It feels like forever since we've written a piece so we're so glad to be back. What's odd is that we haven't written in three weeks but have only missed one show, which was on the 31st of May, a "Campaign Special," which would have to be programmed over multiple dates because of the ridiculous number of Republican candidates, and Jeb Bush is set to announce tomorrow... But we always knew that he would.
We would count Jeb Bush in the 'good candidate' column, as opposed to say Ted Cruz who would be placed in the 'stupid candidate' list. Unfortunately, you can not separate them in these terms for the purposes of a debate. There would be the policy debate and a separate one called the red meat debate. But Mr. Bush is a good candidate for Republicans. That's not to say we think he's going to win or that we agree with his policies, no. What we are saying is that he's conservative but has some more moderated views very different from his base, namely immigration. Let's face it, if Republicans want to win the presidency, it's going to take a moderate candidate. It's a complete fallacy to believe that someone like Mike Huckabee or Rick Santorum or the aforementioned Mr. Cruz could ever be elected. We sure they're nice people (well, maybe not Mr. Cruz), but they would all be horrible as presidents of the United States. Mitt Romney in his interview explained his previously use of the term 'chaos' as a description of the Republican primary in 2012. He said that Republicans attacking Republicans makes things messy.
There's also the other thing with Mr. Bush - Jeb! There isn't any reference to 'Clinton' in Hillary's logo either. Obviously, these dynasty candidates (one of the themes of today's program) have to shed a bit of the baggage that comes with their sir names; there is no doubt. But make no mistake, it's much more difficult to overcome the association to disastrously imbecilic foreign policy that was the Iraq War than it is being associated with the 'go-go' 90's. Interestingly, Mr. Obama's campaign logo was all about his last name, the big 'O.'
Mr. Todd put a lot of focus on the number of issues Mrs. Clinton covered in her rally speech on yesterday and the amount of time put toward each. But this is the first rally of her campaign, the first of many to come so of course she's going to cover a lot of bases. Mrs. Clinton will follow the standard candidate model with signature speeches coming in specific locations; e.g. Mr. Obama's speech in Philadelphia on the topic of race. This kind of drill down with regard to her kick-off campaign rally is unnecessary.
The reason we bring it up is that in the last month (calender), Meet The Press hasn't discussed (especially this week) the big looming decisions that are about to be issued by the Supreme Court - one addressing same-sex marriage and marriage equality in all of the country and the other with regard to Obamacare. The latter effects some 6 to 7 million people. And not a word... Is this on Mr. Todd or the producers? Both, probably. If overlooked, it's like not hitting a pitcher throwing a grapefruit; and if a choice not to include, a poor one.
The panel agreed, obviously Stephanie Cutter, that no one gives a speech like Mr. Obama and for Mrs. Clinton to try and match that, it would be embarrassing. But what came out of the discussion is worth mentioning. Andrea Mitchell explained that Mrs. Clinton is portraying herself as a fighter [for the middle class]. Then the comment came that she would be the one to finish things that Barack Obama started but didn't have the mettle to complete. In other words, one could say he was laying the groundwork. We don't totally buy that. And we do not agree with Hugh Hewlitt who assesses Mrs. Clinton's term as Secretary of State as a disaster. By no means was it great, but picking up at the tail end of the Iraq War really handicap your odds of success. Was she laying the groundwork for now Secretary Kerry? One could argue, yes.
And since we're headed in that direction, it brings us to the subject of trade and this week's vote in the House. What happened was that Democrats didn't back the president's wish for the administration to first negotiate a trade deal with other countries, fast track it, before bringing it to Congress for approval. So when William Daley pointed out that it's smart for Mrs. Clinton to not comment, he's right because there is no trade deal per se. This was all about the parameters in which the president is allowed to negotiate.
You could say that if all it does is give the president the ability to negotiate first, but Congress still has final say, then why not let the administration have that ability? If it were only so easy. If the administration has the ability to bring up trade deals with a sole up or down vote, because that's how it could be - a take it or leave, then it's a no-win situation for anyone in any aisle in Congress. Remember, congresspeople have to live with these deals, presidents don't. The last major trade deal was NAFTA, where President Bill Clinton got a lot of Republican votes, which candidate Hillary Clinton would now oppose. Manufacturing in the United States suffered terribly from NAFTA.
But President Obama needed this negotiating power, because it's the only way something that needs to get down, actually happens. Mr. Daley is wrong, we completely agree with Andrea Mitchell, in that relationship building is vitally important to be effective at your job, even if your job is President of the United States. We understand that Mr. Obama would be reticent to reach out to Republicans after conservative leaders let pass some really despicable language during the presidential campaigns and the 'You lie' and all that. But to not be constantly reaching out to Democrats so that you not only know them but more importantly they know you, then how would you expect them to back you? Essentially, giving you full control of foreign economic policy. When we put it like that, even Republicans would take pause before giving Mr. Obama that kind of power... and they were for it.
Mr. Romney admitted today that one of the flaws in his campaign was that he didn't reach out to minority voters soon enough, and we would add as much as he should have. As a incredibly success businessman, one where the moderator of the program nominates you to head FIFA, he should have known that when doing business with lots of different groups, one has to tackle the most difficult relationships first.
Relationships matter because if you have the right one, then you might just have the money to run for president.
Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Hugh Hewlitt, conservative commentator; Stephanie Cutter, former Obama Administration official; Evan Thomas, author
One Last Thing: In addition to the high reverence we place on Meet The Press in calling it the 'news program of record' (being the first television program), one other big reason we started this blog is the tremendous respect we have for Tim Russert's approach to politics. It inspired us (me) to comment and has continued to do so these years after his passing.
A political blog commenting on Sunday's "Meet The Press" on NBC and the state of the country in a broader sense. Please Note: This blog is in no way affiliated with "Meet The Press" or NBC. It is purely an opinion piece about the television program that this blog considers the "TV Show of Record."
Sunday, June 14, 2015
6.14.15: Relationships Matter
Sunday, May 17, 2015
5.17.15: Which Candidate Can Lead America's Rebuilding?
