostly party lines so Mrs. Pelosi has Republican senators on record as supporting lawlessness. The House is aiming to finish around Thanksgiving and when the smoke eventually clears it will be fresh in the minds of Iowa caucus voters.
So for the Democratic candidates who have to answer a disproportionate amount of questions on impeachment, the House Speaker has it covered.
Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC; Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report; Lanhee Chen, Stanford University; Jeh Johnson, fmr. DHS Secretary
Sunday, October 20, 2019
10.20.19: How to Go From Bad to Worse and Back Again
What do you do if you're caught in a quid quo pro as president pressuring a foreign country for your own personal political gain? You make a disastrous foreign policy decision that leaves our allies hanging in the wind and damages U.S. credibility around the world. What do you do if said foreign policy decision is so roundly criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike and you can't take it back? You announce that you are going to enrich yourself with a government contract.
The week that was...
There is no doubt that after the 72-hour ceasefire that Vice President Mike Pence negotiated with Turkey is over, the violence will continue. NBC's Richard Engel stated that ethnic cleansing is 'underway' in northeast Syria, along with evidence of roadside executions. Brett McGurk, Fmr. Security Council official in the Trump Administration heading up the anti-ISIL division, confirmed it would continue as Turkey moves to control a strip of Syrian land 435km in length, 30km inland. Mr. McGurk didn't commit to the notion that Turkey was trying to annex the territory but that's exactly what is happening. President Erdogan of Turkey wants his piece of the pie and the U.S. was unwilling to give him, but Russia would. You can imagine the conversation in which the Turkish president tells Mr. Trump this and explains in order to get his piece, U.S. troops have to get out of the way, and Mr. Trump gave it to him by trying to wash his hands of the whole thing. But they just got dirtier as it prompted an overwhelming wave of bi-partisan condemnation that the White House felt compelled to write a letter to Turkey - president to president - which Mr. Erdogan literally threw in the trash and invaded full force anyway.
Turkey will annex that region because Assad will give it up to them. The Syrian dictator gets his country back, be it under Russian and Iranian influence, by letting Turkey have a strip of land he didn't control anyway. It's serves Erdogan's strategic interest to drive the Kurds back into Iraq, a de facto buffer zone from which Turkey can establish further incursions. So if you're interested in American interests, Mr. Trump ceded Syrian to the control to Russia and Iran, not good news for Israel; literally blowing up bases to pull out on Erdogan's timetable so that his military can ethnic cleanse a region controlled by a U.S. ally, the Kurds, with the help of 10,000 extremist fighters; and of course in defending themselves, the Kurds could no longer guard the camps that contained ISIS making U.S. and our European allies less safe. Thank you Mr. Trump.
The kicker...
The troops aren't going home, they're being deployed to Iraq, as Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI) pointed out in today's interview. With regard to the U.S. troop deployment to Saudi Arabia, the political hypocrisy of it we discussed in our last column, Mr. Amash called them 'mercenaries,' in other words for sale when a 'friend' needs them. He continued on saying that he thinks the president feels he's 'untouchable.' It's clear through this debasing foreign policy move, Mr. Trump is not, nor should he be. When Mitch McConnell condemns the decision so publicly with an op-ed in The Washington Post, you know it's bad.
Presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN) explained that what we had in Syria is how it should look like, if we have to be there or find ourselves there then it should be a light footprint. Then work the diplomatic front. This is what he sees as a goal for Afghanistan as well.
Mr. Buttigieg also said that while there should be consequences for Turkey's actions, he explained that given they are a NATO member, they should be negotiated with as an ally... a NATO ally that has an all too cozy relationship with Russia. Where have we heard this story before?
The mess...
Mick. Mulvaney.
Paraphrasing: We withheld the aid to Ukraine because of our concern about corruption. Quid pro quo is something we do all the time, "Get Over It."
The acting Chief of Staff is genuinely trying to act like a chief of staff, however... A reporter even gave him a chance to clarify or walk it back in real time and he doubled down on it, in direct opposition to what the president had been saying all week. Maybe Mr. Mulvaney realized he may have made an error and decided to clean these up by informing the press corps that of the several sites they reviewed, Doral was the best place to have the next G7 summit. Plugging the boss's golf resort isn't a bad idea if all you want is to stay in his good graces. But three times was not the charm as later in the evening in a written statement correcting Mr. Mulvaney's misstatement and he unequivocally maintains that there was no quid pro quo.
And there's no G7 at Doral. Under pressure from Republican criticism of blatant self-dealing, the Trump Administration said last night that a new site will be chosen.
The Panel: Dan Balz, The Washington Post; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institutue; Betsy Woodruff Swan, The Daily Beast; Joshua Johnson, NPR
One more thing...
American Hero, Mr. Elijah E. Cummings
The week that was...
There is no doubt that after the 72-hour ceasefire that Vice President Mike Pence negotiated with Turkey is over, the violence will continue. NBC's Richard Engel stated that ethnic cleansing is 'underway' in northeast Syria, along with evidence of roadside executions. Brett McGurk, Fmr. Security Council official in the Trump Administration heading up the anti-ISIL division, confirmed it would continue as Turkey moves to control a strip of Syrian land 435km in length, 30km inland. Mr. McGurk didn't commit to the notion that Turkey was trying to annex the territory but that's exactly what is happening. President Erdogan of Turkey wants his piece of the pie and the U.S. was unwilling to give him, but Russia would. You can imagine the conversation in which the Turkish president tells Mr. Trump this and explains in order to get his piece, U.S. troops have to get out of the way, and Mr. Trump gave it to him by trying to wash his hands of the whole thing. But they just got dirtier as it prompted an overwhelming wave of bi-partisan condemnation that the White House felt compelled to write a letter to Turkey - president to president - which Mr. Erdogan literally threw in the trash and invaded full force anyway.
Turkey will annex that region because Assad will give it up to them. The Syrian dictator gets his country back, be it under Russian and Iranian influence, by letting Turkey have a strip of land he didn't control anyway. It's serves Erdogan's strategic interest to drive the Kurds back into Iraq, a de facto buffer zone from which Turkey can establish further incursions. So if you're interested in American interests, Mr. Trump ceded Syrian to the control to Russia and Iran, not good news for Israel; literally blowing up bases to pull out on Erdogan's timetable so that his military can ethnic cleanse a region controlled by a U.S. ally, the Kurds, with the help of 10,000 extremist fighters; and of course in defending themselves, the Kurds could no longer guard the camps that contained ISIS making U.S. and our European allies less safe. Thank you Mr. Trump.
The kicker...
The troops aren't going home, they're being deployed to Iraq, as Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI) pointed out in today's interview. With regard to the U.S. troop deployment to Saudi Arabia, the political hypocrisy of it we discussed in our last column, Mr. Amash called them 'mercenaries,' in other words for sale when a 'friend' needs them. He continued on saying that he thinks the president feels he's 'untouchable.' It's clear through this debasing foreign policy move, Mr. Trump is not, nor should he be. When Mitch McConnell condemns the decision so publicly with an op-ed in The Washington Post, you know it's bad.
Presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN) explained that what we had in Syria is how it should look like, if we have to be there or find ourselves there then it should be a light footprint. Then work the diplomatic front. This is what he sees as a goal for Afghanistan as well.
Mr. Buttigieg also said that while there should be consequences for Turkey's actions, he explained that given they are a NATO member, they should be negotiated with as an ally... a NATO ally that has an all too cozy relationship with Russia. Where have we heard this story before?
The mess...
Mick. Mulvaney.
Paraphrasing: We withheld the aid to Ukraine because of our concern about corruption. Quid pro quo is something we do all the time, "Get Over It."
The acting Chief of Staff is genuinely trying to act like a chief of staff, however... A reporter even gave him a chance to clarify or walk it back in real time and he doubled down on it, in direct opposition to what the president had been saying all week. Maybe Mr. Mulvaney realized he may have made an error and decided to clean these up by informing the press corps that of the several sites they reviewed, Doral was the best place to have the next G7 summit. Plugging the boss's golf resort isn't a bad idea if all you want is to stay in his good graces. But three times was not the charm as later in the evening in a written statement correcting Mr. Mulvaney's misstatement and he unequivocally maintains that there was no quid pro quo.
And there's no G7 at Doral. Under pressure from Republican criticism of blatant self-dealing, the Trump Administration said last night that a new site will be chosen.
The Panel: Dan Balz, The Washington Post; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institutue; Betsy Woodruff Swan, The Daily Beast; Joshua Johnson, NPR
One more thing...
American Hero, Mr. Elijah E. Cummings
Sunday, October 13, 2019
10.13.19: The Amorality of the Trump Administration
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) can always be counted on to give the historical and or ideological perspective or any number of issues or situations but what he lacks is any sense of the practical and reality that happens to give a backhanded slap to the face of ideology. Case in point today is how the Mr. Paul outlined the violent history between the Turks and the Kurds, and our alliances. Fighting with Turkey are Arab Kurds who are part of the free Syrian Army that was a U.S. ally for seven years, he explained. He also said that the conflict had been going on for 100 years, implying that given that long messy history, the United States shouldn't be involved.
But here's the rub... The Syrian Kurds were staunch U.S. allies in the fight against ISIS and we have abandoned them to be slaughter by the Turkish army. It's happening as this column is being written. NBC's Richard Engel reported that Syrian Kurds are being executed by extremist Arabs, Al Qaeda members, who are backed by the Turks. The Trump Administration betrayed a loyal ally, and has dishonored our country. Obviously, one can disagree, sometimes strenuously, with the decisions that put the U.S. military in that place, but now that we were there, the U.S. needs to stand up for its friends. As the Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan said, the president got rolled by the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. No matter the atrocities, the Trump administration will do nothing, not even sanctions. Don't think for a minute that the president hasn't thought about his substantial personal business interests in Turkey being affected.
Mr. Paul also rhetorically stated that the president has to determine what is best for the national security of the United States. Well, this is it. Thousands of ISIS fighters and sympathizers are breaking out and escaping from prisons guarded by the Kurds, but not anymore. Yet, the Trump Administration this week sent 1,800 troops to Saudi Arabia. To Senator Paul's credit, he said that we shouldn't be sending armaments or troops to Saudi Arabia until they behave better.
The bottom line is that the Trump Administration pulled troops out of one country, which has facilitated ethnic cleansing and a humanitarian crisis and put troops into another country to continue the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, in Yemen. The amorality of this administration should make all Americans feel ashamed. Rep. Elliot Engel (D-NY) said that he has never seen anything as disgusting as this in all his time in Congress.
Should NATO consider kicking Turkey to the curb? Most certainly.
And Rudy Giuliani? He's now under investigation for his illegal lobbying work in Ukraine by the same federal office that he once led in the Southern District of New York. He had lunch on Wednesday with two associates that were arrested that same evening. And what are they charged with? They allegedly funneled Russian money to Republican candidates, namely Pete Sessions (R-TX), and asked him to talk to the State Department, in which he wrote a letter, to remove the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Maria Yananovitch who was actually fighting corruption. Die the hero or live long enough to become the villain. Mr. Giuliani who once prosecuted the New York Mafia and its corruption only to now be superlatively corrupt himself. #nohero.
Panel: Peggy Noon, The Wall Street Journal; Ashley Parker, The Washington Post; Michael Schmidt, The New York Times, Cornell Belcher, Democratic strategist
One more thing...
This week at a rally in Minneapolis, Donald Trump called the impeachment inquiry illegal, unconstitutional and bull shit. Ironic given the fact that all his bull shit is either illegal and or unconstitutional.
But here's the rub... The Syrian Kurds were staunch U.S. allies in the fight against ISIS and we have abandoned them to be slaughter by the Turkish army. It's happening as this column is being written. NBC's Richard Engel reported that Syrian Kurds are being executed by extremist Arabs, Al Qaeda members, who are backed by the Turks. The Trump Administration betrayed a loyal ally, and has dishonored our country. Obviously, one can disagree, sometimes strenuously, with the decisions that put the U.S. military in that place, but now that we were there, the U.S. needs to stand up for its friends. As the Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan said, the president got rolled by the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. No matter the atrocities, the Trump administration will do nothing, not even sanctions. Don't think for a minute that the president hasn't thought about his substantial personal business interests in Turkey being affected.
