8.30.20: Whiners Never "Own the Moment"

Earlier this week, the column spoke to a Californian, center-right independent voting friend for some perspective on the two presidential candidates. And while, he said he didn't disagree with many of the president's policies, but also said that the president showed no leadership combating the pandemic. The conversation was very much a referendum on Mr. Trump's presidency as he simply quipped, "Oh yeah, Biden could totally run the country." In the end, he said the one thing that bothered him the most, the deal-breaker, was that the president constantly whines and blames others, and not "owning up to things" (and using some derogatory words inappropriate for the column), as he put it.

So when Congressman and co-chair of the Biden campaign Cedric Richmond (D-LA) said that the president "has to own the moment," he makes a point. Any other individual who abdicated this much responsibility would be the object of universal scorn, but not Donald Trump. It's such an odd moment when you say that the President of the United States, the richest and most powerful country in the world, isn't man enough to take responsibility for his own policies, never "owning the moment." But as they say, here we are.

And where we are is that this week, a white police officer in Kenosha, WI shot Jacob Blake, an African-American man 7 times in the back. There are no excuses that can justify that action. Mr. Blake may not be the most model citizen and he didn't have a gun. Two "trained" police officers can not deescalate the situation or subdue an individual without shooting or killing the person? the 65-day sprint

In the ensuing protests in Kenosha and Portland, Trump supporters clashed with Left-wing rioters and three people were shot dead, and one other severely injured. Neither the Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, or fmr. North Carolina gov. Pat McCrory specifically called out the shooting in Kenosha by the teenage vigilante, but did refer to the killing in Portland of a Patriots Prayer member, a right-wing group in Oregon. Mr. McCrory said the condemned all "bad shootings," which washes over some very disturbing facts.

The reason Republicans won't address it is not because they're afraid to answer that first question: Do you denounce a teenage vigilante taking the law into his own hands and killing two people? No, it's the follow up question that blows a hole through the "support of law enforcement" argument, hence the president's message. And that question is: How come the Kenosha police didn't stop and question a minor walking the streets with an AR15 while others are yelling to the police that he shot two people? Or why didn't the police do anything but say that they appreciate him being there and offering him water? 

Why? 

KellyAnne Conway, as a parting gift before leaving the administration, said that the violence in the streets is good for President Trump's campaign, which Hallie Jackson confirmed that the campaign is doubling down on this message as it thinks it's a positive one for Mr. Trump. Michael Schmidt of The New York Times described Mr. Trump running as if he is not in charge of the country and called his an unprecedented approach to the presidency. He's not only running as if he's not in charge, but he's governing this way as well making ideological policy decisions without caring about the negative effects. Just as President Trump said about the administration's pandemic response that he takes no responsibility at all, he's applying this more widely.

An administration with the only goal of playing only to its base will say what is necessary to placate it, despite reality, as we've seen. It was disappointing when Chuck Todd asked Mr. Meadows about what the president could do (and this is where Mr. Todd fumbled the ball, searching for the right phrase)... to make our streets safer? This gave Mr. Meadows the opportunity to filibuster with law and order rhetoric. Instead Mr. Todd should have asked what is the president going to say to the entire nation to console and bring peace? Or something to that effect.

Yamiche Alcindor of PBS explained from her reporting that leaders in the African-American community feel that the disproportionate rate at which black men are killed by the police (2 to 1 vs. white males) should be something this country can get right, yet these tragedies continue. Congressman Richmond did remind us that the president has indeed answered one question that he himself posed back in 2016. To the African-American community, Mr. Trump asked, "What do you have to lose?" African American men are getting the message that if they have an encounter with a police officer, it could be their lives. Eton Thomas, fmr. NBA player, explained that the current players are speaking out because they are worried for their sons, their community and themselves. He also went on to say that despite all the accomplishments and millions of dollars a black professional athlete might have, when they have an encounter with police they're thinking they could die at that moment.

Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, PBS; Hallie Jackson, NBC News; Michael Schmidt, The New York Times; Pat McCrory, fmr. governor of North Carolina

A few more things...

"Let's make America great again... again." A quote from Mike Pence. He's definitely not carrying the ticket, that's for sure. Vice President Pence, we say this only to help you so please excuse this column if we come off as offending you but: You sound like a complete jackass when you say this.

A pet peeve of this column... perpetrated today by Mark Meadows... "the Democrat party..." It's the Democratic Party. We're offended by this intentional grammar error on the part of all Republicans, but we're also offended by Democrats who let this slide because the goal of Republicans is to separate the Democratic Party from anything democratic. And to hear Mr. Meadows use it repeatedly today, not to mention by all his Republic Party friends, is like putting a nail in the ear and then dragging the ear accross a chalkboard.