Just when you think you know what you're talking about, Jeb
Bush comes out and has the highest profile worst week of any presidential candidate.
In last week's column, discussing “Meet the Press's” ‘donor series’ featuring
Sheldon Adelson, we had said that Jeb Bush seemed to be the safe bet based on
what Sheldon Adelson was looking for in a candidate. But after this week, Jeb
Bush may have really taken himself out of the running. We disagree with Chuck
Todd when he said of Mr. Bush’s statements today that right now it is relevant
but down the line not so much. We think that this will continue to be relevant
throughout the entire primary season and it's definitely going to loom large in
the first debate, whether Jeb Bush participates in that first one or not.
Senator Corey Booker (D-NJ) is on to the right idea.
And the reason is because video exists. Megyn Kelly of Fox News
asked Mr. Bush if he knew then what he knows now, would he have made the same
decision as his brother, George W and gone to war. Jeb Bush, for his part, was
prepared for an Iraq question but not phrased that way – we’ll give him that.
He had prepared for, would you have done the same with the intelligence
available at the time? We fully understand that he either misheard it or
interpreted it wrong or somehow heard the question that he wanted to hear, but
in our opinion, either way the answer should have been ‘no.’ The conservative-friendly answer that he
should have given in the first place was ‘knowing what we know now, we would
have not gone into Iraq, but four days later was plenty of time for other
Republican candidates to attack him from all flanks.
With the exception of Jeb Bush, all the other candidates
have Monday morning quarterbacked the Iraq War efficiently enough for Americans
know where each one stands. So instead of ‘relevant now, not relevant later’
this could be the week we look back and say Jeb Bush took himself out of the
running.
In the interview with Rand Paul, he didn't go as far as to
say that we are better off with dictators in the Middle East, but certainly
affirmed as much. Let's face it, we let the genie out of the bottle in the
Middle East and the radicals killed the genie. The only thing that we agreed
with Sarah Fagan today was that Rand Paul was asking the right question of
Hillary Clinton, which was ‘knowing what you know now would you go into Libya?’
Getting back to Iraq for a moment, the reason that we had
this Delta force operation over the weekend goes back to George W. Bush's
decision to invade, as will all operations moving forward against ISIS. We agree that the symbolism and
psychological effective of this successful attack where Delta force soldiers
went deep into ISIS territory, killed their chief financier, grabbed a wealth
of information and captured his wife is incredibly significant… and incredibly risky. For the U.S.
military to commit to such an operation, the CIA must have been convinced that
knowing what this man knew was vital in defeating ISIS .If one U.S. soldier
were captured the consequences of that would have escalated military involvement
tenfold within a month.
Returning to presidential candidates for a moment and
thinking about the foreign policy and domestic economic challenges that the
United States faces, we examine the full presidential field of candidates - both
Republican and Democrat. We don't see any of these individuals being able to significantly
move the needle in a way that positively affects the lives of middle-class, and
aspiring middle-class, Americans.
The panel today was absolutely right about Hillary Clinton
in that she has not put forward a vision for where she wants to take this
country. She's not out there answering questions we don't know what her ideas
are. Helene Cooper she is seeing Mrs. Clinton making the same mistakes as she
did in 2008, which is disturbing and has to be really discouraging for all of
her supporters. That there is no alternative challenge for her is a major
problem. And in terms of the Republican field, we look across the entire scope
and don't see one individual that is capable of leading all of America - not
just the Republican Party, but all Americans. We just don't see it.
It is beyond our comprehension that not one of these
candidates has come out and unequivocally said that we need to improve the
infrastructure of this country.
The United States has to reorganize its priorities and sacrifice to do
this. Since Republicans control
both the House and Senate, we comprehend their wantonness to cut taxes, but
there are so many tax dollars at the top of the chain that are not collected
that could help this country rebuild its infrastructure.
A graphic on today's program outlined that most of the train
travel in this country is done in Democratic states, making Republicans less
inclined to vote for train transportation. This is ridiculous and divisive. Most
train travel occurs in California and the Northeast corridor. The Northeast
corridor is responsible for 1/5 of the economy - 20%. California is the eighth
largest economy in the world. Yet, our leaders do not seem to understand the
implication of those statistics, and the necessity of this public
transportation. In these terms, they just suck.
The sad, end result of the Amtrak train crash in
Philadelphia is Washington voices such as House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)
rhetorically asking why we would extend funding for Amtrak and Republicans
accusing Democrats of politicizing the issue. This was political as soon as it
happened.
What American people are really saying is that we don’t want
it to be political; we just want better, safer ways to get around and nicer
trains.
Senator Corey Booker (D-NJ) is on to the right idea.
Panel: Tom Friedman, The New York Times; David Axelrod, fmr. senior Advisor to President Obama; Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Sara Fagen, fmr. White House Political Director
Sunday, May 10, 2015
5.10.15: Behind Every Other Industrialized Nation... Almost
Given the fact that some of our Congressional leaders have openly
admitted to never using email, which is to sing nothing of social media, it's not
surprising that ISIS has a more effective presence and messaging when it
comes to social media in its initiative to recruit followers. As Senator Dianne
Feinstein (D-CA) outlined, there are ISIS supporters in all 50 states
according to the FBI, and you can imagine that most of those supporters have
been contacted through social media. She also explained that it takes 30 agents to monitor
and follow a single terrorist suspect. Well, we hope that they can survey of
more than one person at a time because if that's not the case then the FBI is in effect greatly outnumbered.
On June first, the Patriot Act expires so this month
Congress will be debating the renewal of this legislation. Obviously the key
sticking point is the NSA data surveillance. The bottom line there is no
matter what law is passed, what amendment is made to that part of the law, and no matter what court deems unconstitutional the NSA is still
going to collect data. That's all you need to know so you as an individual must
act accordingly with this knowledge and awareness.
