11.21.21: Aspiring to a Higher Standard is Becoming a Thing of the Past

We posted mid-week with regard to Kyle Rittenhouse and we haven't changed our perspective because the reasoning still holds. In terms of the verdict, it was the narrow points of confrontation, in which Mr. Rittenhouse had to defend himself and the jury made a decision based on the charges with regard to those moments. What wasn't taken into full account, it seems, was that Mr. Rittenhouse was the initial provocatur by the fact that he was the one who brought the semi-automatic rifle into the equation. 

Our issue isn't with the jury or the narrowness of the case, it's with the judge. Two young men are dead at the hands of Mr. Rittenhouse and the judge dictated that they could not be deemed 'victims.' In his eyes maybe not, but tell that to the one of the men's mother and fiance. The judge also threw out the unlawful possession of a fire arm charge and reckless endangerment, the latter he is surely guilty of for in fact putting himself in danger.

The nuances can of course be debated, glofifying Mr. Rittenhouse as a hero is wrong, and sad because we're elevating a misguided teen who is responsible, no matter how you look at it, for the deaths of two people and permanently crippling a third person. Civil Rights attorney David Anderson was succinct and accurate when he said that politicians should not be celebrating any loss of Americans lives (paraphrasing), but that's what they are doing.

Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) said something that we need to unpack a bit. The senator stated that 'people have the right to protect themselves with the increase in violence.' If there is an increase in violence, glorifying someone who killed two people or in the case of Congressman Paul Gosar, not condemning social media posts depicting violence against a colleague then you're part of the problem. Twenty-six states with open carry and 32 states with stand your ground laws surely cannot be the way to deescalate. Add in the acceptance of violent political threats and it only makes society more volitile. 

And speaking of Mr. Gosar and for those who excuse what he did, one has to pose the question. At your job, if some posted a cartoon of them murdering you or others at work, would you report it? Would you expect that person to be repremmanded at the least or perhaps fired? No company would accept that type of behavior so why should we condone it in the House of Representatives? 

Holding ourselves to a higher standard seems like something that we no longer aspire to. We all see that shining city on the hill, but we're definitely not in it.

Panel: Kelly O'Donnell, NBC News; Reverend Al Sharpton, Political Action Network; Kristen Soltis Anderson, Republican Strategist; David Anderson, Civil Right Attorney

11.15.21: The Ghost of Nightmare Past

On July 21, 2013, we wrote this:

A gun provided George Zimmerman with false sense of strength and the ego to believe that he was in control of circumstances when the truth is his actions came from a place of fear and he wasn't in control. 

This was one of the comments we made with regard to the Zimmerman-Martin verdict at the time, but fast forward to the cusp of a verdict in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and one could say...

A gun provided Kyle Rittenhouse with false sense of strength and the ego to believe that he was in control of circumstances when the truth is his actions came from a place of fear and he wasn't in control.  

Same sh*t, different gun.

 

11.14.21: Governor Sununu Got It Right, Doing Nothing Is Not A Win

There is no doubt that both parties are guilty of doing nothing, but when New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu (R) said that he couldn't live, professionally, in an environment where doing nothing is considered a win, one would conclude that he meant that for his own party. 

Whether you agree with the infrastructure and or the Build Better Better legislation that fact remains that it is in fact, legislation; something that Republicans have quite a lot of trouble with outside of tax cuts. The American Enterprise Institute's Matthew Continetti, previously editor-in-chief at the conservative Washington Free Beacon explained that after so many failed infrastructure weeks under the previous president, we finally got it and it's toxic for Republicans to support it. 

And not to make light of things, but deaths threats over infrastructure, really? It's sad to know that there are large groups of people who agree with these individuals making threats who are so gone from the reality of living in a civil society. Needless to say there is no place for this behavior in American politics as it is obviously dangerous, but also profoundly sad.

Speaking of doing nothing, Director of the Economic Council for the President, Brian Deese didn't have any good answers for what to do about inflation in the short term, particularly for Americans in the middle of the country. Comparatively, the Build Back Better bill will have a more immediate impact of the everyday lives of Americans than the infrastructure bill, but as fmr. Senator Claire McCasklill (D-MO) warned, Democrats may not implement it fast enough for the mid-terms.

Mr. Deese also didn't touch Mr. Todd's immigration question as to whether we should open it up to help with supply chain issues, so we'll touch it. The answer to the question is 'yes,' but here's how to initially approach it. We have a truck driver shortage so what the Administration should do is approach Poland and work to recruit Polish truck drivers shut out of Britain in the wake of Brexit. This would be beneficial on a foreign policy scale as well. It would deepen the dialogue between Warsaw and Washington to work together on the Law and Justice Party's flouting of EU regulations and getting the Polish government more in line with the EU so that collectively they can confront Belarus who is trying to destabilize Europe and the Russians as well who have amassed troops on the Ukrainian border. 