Mr. Paul also rhetorically stated that the president has to determine what is best for the national security of the United States. Well, this is it. Thousands of ISIS fighters and sympathizers are breaking out and escaping from prisons guarded by the Kurds, but not anymore. Yet, the Trump Administration this week sent 1,800 troops to Saudi Arabia. To Senator Paul's credit, he said that we shouldn't be sending armaments or troops to Saudi Arabia until they behave better.
The bottom line is that the Trump Administration pulled troops out of one country, which has facilitated ethnic cleansing and a humanitarian crisis and put troops into another country to continue the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, in Yemen. The amorality of this administration should make all Americans feel ashamed. Rep. Elliot Engel (D-NY) said that he has never seen anything as disgusting as this in all his time in Congress.
Should NATO consider kicking Turkey to the curb? Most certainly.
And Rudy Giuliani? He's now under investigation for his illegal lobbying work in Ukraine by the same federal office that he once led in the Southern District of New York. He had lunch on Wednesday with two associates that were arrested that same evening. And what are they charged with? They allegedly funneled Russian money to Republican candidates, namely Pete Sessions (R-TX), and asked him to talk to the State Department, in which he wrote a letter, to remove the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Maria Yananovitch who was actually fighting corruption. Die the hero or live long enough to become the villain. Mr. Giuliani who once prosecuted the New York Mafia and its corruption only to now be superlatively corrupt himself. #nohero.
Panel: Peggy Noon, The Wall Street Journal; Ashley Parker, The Washington Post; Michael Schmidt, The New York Times, Cornell Belcher, Democratic strategist
One more thing...
This week at a rally in Minneapolis, Donald Trump called the impeachment inquiry illegal, unconstitutional and bull shit. Ironic given the fact that all his bull shit is either illegal and or unconstitutional.
Sunday, October 06, 2019
10.6.19: U.S. Democracy For Sale
Chuck Todd mentioned the two realities at play right now, what sixty percent of the country believes to be the facts versus what the other forty percent believes. No matter how you slice that up, one thing is overwhelmingly evident.. ah, true, and that is that Donald Trump is unfit to be president of the United States.
O. Kay Henderson, News Director at Radio Iowa, said that Republican voters went through the entire Russia investigation and there were no consequences for the president for his asking Russia for help in the election and then the obstruction that followed, and now what's happening with the president and his surrogates pressuring Ukraine, leaves them asking, "this again?"
Yes, this again...
And why? Because Donald Trump knows that the Republican-controlled Senate will let him get away with it by looking the other way, remaining silent, or dismissing it as "Trump being Trump." That last bit is most dangerous for U.S. democracy then people realize and today's panel trivialized it because if Trump loses the election next year but refuses to leave office because he says it is rigged, is that just Trump being Trump? If the president uses information that China provided him to win the election, is that Trump just being Trump?
The president, being transactional by nature, is putting up the for sale sign on American democracy. He's sent his sales people - Rudy Giuliani, William Barr and Mike Pompeo - out to solicit purchases of the president's corrupt intent. His statements this week on the south lawn asking Ukraine and China to investigate Joe Biden are impeachable. When you see a video clip of Marco Rubio (R-FL) saying that the president may just be trying to get a 'rise' out of the press for saying what he said, what he's really telling you is that the president's words don't matter.
But here's the rub, they do. When the president makes a statement about the trade war with China, which is causing a global recession by the way, the markets move. When the president says that he believes Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence community, you get idiot Senators like Ron Johnson (R-WI) being unwilling to confirm as to whether he trusts CIA or the FBI.
Speaking of Mr. Johnson, his appearance today on "Meet The Press" was disgraceful and unworthy of the office he holds. From the outset he was defensive and practically yelling at Mr. Todd. He denigrated the FBI, CIA, the press and fmr. CIA Director John Brennan, personally. He said he wasn't defending the president nor criticizing him and that he just wanted to get to the truth, but that is is the farthest thing from what he wants. What he really wants is to hold onto his office, and speaking out against this president will cost him his seat. Mr. Brennan was correct when he said that the Wisconsin senator was running scared. Mr. Johnson said that when he confronted the president about the Ukraine call, Mr. Trump denied it and he believed him. Vladimir Putin denied it too. As fmr. under-secretary of state, Rick Stengel, explained, every answer that Mr. Johnson gave was a classic Russian disinformation tactic of 'whataboutism.'
Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) called what the president did this week appalling, and Mr. Trump tweeted that Mr. Romney should be impeached. That's how little the president knows about the law, Senators can not be impeached. And then you have people like Rich Lowry, who is not a conservative but a shill whose magazine relies on Republican contributions to maintain itself, not caring about the law. He said that it is wrong for the president to solicit a foreign government to investigate a political opponent but that it's not an impeachable offense. It's against the law so of course it's impeachable.
If Republicans do not step, which they won't we're going to continue to see the eroding of our democratic principles, as Mr. Brennan put it. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) said it was a 'green light' to solicit interference, but in Trump parlance, it's a FOR SALE sign.
Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC; O. Kay Henderson, Radio Iowa; Rick Stengel, fmr. under-secretary of state; Rich Lowry, The National Review
One more thing...
Kristen Welker mentioned that another whistleblower may be coming forward about conversations and information about what the administration did with regard to Ukraine. That is going to happen so look out for it this week.
O. Kay Henderson, News Director at Radio Iowa, said that Republican voters went through the entire Russia investigation and there were no consequences for the president for his asking Russia for help in the election and then the obstruction that followed, and now what's happening with the president and his surrogates pressuring Ukraine, leaves them asking, "this again?"
Yes, this again...
And why? Because Donald Trump knows that the Republican-controlled Senate will let him get away with it by looking the other way, remaining silent, or dismissing it as "Trump being Trump." That last bit is most dangerous for U.S. democracy then people realize and today's panel trivialized it because if Trump loses the election next year but refuses to leave office because he says it is rigged, is that just Trump being Trump? If the president uses information that China provided him to win the election, is that Trump just being Trump?
The president, being transactional by nature, is putting up the for sale sign on American democracy. He's sent his sales people - Rudy Giuliani, William Barr and Mike Pompeo - out to solicit purchases of the president's corrupt intent. His statements this week on the south lawn asking Ukraine and China to investigate Joe Biden are impeachable. When you see a video clip of Marco Rubio (R-FL) saying that the president may just be trying to get a 'rise' out of the press for saying what he said, what he's really telling you is that the president's words don't matter.
But here's the rub, they do. When the president makes a statement about the trade war with China, which is causing a global recession by the way, the markets move. When the president says that he believes Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence community, you get idiot Senators like Ron Johnson (R-WI) being unwilling to confirm as to whether he trusts CIA or the FBI.
Speaking of Mr. Johnson, his appearance today on "Meet The Press" was disgraceful and unworthy of the office he holds. From the outset he was defensive and practically yelling at Mr. Todd. He denigrated the FBI, CIA, the press and fmr. CIA Director John Brennan, personally. He said he wasn't defending the president nor criticizing him and that he just wanted to get to the truth, but that is is the farthest thing from what he wants. What he really wants is to hold onto his office, and speaking out against this president will cost him his seat. Mr. Brennan was correct when he said that the Wisconsin senator was running scared. Mr. Johnson said that when he confronted the president about the Ukraine call, Mr. Trump denied it and he believed him. Vladimir Putin denied it too. As fmr. under-secretary of state, Rick Stengel, explained, every answer that Mr. Johnson gave was a classic Russian disinformation tactic of 'whataboutism.'
Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) called what the president did this week appalling, and Mr. Trump tweeted that Mr. Romney should be impeached. That's how little the president knows about the law, Senators can not be impeached. And then you have people like Rich Lowry, who is not a conservative but a shill whose magazine relies on Republican contributions to maintain itself, not caring about the law. He said that it is wrong for the president to solicit a foreign government to investigate a political opponent but that it's not an impeachable offense. It's against the law so of course it's impeachable.
If Republicans do not step, which they won't we're going to continue to see the eroding of our democratic principles, as Mr. Brennan put it. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) said it was a 'green light' to solicit interference, but in Trump parlance, it's a FOR SALE sign.
Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC; O. Kay Henderson, Radio Iowa; Rick Stengel, fmr. under-secretary of state; Rich Lowry, The National Review
One more thing...
Kristen Welker mentioned that another whistleblower may be coming forward about conversations and information about what the administration did with regard to Ukraine. That is going to happen so look out for it this week.
Sunday, September 29, 2019
9.29.19: Well, Ain't This An (Im)Peach?
Despite what Congressman Steve Scalise (R-LA) says about no collusion on the part of President Trump and Russia, there indeed was collusion, which is not a legal term. When then candidate Donald Trump said during the campaign, "Russia if you're listening..." Mr. Mueller's investigation stated clearly that collusion was not a legal term, whereas conspiracy is and fortunately for Mr. Trump, conspiracy was not proven. Obstruction of justice? There were only 11 proven instances. However, that is not germane to what has transpired over the past week. If you read the transcript of the phone call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky, the mere mention of Joe Biden is an indication that Mr. Trump wants his main political rival to be sullied before the 2020 election; this is conjunction with the "I want you to do us a favor though" statement, which Mr. Todd emphasized throughout today's program makes it clear that the now President of the United States abused the power of his office for personal political gain. Mr. Scalise refused to answer the direct question of whether this obvious fact should be condoned. Most all Republicans have been loathe to directly refute these charges.it himself, "Don't look at what was call."
Whether or not you think there is any grey area here, the president has breached his oath of office and a formal impeachment inquiry is warranted.
As Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff (D-CA), explained if individuals from the administration are called to testify and do not cooperate because of executive privilege then those individuals are obstructing justice. And the gall of Hugh Hewitt to say that Mr. Schiff is not a fair arbiter of this process, may we remind him of one word, "Benghazi." There were no fair arbiters in that process.
The stench of most Republican hypocrisy is what has been most damaging to this country, and not the opening of an impeachment inquiry to hold a corrupt president accountable. This along with another falsehood that Mr. Scalise with his revisionist history outlined was the Obama Administration's unwillingness to investigate Russian meddling in 2016 as it was Mitch McConnell who dismissed the intelligence community's findings and warnings.
But this latest impropriety is not about 2016, it's about what the president has done moving forward to 2020. Unlike the Mueller investigation, this is much easier for the American people to wrap their heads around. The president wanted the Ukrainian government to reopen an investigation of his political rival to ensure aid to the country - leveraging U.S. foreign policy for personal political gain. Hard stop. The Trump Administration put out Republican talking points, which they were sufficiently incompetent enough to also send to Democrats, it stated that there was no quid pro quo so there is no need for an impeachment inquiry. Well, ain't that a peach? As fmr. Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, explained there are no 'favors' in diplomacy, it's all a quid pro quo.
Mr. McFaul also outlined very clearly the timeline of how this all transpired:
Most notable in the outline of all this is that the administration announced a freeze on $391 million of military aid to Ukraine on July 18, 2019 and then the call occurs on the 25th of the month.
It's been reported that there is rising anxiety within the West Wing, and there should be. It looks like one of the scapegoats is going to be the president's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, who Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) calls a free-range chicken. As a side note, Mr. Giuliani, mentioned over 30 times in the whistleblower complaint as a private citizen is representing the United States government in the eyes of the Mr. Zelensky's administration, which begs the question - Is Mr. Giuliani conducting his own personal foreign policy? And doesn't that violate the Logan Act? Maybe not, but it sure does come close.
Republicans office holders are tired Mr. Giuliani's antics and absurdities, they're fatigued. As Mark Leibovitch mentioned, there is a general fatigue with Trump, deemed Trump exhaustion. No doubt. Let the inquiry proceed.
Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, PBS News Hour; Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian; Mark Leibovitch, The New York Times Magazine; Hugh Hewitt, Salem Radio Network
Whether or not you think there is any grey area here, the president has breached his oath of office and a formal impeachment inquiry is warranted.
As Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff (D-CA), explained if individuals from the administration are called to testify and do not cooperate because of executive privilege then those individuals are obstructing justice. And the gall of Hugh Hewitt to say that Mr. Schiff is not a fair arbiter of this process, may we remind him of one word, "Benghazi." There were no fair arbiters in that process.
The stench of most Republican hypocrisy is what has been most damaging to this country, and not the opening of an impeachment inquiry to hold a corrupt president accountable. This along with another falsehood that Mr. Scalise with his revisionist history outlined was the Obama Administration's unwillingness to investigate Russian meddling in 2016 as it was Mitch McConnell who dismissed the intelligence community's findings and warnings.
But this latest impropriety is not about 2016, it's about what the president has done moving forward to 2020. Unlike the Mueller investigation, this is much easier for the American people to wrap their heads around. The president wanted the Ukrainian government to reopen an investigation of his political rival to ensure aid to the country - leveraging U.S. foreign policy for personal political gain. Hard stop. The Trump Administration put out Republican talking points, which they were sufficiently incompetent enough to also send to Democrats, it stated that there was no quid pro quo so there is no need for an impeachment inquiry. Well, ain't that a peach? As fmr. Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, explained there are no 'favors' in diplomacy, it's all a quid pro quo.
Mr. McFaul also outlined very clearly the timeline of how this all transpired:
 |
| Click to watch outline of the timeline |
It's been reported that there is rising anxiety within the West Wing, and there should be. It looks like one of the scapegoats is going to be the president's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, who Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) calls a free-range chicken. As a side note, Mr. Giuliani, mentioned over 30 times in the whistleblower complaint as a private citizen is representing the United States government in the eyes of the Mr. Zelensky's administration, which begs the question - Is Mr. Giuliani conducting his own personal foreign policy? And doesn't that violate the Logan Act? Maybe not, but it sure does come close.
Republicans office holders are tired Mr. Giuliani's antics and absurdities, they're fatigued. As Mark Leibovitch mentioned, there is a general fatigue with Trump, deemed Trump exhaustion. No doubt. Let the inquiry proceed.
Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, PBS News Hour; Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian; Mark Leibovitch, The New York Times Magazine; Hugh Hewitt, Salem Radio Network
Sunday, September 22, 2019
9.22.19: If... The Ukraine Mess and Trump's Self-Interest
According the whistleblower statute, the Director of National Intelligence must turn over the complaint to Congress, in this case the Intelligence Committee. However, the acting DNI Joseph MacGuire is blocking the House Intelligence Committee from seeing the complaint.
In the alleged quid pro quo between the president and the government of Ukraine, there are a lot of ifs. If Mr. MacGuire complied with the law instead of breaking it, clarity would be provided and there would be no need to turn over the transcript of the call, which Treasure Secretary Steve Mnuchin stated that it would set a bad precedent if done so. Congress doesn't need the transcript, they need the complaint. If they have the complaint then they would be in position to subpoena the transcript. If...
The complaint, as reported has to do with President Trump demanding that the Ukraine investigate presidential candidate fmr. VP Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Where the quid pro quo comes in is if Mr. Trump demanded that investigation in exchange for U.S. to Ukraine, the sum of $250 million.
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) said that he had met with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky and said that Mr. Zelensky was puzzled as to whether the pending aid was contingent upon opening up an investigation into Mr. Biden and his son. Overtures by the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, compounded the confusion for the Ukrainian government because it was not clear whether Mr. Giuliani was acting on behalf of the administration. To digress for a moment, Mr. Giuliani should no longer be considered 'America's Mayor' or a hero. His statements and acts since that time has completely disqualified him forever from any such designation. The confusion on the part of the Ukrainians is understandable, however, for those of us paying attention in the United States it's clear. Mr. Giuliani is not part of the Administration so his actions are taken on behalf of the Mr. Trump himself, not the United States. With that in mind, he was acting on behalf of the Trump campaign, which is soliciting help from a foreign government in a U.S. election. Apparently, Mr. Giuliani's meetings were set up by the State Department which also calls into question their accountability in all of this, specifically Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) stated that if that is the case, it is inappropriate and wrong. One can easily postulate that if the president did this and was acting in his own personal interest, which is in line with Mr. Trump's modus operandi writ large.
The fact that Mr. MacGuire is not turning over the complaint, the administration will not turn over the transcript of the call, that several officials have resigned or have been forced out since this call and that last week the administration finally released the aid to Ukraine all speaks to a corrupt intent. If...
Not to mention that not only did the Ukraine receive the $250 million but also received another $140 million that they didn't expect. Why? As Secretary Mnuchin of course said, there is no connection between the timing of the aforementioned events and the extra money to Mr. Trump's call.
As Robert Costa reminded us, the administration is intent on not cooperating with any Congressional oversight. Because of this the Democratically-controlled House needs to step up and not just threaten contempt of Congress orders but issue them. Unequivocally, Congress needs to step up.
In this instance, just like the other subject broached today, guns, Republicans refuse to do anything without the president's say so. Republican fecklessness knows no limits. Senate Republicans are on record as saying that they have no position or will not endorse any legislation that the president doesn't back. Doesn't Congress make the laws? As Mr. Toomey did on today's program, they are blaming Beto O'Rourke on stalling any gun legislation because Mr. O'Rourke said that if he were president he would institute a mandatory buy-back program for assault rifles. This is the lamest of excuses as Mr. O'Rourke is a candidate and does NOT hold any public office. Republicans aren't moving on gun legislation because a private citizen made a proposal that in reality carries on wait? Please.
Lastly, on the issue of Iran, Donna Edwards explained it plainly that Mr. Trump withdrew the United States from the Iranian nuclear agreement with no plan B. Let's face if the administration has a plan B for any foreign policy initiative, the Iranians would feel so emboldened in reeking havoc in the Middle East. Or if there were a plan B for the trade wars with China, U.S. farmers wouldn't be potentially losing the market for soybeans permanently.
Aside from punishing immigrants in variously different ways, this administration has no policies at all. It's only about keeping a man in power who has no regard for the United States' interest, only his own.
Panel: Donna Edwards, Fmr. Congresswoman (D-MD); Kristen Welker, NBC News; Robert Costa, The Washington Post; Carlos Curbelo, fmr. Congressman (R-FL)
In the alleged quid pro quo between the president and the government of Ukraine, there are a lot of ifs. If Mr. MacGuire complied with the law instead of breaking it, clarity would be provided and there would be no need to turn over the transcript of the call, which Treasure Secretary Steve Mnuchin stated that it would set a bad precedent if done so. Congress doesn't need the transcript, they need the complaint. If they have the complaint then they would be in position to subpoena the transcript. If...
The complaint, as reported has to do with President Trump demanding that the Ukraine investigate presidential candidate fmr. VP Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Where the quid pro quo comes in is if Mr. Trump demanded that investigation in exchange for U.S. to Ukraine, the sum of $250 million.
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) said that he had met with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky and said that Mr. Zelensky was puzzled as to whether the pending aid was contingent upon opening up an investigation into Mr. Biden and his son. Overtures by the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, compounded the confusion for the Ukrainian government because it was not clear whether Mr. Giuliani was acting on behalf of the administration. To digress for a moment, Mr. Giuliani should no longer be considered 'America's Mayor' or a hero. His statements and acts since that time has completely disqualified him forever from any such designation. The confusion on the part of the Ukrainians is understandable, however, for those of us paying attention in the United States it's clear. Mr. Giuliani is not part of the Administration so his actions are taken on behalf of the Mr. Trump himself, not the United States. With that in mind, he was acting on behalf of the Trump campaign, which is soliciting help from a foreign government in a U.S. election. Apparently, Mr. Giuliani's meetings were set up by the State Department which also calls into question their accountability in all of this, specifically Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) stated that if that is the case, it is inappropriate and wrong. One can easily postulate that if the president did this and was acting in his own personal interest, which is in line with Mr. Trump's modus operandi writ large.
The fact that Mr. MacGuire is not turning over the complaint, the administration will not turn over the transcript of the call, that several officials have resigned or have been forced out since this call and that last week the administration finally released the aid to Ukraine all speaks to a corrupt intent. If...
Not to mention that not only did the Ukraine receive the $250 million but also received another $140 million that they didn't expect. Why? As Secretary Mnuchin of course said, there is no connection between the timing of the aforementioned events and the extra money to Mr. Trump's call.
As Robert Costa reminded us, the administration is intent on not cooperating with any Congressional oversight. Because of this the Democratically-controlled House needs to step up and not just threaten contempt of Congress orders but issue them. Unequivocally, Congress needs to step up.
In this instance, just like the other subject broached today, guns, Republicans refuse to do anything without the president's say so. Republican fecklessness knows no limits. Senate Republicans are on record as saying that they have no position or will not endorse any legislation that the president doesn't back. Doesn't Congress make the laws? As Mr. Toomey did on today's program, they are blaming Beto O'Rourke on stalling any gun legislation because Mr. O'Rourke said that if he were president he would institute a mandatory buy-back program for assault rifles. This is the lamest of excuses as Mr. O'Rourke is a candidate and does NOT hold any public office. Republicans aren't moving on gun legislation because a private citizen made a proposal that in reality carries on wait? Please.
Lastly, on the issue of Iran, Donna Edwards explained it plainly that Mr. Trump withdrew the United States from the Iranian nuclear agreement with no plan B. Let's face if the administration has a plan B for any foreign policy initiative, the Iranians would feel so emboldened in reeking havoc in the Middle East. Or if there were a plan B for the trade wars with China, U.S. farmers wouldn't be potentially losing the market for soybeans permanently.
Aside from punishing immigrants in variously different ways, this administration has no policies at all. It's only about keeping a man in power who has no regard for the United States' interest, only his own.
Panel: Donna Edwards, Fmr. Congresswoman (D-MD); Kristen Welker, NBC News; Robert Costa, The Washington Post; Carlos Curbelo, fmr. Congressman (R-FL)
Sunday, September 01, 2019
9.1.19: Republicans Could Act But Choose Not To
Hurricane Dorian and another mass shooting in Texas...
Though we can not do anything about a hurricane, we can and must prepare for it eventually making landfall. What we also know is that storms like Dorian and becoming more frequent and more intense.
This is where was can do something. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) speaks sensibly on the topic of hurricanes, having a lot of experience in dealing with them as governor of the state, which is more than we can say for his answers on gun legislation. The senator explained that residents now have to build their houses up to standard, a standard we presume means that the houses should be elevated and not built in high-risk areas.
But these are patches on the bigger problem that Mr. Scott and other Republicans will not acknowledge, which is a changing climate. How far do you pull back from the coast until it's safe? The answer is farther and farther back as time goes on, and until there is common consensus or just any sense of the part of Republicans, things will continue to get worse and the money for disaster relief will become any even more contentious issue. Mr. Todd asked Mr. Scott about 'adaptation and mitigation, to which Mr. Scott answered with building standards but this is just the adaption part. Mitigation is to address climate change and the warming of the oceans that cause these storms to become more intense. Individuals can do their part but it's only government that can move on policy to address this growing threat. Congress could do something but they choose not to.
Speaking of another instance in which Congress, namely Republicans in Congress could do something but choose not to is on gun legislation. The second mass shooting in Texas (Midland/ Odessa area) this month occurred yesterday leaving 7 dead and over 20 injured. Today's panel was divided on whether they can now see Congress doing something with regard to gun legislation when it comes back in session.
Fmr. Homeland Secretary Jeh Johnson felt that it's different this time and that since there is a campaign coming up, Republicans will want to show that they have done something on guns. However, some on the panel cited the upcoming election season as the very reason that Republicans running for reelection won't do anything. They'll cater to their respective conservative bases and won't go 'soft' on guns. Conversely, fmr. HUD Secretary and Mayor of San Antonio, Julian Castro (D-TX), said that if he were president he would push for limiting high-capacity magazines, banning assault weapons and instituting universal background checks. These is standard in terms of the Democratic platform on guns though a majority of Americans are in favor of these measures. However, even on background checks, little, if anything, will change.