In terms of Meet The Press's constant omnipresent topic, presidential politics, what does this mean? This brings us to two of the program's feature series - one old, one new. In the 'Meet The Candidate' series, Chuck Todd spoke with Carly Fiorina, fmr. CEO of Hewlett-Packard. As we've said before many times in this column, Carly Fiorino is not
qualified to be president, but we will say that she
defended herself quite well when Chuck Todd grilled her on her record as CEO of HP. As Mrs. Fiorina described it, her firing was a board room brawl... that she lost. Look at it this way - a group of business leaders looked at another
business leader running a company that they have money invested in, and came
to the consensus conclusion that Mrs. Fiorina was a weak link and had to go. But overall, throughout the course of the interview today,
we realized that Mrs. Fiorina knows full weel she has no real shot at the presidency so really her goal is an advisory role and or potential cabinet position in the cabinet of administration provided
the eventual Republican nominee becomes president.
So if not Carly Fiorina, then who will be the Republican
nominee? This brings us to the new feature series introduced this week on "Meet the Press" - The Donor Series focusing on
the billionaire donors that enable all kinds of candidates to put their hat in
the ring for the office of the president of the United States. Apparently, we
have enough of these people now with high enough profiles that it is
worthy of a whole feature series, and first up is casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
It's people like this who will at the very least decide the Republican nominee
for president. From Mr. Todd's description Mr. Adelson is
fiscally conservative but socially liberal which would indicate that he is actually
looking for a candidate that more or less resembles Bill Clinton. Nevada veteran political reporter Mark Ralston said that the billionaire's criticism of the Clintons has been muted, not like his very vocal dislike of Barack Obama. But here's the rub, Hillary Clinton the candidate is going to run way to the left of Bill Clinton's positions as president so with that in mind there is no way Mr. Adelson wants Mrs. Clinton as president and has said as much. Mr. Adelson
spent $100 million trying to defeat Barack Obama and still was unable to do it.
This time around he'll be much more careful with his money not propping up
hollowed out candidates like Newt Gingrich who was as a candidate all surface
and completely no substance. Chuck Todd and Mr.
Ralston, who is great for this kind of perspective, threw around
names like Marco Rubio and Scott Walker. But as Mr. Ralston explained, Mr. Adelson wants to
see how candidates perform first. But Rubio and Walker don't quite fit the bill for Mr.
Adelson so what it seems he's looking for, to use his parlance, is a safer bet... Jeb Bush.
There's a lot of money on the line for these candidates who want
to swim in the billionaire pool. What really hurts is that we're talking about a
$3 trillion election and billionaire donors when in the
last segment they were discussing the inability of families
to afford quality child care, that mother's do not receive paid maternity leave, which is a travesty. In a survey conducted by the Save The Children Foundation, their index showed that the United States is
number 33 on a list of countries that rank good places to be a mom. (Norway was number one.) That disappointing statistic was following by the ever too familiar refrain delivered by Mr. Todd that "the United States
is behind every other industrialized nation" in terms of conditions for
motherhood. "Behind every other
industrialized nation" seems to be a place that the United States has solidified
for itself, maybe with the one exception of wasting money on elections.
Panel: Matt Bai, Yahoo News; Kathleen Parker, The Washington Post; Ruth Marcus, The Washington Post; Michael Steele, former RNC Chair.
Sunday, May 03, 2015
5.3.15: Baltimore and a Wake Up
Could the mayor of Baltimore Stephanie Rawlings-Blake
overall handled the the protests, unrest, and violence better? Of course, but
it serves little if no purpose to to Monday morning quarterback her every move,
if you’re not on the ground seeing it for yourself. The only exception would be
her statement earlier in the week, in which she implied that she would give
‘space’ to the protesters for destructive purposes. She walked back the
statement several times, including on today’s program, but that was clearly
liberalism taken one step too far inasmuch it’s good to give people the right
to protest and comprehending why they are angry but destroying property does no
one any good. Mayor Rawlings-Blake has seen her profile in the Democratic party
ascend as of late, but disappointingly (but like most all of us) she has been
better when she’s in control of her message, but not so good when she has to
answer questions under pressure. That aside, it’s now the imperative of the
mayor to bring the city back to healing and heading in the right direction.
For always giving answers that, in fact, answer nothing
ever, it was almost refreshing to hear the Speaker of the House John Boehner
(R-OH) agree with Chuck Todd that the violence that police have committed and
discrimination that they've shown toward the black community is at a crisis
level because it is.
But as it was aptly noted, no one can agree on what the
problem is, but the ‘problems’ are systemic. NPR's April Ryan mentioned that a
holistic approach is needed to solve the many problems, and that’s true but a
good start would be first respecting that black males’ lives matter and then
doing everything we can to help people find employment. We’re strong believers in the concept
that having a job instills a sense of dignity in oneself. Author Wes Moore explained that the
definition of what is a family has to change suggesting a network of caring
adults from parents to caretakers to teacher that take an interest in children
because the structure of the family has changed so much.
Mr. Boehner said that if the problems that exist in the
inner cities or simply a matter of money, these problems would have been solved
long ago. But then some one duly notes that the United States invests more
money into the Middle East for reconstruction and training than it does here at
home, and whole thing just makes you shake your head. Why it is that the one thing that everyone in the middle
class and below knows is that it’s simply more and more difficult to get by
because wages hardly increase.
It’s time that our elected officials start allocating more resources to
our own constituents instead of into places where most all Americans will never
go.
Everyone is hoping that seeing Baltimore on fire for a week
will signal the beginning of the end of indiscriminant police brutality and
inner city uprisings – for healing and change to start. However, we’re afraid that this is only
the beginning and that Baltimore is another larger lid-shaking bubble - one
that has followed Florida and Ferguson and New York and North Charleston - in
an ever more disruptively boiling pot.
This is Baltimore and a wake up.
Panel: Tom Brokaw; NBC News; April Ryan, NPR; Kim Strassel; The Wall Street Journal; Wes Moore,
Author
On a lighter note… Ms. Strassel said that is not unlikely
that one of the individuals declaring a candidacy for president this week could
remain relevant late into the primary process. Let’s hope her assessment is incorrect for all our
sakes. Declaring a presidential
run this week will be Mr. Ben Carson, a brilliant neurosurgeon who makes
statements so ridiculous on a variety of topics, you’re simply not sure if
he’ll just say anything extreme right wingers want to hear or if he’s really
that stupid about everything… except neurosurgery. Then there’s Carly Fiorina, fmr. CEO of Hewlett Packard and
failed senatorial candidate. Ms.