Yes, we realize that none of that was discussed on today's program, but it's a good illustration of how with targeted immigration we can achieve goals at home and abroard.

And with the accurately labeled 'political football' that is Russia in this country (frustrating in and of itself), as entertaining as the Steele dossier is, we never put much stock in it because there wasn't a need to do so. There were so many other implicating actions that the dossier was irrelevant. As bad as all that was, the 2020 election and what the president did in its aftermath makes it pale in comparison. 

And this is why you have to throw the book at Steve Bannon for not complying with a subpoena, a Congressional one. If this were you or me - working schmucks with no political friends and no podcast - we would be seeing the police showing up at our doors and bringing us in to testify. Frankly, that a-hole shouldn't get special above-the-law treatment. And if he refuses to testify and goes to prison for a year, it will be a better year for all of us - not having to hear about what a blowhard has to say about primary elections.

As for former chief of staff Mark Meadows, he should focus on this because he could be next. He punk'ed out of his Congressional testimony; no guts which is the sign of a punk.

There, yeah, we said it...

But we wouldn't call Kyle Rittenhouse that, 'misguided,' yes. We're following the trial but not the subtle nuances such as what we learned today from the discussion which was that Mr. Rittenhouse's mother drove him to Kenosha. If in fact that is the case, that is indeed reckless endangerment of a minor... We think the panel got it right that in that case, no one's going to be happy with the verdict.

Panel: Leigh Ann Caldwell, NBC News; Claire McCaskill, fmr. Senator from Missouri; Eugene Scott, The Washington Post; Matthew Continetti, American Enterprise Institute 

11.7.21: Thanks to Democrats, Their Lose is America's Gain

The Democrats didn't so much receive a drubbing on Tuesday, but given that perception is everything and the major embarrassment of losing the gubernatorial race in the high profile state of Virginia, one could reasonably say that Democrats got the wind knocked out of them in a big way and doubled over got a huge shiner of a black eye that's not going away soon enough.

The New York Times' Peter Baker said it most concisely in that voters don't object to voting for Republicans, just Trump himself. That may have gotten lost in the conversational mix, but it's profound in saying that as long as Trump isn't on the ballot (or actively campaign for a particular candidate), Republicans are acceptable. 

But let's face it, Terry McAuliffe ran a poor race and didn't do what New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy was describing in speaking about kitchen table issues. Like pandemic fatigue, voters have Trump fatigue, which is mostly being perpetuated from the Democrats, specifically Mr. McAuliffe. And give credit to Governor-elect Glen Youngkin for running on local concerns, keeping his opponent on his back foot, and while acknowledging that the former president is on your team, he gave him a stiff Heisman, that's for sure.

Mr. Youngkin gave fellow Republicans a blueprint on how to deal with questions about Trump and Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) wasted no time in employing that strategy today in his interview. He completely evaded any question with regard to the former president's recent statements or why 4 in 5 Republicans think the election of Joe Biden was illegitimate. 

Instead, he railed against the Democrats spending, its 'socialist' agenda and the national debt, which is at $30 trillion - all the fiscal responsibility issues Republicans take up again when they are not in control of Congress. Racking up $8 trillion in debt over four years of Trump with nothing to show for it but a tax cut defies trusting the rhetoric of Mr. Scott. 

Ironically, the Democrats' lose however is America's gain, thanks to... the Democrats, who finally got their act together enough to stop wasting time and pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Don't think it wasn't in reaction to the Virginia result. 

The entire strategy by progressives in the House to hold up the infrastructure bill until their budget agenda (the reconciliation bill) was passed first was flawed and not well thought out. It would have had to still pass through the Senate where it would be amended by moderate Democrats. In such a divisive political climate, don't take one big win, take a series of big wins. And when you have an easy one sitting right in front of your face, you grab it, and don't look back. 

Panel: Sara Fagen, Republican Strategist; Donna Edwards, The Washington Post; Peter Baker, The New York Times; Amna Nawaz, NPR

One more thing...

Since we made a football reference earlier, we have to weigh in about Aaron Rogers of the Green Bay Packers testing positive for Covid-19 this week.  We don't have an issue with his decision to not be vaccinated, which is his right. Not at all. What we do take issue with is that he was dishonest about it or at the very least deceptively coy. When asked if he was vaccinated, he responded, "Yeah, I'm immunized." There's no other way to interpret that other that thinking he received the vaccine.  This week he said he isn't an anti-vaxer, just a critical thinker. Really? His critical thinking could use some critiquing.