The president, Mr. Castro noted, has said after Parkland and after El Paso and Dayton that he would push for universal backgrounds but has since walked that back and will inevitably follow the intransigence of congressional Republicans, which would be Rick Scott who said that he was focused on mental illness. Mr. Scott, like other Republicans, mentioned red-flag laws, in which firearms can be taken from an individual if the person presents a danger to others or oneself. However, how many times do we find out after the fact of these mass shootings that the perpetrator had a manifesto or that friends thought something was 'wrong' with the person? Mr. Scott and other Senate Republicans will not bring a universal background check bill to the floor. That would be a slippery slope to an assault weapons bans or limiting magazine capacity.
In both cases, when Congress comes back from the August recess, these are two issues that Mr. Trump will dutifully distract us away from.
Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC; Jeh Johnson, fmr. Homeland Secretary; Shawna Thomas, Vice News; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute
Though we can not do anything about a hurricane, we can and must prepare for it eventually making landfall. What we also know is that storms like Dorian and becoming more frequent and more intense.
This is where was can do something. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) speaks sensibly on the topic of hurricanes, having a lot of experience in dealing with them as governor of the state, which is more than we can say for his answers on gun legislation. The senator explained that residents now have to build their houses up to standard, a standard we presume means that the houses should be elevated and not built in high-risk areas.
But these are patches on the bigger problem that Mr. Scott and other Republicans will not acknowledge, which is a changing climate. How far do you pull back from the coast until it's safe? The answer is farther and farther back as time goes on, and until there is common consensus or just any sense of the part of Republicans, things will continue to get worse and the money for disaster relief will become any even more contentious issue. Mr. Todd asked Mr. Scott about 'adaptation and mitigation, to which Mr. Scott answered with building standards but this is just the adaption part. Mitigation is to address climate change and the warming of the oceans that cause these storms to become more intense. Individuals can do their part but it's only government that can move on policy to address this growing threat. Congress could do something but they choose not to.
Speaking of another instance in which Congress, namely Republicans in Congress could do something but choose not to is on gun legislation. The second mass shooting in Texas (Midland/ Odessa area) this month occurred yesterday leaving 7 dead and over 20 injured. Today's panel was divided on whether they can now see Congress doing something with regard to gun legislation when it comes back in session.
Fmr. Homeland Secretary Jeh Johnson felt that it's different this time and that since there is a campaign coming up, Republicans will want to show that they have done something on guns. However, some on the panel cited the upcoming election season as the very reason that Republicans running for reelection won't do anything. They'll cater to their respective conservative bases and won't go 'soft' on guns. Conversely, fmr. HUD Secretary and Mayor of San Antonio, Julian Castro (D-TX), said that if he were president he would push for limiting high-capacity magazines, banning assault weapons and instituting universal background checks. These is standard in terms of the Democratic platform on guns though a majority of Americans are in favor of these measures. However, even on background checks, little, if anything, will change.
The president, Mr. Castro noted, has said after Parkland and after El Paso and Dayton that he would push for universal backgrounds but has since walked that back and will inevitably follow the intransigence of congressional Republicans, which would be Rick Scott who said that he was focused on mental illness. Mr. Scott, like other Republicans, mentioned red-flag laws, in which firearms can be taken from an individual if the person presents a danger to others or oneself. However, how many times do we find out after the fact of these mass shootings that the perpetrator had a manifesto or that friends thought something was 'wrong' with the person? Mr. Scott and other Senate Republicans will not bring a universal background check bill to the floor. That would be a slippery slope to an assault weapons bans or limiting magazine capacity.
In both cases, when Congress comes back from the August recess, these are two issues that Mr. Trump will dutifully distract us away from.
Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC; Jeh Johnson, fmr. Homeland Secretary; Shawna Thomas, Vice News; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute
Sunday, August 25, 2019
8.25.19: Standing with Hong Kong, and If Not Joe Biden, Who?
When the discussion turned to foreign policy, presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg immediately brought up the issue of Hong Kong and the protests going on there, not to make it another Tiananmen Square, clarify that America maintains a firm pro-democracy stance inline with the people of Hong Kong and that it is factor in all discussions.
It's a significant first place to start this week and kudos to Mr. Buttigieg for being immediate because this is a clarifying statement on administration's view of human rights and a founding American principle to China and everyone else in the world. The repercussions of any type of action (e.g. military) Mr. Buttigieg said would be China's 'isolation from the democratic world,' which will take a tremendous amount of diplomatic repair work first.
If the president insists of a trade strategy that consists of continually poking China in its eye, as the Mr. Buttigieg described, then the president could poke President Xi in the eye with this as well. The Administration's foreign policy consists of Mr. Trump's interactions and personal relationships with foreign leaders, mostly through Twitter. The shelf life for such diplomacy is quickly moving toward its expiration date.
This column, like Eugene Robinson, still think it's early in the race and hence why we a bit loathe to comment on it right now, especially given everything else that is going on, namely the G7 Summit in France, or the G6+1 as it has been deemed, with the six doing gentle push, as Mr. Robinson described it and also pointed out the important that Mr. Trump has not actually struck any deals, nothing signed. We've come to the point where we just want the summit to pass without major international incident.
Where last week's program dropped the ball, this week proved redemptive for "Meet The Press," with a high-bar panel consisting all of journalists and op-ed columnists, i.e. meet the press, all of whom provided quick key insights on the 'temperature in the room," so to speak.
The panel discussed the state of the presidential race in terms that we're insightful replacing the annoyingly mundane as sometimes occurs. The New York Times conservative columnist Brett Stephens described a Joe Biden campaign ad as potential poisonous for using polling data graphics, polls which are certain to change.
They continued to the larger question of if not Joe, who? The Daily Beast's Betsy Woodruff described Democratic strategists divided into two camps of thought, consisting of playing it safe with Joe Biden and others thinking an 'edible arrangement' could win. Both are poor strategies as neither answer that critical question for Democrats. Who?
This column, like Eugene Robinson, still think it's early in the race and hence why we a bit loathe to comment on it right now, especially given everything else that is going on, namely the G7 Summit in France, or the G6+1 as it has been deemed, with the six doing gentle push, as Mr. Robinson described it.
Kristen Soltis Anderson, Washington Examiner; Betsy Woodruff, "The Daily Beast;" Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; Brett Stephens, The New York Times
It's a significant first place to start this week and kudos to Mr. Buttigieg for being immediate because this is a clarifying statement on administration's view of human rights and a founding American principle to China and everyone else in the world. The repercussions of any type of action (e.g. military) Mr. Buttigieg said would be China's 'isolation from the democratic world,' which will take a tremendous amount of diplomatic repair work first.
If the president insists of a trade strategy that consists of continually poking China in its eye, as the Mr. Buttigieg described, then the president could poke President Xi in the eye with this as well. The Administration's foreign policy consists of Mr. Trump's interactions and personal relationships with foreign leaders, mostly through Twitter. The shelf life for such diplomacy is quickly moving toward its expiration date.
This column, like Eugene Robinson, still think it's early in the race and hence why we a bit loathe to comment on it right now, especially given everything else that is going on, namely the G7 Summit in France, or the G6+1 as it has been deemed, with the six doing gentle push, as Mr. Robinson described it and also pointed out the important that Mr. Trump has not actually struck any deals, nothing signed. We've come to the point where we just want the summit to pass without major international incident.
Where last week's program dropped the ball, this week proved redemptive for "Meet The Press," with a high-bar panel consisting all of journalists and op-ed columnists, i.e. meet the press, all of whom provided quick key insights on the 'temperature in the room," so to speak.
The panel discussed the state of the presidential race in terms that we're insightful replacing the annoyingly mundane as sometimes occurs. The New York Times conservative columnist Brett Stephens described a Joe Biden campaign ad as potential poisonous for using polling data graphics, polls which are certain to change.
They continued to the larger question of if not Joe, who? The Daily Beast's Betsy Woodruff described Democratic strategists divided into two camps of thought, consisting of playing it safe with Joe Biden and others thinking an 'edible arrangement' could win. Both are poor strategies as neither answer that critical question for Democrats. Who?
This column, like Eugene Robinson, still think it's early in the race and hence why we a bit loathe to comment on it right now, especially given everything else that is going on, namely the G7 Summit in France, or the G6+1 as it has been deemed, with the six doing gentle push, as Mr. Robinson described it.
Kristen Soltis Anderson, Washington Examiner; Betsy Woodruff, "The Daily Beast;" Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; Brett Stephens, The New York Times
Sunday, August 18, 2019
8.18.19: Missing the Wider Implications, Today's "Meet The Press" Dropped the Ball
Today's "Meet The Press" missed the mark. The fallback position of dissecting Democratic presidential candidates was frankly a waste of time for more important things that only get a passing statement.
Granted, there was sufficient focus on the economy and Mr. Todd did interview the president's chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow, however, wider implications were not addressed. For example, the trade war with China is an unmitigated disaster. As fmr. Congressman Beto O'Rourke stated, the trade standoff with China is 'hammering the hell out of farmers in this country,' and the once robust market for American agricultural products may not come back as China looks to other countries for soybeans and other agricultural products.
The wider implication is that President Trump is so desperate to get a trade deal with China, who is basically playing a long game versus his transactional nature, that he has no leverage to speak out for the citizens of Hong Kong and the protests against Beijing's tactics of repression. The Trump Administration has said that America shouldn't get involved, which is completely wrong-headed inasmuch as not only are democratic freedoms threatened but the stability of a global financial center are being put at risk.
If the Trans-Pacific Partnership had moved forward, something that the president was against, the United States would have had tremendous leverage over China and this tariff folly that the president continues on could have been resolved already. As Mr. O'Rourke pointed out, some of the finer points of the TPP needed to be worked out, but overall it was a short-sighted mistake that the United States didn't proceed with this to open up even more markets for U.S. agriculture.
Going forward with such a deal was traditionally a no-brainer for Republicans, which is part of the 'conversation' that fmr. Congressman Mark Sanford was touching on. Setting aside the poisonous rhetoric the president constantly spews, Mr. Sanford has a point that the once fiscally-stingy Republican party is now following a cult of personality figure that is running up trillion-dollar deficits year over year. With that said, as soon as a Democrat is elected president, the Republicans will miraculously regain their ever hypocritical fiscal sanity.
Speaking of wider implications, Mr. Todd only briefly touched (and that's being generous) on the fact that at the president's urging, Israel denied entry for two duly elected United States Congresswomen. This is an unprecedented act in American foreign policy. This should have been a focal point of today's discussion and how the president is politicizing the United States' traditional bipartisan support for Israel. That Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave into the president's badgering and statements that once again dishonor the office of the presidency, shows his fecklessness as a leader. This topic alone could have taken up the entire hour and even though Mr. Netanyahu reversed his government's decision with regard to Congresswoman Tlaib, on principle she was correct to reject the invitation. Mr. Netanyahu and Israel had an opportunity to show the open arms of their democracy but instead chose narrow-mindedness over openness.
Lastly, we return to Mr. Kudlow who stated multiple times during the interview that we shouldn't be afraid of optimism, which seriously worried Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan and if you share that worry, you'd be right. Carol Lee noted that despite his statements of optimism, he gave no real concrete answers to how the administration would deal with an economic slowdown. We'd be remiss if we didn't point out that Mr. Kudlow has an awful record on predicting this country's economic future. When confronted with the statements that Mr. Kudlow made before the 2008 economic meltdown, in which he said the economy was strong, he admitted that he blew that call. We'd say so...
He blew that call then, and today, "Meet The Press" dropped the ball.
Yamiche Alcindor, PBS NewsHour; Joshua Johnson, NPR; Carol Lee, NBC News; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal
Granted, there was sufficient focus on the economy and Mr. Todd did interview the president's chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow, however, wider implications were not addressed. For example, the trade war with China is an unmitigated disaster. As fmr. Congressman Beto O'Rourke stated, the trade standoff with China is 'hammering the hell out of farmers in this country,' and the once robust market for American agricultural products may not come back as China looks to other countries for soybeans and other agricultural products.