Fiorina did such a good job as head of HP that they paid her $19 million to
leave, and since then the company has never really recovered. At this point, it’s been forced to
split into two separate companies to survive. Lastly, there is former Governor and FOX News talk show
host Mike Huckabee, whose first order of business if elected president of the
United States would be to repeal Sharia law all together.
Sunday, April 26, 2015
4.26.15: No Absolute Certainty...Certainly
In the wake of two hostages being killed, and Italian and
American respectively, in a drone strike targeting and Al Qaeda stronghold in
Pakistan, there is renewed focus on the Drone War. This is one of Pres. Barack Obama's great failures during
his presidency. Under President Bush there were 50 drone strikes but under
Pres. Obama there have been 475. The use of drones in warfare opens up a
Pandora's box of bad precedents.
Micah Zenko, a drone expert at the Council of Foreign Relations,
said that the spread of drone technology and usage is slowly progressing to
other countries. The British and the Israelis use drones, but soon in perhaps 5
to 10 years down the line other countries will have drone technology, which
opens up a plethora of scenarios. For example, what if Russia starts using
drones and then Russian hackers take over the computers that control the drones
and start flying them over and firing missiles on places that send the globe
into a panic? Will other countries start flying drones towards the United
States that it then has to shoot down, firing missiles from within its own
country, to protect itself. It seems crazy, but if you can imagine it so easily
only says it could be a possible reality.
But that's future semi-horror/fantasy. In the here and now,
the worst thing that Mr. Zenko outlined was that drone strikes are the calling
card of US foreign policy, the face
of US foreign policy. This not-so-secret perpetual state of warfare through
drone use hampers the United State’s ability to negotiate and influence other
countries. Granted, the United States isn’t truly negotiating with countries
where they’re using drones, despite its ‘partnership’ with Pakistan, where many
missions are directed.
Tom Donilon, former national security advisor for Pres.
Obama, explained very carefully that in the assessment of this target, “an
enemy facility in the Aghan theater of war,” it was the facility itself were
what was under scrutiny, not the identities of the individuals in the
facility. In that context, the CIA
had authorization because they were correct in that particular assessment that
it was indeed an Al Qaeda stronghold.
It’s the fact of that result that registers most with the American
people and the domestic repercussions are minimal right now. Mr. Donilon said as much, while tragic
that hostages were killed, there is no absolute certainty in a war zone.
These are part of the unintended consequences – hostages
being killed, civilians being injured in a retaliatory terrorist attacks for
the use of those drones, and a deteriorating ability to negotiate with other
countries around the world will all continue. Another consequence, Mr. Zenko
explained, is the change in calculus as to how frequent these strikes are
carried out. He explained that if these were special forces incursions there
wouldn't be nearly as many or if these were manned aircraft strikes there also
wouldn't be nearly as many. So the impetus for the de-escalation of these
strikes given that safety calculus is very low. Drone strikes and the failure
to close Guantanamo Bay Prison are two big failures that tarnish Mr. Obama’s
legacy as president, there is no doubt.
Speaking of tarnished legacies it is difficult to run for
president when you already have one at the state of the race. Of course we are
speaking about Hillary Clinton and the rumblings of quid pro quo money for
influence favors with the Clinton Foundation. The real problem here is that
even the more liberal commentators and progress are using words like Evan buy
from Yahoo news used on today's program which is arrogance and disregard for
conflict of interest and putting it most mildly was governor Asa Hutchinson of
Arkansas who said the Clintons were complicated. It's really hard to say where
all of this is going to shake out however if it gets worse and Mrs. Clinton
doesn't take Doris Kearns-Goodwin's advice of dealing with this herself and the
Democrats have no fallback candidate if this goes in a nightmarish direction
for Mrs. Clinton. We like most others don't feel that this will ultimately be a
big deal but it adds to a negative narrative established twenty years with Mr.
Clinton, and it’s this rehash that we dread.
Lastly, there is the impending Supreme Court decision on
whether or not to make same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states and we thought
that Mr. Olson and Mr. Boies frame the argument most properly. In denying
same-sex marriage you are denying individuals rights that are afforded to
others and under the Constitution. Everyone should have equal rights under the
law. We understand the religious sensitivities that people have towards the
notion of same-sex marriage but as was discussed the progression towards
majority social acceptance has been historically fast. This just says that
people are more accepting of differences but that those differences shouldn't
mean that you have less rights than someone else. That's called advanced
democracy. There’s no absolute
certainty that the country always get there, but we’re on board with the
practice.
Panel: Asa Hutchinson, Governor of Arkansas; Doris
Kearns-Goodwin, presidential historian; Evan Bai, Yahoo News; Helene Cooper, The New York Times
Sunday, April 19, 2015
4.19.15: A Little Early for Presidential Campaign Analysis, but Gov. John Kasich...
We have no intention of going on too much today because the
program primarily centered around the presidential campaign, and as Mr. Todd said,
there are ninteen months until the election so we have a little time. However,
having said that, we’ll offer a few thoughts on one guest in particular. First,
it was no surprise that Gov. John Kasich of Ohio (R) was not going to give a
scoop to “Meet The Press” in the form of an announcement on whether he’s
running for president or not. Given the fact that he was a commentator on the
Fox News Network, it would stand to reason that If anyone is going to get scoop,
it would be Fox.
But he sure did sound like a candidate for president, and in
our humble opinion he is really the one that can give Hillary Clinton the most
trouble. He's the governor of the quintessential swing state that plays a vital
role in any candidate’s hopes for presidential victory. He's a conservative but
he is also a pragmatist, which answers the question of why he took the money
for Medicaid under the construct of the Affordable Care Act, much to the
chagrin of his conservative compatriots. But Mr. Kasich sees it as most people
do, “Why wouldn't you take that money?” The federal government is helping the
state government help its most struggling citizens. He said it himself that there is a way to compromise without
having to sacrifice your principles.