Lastly, despite the utterly false rosy picture painted by the administration and its response to the Covid-19 pandemic, by this time next week, the United States will be over 6 million infection cases and over 185,000 dead.

 

 

8.23.20: The Dystopia that Trump Describes is Because of His Leadership

 It's half time in the political convention game with the Democrats concluding their convention last week and Republicans readying to start tomorrow. So what's the state of the race? First, keep in mind that the polls will tighten as we get into the first week of October and we haven't had any of the debates yet, meaning that we still have a ways to go.

With that in mind, the respective interviews with Trump Campaign Senior Advisor Jason Miller and fmr. South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttegieg were instructive. The Democratic convention focused on character and the Covid crisis and was light on policy, in which Mr. Miller described it as a 'massive grievance fest,' and explained that the Republicans will present a completely different notion of what a Trump voter is from what is presented in the media. He also said that the convention will focus more on policy and their vision for the future, finishing that they would be telling a 'very beautiful story.'

The balloon that Mr. Miller was trying to blow up had already been burst at the top of the interview with Chuck Todd reminding him that 30 million people are receiving unemployment and that we're approaching 180,000 Americans dead from Covid-19. For politics and convention watchers alike it will be interesting to see how the Trump campaign addresses the pandemic because it cannot talk about the way Mr. Trump has been, painting a rosy picture when the reality on the ground is much different. 

Chuck Todd didn't ask Mr. Miller about Qanon, but he did ask about the audio recordings of the president's sister and former federal judge MaryAnne Trump explaining how the president lies all the time and has no principles. He did say it was 'shameful' that The Washington Post released the recordings a day after the president's brother had been laid to rest, but we would call it 'hardcore' instead. Ultimately, these recordings will matter little as they only reinforce what everyone... yes, everyone already knows, and it doesn't matter to Mr. Trump's base.

Conversely, to the legitimate point that the Democrats were light on policy, Mr. Buttegieg explained that it was a matter of detailing the policy plans that the Democrats put forth last week, but whether or not you want this policy vision for the country. (Mayor Pete does have a way of cutting through the clutter.) More importantly, where the fmr. Vice President Biden did give detail was in his policy for combating the pandemic. To this, Mr. Buttegieg said that as long as Donald Trump is president we will not have a national strategy or leadership on this crisis. One has to agree with this point, simply for the fact that if the Trump Administration had a national strategy, they would have already instituted it. 

Yet, the president tells us that the only thing that stands between the American dream and totally anarchy, madness and chaos is him. Spare us this very rare exception in this column, but that is total f**king bullshit. The dystopia that Trump describes is happening under his leadership. 

And this brings us back around to something that Mr. Miller said: We'll present a different notion of the Trump voter... The Trump voter, not the Republican voter. The Wall Street Journal's senior editor Gerald Seib wrote a book about this evolution of the party from Reagan to Trump and how it's moved in a populist/ nationalist direction. 

Former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) said that Mr. Trump's policies have been solidly conservative citing the massive tax cut and stance on abortion as a few examples. But not on deficit spending, trade, Russia, and the country's role in the world, Mr. Seib explained and posed the question of whether Trump's Republican party is aberration or not, depending on whether he wins reelection or not. 

We'd disagree with Mr. Seib as to whether it's a aberration or not because win or lose, the Republican party as we've traditionally known it [read: Reagan or Bush] is done. If Trump wins reelection, the party is solidly rooted in Trumpism. If he loses, which most likely would put the Republicans in the minority in not only the executive branch but also in the House and Senate, leaves the Trumpist Republicans free of governing responsibility putting them firmly in grievance stance, a position in which Trumpism thrives.

Either way, the Republican party is changed forever.

Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC News; Gerald Seib, The Wall Street Journal; Scott Walker, fmr. governor of Wisconsin (R)

 

8.16.20: The President is Sabotaging His Own Interests, in Addition to American Democracy

We have to say upfront that the location from which this column is written (in the U.S.) only receives mail from the U.S. Post Office two times a week. It used to be six so you tell us, do we have an ax to grind with regard to the postal service?

More on that in a minute...

More importantly, congress left town this week without a deal on a Covid-relief package for Americans in the midst of what Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) called today, a 'horror show.' He also used the phrase 'economic desperation' to describe millions of American families facing eviction and food emergencies, and the message from the White House and Congress is clearly that "you're on your own."

Now whatever you or more exactly a conservative congressperson thinks for the Democratically-passed House bill, it was passed back in May and then it sat on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-TN) desk for three months. Now, he may have thought that the bill was a piece of shat because it was passed with a Democratic majority, but the fact is he kept confirming judges while ignoring working Americans. It was only in the week that the benefits were to expire that he picked it, promptly handed it off and maintained a persona non grata position while the negotiations continued.