The wider implication is that President Trump is so desperate to get a trade deal with China, who is basically playing a long game versus his transactional nature, that he has no leverage to speak out for the citizens of Hong Kong and the protests against Beijing's tactics of repression. The Trump Administration has said that America shouldn't get involved, which is completely wrong-headed inasmuch as not only are democratic freedoms threatened but the stability of a global financial center are being put at risk.
If the Trans-Pacific Partnership had moved forward, something that the president was against, the United States would have had tremendous leverage over China and this tariff folly that the president continues on could have been resolved already. As Mr. O'Rourke pointed out, some of the finer points of the TPP needed to be worked out, but overall it was a short-sighted mistake that the United States didn't proceed with this to open up even more markets for U.S. agriculture.
Going forward with such a deal was traditionally a no-brainer for Republicans, which is part of the 'conversation' that fmr. Congressman Mark Sanford was touching on. Setting aside the poisonous rhetoric the president constantly spews, Mr. Sanford has a point that the once fiscally-stingy Republican party is now following a cult of personality figure that is running up trillion-dollar deficits year over year. With that said, as soon as a Democrat is elected president, the Republicans will miraculously regain their ever hypocritical fiscal sanity.
Speaking of wider implications, Mr. Todd only briefly touched (and that's being generous) on the fact that at the president's urging, Israel denied entry for two duly elected United States Congresswomen. This is an unprecedented act in American foreign policy. This should have been a focal point of today's discussion and how the president is politicizing the United States' traditional bipartisan support for Israel. That Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave into the president's badgering and statements that once again dishonor the office of the presidency, shows his fecklessness as a leader. This topic alone could have taken up the entire hour and even though Mr. Netanyahu reversed his government's decision with regard to Congresswoman Tlaib, on principle she was correct to reject the invitation. Mr. Netanyahu and Israel had an opportunity to show the open arms of their democracy but instead chose narrow-mindedness over openness.
Lastly, we return to Mr. Kudlow who stated multiple times during the interview that we shouldn't be afraid of optimism, which seriously worried Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan and if you share that worry, you'd be right. Carol Lee noted that despite his statements of optimism, he gave no real concrete answers to how the administration would deal with an economic slowdown. We'd be remiss if we didn't point out that Mr. Kudlow has an awful record on predicting this country's economic future. When confronted with the statements that Mr. Kudlow made before the 2008 economic meltdown, in which he said the economy was strong, he admitted that he blew that call. We'd say so...
He blew that call then, and today, "Meet The Press" dropped the ball.
Yamiche Alcindor, PBS NewsHour; Joshua Johnson, NPR; Carol Lee, NBC News; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal
Sunday, August 11, 2019
8.11.19: Timing Depends On What Side of the Aisle You're On
Acting Dept. Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said that the timing of the ICE raid in Mississippi was unfortunate, given the mass shooting in El Paso where the gunman specifically targeted Hispanics. We'll stipulate that White House senior advisor Stephen Miller doesn't want to see people killed but we can not say for sure that he also thinks the timing of the raids were unfortunate.
We now have an entire demographic of Americans effectively scared that the current administration doesn't care about their welfare. As Chuck Todd kept asking throughout the program, why weren't there any charges brought against the companies for illegal hiring practices? Mr. McAleenan explained that there haven't been any charges as the DHS is the middle of an ongoing investigation. However, Mr. Trump's DOJ isn't interested in the companies as much as the number of undocumented workers that are arrested. The Administration's goal was to send a signal and as the president said himself, he wanted it to be a deterrent, and the companies involved weren't the focus despite the explicit citation that ICE will target the employers first over the employees. We can sympathize with Mr. McAleenan for the fine line he has to rhetorically walk, but it's telling that he knew exactly the amount of those arrested who had criminal records, but couldn't say how many had green cards. And once again as Kristen Welker pointed out, the administration didn't have a plan in place for the kids separated from the parents.
In a month's time, we'll still remember the raid as the largest single day ICE round-up of undocumented immigrants, but the companies that broke the law will fade in relevance from the story. Also, in a month's time upon the return of Congress from their summer recess, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will have hoped that no other mass shooting incidents will have occurred so that he can shelve any gun control measures. It's almost guaranteed that President Trump will supply the news media with enough new outrages to distract from working on any legislation. Mr. Todd commented to the panel that it isn't often that Mr. McConnell pledges to do anything let alone pass legislation. However, just because he said that during a radio interview doesn't mean it will still hold any weight when Congress is back in session.
Timing is a matter of perspective and for those lamenting the fact that these mass-shooting tragedies occur just a Congress is heading for recess. One thing Mr. McConnell wouldn't say is that the timing was bad.
Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC; Hugh Hewitt, Salem Radio Network; Maria Teresa Kumar, Voto Latino; Robert Costa, The Washington Post
We now have an entire demographic of Americans effectively scared that the current administration doesn't care about their welfare. As Chuck Todd kept asking throughout the program, why weren't there any charges brought against the companies for illegal hiring practices? Mr. McAleenan explained that there haven't been any charges as the DHS is the middle of an ongoing investigation. However, Mr. Trump's DOJ isn't interested in the companies as much as the number of undocumented workers that are arrested. The Administration's goal was to send a signal and as the president said himself, he wanted it to be a deterrent, and the companies involved weren't the focus despite the explicit citation that ICE will target the employers first over the employees. We can sympathize with Mr. McAleenan for the fine line he has to rhetorically walk, but it's telling that he knew exactly the amount of those arrested who had criminal records, but couldn't say how many had green cards. And once again as Kristen Welker pointed out, the administration didn't have a plan in place for the kids separated from the parents.
In a month's time, we'll still remember the raid as the largest single day ICE round-up of undocumented immigrants, but the companies that broke the law will fade in relevance from the story. Also, in a month's time upon the return of Congress from their summer recess, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will have hoped that no other mass shooting incidents will have occurred so that he can shelve any gun control measures. It's almost guaranteed that President Trump will supply the news media with enough new outrages to distract from working on any legislation. Mr. Todd commented to the panel that it isn't often that Mr. McConnell pledges to do anything let alone pass legislation. However, just because he said that during a radio interview doesn't mean it will still hold any weight when Congress is back in session.
Timing is a matter of perspective and for those lamenting the fact that these mass-shooting tragedies occur just a Congress is heading for recess. One thing Mr. McConnell wouldn't say is that the timing was bad.
Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC; Hugh Hewitt, Salem Radio Network; Maria Teresa Kumar, Voto Latino; Robert Costa, The Washington Post
Sunday, August 04, 2019
8.4.19: The Last 24 Hours in America...
The last 24 hours...
20 dead and 26 injured in El Paso, Texas; 9 dead and 20 injured in Dayton, Ohio.
(More people died in a 13-hour span in two American cities than had died in the last two years in Afghanistan.)
Let's just start with this: this column like Princeton University professor Eddie Glaude Jr. could give a damn what White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney has to say. That he would condemn the statements of Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Mr. Glaude as being political in a time when we should be grieving is morally bankrupt. How many people have to die in mass shootings in this country to accept that the president's words matter and that Congressional inaction is inexcusable. The double standard that this White House holds is painfully and tragically obvious, inasmuch as if this white domestic terrorist had been of Muslim faith or Hispanic we would be watching the president on television right now dispensing even more vitriol against those groups than he already has.
Politico's Eliana Johnson who said she is loathe to blame politicians clearly stated that the president has to acknowledge that this country has a white nationalist, domestic terrorism problem. Fmr. Governor Pat McCrory's 'whataboutism' is shameful. He did say that the rhetoric needs to be lowered, but insisted that the term 'invasion' should still be used for the refugee crisis occurring at our southern border. Kasie Hunt correctly pointed out that 'invasion' is threatening where as 'refugee' is not. The rhetoric matters.
What was very telling throughout this week's hour of "Meet The Press" was the different postures people were taking: Defensive on the part of Republicans - Mick Mulvaney and Pat McCrory; Anguish of the faces of the Democrats and progressives - Cory Booker, Julian Castro, Eddie Glaude Jr., Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (D-TX). Ms. Escobar stated that we have to speak the truth in Congress, which is that there is a gun and hate epidemic in this country. The anguish comes from the fact that Republicans writ large, lead by the president, refuse to acknowledge this truth. One... one elected Republican, George P. Bush (R-TX) has come out to call what happened in El Paso what it is: white terrorism.
The director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, has stated before Congress that domestic terrorism is a growing problem in the United States, yet the White House has cut funding to combat this problem and diminished it as an issue. Mr. Mulvaney said that the president is the president of all Americans in this country, even though he never acts like it.
"Very fine people on both sides," the president said with regard to Charlottesville. He not just lacks it, but simply does not have the moral clarity or authority to heal this nation in times like these. There hasn't been a single day that the man holding the office of the presidency has been able or willing to bring this country together. Is he to blame for these shootings, no of course not, but has he provided the rhetoric and policies to facilitate these tragedies, absolutely.
This column is so disgusted today that we simply refuse to write his name.
Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Eliana Johnson, Politico; Eddie Glaude Jr., Princeton Univesity; Pat McCrory, fmr. governor North Carolina
20 dead and 26 injured in El Paso, Texas; 9 dead and 20 injured in Dayton, Ohio.
(More people died in a 13-hour span in two American cities than had died in the last two years in Afghanistan.)
Let's just start with this: this column like Princeton University professor Eddie Glaude Jr. could give a damn what White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney has to say. That he would condemn the statements of Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Mr. Glaude as being political in a time when we should be grieving is morally bankrupt. How many people have to die in mass shootings in this country to accept that the president's words matter and that Congressional inaction is inexcusable. The double standard that this White House holds is painfully and tragically obvious, inasmuch as if this white domestic terrorist had been of Muslim faith or Hispanic we would be watching the president on television right now dispensing even more vitriol against those groups than he already has.
Politico's Eliana Johnson who said she is loathe to blame politicians clearly stated that the president has to acknowledge that this country has a white nationalist, domestic terrorism problem. Fmr. Governor Pat McCrory's 'whataboutism' is shameful. He did say that the rhetoric needs to be lowered, but insisted that the term 'invasion' should still be used for the refugee crisis occurring at our southern border. Kasie Hunt correctly pointed out that 'invasion' is threatening where as 'refugee' is not. The rhetoric matters.
What was very telling throughout this week's hour of "Meet The Press" was the different postures people were taking: Defensive on the part of Republicans - Mick Mulvaney and Pat McCrory; Anguish of the faces of the Democrats and progressives - Cory Booker, Julian Castro, Eddie Glaude Jr., Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (D-TX). Ms. Escobar stated that we have to speak the truth in Congress, which is that there is a gun and hate epidemic in this country. The anguish comes from the fact that Republicans writ large, lead by the president, refuse to acknowledge this truth. One... one elected Republican, George P. Bush (R-TX) has come out to call what happened in El Paso what it is: white terrorism.
The director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, has stated before Congress that domestic terrorism is a growing problem in the United States, yet the White House has cut funding to combat this problem and diminished it as an issue. Mr. Mulvaney said that the president is the president of all Americans in this country, even though he never acts like it.
"Very fine people on both sides," the president said with regard to Charlottesville. He not just lacks it, but simply does not have the moral clarity or authority to heal this nation in times like these. There hasn't been a single day that the man holding the office of the presidency has been able or willing to bring this country together. Is he to blame for these shootings, no of course not, but has he provided the rhetoric and policies to facilitate these tragedies, absolutely.
This column is so disgusted today that we simply refuse to write his name.
Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Eliana Johnson, Politico; Eddie Glaude Jr., Princeton Univesity; Pat McCrory, fmr. governor North Carolina
Sunday, July 28, 2019
7.31.19: Republicans Blatant Disregard for National Security
Mr. Mueller's testimony before Congress this week did not live up to expectations, as this column had warned last week. With that said, there were significant takeaways that we'll touch on without getting too far into the weeds. (You can read other news pieces for more comprehensive analysis.)