Governor Kasich said that the two most important considerations as to
whether he is going to run is first his family, and secondly, (his words – paraphrasing)
what the Lord is guiding him to do in his life. Of course you always have to
consider the scrutiny that your family will have to endure as you the candidate
run through the gauntlet of the press and campaign trail. The other
consideration whether the Lord has indicated if this is what he should do with
his life, take it easy hardcore liberals that the statement came off as it was
coming more from the place in the strength that he finds in being religious,
not some direct call from the God, while he has a crazy look in his eye. But make no mistake, God’s going to
tell him to run.
The only problem we would have with a Kasich Administration
is that it would preside over a Republican Congress, and he’d rubberstamp
anything that they put forward then rest on them the justification for it if it
went south. It’s happened before.
Chuck Todd mentioned that there were nineteen prospective Republican candidates
at this point and not at anytime we would presume to tell you how to vote, but if
you're considering Ted Cruz or Ben Carson or Mike Huckabee, then you shouldn't
be really reading this blog. We
all know that we like their collective entertainment value, but taking them
seriously as presidential material is just downright scary. Needless to say, they’ve all rendered
themselves disqualified to hold any public office, forget the oval one.
The other little bit about today's program with regard to
presidential politics all centered around Hillary Clinton's rollout of her
campaign. Some on the panel thought it was too scripted, the journey to Iowa
too scripted, and that there were opportunities lost, as Mr. Todd said. To all of
which we say, “ Of course it was scripted.” She's just getting out on the road
– why make an early mistake if you can avoid it. Also, she's not really taking the temperature of the people
so much as she is taking the temperature of the press coverage about the
campaign launch.
The launch was what it was; all that matters is that we know
she is official in the race. Here are two things to keep in mind in these early
stages, 1) Mrs. Clinton put out broad strokes of what her campaign is going to
be about, which is restoring the middle class. However, she really needs to
start refining of vision and message quickly or everyone is going to view her
candidacy simply as an attempted land grad. On the other side of that,
Republicans need more than Hillary bashing and greedy tax policies. That's simply
not going to fly. But as we said,
there are nineteen months to go so we’re not going to waste too much energy
today going on about a race that's just started.
Panel: Helene Cooper, The New York Times; David Axrelrod, former advisor to
President Obama; Kathleen Parker, The Washington Post; Steve Schmidt, former
John McCain campaign manager.
One last thing: We
agree with Steve Schmidt and David Axelrod that what Florida postman Doug
Hughes did - flying his Gyro copter into Capitol airspace to deliver a letter to
bring attention to the reform of campaign finance was reckless and showed an
extremely poor lack of judgment; he could have been shot down. Security became
a large part of the story, and his message got lost in the on-air mail. Granted,
we all know that this country desperately needs campaign finance reform in the
biggest way because billionaires are essentially owning their own political
candidates. However, the one question that’s been sticking with us throughout
the story is where can we get a Gyrocopter? How cool is that?
Sunday, April 12, 2015
4.12.15: Hillary Clinton's Announcement
Wouldn't it be funny if Hillary Clinton announced today that she wasn't running for president? The number one topic that dominated today's program, despite a responsible addressing of all the week's news, was the presumed candidacy of Hillary Clinton; keyword being 'presumed.'
However, to our own mild surprise, we're going to trust NBC News because it's "Meet The Press." (We write a blog on it as you know.) And Mr. Todd mentioned that the campaign is launching with the title - Hillary for America. However, we're going to start with a point of discussion that the panel had at the end, which was the Atlantic Monthly's Jonathan Ruuch and his politician expiration date equation. Mr. Todd explained that Mr. Rauch determined that the optimal time for a winning politician is if the person has been in the public eye for less than fourteen years. As an elected official, Hillary Clinton has accrued fifteen years, but if you factor in her time as first lady then it jumps up to a quarter of a century. There were two lists of the prospective candidates outlining their over-under the fourteen-year threshold.
NPR's Maria Hinojosa commented that terms like 'stale' and 'expiration date' are very poor choices when describing any woman let alone Mrs. Clinton, and we obviously agree. But here's the key - all all the people on that list there is only one woman and that is where the equation breaks. Think about all that Mrs. Clinton has had to accomplish and go through to be in this very position. As First Lady, she took a pummeling from Republicans over healthcare reform; then she had to win a New York Senate race, followed by losing a difficult presidential bid to relative newcomer Barack Obama; then serve under him as Secretary of State. Comparatively, no other male candidate has a comparable resume so she's had to be in the public eye longer by necessity . You understand the disparity here.
Mrs. Clinton certainly does have trust issues, which are two-pronged. There are Republicans who simply hate the Clintons and would never vote for them and then there is the more significant dissents, which come from Democrats who can not trust the Mrs. Clinton will do what she says she will. For example, if Mrs. Clinton talks about the wealth gap in the United States and helping the middle class in a significant way, will she make good on that rhetoric? This will be hashed out during the campaign and an examination of her vision, which is critical.
And given that, we wouldn't endorse Mrs. Clinton at this time either, not before we heard what she has to say so we agree with Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake that it is not significant that Bill de Blasio who served as he Senate-race campaign manager didn't endorse her today during his interview. The dynamics of such an endorsement have significantly changed, starting with the fact that Mr. de Blasio is now the mayor of America's largest city, New York. Also, we wouldn't suggest what she should or should not do on the campaign trail. We're here to observer and assess as everyone else will do before casting a vote. And what we'll assess is indeed Mrs. Clinton's vision for the country, and whether or not we think she'll actually carry it out, to earn an endorsement.