While locked in this stalemate, the president's mega-donor Louis Dejoy, now Postmaster General, is as President Barack Obama put it 'kneecapping' the post office so that Donald Trump can call into question the integrity of mail-in voting and explicitly said this week that the post office isn't going to get the money they need because he doesn't want mail-in ballots deciding the election. 

However, once again Mr. Trump is hurting his own interests. 

On top of the pandemic which negatively impacts every single American (5.3 million infections and 169,000+ deaths, as of today by the way), as Kasie Hunt pointed out, so does mail disruption and no one likes it especially during a pandemic when every American relies on it more than ever, especially in rural communities as NBC's Carol Lee pointed out. In his bid to win reelection, Mr. Trump will be suppressing his own base's vote. Rank and file Republicans understand this and probably applaud the effort to suppress the vote, but not at the expense of their own constituents. For them it's the delay vital services that the post office delivers to their communities that has set their collective hairpieces on fire.

However, a resolution for the post office is tied to the relief package which languished in the Senate so once again, thank you very little Mr. McConnell. 

The U.S. Post Office was an invention of Benjamin Franklin and until two years ago, the first post office in Philadelphia that his son managed was a functioning post office (since closed for tourism). Think about that for a second... the name of its originator; the duration. Then think that one of the things that the Senate does is vote of naming U.S. Post Office locations, which they usually name after themselves. Why tear down the buildings that carry your name? That's some legacy.

With all this said, it is still necessary to note that Senator Bernie Sanders made it very clear that this is a 'sabotaging of our democracy,' and you'd be pressed to disagree. Given that, Mr. Sanders rightly smacked down Mr. Todd's question about progressives maybe not being satisfied by the Biden/ Harris ticket. Progressive and moderate Democrats alike are all on the same page with Mr. Sanders in thinking that this election is about saving American democracy so petty squabbles matter little at this point.

If all this wasn't enough there is also the threat of election interference, which National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien politicized on today's program.  It's particularly sad since in the first half of the interview, he recapped what is genuinely good news - the historic normalizing of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Mr. O'Brien got a bit over his skis this week saying that this is Mr. Trump's Nobel moment... please. What's really not good is that he put Russia's active election interference measures on the same level as China and Iran only desiring (at this point) particular outcomes. The fact still remains is that the Trump Administration never intended to deal with Russian election interference in any meaningful way as long as it benefits him, which it does. 

Panel: Carol Lee, NBC; Kasie Hunt, NBC; Jeh Johnson, fmr. Homeland Security Secretary

Couple more things...

Once again, Joe Biden is part of an historic ticket, but not only is choosing Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) historic, she highly qualified having served at every level of government; you have to admit a gifted politician; and she is essentially a center-left candidate which melds very well with the Biden governing philosophy.

Lastly, (and liberals who read this, please unwedge your underwear) condolences to President Trump and his family, as the president's brother, Robert Trump, died this week at 71.

 

8.9.20: Relief Package Negotiations Suffer from the Original Covid Sin

Once again deference to working American families has been rebuffed as congress was unable to come to an agreement for pandemic relief. In comes the president to sign executive orders because he has not taken part in any of the negotiations, which have only added to the confusion, prompted more questions, and created a moral dilemma as to whether it is legal or not despite the intention.

The Administration's trade representative Peter Navarro said that if congress can come to agreement then there would be no need for executive action, which means that congress needs to come together and get a deal done immediately. Think about it this way, Americans are seeing the public health system overwhelmed, a decimated economy, little prospects, and now to have congress completely break down unable to pass relief. It becomes too much and provides some truth to the low-grade depression that Michelle Obama talked about in an interview this week.

However, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said that Democrats have been will to meet in the middle on the negotiations with Democrats at $3 trillion and Republicans at $1 trillion. Mr. Durbin also said that House Democrats passed a second relief bill back in May, but that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) sat on it until last week, and now he's not even involved in the negotiations. Talk about an abdication of leadership. The funny thing is, is that Democrats passed the bill in May because they saw the need for it then. The Republicans (Mr. McConnell) sat on because they maintained wishful thinking that we would need it because, frankly, they put their faith in the administration that the pandemic would be under control, and now are back to their spending reservations. However, the president is signing executive orders for a relief package, not because he wants to, but because his reelection prospects depend on it. 

The National Review's Rich Lowry brought up a point about spending that as a conservative he doesn't have a problem with the spending now because of the current state of the economy, but he had a problem with the spending when the economy was good. He didn't elaborate but wouldn't that be on Republicans who passed a $2 trillion tax cut that went primarily to the wealthy? As for congresspeople, Joshua Johnson explained that Mitch McConnell said that it's difficult to get a deal this close to the election, which Mr. Johnson unpacked explained that because of the tradition political positions and posturing on both sides, it makes a deal all the more difficult.