Mr. Mueller said that the Trump campaign welcomed assistance from the Russians, that it is a crime and that the president obstructed the investigation into the election meddling. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) stated that in 2016, then President Obama didn't do what he should have done and in 2018 President Trump did a lot. More on this in a minute, but that is patently false. Also, in light of the fact that the day after Mr. Mueller's testimony, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report that stated the Russians tried to infiltrate all 50 states. Senator Scott hasn't read the report even though it contains information about Florida from when he was governor of the state. What was also false is when Chuck Todd asked him point blank if he knew of any interference in 2016 as governor, he hedged and unconvincingly said 'no.'
Twice Mr. Scott said 'the Russians are here,' practically conceding the point that Congress isn't going to do anything to stop it, despite the report and that Mr. Mueller testified that in his long career he's almost never seen such a graver threat to our democracy. Being an apologist for the president doesn't mesh well with protecting our elections.
Speaking of 'protecting,' another takeaway was that House Republicans not only defended the president but also did their level best to discredit Mr. Mueller and the investigation as a whole, calling his integrity into question. Republicans being completely cowed, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) explained the case (for impeachment) needs to be made to the American people, which is a difficult uphill climb, to completely understate it. As former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said during the panel discussion, impeachment doesn't come up. Americans, rightly, as concerned about healthcare, infrastructure and because of Donald Trump's rhetoric, racial division.
This brings us to Donald Trump's latest racial attack concerning Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD) who called Baltimore a 'disgusting rat and rodent infested mess... where no human being would want to live.' So much for being the President of the United States. The comment is wrong on so many levels, but as we've come to realize long ago there's no level so low where Mr. Trump is not willing to go. Mr. Cummings for his part is the Chairman of the House Oversight Committee and Mr. Trump objects to all oversight.
In one of the saddest pieces of commentary today, National Review editor Rich Lowry said that the charge of racism has lost all its force with Republicans - that's the electorate and in the Congress. When asked about racially dividing the country, Mr. Scott said that he didn't like Mr. Cummings criticizing Border Patrol agents, trying to employ the 'whataboutism,' but really had no answer to whether a racially-tinged attack was warranted. As New York Times Helene Cooper surmised, there is not breaking point for Republicans when it is comes to race.
Racial attacks are the president's go-to tactic when he wants to distract from all the corruption. Presidential candidate Tom Steyer called Mr. Trump the most corrupt president in the history of the United States. In any American's lifetime, this is certainly true.
So how does today's stream of consciousness from the Mueller hearing to Trump's gaslighting come together. It's really a two word answer: Mitch McConnell.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-TN) enables Mr. Trump's corruption by dismissing any attempted oversight, but it has been Mr. McConnell who has thwarted all attempts to combat Russian interference in our elections. Going back to 2016, it was President Obama who wanted to make Russian meddling a public national security issue, but Mr. McConnell in a meeting of Congressional leaders on the subject blocked the effort.
In light of this week's Senate report, Mitch McConnell is blocking two House bills that would bolster election security, in which candidates would be required to report any knowledge of election interference among other things including having paper ballot back-up for every vote.
On Friday, the hashtag 'Moscow Mitch' was trending and there's good reason because he has willingly undermined the Constitution of the United States and its national security simply to hang on to power.
If Mr. Trump is the most corrupt politician in American history, Mr. McConnell is certainly the most despicable.
From Newsweek.
and
Dana Milbank's latest column from the Washington Post.
Panel: Amy Walter, the Cook Political Report; Rich Lowry, National Review; Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Terry McAuliffe, fmr. Governor of Virginia
Mr. Mueller said that the Trump campaign welcomed assistance from the Russians, that it is a crime and that the president obstructed the investigation into the election meddling. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) stated that in 2016, then President Obama didn't do what he should have done and in 2018 President Trump did a lot. More on this in a minute, but that is patently false. Also, in light of the fact that the day after Mr. Mueller's testimony, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report that stated the Russians tried to infiltrate all 50 states. Senator Scott hasn't read the report even though it contains information about Florida from when he was governor of the state. What was also false is when Chuck Todd asked him point blank if he knew of any interference in 2016 as governor, he hedged and unconvincingly said 'no.'
Twice Mr. Scott said 'the Russians are here,' practically conceding the point that Congress isn't going to do anything to stop it, despite the report and that Mr. Mueller testified that in his long career he's almost never seen such a graver threat to our democracy. Being an apologist for the president doesn't mesh well with protecting our elections.
Speaking of 'protecting,' another takeaway was that House Republicans not only defended the president but also did their level best to discredit Mr. Mueller and the investigation as a whole, calling his integrity into question. Republicans being completely cowed, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) explained the case (for impeachment) needs to be made to the American people, which is a difficult uphill climb, to completely understate it. As former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said during the panel discussion, impeachment doesn't come up. Americans, rightly, as concerned about healthcare, infrastructure and because of Donald Trump's rhetoric, racial division.
This brings us to Donald Trump's latest racial attack concerning Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD) who called Baltimore a 'disgusting rat and rodent infested mess... where no human being would want to live.' So much for being the President of the United States. The comment is wrong on so many levels, but as we've come to realize long ago there's no level so low where Mr. Trump is not willing to go. Mr. Cummings for his part is the Chairman of the House Oversight Committee and Mr. Trump objects to all oversight.
In one of the saddest pieces of commentary today, National Review editor Rich Lowry said that the charge of racism has lost all its force with Republicans - that's the electorate and in the Congress. When asked about racially dividing the country, Mr. Scott said that he didn't like Mr. Cummings criticizing Border Patrol agents, trying to employ the 'whataboutism,' but really had no answer to whether a racially-tinged attack was warranted. As New York Times Helene Cooper surmised, there is not breaking point for Republicans when it is comes to race.
Racial attacks are the president's go-to tactic when he wants to distract from all the corruption. Presidential candidate Tom Steyer called Mr. Trump the most corrupt president in the history of the United States. In any American's lifetime, this is certainly true.
So how does today's stream of consciousness from the Mueller hearing to Trump's gaslighting come together. It's really a two word answer: Mitch McConnell.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-TN) enables Mr. Trump's corruption by dismissing any attempted oversight, but it has been Mr. McConnell who has thwarted all attempts to combat Russian interference in our elections. Going back to 2016, it was President Obama who wanted to make Russian meddling a public national security issue, but Mr. McConnell in a meeting of Congressional leaders on the subject blocked the effort.
In light of this week's Senate report, Mitch McConnell is blocking two House bills that would bolster election security, in which candidates would be required to report any knowledge of election interference among other things including having paper ballot back-up for every vote.
On Friday, the hashtag 'Moscow Mitch' was trending and there's good reason because he has willingly undermined the Constitution of the United States and its national security simply to hang on to power.
If Mr. Trump is the most corrupt politician in American history, Mr. McConnell is certainly the most despicable.
From Newsweek.
and
Dana Milbank's latest column from the Washington Post.
Panel: Amy Walter, the Cook Political Report; Rich Lowry, National Review; Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Terry McAuliffe, fmr. Governor of Virginia
Sunday, July 21, 2019
7.21.19: Patriotic U.S. Congresswomen
This week's "Meet The Press" is preempted due to NBC's coverage of the British Open.
It's always so tempting to weigh in with a column in the middle of the week and it would probably help traffic numbers for this blog. However, in the era of Trump the week can play out in unexpected ways to say the least so that interval seems suitable; maintaining sanity also comes into play and focusing on Donald Trump is not the answer to that maintenance; and lastly, life gets in the way.
With that said, last Sunday Mr. Trump attacked four Democratic congresswomen all of whom are women of color and throughout the week, he maintained his racial tropes swaying and pitching in different directions but returned attacks again today with the following tweet:
Donald J. Trump is President of the United States in name only because he clearly has no inclination to be the leader for all its people. It's sad times in America and we do not find ourselves 'great' as this man likes to proclaim.
There's no doubt a pinnacle of lowness was reached midweek with the president's rally in North Carolina with the crowd chanting "send her back" in reference to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN), which is simply despicable. Mr. Trump for his part, later in the week said that he didn't like the chant but given the message he sent today ultimately has no problem with it. Never mind Republican lawmakers trying to downplay all of this - let's not get into it - because they are a lost cause. There is nothing this president can do that will make them speak out against the president, and Mr. Trump will continue to test those boundaries if 'test' is even what he's doing.
Contrary to what Mr. Trump would tell you, the people at that rally are not patriots for chanting what they did. In fact, these four congresswomen are more patriotic then they will ever be.
Ms. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)
Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)
Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)
'The Squad' and the general branding of congressional groups (the 'problem solvers' caucus also comes to mind) is a bit ridiculous, granted. But they stood up, made their case, and were elected by the citizenry to represent districts in the country they love. It's their patriotic duty to question their leaders, in this case the president. And his actions more than deserve to be questioned.
Speaking of questions, Congress will question fmr. Special Counsel Robert Mueller this week and be advised to keep expectations low. He'll most likely stick strictly to his script (the report) and will provide as little as context as possible. Mr. Mueller has been effectively neutered by Attorney General William Barr inasmuch as Mr. Mueller's investigation is incomplete. Ended too soon by Mr. Barr. Will it be helpful if the American public actually hears and sees from Mr. Mueller and the outlining of at the very least the president's obstruction of justice? Perhaps, but at this time the prediction is that it will matter little.
The Democratically-controlled House's only recourse is to start an impeachment inquiry, and that's exactly what it would be, an inquiry. This would give them the leverage to have documents unsealed, clearly the president's chief obstructionist, Mr. Barr, out of the way and free grand jury testimony that would probably be more damning to the president. An immense amount of light needs to be shone about what Mr. Mueller found and unfortunately his testimony this week won't be enough.
On last thing about Mr. Barr, his justice department this week said it would not indict the officer that killed Eric Garner with a choke hold. It was reported but not very widely discussed. This has renewed racial animus on the community level, while the president creates more of it on a national level. A ruinous administration without healing for the foreseeable future.
It's always so tempting to weigh in with a column in the middle of the week and it would probably help traffic numbers for this blog. However, in the era of Trump the week can play out in unexpected ways to say the least so that interval seems suitable; maintaining sanity also comes into play and focusing on Donald Trump is not the answer to that maintenance; and lastly, life gets in the way.
With that said, last Sunday Mr. Trump attacked four Democratic congresswomen all of whom are women of color and throughout the week, he maintained his racial tropes swaying and pitching in different directions but returned attacks again today with the following tweet:
Donald J. Trump is President of the United States in name only because he clearly has no inclination to be the leader for all its people. It's sad times in America and we do not find ourselves 'great' as this man likes to proclaim.
There's no doubt a pinnacle of lowness was reached midweek with the president's rally in North Carolina with the crowd chanting "send her back" in reference to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN), which is simply despicable. Mr. Trump for his part, later in the week said that he didn't like the chant but given the message he sent today ultimately has no problem with it. Never mind Republican lawmakers trying to downplay all of this - let's not get into it - because they are a lost cause. There is nothing this president can do that will make them speak out against the president, and Mr. Trump will continue to test those boundaries if 'test' is even what he's doing.
Contrary to what Mr. Trump would tell you, the people at that rally are not patriots for chanting what they did. In fact, these four congresswomen are more patriotic then they will ever be.
Ms. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)
Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)
Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)
'The Squad' and the general branding of congressional groups (the 'problem solvers' caucus also comes to mind) is a bit ridiculous, granted. But they stood up, made their case, and were elected by the citizenry to represent districts in the country they love. It's their patriotic duty to question their leaders, in this case the president. And his actions more than deserve to be questioned.
Speaking of questions, Congress will question fmr. Special Counsel Robert Mueller this week and be advised to keep expectations low. He'll most likely stick strictly to his script (the report) and will provide as little as context as possible. Mr. Mueller has been effectively neutered by Attorney General William Barr inasmuch as Mr. Mueller's investigation is incomplete. Ended too soon by Mr. Barr. Will it be helpful if the American public actually hears and sees from Mr. Mueller and the outlining of at the very least the president's obstruction of justice? Perhaps, but at this time the prediction is that it will matter little.