Hugh Hewlitt said he found it surreal that one of the talking points for Mrs. Clinton, uttered multiple times by Mr. de Blasio, is that she has been thoroughly vetted - obviously, he disagrees. If you're a conservative as Mr. Hewlitt is, you're going to find it surreal as well because there are 'so many questions.' Conversely, if you're a progressive, one would ask, 'what more do you need to know?' For every politician, there is a sliding scale between the two. As Mr. Todd pointed out, we know very little of Rand Paul's personal background, nor will he answer any questions about it. Yet, we know that Mrs. Clinton's husband had an affair, with whom and what was done. To use the word 'surreal' is a bit too conspiracy oriented than is called for, as is saying that the Clintons think they are above the law, like Senator Paul did.
Then there is the ultimate wild-card, alluded to in the last paragraph, which is President Bill Clinton. Strange that one's spouse would be a wild card, but when one's already been the president of the United States and it's Bill Clinton, then strange is what to expect. Having said that, in more honest campaigning terms, we think Mr. Clinton will stay on the right page more, in line with Mrs. Clinton's wishes this time round, but the variable is how it comes off and how it's perceived by the electorate.
David Brooks mentioned that for Mrs. Clinton it will be all about authenticity and integrity, but as David Axelrod said (in a clip), humility is the order of the day, and though we wouldn't call it humility per se, it's smart that Mrs. Clinton is announcing today because tomorrow, she'll only be a side note at the water cooler, which will be dominated by "Game of Thrones." So here's to starting our own, the race for presidency of the United States.
Panel: David Brooks, The New York Times; Maria Hinojosa, NPR; Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Mayor of Baltimore (D); Hugh Hewlitt, conservative radio host.
On another note: We'd be negligent if we didn't mention the police shooting of Walter Scott in South Carolina, but there isn't much to add except that 1) the alternative hypothetical report that "Meet The Press" put together was a better example of something truly surreal, 2) the policeman, Michael Slager should certainly be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and 3) most importantly, the public trust of the police force, across the entire country, has eroded to a crisis level, and something needs to be done. Body cameras, as discussed, is a good start, and demilitarizing the force would be a solid second step.
However, to our own mild surprise, we're going to trust NBC News because it's "Meet The Press." (We write a blog on it as you know.) And Mr. Todd mentioned that the campaign is launching with the title - Hillary for America. However, we're going to start with a point of discussion that the panel had at the end, which was the Atlantic Monthly's Jonathan Ruuch and his politician expiration date equation. Mr. Todd explained that Mr. Rauch determined that the optimal time for a winning politician is if the person has been in the public eye for less than fourteen years. As an elected official, Hillary Clinton has accrued fifteen years, but if you factor in her time as first lady then it jumps up to a quarter of a century. There were two lists of the prospective candidates outlining their over-under the fourteen-year threshold.
NPR's Maria Hinojosa commented that terms like 'stale' and 'expiration date' are very poor choices when describing any woman let alone Mrs. Clinton, and we obviously agree. But here's the key - all all the people on that list there is only one woman and that is where the equation breaks. Think about all that Mrs. Clinton has had to accomplish and go through to be in this very position. As First Lady, she took a pummeling from Republicans over healthcare reform; then she had to win a New York Senate race, followed by losing a difficult presidential bid to relative newcomer Barack Obama; then serve under him as Secretary of State. Comparatively, no other male candidate has a comparable resume so she's had to be in the public eye longer by necessity . You understand the disparity here.
Mrs. Clinton certainly does have trust issues, which are two-pronged. There are Republicans who simply hate the Clintons and would never vote for them and then there is the more significant dissents, which come from Democrats who can not trust the Mrs. Clinton will do what she says she will. For example, if Mrs. Clinton talks about the wealth gap in the United States and helping the middle class in a significant way, will she make good on that rhetoric? This will be hashed out during the campaign and an examination of her vision, which is critical.
And given that, we wouldn't endorse Mrs. Clinton at this time either, not before we heard what she has to say so we agree with Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake that it is not significant that Bill de Blasio who served as he Senate-race campaign manager didn't endorse her today during his interview. The dynamics of such an endorsement have significantly changed, starting with the fact that Mr. de Blasio is now the mayor of America's largest city, New York. Also, we wouldn't suggest what she should or should not do on the campaign trail. We're here to observer and assess as everyone else will do before casting a vote. And what we'll assess is indeed Mrs. Clinton's vision for the country, and whether or not we think she'll actually carry it out, to earn an endorsement.
Hugh Hewlitt said he found it surreal that one of the talking points for Mrs. Clinton, uttered multiple times by Mr. de Blasio, is that she has been thoroughly vetted - obviously, he disagrees. If you're a conservative as Mr. Hewlitt is, you're going to find it surreal as well because there are 'so many questions.' Conversely, if you're a progressive, one would ask, 'what more do you need to know?' For every politician, there is a sliding scale between the two. As Mr. Todd pointed out, we know very little of Rand Paul's personal background, nor will he answer any questions about it. Yet, we know that Mrs. Clinton's husband had an affair, with whom and what was done. To use the word 'surreal' is a bit too conspiracy oriented than is called for, as is saying that the Clintons think they are above the law, like Senator Paul did.
Then there is the ultimate wild-card, alluded to in the last paragraph, which is President Bill Clinton. Strange that one's spouse would be a wild card, but when one's already been the president of the United States and it's Bill Clinton, then strange is what to expect. Having said that, in more honest campaigning terms, we think Mr. Clinton will stay on the right page more, in line with Mrs. Clinton's wishes this time round, but the variable is how it comes off and how it's perceived by the electorate.
David Brooks mentioned that for Mrs. Clinton it will be all about authenticity and integrity, but as David Axelrod said (in a clip), humility is the order of the day, and though we wouldn't call it humility per se, it's smart that Mrs. Clinton is announcing today because tomorrow, she'll only be a side note at the water cooler, which will be dominated by "Game of Thrones." So here's to starting our own, the race for presidency of the United States.
Panel: David Brooks, The New York Times; Maria Hinojosa, NPR; Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Mayor of Baltimore (D); Hugh Hewlitt, conservative radio host.