It all comes back around to the lack of a cohesive national response at the beginning and the administration's inaction and distribution of misinformation that has sealed the countries fate. We are now at 5 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 160,000 deaths. In the past two weeks an American dies from Covid-19 every 77 seconds, but as the president says - It is what it is.

Lastly, for a bit of pure politics, as Kasie Hunt explained, it seems as though it's Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) versus the world in the Democratic VP sweepstakes. Ms. Hunt also said that there is a suggestion that the Harris people are playing political hardball by leaking opposition research on other VP candidates. One thing is for sure, no matter the party, the longer a political contest goes on and the closer to the deadline it gets, it assuredly will get uglier and uglier. The problem with not picking Kamala Harris at this point is that every other potential choice will be picked a part by the twitter-sphere and surely Democrats will damage their own representative ticket.  At this point, like everything else in the country right now, sooner is required over later.

Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Joshua Johnson, NBC News; Rich Lowry, The National Review

 

8.2.20: Has President Trump Given Up on His Job?

"Hydroxychloroquine is not an effective treatment for coronavirus or Covid-19."

                                                                                                  Dr. Anthony Fauci

Yet, our president tweets witch doctor videos to 84 million people that hydroxychloroquine prevents and cures coronavirus and that you don't need a mask, while Asst. Secretary of Heath at the Department of Health & Human Services, Adm. Brett Giroir MD, said on today's program that he wouldn't (he can't) recommend its use at all and that we need 90 per cent compliance with mask wearing to bring the amount of cases down.

This week, the CDC has the total number of deaths at 152K+ while all the other sources have U.S. deaths at 157K+. Five thousand deaths is not splitting hairs and maybe that's because hospitals no longer report the data direct to the CDC as it goes through the administration first, an administration that has botched the response from the very beginning.

There is still no national coordination, a 'plan,' from this administration and we're seven months into the heavy. We still haven't gotten testing down, by Adm. Giroir's own admission. He explained that 90 percent of the tests turnaround in 5 days, but that makes tracing and tracking futile. The admiral flatly disagreed with Chuck Todd when asked about private labs dictating the turnaround time, However, Mr. Todd should have framed the question differently because we are indeed at the mercy of utilizing private labs because they can turnaround results in 48 hours, which is the window Dr. Fauci recommends.

And where is the president? Out playing golf. As Andrea Mitchell reported, the president has taken himself out of the negotiations for the next relief package, sending aides instead for the day-to-day. In between shots into the rough, he's heckling from the sidelines, undermining the process. You don't expect such a cynical question from the MTP moderator, but we're at that point: Has Mr. Trump given up on the job?

It certainly seems so because the press briefing aren't helpful, footage of his campaign stops shows him going through the motions, and worst of all Republicans behind the scenes and in some cases in front of them (more in a minute) have been instructed to distance themselves from the president. Trump has completely lost his mojo.

Not only has he lost his mojo, he has also lost the trust of the American people as Robert Draper said. He never really had a great amount to begin with, but now with the coronavirus raging through red states, the botched-response rumors that they were hearing they now realize are true; hence trust eroding even further.

Because his leadership through this pandemic crisis has been so abysmal, he did what any authoritarian-leaning leader would do, flout the Constitution and call for a delay in the election. As if Mr. Trump ever really had any regard for the Constitution, even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) spoke out in opposition to this notion.

As we know, the call for the delay is because he is losing in the polls so badly, Texas of all places is a dead heat. Heather McGhee explained that the president's racist dog whistling (foghorning?) about the suburbs isn't working as polls show that he's not only losing the suburbs but whites in general. Ms. McGhee also explained that just as significant (this column thinks even more so) as the president's words are his actions. The Trump Administration removed the Post Master General recently and inserted a Trump crony who is doing a system change as of this writing, making the post slower. In other words, eroding another institution. Don't mess with ____ing the Post Office! (fill in the blank) It was an invention of Benjamin Franklin after all.

Lastly, a quick comment on potential VP pick Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-CA). In a word: no. There's a lot to like about Congresswoman Bass: her experience in Congress and the ability to work with the other side, she's a happy warrior; she has great experience with healthcare and foreign policy; and she is correct in that to change Cuba, the U.S. has to have relations.

However, the opposition research about Ms. Bass's statements on Cuba and her having worked in country as a young adult will be a dagger for the Trump campaign that will use it to inflict endless cuts. So many that it will have an effect in Florida, the key swing state. It's a weapon that Democrats can not afford to put in Trump's hand.

Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Heather McGhee, Board Co-Chair Color of Change; Robert Draper, The New York Times Magazine