The Democratically-controlled House's only recourse is to start an impeachment inquiry, and that's exactly what it would be, an inquiry. This would give them the leverage to have documents unsealed, clearly the president's chief obstructionist, Mr. Barr, out of the way and free grand jury testimony that would probably be more damning to the president. An immense amount of light needs to be shone about what Mr. Mueller found and unfortunately his testimony this week won't be enough.
On last thing about Mr. Barr, his justice department this week said it would not indict the officer that killed Eric Garner with a choke hold. It was reported but not very widely discussed. This has renewed racial animus on the community level, while the president creates more of it on a national level. A ruinous administration without healing for the foreseeable future.
Sunday, July 14, 2019
7.14.19: Those Who Want Respect...
"We're talking about the basics... treating people with respect," is one of the key takeaways from Megan Rapinoe's interview on 'Meet The Press' today. And when we're talking basics, this is President Trump's problem - his lack of respect for the office that he holds, the Constitution and for the purposes of this discussion human dignity.
Ms. Rapinoe also said that Mr. Trump divides so he can conquer and does not unite so we can all conquer. No matter the area, the president never misses an opportunity to pit one group of people against another and it filters down through our entire political discourse. And this president's policies are concerned, action. The conditions at these detention facilities on the border are appalling that Vice-President Pence got a firsthand look at this week. This followed up by I.C.E. raids today that the president bragged about. We'll see how these raids play out and it won't be well when you see families who've committed no crimes are hauled out of their houses and not treated with any semblance of dignity.
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), Home Security Committee Chairman, said that the situation at the border is completely out of control and then he cited an example from 2005 where then Homeland Security Security Michael Chernoff (Bush Administration) reversed an immigration trend from Brazil in 60 days. If it can be done in an effective manner as Mr. Johnson explained then why can't there be some kind of coherent plan in place to mitigate this overwhelming flow of migrants? The answer is because the White House doesn't have a coherent plan. The only strategy that has been consistent coming from this administration is blame and vilification. As Politico's Tim Alberta explained, this plays well with the president's base but he is alienating suburban Republicans that put him over the top in 2016.
In response to Mr. Todd's question of why not have a Marshall Plan for Northern Triangle countries to better the conditions there, Mr. Johnson said that that was more of a long-term plan and we need to do something now. The Administration has cut way back on aid to those countries, which is short-sighted and the fact is that Mr. Trump is proving himself incapable of putting a long-term plan together.
Compounding the problem of the president's lack of an attention span is the fact that the administration consists of 'acting' department heads,
Acting Defense secretary
Acting DHS secretary
Acting UN ambassador
Acting SBA administrator
Acting chief of staff
Acting FEMA director
Acting ICE director
Acting USCIS director
Acting FAA administrator.
(source NBC News)
This makes is virtually impossible to put a plan in place and get anything done. It shows a lack of respect for governing and the Senate's role of 'advise and consent.'
To illustrate the point with a bit of irony, here's the actor James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano spelling it out most concisely (clips contains many f-notes):
One more note of this notion of respect. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said this week that Speaker Pelosi's comments about her and other very liberal-leaning freshman congresswomen were essentially disrespectful. But a couple of things here: 1) these congresswoman, and this column strongly feels they need to be in office, still have a lot to learn; 2) to fmr. Senator Claire McCaskill's point, it's the 40-odd moderate Democrats who won races in Republican districts that gave those freshman their majority voice which Ms. Pelosi has to be mindful of; 3) it was incorrect of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez to make it an issue of race or color; and lastly, though we agree with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that Ms. Pelosi was a bit too hard on them, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez needs to get thicker skin if she wants to be a leader in the Democratic Party.
Panel: Hallie Jackson, NBC News; Carlos Curbello, fmr. Republican Congressman from Florida; Claire McCaskill, fmr. Democratic Senator from Missouri; Tim Alberta, Politico
Race:
One more thing...
This column trends to the more practical and pragmatic when it comes to legislation and policy and with that in mind we'd have to agree with Senator McCaskill in asking the question, how do Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Senator Sanders get these 'big change' policies like Medicare-for-all through the U.S. Congress? You can be for it, but to believe that the promise will come to fruition is being naive.
Ms. Rapinoe also said that Mr. Trump divides so he can conquer and does not unite so we can all conquer. No matter the area, the president never misses an opportunity to pit one group of people against another and it filters down through our entire political discourse. And this president's policies are concerned, action. The conditions at these detention facilities on the border are appalling that Vice-President Pence got a firsthand look at this week. This followed up by I.C.E. raids today that the president bragged about. We'll see how these raids play out and it won't be well when you see families who've committed no crimes are hauled out of their houses and not treated with any semblance of dignity.
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), Home Security Committee Chairman, said that the situation at the border is completely out of control and then he cited an example from 2005 where then Homeland Security Security Michael Chernoff (Bush Administration) reversed an immigration trend from Brazil in 60 days. If it can be done in an effective manner as Mr. Johnson explained then why can't there be some kind of coherent plan in place to mitigate this overwhelming flow of migrants? The answer is because the White House doesn't have a coherent plan. The only strategy that has been consistent coming from this administration is blame and vilification. As Politico's Tim Alberta explained, this plays well with the president's base but he is alienating suburban Republicans that put him over the top in 2016.
In response to Mr. Todd's question of why not have a Marshall Plan for Northern Triangle countries to better the conditions there, Mr. Johnson said that that was more of a long-term plan and we need to do something now. The Administration has cut way back on aid to those countries, which is short-sighted and the fact is that Mr. Trump is proving himself incapable of putting a long-term plan together.
Compounding the problem of the president's lack of an attention span is the fact that the administration consists of 'acting' department heads,
Acting Defense secretary
Acting DHS secretary
Acting UN ambassador
Acting SBA administrator
Acting chief of staff
Acting FEMA director
Acting ICE director
Acting USCIS director
Acting FAA administrator.
(source NBC News)
This makes is virtually impossible to put a plan in place and get anything done. It shows a lack of respect for governing and the Senate's role of 'advise and consent.'
To illustrate the point with a bit of irony, here's the actor James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano spelling it out most concisely (clips contains many f-notes):
One more note of this notion of respect. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said this week that Speaker Pelosi's comments about her and other very liberal-leaning freshman congresswomen were essentially disrespectful. But a couple of things here: 1) these congresswoman, and this column strongly feels they need to be in office, still have a lot to learn; 2) to fmr. Senator Claire McCaskill's point, it's the 40-odd moderate Democrats who won races in Republican districts that gave those freshman their majority voice which Ms. Pelosi has to be mindful of; 3) it was incorrect of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez to make it an issue of race or color; and lastly, though we agree with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that Ms. Pelosi was a bit too hard on them, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez needs to get thicker skin if she wants to be a leader in the Democratic Party.
Panel: Hallie Jackson, NBC News; Carlos Curbello, fmr. Republican Congressman from Florida; Claire McCaskill, fmr. Democratic Senator from Missouri; Tim Alberta, Politico
Race:
One more thing...
This column trends to the more practical and pragmatic when it comes to legislation and policy and with that in mind we'd have to agree with Senator McCaskill in asking the question, how do Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Senator Sanders get these 'big change' policies like Medicare-for-all through the U.S. Congress? You can be for it, but to believe that the promise will come to fruition is being naive.
Sunday, June 30, 2019
6.30.19: Another Embarassing Overseas Trip
"Meet The Press" should have done better today. There simply was not enough time spent on the president's disastrous overseas trip to Osaka, Japan for the G20 Summit. All the interviews today with Senators Corey Booker (D-NJ), John Barrasso (R-WY) and former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro should have all been conducted through the lens of the President of the United States not representing American values. From this latest trip overseas one could determine the Mr. Trump doesn't even know what American values are. Another disgraceful display on the part of the president.
At the top of the program, NBC's Richard Engel reported on the president's visit with North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un for no other purpose than to say hello. The president received nothing in return for giving Kim Jung Un a huge PR boost. It's no comfort that the president is buddies with the N.K. dictator, a man who arbitrarily executes his citizenry and puts them in gulags. Mr. Engel explained that the president mislead the American public, again, that the United States was on the brink of war with North Korea before he was in office - not true - and that he alone saved us. In fact it was Mr. Trump who began with 'fire and fury' and is now 'in love' with Kim Jung Un.
Kasie Hunt once again asked the question that is on everyone's mind which is why does Mr. Trump cozy up to Vladimir Putin the way that he does? In a interview with the Financial Times, before the summit, Mr. Putin said 'the liberal idea has become obsolete.' Instead of defending liberal democracy, which is what The United States is, Mr. Trump said that journalists were a problem with their 'fake news,' a problem that Mr. Putin deals with by harassing, jailing and murdering journalists in his country. On this note, Mr. Trump told the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad bin Salman that he was doing a spectacular job. That job includes the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and conducting a war in Yemen, with Mr. Trump's blessing, that has created the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
But here's the good news, President Trump and President Xi of China are going to resume trade talks after the Mr. Trump conceded the allowance of Huawei to operate again in the United States. No relief for American farmers at this time, but China is going to get what it wants. Senator Barrasso said that Huawei was a 'Trojan Horse' and a threat to the U.S.'s national security. Mr. Barrasso said that he is concerned about this.
That's great, but as Mr. Todd stated, all of this is 'baked in' [to what we're used to in terms of the president's behavior] and shrugged off.
Mr. Trump is an embarrassment, plain and simple. And while he cozies up to authoritarian figures abroad, he gets to stoke his authoritarian inclinations here at home with his callousness and cavalier attitude to the humanitarian crisis at our southern border, which he created.
On this issue, Mr. Barrasso offered no assurance that our leaders are doing the right thing. He said that asylum seekers should apply for asylum in their own country and then their application would be processed. This is a ludicrous idea. If a Cuban asylum seeker applied in his or her home country, do you think that the person would be alive long enough to be able to come to the United States? That person would be killed. The aid package that the Senate passed puts no strict oversight on how the money is spent, something that the House rightfully demands. And when confronted by Mr. Todd with the fact that the appropriated monies will go to a private contractor, Homestead which runs prisons, Mr. Barrasso said that companies should not be profiting off of this tragedy. Mr. Barrasso said that he was not familiar with the company, which is just another way of saying that he doesn't know where the money is going. That's inexcusable as a U.S. Senator.
Julian Castro has the right idea in that the United States should have a 21st century type Marshall Plan to help countries in the Northern Triangle and throughout Central America better there conditions. That doesn't mean just throwing money at the problem. Resources on the ground are also warranted.
So while the president's behavior is 'baked in,' Mr. Trump is saying let them eat cake.
Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, PBS; Kasie Hunt, NBC; Al Cardenas, Republican strategist; Cornell Belcher, Democratic strategist
A couple more things...
For further, more informed reading, go to Max Boot's column in The Washington Post.
And how long are we going to 'shrug off' Mr. Trump's behavior as a serial sexual predator? E. Jean Carroll's account of being attacked by Donald J. Trump is chilling...
As Kasie Hunt pointed out, the women of America, thankfully, are not shrugging it off.
At the top of the program, NBC's Richard Engel reported on the president's visit with North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un for no other purpose than to say hello. The president received nothing in return for giving Kim Jung Un a huge PR boost. It's no comfort that the president is buddies with the N.K. dictator, a man who arbitrarily executes his citizenry and puts them in gulags. Mr. Engel explained that the president mislead the American public, again, that the United States was on the brink of war with North Korea before he was in office - not true - and that he alone saved us. In fact it was Mr. Trump who began with 'fire and fury' and is now 'in love' with Kim Jung Un.