On another note: We'd be negligent if we didn't mention the police shooting of Walter Scott in South Carolina, but there isn't much to add except that 1) the alternative hypothetical report that "Meet The Press" put together was a better example of something truly surreal, 2) the policeman, Michael Slager should certainly be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and 3) most importantly, the public trust of the police force, across the entire country, has eroded to a crisis level, and something needs to be done. Body cameras, as discussed, is a good start, and demilitarizing the force would be a solid second step.
Sunday, April 05, 2015
4.5.15: The Iranian Nuclear Deal & Religious Liberty
-->
It's a shame that on an Easter and Passover weekend we
cannot speak about the topics from today's program in a more genial tone, but
the guests and the subjects did not lend themselves at all well to any sort of
conciliatory language.
Here’s the fact:
There is a deal in place.
It is certainly one that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
is not happy with as he unequivocally and repeatedly stated in his interview
with Chuck Todd today that Iran is
the preeminent terrorist state of our time. Mr. Netanyahu, as we know, would
like to see a deal that closes Iran's nuclear facilities, entirely rolling back
their nuclear program.
But here’s another fact, is that's unrealistic. There is no
way that is going to happen as Iran’s program is too far along, so much so that
they were only a few months away from total nuclear weapon capability. Mr. Netanyahu said that he wants a
diplomatic deal, but one that is frankly unrealistic. His only recourse to accomplish what he
sees is a good deal would be to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities? And if indeed that is the course of
action, extrapolating out that plan, it would not be Israel that does the
bombing, but the United States through authorization of a Republican Congress
that frankly Mr. Netanyahu has in his vest pocket. The deal pushes Iran’s capability back to a year’s time.
At the top of the program Mr. Todd summarized reactions on
both sides: the hardliners in Iran felt that their Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, gave away too much and elected
officials critical of the Obama administration in the United States said that
the United States did not get enough concessions, so what we can surmise is
that both sides felt some pain.
The other consideration, a big one, is that there were five other
countries involved in negotiations. And this is key for the United States, in
negotiating a nuclear agreement with Iran. It does the United States well to be
partnered with Germany, France, Great Britain, Russia and China. However, if
the U.S. Republican-controlled Congress does not go along with this deal –
doesn’t ratify it – essentially killing it then we've lost some key allies and
significant partners, not only on this deal but in others where we'll need
their cooperation. They will know that the president doesn’t have the ability
to negotiate on behalf of the country, rendering the United States an
unreliable partner that other countries will cease to seek out.
Given that Iran was only months away from constituting a
nuclear weapon, this was a critical time and a deal had to be struck or the United States would have to be willing to
go to war with Iran, and it would certainly go it alone, with only Israel as a
partner, as none of those other five countries would support a war against
Iran. Not to mention that, frankly, the American people simply don't want it.
Senator Christopher Murphy (D-CT), who called the deal
‘remarkable,’ provided minor consolation for the deal, when he explained that
other sanctions related to other issues at hand would remain in place. Only sanctions as they are related to
Iran's nuclear capability would eventually be lifted. Mr. Murphy also offered the opinion that perhaps if the
United States can show it can negotiate with Iran on this issue; perhaps it
could negotiate with them on others. That’s a overly optimistic in our opinion.
When it comes right down to it the opinion of this column is
one of pragmatism. Given the facts, as they are now, the question at hand is
what the U.S. Congress should do now? As we’ve said, if Congress nixes this
deal, which they probably will, it puts the United States in a very difficult
diplomatic spot.
[Though were not really ready to comment on presidential
politics at the moment, if in 2016 a Democrat is elected president and
Republican Congress is still in control; will this sort of diplomatic negating
tactic stay in place, essentially rendering the United States’ ability to
negotiate with other countries completely null and void because of its
unpredictability? Point being, is that this could set of very bad precedent
that would only get worse moving forward.
And unfortunately speaking of the concept of ‘things-can-only-get-worse’
in the of presidential politics, we think of governors running for president in
terms of how they run their states. So when we consider Louisiana Governor
Bobby Jindal: we ask ourselves: do we want to live Mr. Jindal’s Louisiana? The
answer is clearly ‘no.’]
The above supplemental commentary aside, the essential
question that Mr. Jindal was on today’s program to answer was in consideration
of the validity of these religious liberty laws that have come through Indiana
and Arkansas in the past week.
The first amendment of the Constitution reads as follows:
Amendment 1
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to
petition the government for a redress of grievances.
In his defense of religious liberty laws, Mr. Jindal quoted
referred to the founding fathers and the First Amendment, what is disturbing is
that he would have you believe an incorrect reading of the first sentence of
the first amendment. (And frankly,
Cardinal Dolan in his interview, was also incorrectly spoke about what the
first amendment means.) In the first sentence, it says: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…”
What that means is Congress should make no laws with regard to religion, and
making a religious liberty law is making law about ‘religion,’ which Congress
shouldn’t do under any circumstance. The invocation of liberty is open to
interpretation, but it's a non-issue regardless because the First Amendment it
says no law should be made with respect to religion. That is most rudimentary answer
as to why it is unconstitutional.
What these religious liberty laws were designed to do in a
practical sense is protects businesses if they wanted to refuse service to a
gay couple on the grounds that it goes against the religious values of the
business owner. For example, if there is only one florist in town and a gay
couple wants to get married – in that
town in a state where same-sex marriage is legal - and they go to that
florist to get flowers for the wedding. The florist says, “I don't believe in that kind of marriage
for religious reasons, so I am not delivering the flowers,” that business’s
discrimination is protected under the law. It’s protects the business’s right to discriminate based on
sexual orientation. Again -
Congress shall make no law with respect to an establishment of religion.
Not to mention that throughout the entire interview, Governor
Jindal spoke only in terms of Christians.
He didn’t speak at all in terms of all religions, just the Christian
religion, which was sad. (And it didn't go unnoticed that
Cardinal Dolan only referred to Christians and Jews as practicing religious
peacefulness.) We understand and have sympathy for Cardinal Dolan's point of
view because he is a cardinal in the Catholic Church, catering to Catholics! However
with respect to Gov. Jindal, he signed up for PUBLIC office – public meaning
everyone without respect to religion, not the office of the Christian public only.
Panel:
Matt
Bai, Yahoo News; Amy
Walter, Cook Political Report; Helene
Cooper, The New York Times; Perry
Bacon, NBC News
-->Sunday, March 29, 2015
3.29.15: Is The Obama Administration A Player or Just Being Played?
-->
It's a predictable notion that we’ll comment on the Germanwings
plane crash which turned out to be a deliberate act, because we want to share
our perspective on what some are calling an inexplicable act. But before we get into that, we must
skip over to the subject of Yemen and what is happening in the greater Middle East
along with what the United States is doing in the region. The proxy war between
Saudi Arabia and Iran has been going on for the better part of 30 years, and now
that Cold War in the Middle East could become quite hot.
The Saudi ambassador to the United States, Adel
bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, said on today's program that the Saudi military was
conducting airstrikes in Yemen against Iranian-backed Shia militias at the
invitation of the Yemeni government with the goal being, as the ambassador
stated, to protect the Yemeni people from these extremists. The ambassador also
explained that they are conducting these airstrikes with the full support of
the United States. Meanwhile on the other side of things, the Obama
administration is in talks with the Iranian regime over its nuclear program. It
was outlined on the program that the United States is presenting a pessimistic view
of the negotiations while the Iranians are framing things in an optimistic light.
Here’s what we have to say: At this point in time, there can be no deal no nuclear deal
with Iran.
First, as former Ambassador Christopher Hill said, the
mullahs in Iran have no interest in normalizing relations with Israel, let
alone recognizing the country's right to exist. He used the phrase “a bridge
too far” when Chuck Todd asked him why recognition of the Israeli state is not
on the table for these negotiations.
Of course this column is a strong supporter of Israel, but,
that is not the sole reason why we say that there should be no deal. The other is that we just don’t see the
wisdom in enabling Iran in extending its reach across the region by putting
this deal in place, which would essentially lift sanctions give them greater
resources. Now, it was brought up that if there is no nuclear deal then that
would allow Iran to try and constitute its nuclear program freely as they would
be able to kick out U.N. inspectors. The essential problem is that Iran is not
acting in good faith – it will say what it has to so that the sanctions are
lifted but still pursue a nuclear weapon.
The discussion on today’s program explained that while the
US is supporting the Saudi's in their airstrikes against Shia militias in Yemen,
the United States is also on the same side as Iran in the fight against ISIS.
However, just to stay up to speed, it was reported in the New York Times this morning that Iranian led militias in Iraq left
the fight for Tikrit in protest because of United States involvement in the
form of airstrikes.
Unless the Obama administration has some sort of Jedi chess
move that we're not seeing, it seems like to us that it is being played by lead
by both sides. The Saudi's and the
Iranians are essentially war with one another – hot, cold, lukewarm, covert,
overt, whatever - and the U.S. is enabling both of them, but to what end?
The United States in no way should help Iran accrue the
resources it needs to spread more of its control throughout the Middle East.
What's tricky is that what you are left with is partnering with a regime that protects
individuals that export extremism and terrorism targeting the United States,
and that is Saudi Arabia. And that's not even to mention the Saudi's horrible
human rights record and the way that they treat women.
The United States military in the Middle East should take a
stance and posture of support. And what we mean by that is no airstrikes on ISIS.
If the Iranians want to take that fight, let them, but the United States should
keep the hefty sanctions in place as a certain deterrent to interfering with
Kurdistan, Jordan, or of course Israel.
Because in this fight between Saudi Arabia and Iran, one
which both sides clearly want to have, the United States shouldn't be fighting
for either side. However, we've already thrown our support to the Saudi's,
that's clear, but at the same time appeasing Iran is not the way to go. Why be played by both sides?
It's not so much that we have a problem with the goals that
the Obama Administration is trying to achieve – peace in the region. The
problem we have is no one's listening to the Obama Administration; no one cares
what they have to say; they are basically just in the way in the minds of the
major regional players and are carrying no clout. No one is listening to them.
Update: We want to add here that there could be a deal but there shouldn't be when all of the players involved are presently firing rockets and dropping bombs.
Update: We want to add here that there could be a deal but there shouldn't be when all of the players involved are presently firing rockets and dropping bombs.
***
And now will briefly comment about the Germanwings plane
crash, to try to provide a little insight. It's been reported that the co-pilot
Andreas Lubitz had been suffering from depression, and The New York Times
reported this morning that he was having problems with his eyesight. The latter possibly causing Mr. Lubitz
anxiety about losing his job, possibly ending his flying career. Whether the concern about
eyesight is legitimate or not, make no mistake the depression was there first. Washington Post columnist Kathleen
Parker said on today's program that she wasn't completely convinced that the
deliberate act of crashing the plane was due to a mental health issue. We don't
have all the evidence so it is possible that there was a motivation that hasn't
been identified as of yet.
But if, in fact, it was due to mental illness on the part of
Mr. Lubitz, let's put that into a little perspective. Think about society today
and how individuals are so physically cut off from one another. We live predominantly
communicating through screens -the information that we give and the information
that we receive. We are more and
more isolated, living inside our own heads too much and pre-occupied with self,
especially true of younger people who have grown up in this technological
isolating context. On top of that, take into consideration a general feeling
around the world that economically life is never going to be easy, throwing a
shadow of foreboding for massive amounts people.
It’s reasoned that someone who is suicidal will go and commit
this act, and given that analysis, Mr. Lubitz should be considered a mass
murderer of 149 individuals. While
he is, indeed, a mass murderer, maybe he was also (wrongly) thinking that for
anyone to sympathize and understand his pain – to hear the cry - he had to
bring spectacular attention to it and himself. For him, the way was to down a passenger jet with all of
those people on it. That in no way explains away anything,
serving no justification, but the notion that it was some inexplicable act we
just don't buy.
Panel: Joe Scarborough, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe;” Kathleen
Parker, The Washington Post; Sam Stein, The Huffington Post; Neera Tanden, CEO
of the Center for American Progres
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