Kasie Hunt once again asked the question that is on everyone's mind which is why does Mr. Trump cozy up to Vladimir Putin the way that he does? In a interview with the Financial Times, before the summit, Mr. Putin said 'the liberal idea has become obsolete.' Instead of defending liberal democracy, which is what The United States is, Mr. Trump said that journalists were a problem with their 'fake news,' a problem that Mr. Putin deals with by harassing, jailing and murdering journalists in his country. On this note, Mr. Trump told the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad bin Salman that he was doing a spectacular job. That job includes the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and conducting a war in Yemen, with Mr. Trump's blessing, that has created the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
But here's the good news, President Trump and President Xi of China are going to resume trade talks after the Mr. Trump conceded the allowance of Huawei to operate again in the United States. No relief for American farmers at this time, but China is going to get what it wants. Senator Barrasso said that Huawei was a 'Trojan Horse' and a threat to the U.S.'s national security. Mr. Barrasso said that he is concerned about this.
That's great, but as Mr. Todd stated, all of this is 'baked in' [to what we're used to in terms of the president's behavior] and shrugged off.
Mr. Trump is an embarrassment, plain and simple. And while he cozies up to authoritarian figures abroad, he gets to stoke his authoritarian inclinations here at home with his callousness and cavalier attitude to the humanitarian crisis at our southern border, which he created.
On this issue, Mr. Barrasso offered no assurance that our leaders are doing the right thing. He said that asylum seekers should apply for asylum in their own country and then their application would be processed. This is a ludicrous idea. If a Cuban asylum seeker applied in his or her home country, do you think that the person would be alive long enough to be able to come to the United States? That person would be killed. The aid package that the Senate passed puts no strict oversight on how the money is spent, something that the House rightfully demands. And when confronted by Mr. Todd with the fact that the appropriated monies will go to a private contractor, Homestead which runs prisons, Mr. Barrasso said that companies should not be profiting off of this tragedy. Mr. Barrasso said that he was not familiar with the company, which is just another way of saying that he doesn't know where the money is going. That's inexcusable as a U.S. Senator.
Julian Castro has the right idea in that the United States should have a 21st century type Marshall Plan to help countries in the Northern Triangle and throughout Central America better there conditions. That doesn't mean just throwing money at the problem. Resources on the ground are also warranted.
So while the president's behavior is 'baked in,' Mr. Trump is saying let them eat cake.
Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, PBS; Kasie Hunt, NBC; Al Cardenas, Republican strategist; Cornell Belcher, Democratic strategist
A couple more things...
For further, more informed reading, go to Max Boot's column in The Washington Post.
And how long are we going to 'shrug off' Mr. Trump's behavior as a serial sexual predator? E. Jean Carroll's account of being attacked by Donald J. Trump is chilling...
As Kasie Hunt pointed out, the women of America, thankfully, are not shrugging it off.
Sunday, June 23, 2019
6.23.19: The Donald Trump Interview
The Donald Trump Interview...
In most if not all of President Trump's answers, particularly in this interview, there is an unhealthy dose of revisionist history. We wanted to make sure that we didn't take anything out of context so it was important to watch the full unedited interview, which you can access below.
Chuck Todd introduced a wide array of topics and though we won't cover them all, we'll discuss the most significant ones covered, starting with Iran.
What was edited out of program's excerpt, but contained in the unedited version, were Mr. Trump's some of Mr. Trump's objections to the Iran Nuclear Deal. His focus in dealing with Iran is the nuclear issue first and foremost. However, he also said that he thought the term of the nuclear agreement was too short, that we couldn't inspect all the sites and that it didn't eliminate ballistic missiles. Fair enough, but the Europeans, Russians and Chinese through inspections said that Iran had been in full compliance. What's short sighted on Mr. Trump's part and detractors of the deal was that in honoring the deal with the world's other nuclear powers, it would bring Iran to the table to negotiate other weapons and or an extension of the nuclear deal. However, by pulling out of the deal, the Trump Administration has thrown away all good faith in negotiating. In the interview, he said he would negotiate with Iran with no preconditions, but that is unlikely to happen at any point because Mr. Trump has shown that he can not be relied upon to keep his word. The majority of Americans feel he lies too much so why would the Iranians?
Mr. Trump pulled back the military strike at the least minute when he was told that there would be approximately 150 Iranian casualties, but wouldn't that be a question asked in initial conversations? People will say that this whole episode was just 'Trump being Trump,' but it's more serious than that given how close we were to going to war with Iran. True that the response wouldn't have been proportionate to shooting down a drone, but this entire crisis can be better managed if the president's rhetoric was so scatter shot. Peggy Noonan described it, and his presidency writ large, as harum scarum [read: reckless]. Then in this interview the president said that if the Iranian regime commits a hostile act they would face 'obliteration like you've never seen before.' Not helpful, to say the least.
Mr. Trump said that he was against the Iraq War but is on record as saying that he supported it. His opinion changes to what is convenient in the moment so in terms of policy prescriptions, one could easily conclude from his track record so far that the president has no agenda. When Mr. Todd asked him what his big idea was for reelection, the closest he came was healthcare, but only if the Republicans were to win the presidency, Senate and House. He said that he is for protecting preexisting conditions but his Justice Department has joined a lawsuit with 20 states to fully repeal the Affordable Care Act. Never mind that the president's sworn duty is to upload the laws of the United States, something his administration is clearly not doing by joining the lawsuit, which would take away those protections. The fact is that the administration has no plan for healthcare and will wait for Republicans to advance a bill once they take total control of all branches of government.
The economy, which Mr. Trump likes to tout, is, let's face it, something he inherited from the Obama Administration and with his tariff plays he is doing everything he can to subvert the progress. No president has meddled with the Federal Reserve to the extent that Mr. Trump has and it has created insecurity in the financial markets which operate best on predictability. Lanhee Chen explained that this is Mr. Trump's modus operandi when it comes to diplomacy - using the leverage of confusion to bring people at the table. However, just like we saw with North Korea, nothing good has come out of it. The North Korean dictator has now met with Putin and Xi. All Mr. Trump did was legitimize this ruthless dictator.
The unpredictability is exhausting.
Mr. Trump said that we couldn't get a deal with Mexico for 45 years and he got one in one day because of his threat of tariffs. However, this statement is ridiculous on its face. NAFTA whether you agree with it or not, was not 45 years ago.
And speaking of Mexico, the president said that he inherited the separation policy from President Obama, but the fact is that Mr. Trump squarely owns it by instituting zero-tolerance policy. Kristen Welker reminded us that President Trump said 'I alone, can fix it,' but he refuses the fix this humanitarian tragedy at the border. These kids separated from their parents will carry these scars for the rest of their lives. Mr. Trump's revisionist history will never be enough to change that.
Mr. Todd asked the president was his biggest regret has been so far in his presidency, to which he answered 'personnel.' He would have never appointed Jeff Sessions as Attorney General for the fact that he recused himself in the Russia investigation. However, for someone who has said that he would hire all the best people, the administration has an unprecedented amount of turn over. We were about to attack Iran and there is no permanent Secretary of Defense. We also have an acting DHS secretary there is no plan for fixing the humanitarian crisis at the border, which will go on for the duration of Mr. Trump's presidency, for certain. He said that he is not pleased with the performance of Jerome Powell the Fed Chairman saying he hasn't done a good job, but it was Mr. Trump who nominated him.
Lastly, Mr. Trump said that he didn't campaign to win the popular vote and visited 21 states so that he could win the electoral college, but after 4 years in office by the time of the 2020 election, will he be able to duplicate that strategy to win again? It's unlikely. If there is no tariff relief, farmers will not turn up for him again. Autoworkers in Michigan haven't seen great improvement in lives, and the administration hasn't done nearly enough on the Opiod crisis to the tragic frustration of Ohio voters.
A drama-filled presidency is wearing thin on the American electorate and no amount of revisionist history is going to solve that.
Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC; Peter Baker, The New York Times; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Lanhee Chen - Stanford University
In most if not all of President Trump's answers, particularly in this interview, there is an unhealthy dose of revisionist history. We wanted to make sure that we didn't take anything out of context so it was important to watch the full unedited interview, which you can access below.
Chuck Todd introduced a wide array of topics and though we won't cover them all, we'll discuss the most significant ones covered, starting with Iran.
What was edited out of program's excerpt, but contained in the unedited version, were Mr. Trump's some of Mr. Trump's objections to the Iran Nuclear Deal. His focus in dealing with Iran is the nuclear issue first and foremost. However, he also said that he thought the term of the nuclear agreement was too short, that we couldn't inspect all the sites and that it didn't eliminate ballistic missiles. Fair enough, but the Europeans, Russians and Chinese through inspections said that Iran had been in full compliance. What's short sighted on Mr. Trump's part and detractors of the deal was that in honoring the deal with the world's other nuclear powers, it would bring Iran to the table to negotiate other weapons and or an extension of the nuclear deal. However, by pulling out of the deal, the Trump Administration has thrown away all good faith in negotiating. In the interview, he said he would negotiate with Iran with no preconditions, but that is unlikely to happen at any point because Mr. Trump has shown that he can not be relied upon to keep his word. The majority of Americans feel he lies too much so why would the Iranians?
Mr. Trump pulled back the military strike at the least minute when he was told that there would be approximately 150 Iranian casualties, but wouldn't that be a question asked in initial conversations? People will say that this whole episode was just 'Trump being Trump,' but it's more serious than that given how close we were to going to war with Iran. True that the response wouldn't have been proportionate to shooting down a drone, but this entire crisis can be better managed if the president's rhetoric was so scatter shot. Peggy Noonan described it, and his presidency writ large, as harum scarum [read: reckless]. Then in this interview the president said that if the Iranian regime commits a hostile act they would face 'obliteration like you've never seen before.' Not helpful, to say the least.
 | |||||
| Click Here for Full Unedited Interview |
The economy, which Mr. Trump likes to tout, is, let's face it, something he inherited from the Obama Administration and with his tariff plays he is doing everything he can to subvert the progress. No president has meddled with the Federal Reserve to the extent that Mr. Trump has and it has created insecurity in the financial markets which operate best on predictability. Lanhee Chen explained that this is Mr. Trump's modus operandi when it comes to diplomacy - using the leverage of confusion to bring people at the table. However, just like we saw with North Korea, nothing good has come out of it. The North Korean dictator has now met with Putin and Xi. All Mr. Trump did was legitimize this ruthless dictator.
The unpredictability is exhausting.
Mr. Trump said that we couldn't get a deal with Mexico for 45 years and he got one in one day because of his threat of tariffs. However, this statement is ridiculous on its face. NAFTA whether you agree with it or not, was not 45 years ago.
And speaking of Mexico, the president said that he inherited the separation policy from President Obama, but the fact is that Mr. Trump squarely owns it by instituting zero-tolerance policy. Kristen Welker reminded us that President Trump said 'I alone, can fix it,' but he refuses the fix this humanitarian tragedy at the border. These kids separated from their parents will carry these scars for the rest of their lives. Mr. Trump's revisionist history will never be enough to change that.
Mr. Todd asked the president was his biggest regret has been so far in his presidency, to which he answered 'personnel.' He would have never appointed Jeff Sessions as Attorney General for the fact that he recused himself in the Russia investigation. However, for someone who has said that he would hire all the best people, the administration has an unprecedented amount of turn over. We were about to attack Iran and there is no permanent Secretary of Defense. We also have an acting DHS secretary there is no plan for fixing the humanitarian crisis at the border, which will go on for the duration of Mr. Trump's presidency, for certain. He said that he is not pleased with the performance of Jerome Powell the Fed Chairman saying he hasn't done a good job, but it was Mr. Trump who nominated him.
Lastly, Mr. Trump said that he didn't campaign to win the popular vote and visited 21 states so that he could win the electoral college, but after 4 years in office by the time of the 2020 election, will he be able to duplicate that strategy to win again? It's unlikely. If there is no tariff relief, farmers will not turn up for him again. Autoworkers in Michigan haven't seen great improvement in lives, and the administration hasn't done nearly enough on the Opiod crisis to the tragic frustration of Ohio voters.
A drama-filled presidency is wearing thin on the American electorate and no amount of revisionist history is going to solve that.
Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC; Peter Baker, The New York Times; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Lanhee Chen - Stanford University
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