John Lewis, Reince Priebus, Dianne Feinstein and The New Abnormal
Panel: Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute; Rich Lowry, The National Review, Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic Monthly
This Week:
Trump's nepotism hiring of son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Trump's 'bizarre' (Chuck Todd's word) news conference. Concede 'bizarre,' but it was definitely not presidential.
Inspector General opening an investigation into FBI Director James Comey's handling of Hillary Clinton's emails.
Senate Intelligence Committee opens investigation on Russia's interference in our election.
And then,
Congressman John Lewis (D-GA): Trump isn't legitimate. "I think the Russians participating in getting this man elected."
Finds the prospect of working with Donald Trump almost impossible.
The legitimate comment - understand that he said, but I would have advised against it.
John Lewis: Will never forget or forgive Donald Trump for saying Vladimir Putin is a better leader than Barack Obama.
A shameful statement from Trump, and yes, he did say that.
Trump's Reaction to Congressman Lewis's statement on 'legitimacy':
Your district is in horrible shape and crime infested. All talk talk talk, no action...
Again, not presidential - not even close.
Reince Priebus Interview
Mr. Priebus: It's shocking he, John Lewis as historic as he is, would question the legitimacy of the election. What he said was irresponsible.
About Michael Flynn talking to the Russian ambassador 5 times on the day new Russian sanctions kicked in...
He's the national security advisor and he talks to our countries' representatives everyday, it's part of his job. But, it's not his job, yet! So did the White House Chief of Staff on "Meet the Press" just acknowledge that Michael Flynn violated the Logan Act?
Trump and his methods of communication...
Rich Lowry: Welcome to the new abnormal.
Jeffrey Goldberg: Trump is easily trolled. What happens when someone like North Korea or China say something he doesn't like?
His response to John Lewis was not an appropriate action.
Danielle Pletka, on John Lewis comment: Russia doesn't necessarily want Trump, but they want people to question
everything. John Lewis didn't mean to help that cause, but he's in effect helping that.
Helene Cooper: Twitter tantums are not the way a president should respond.
Danielle Pletka: This is what the American people chose.
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) Interview
She regrets the president-elect's response [on John Lewis's comment] - not seeing the bigger picture.
Trump needs to step up and realize he represents the whole country.
Chuck Todd: Did Russia interfere with the election, and did it affect the outcome?
Senator Feinstein: Yes and yes. The aim was to bring down Hillary Clinton, a sophisticated two-year operation.
The senator is not ready to say that James Comey should be fired, yet.
The Wall Street Journal: Comey must resign.
Jeffrey Goldberg: Director Comey has united Republicans and Democrats - neither are happy with him.
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Sunday, January 08, 2017
1.8.17: [NOTES] McCain, Graham, Conway, Carter - Russia and Obamacare
On the subject of Russian interference in our democracy:
Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) - Joint Interview
Senator McCain: I believe our intelligence officers
Senator Graham: If President-elect Trump is still skeptical that Russia tried to interfere with our elections after the briefing, that's deeply unnerving to me... If one party is compromised, we're all compromised... I want to give Donald Trump the opportunity for Russia to pay a price. I want more sanctions, more help for the Baltic states. If he's still unsure, that will shake me to my core.
KellyAnne Conway - counselor to the president-elect
Russia allegedly attempt to influence the election, but they did not succeed in embarrassing this country on the world stage. They did not succeed.
When Donald Trump is president, he will meet with his intelligence team and then decide what to do.
Andrea Mitchell, NBC News
It's the attempt itself.
It's not just cyber, but also the propaganda wars.
David Brooks, The New York Times
Steve Bannon, senior advisor to the president-elect, wants a new world order of national populists against Islam. [read: Alliance with Russia]
Rick Santelli, CNBC
The timing of these intelligence briefings and release of the findings are politically driven.
[Congressional] hearings are kabuki theater.
You [NBC political reports] chose sides during the election. Impugning the integrity of reporters at his own network. Andrea Mitchell takes exception to this.
Ash Carter, Secretary of Defense
It's an aggressive act against our democracy.
On Obamacare:
Repeal and Replace
Clips of Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Bob Corker (R-GA), Tom Cotton (R-AR) saying that it must be done simultaneously.
Rick Santelli
No problem with repeal, but a problem with the replace, because it will cost to much money.
Analogy of comparing healthcare to cars, each having components.
Andrea Mitchell
A silly analogy [a shot for questioning her integrity earlier in the show].
Prediction: repeal for certain, replace will leave a lot of people without coverage but with more "choice," and the replace will cost a lot of additional money.
Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) - Joint Interview
Senator McCain: I believe our intelligence officers
Senator Graham: If President-elect Trump is still skeptical that Russia tried to interfere with our elections after the briefing, that's deeply unnerving to me... If one party is compromised, we're all compromised... I want to give Donald Trump the opportunity for Russia to pay a price. I want more sanctions, more help for the Baltic states. If he's still unsure, that will shake me to my core.
KellyAnne Conway - counselor to the president-elect
Russia allegedly attempt to influence the election, but they did not succeed in embarrassing this country on the world stage. They did not succeed.
When Donald Trump is president, he will meet with his intelligence team and then decide what to do.
Andrea Mitchell, NBC News
It's the attempt itself.
It's not just cyber, but also the propaganda wars.
David Brooks, The New York Times
Steve Bannon, senior advisor to the president-elect, wants a new world order of national populists against Islam. [read: Alliance with Russia]
Rick Santelli, CNBC
The timing of these intelligence briefings and release of the findings are politically driven.
[Congressional] hearings are kabuki theater.
You [NBC political reports] chose sides during the election. Impugning the integrity of reporters at his own network. Andrea Mitchell takes exception to this.
Ash Carter, Secretary of Defense
It's an aggressive act against our democracy.
On Obamacare:
Repeal and Replace
Clips of Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Bob Corker (R-GA), Tom Cotton (R-AR) saying that it must be done simultaneously.
Rick Santelli
No problem with repeal, but a problem with the replace, because it will cost to much money.
Analogy of comparing healthcare to cars, each having components.
Andrea Mitchell
A silly analogy [a shot for questioning her integrity earlier in the show].
Prediction: repeal for certain, replace will leave a lot of people without coverage but with more "choice," and the replace will cost a lot of additional money.
Sunday, January 01, 2017
1.1.17: Whoa Is The Media in The Age of Trump/ (Sabbatical)
Only a dork who comments on "Meet The Press," wouldn't immediately raise his hands up and tune out when Mr. Todd introduced this week's program as a special examination of how the press should cover the news in the Age of Trump (capitalized because now it's an actual thing). Not exactly a ratings winner on New Year's Day and if Mr. Todd is in the studio by himself on what really isn't a slow news day given what happened in Instanbul last night (not mentioned), then just given everyone the day off.
Mr. Todd has focused on this very topic many times leading up to this point and it seems that he just doesn't know, asking as many people on-air as he can in an attempt to find out or passive aggressively trying to get everyone on the same page. The latter, I admit, is pretty dismissive, but more dismissively, one could say, "You what Mr. Todd - Media - get your act together and get over yourselves." But I wouldn't say that.
Hal Boedeker of the Orlando Sentinel said that journalists have to keep doing their jobs. In its simplicity, it's still the most insightful. He also pointed out that when you cite the specific press source, people take it more seriously. I think that Mr. Todd conflates what he does as a television political reporter with the established print media too much because they really are different animals, as it were. Editor-in-Chief of The Wall Street Journal, Gerard Baker, and the Executive Editor of The New York Times, Dean Baquet, showed complete faith in the journalistic mission. There is an obligation to the local community to disseminate information about the more practical matters in life - school and road closings, etc. - so there is that base-level trust. For political media, digitally and on-air, the audience is making values judgements. That local level of trust is one reason that makes the press the most likely of institutions to have the ability to regain public trust.
The other reason, and here is where the networks prove their profound relevance as well, is access to confidential sources with the government or administration.
Anyone who works for a government institution, to some degree still believes in the notion of the institution, no matter how ever 'seized upon' you think said institution is. There is also the believe in like institutions, a predisposition of trust to present the truth. People like that don't just go to anyone who will listen, not how it works. And when the stark reality of tragic events - a mass shooting or hurricane/flood - slap an administration in the face there's no shading the actions taken and how the American people react to to those actions.
Did the press completely screw up the coverage of the election and the national mood? Totally. Did they give Donald Trump a free pass on a lot of things - maybe, maybe not - but he definitely duped them all, on any given day.
If I had my two cents, I'd say to cut quickly through the bullsh*t, and stick aggressively to the substance. As noted on today's program, the press needs to find out more about Mr. Trump's businesses, no one even knows all of what he owns exactly. And more ominously, who or what government he's indebted to.
Panel: No panel, really.
A couple more things...
I want to take this opportunity on the very first day of the year to thank you for reading the column. We are, in fact, optimistic for the coming year of 2017 and I wish you all good health and fortune.
With the above said, I'm taking a sabbatical from writing the column for a couple of reasons. One, it has been a crazy and tiring election year and everyone needs a break to recharge. Plus there's still a lot of unsettled business to attend to: an inauguration, cabinet hearings, the first legislative priority out of the gate. I thought I'd wait until all the smoke clears to really have any inclination of how the future will come into focus. Plus, there's some other writing I'd like to focus on, the time for which is long overdue. How long a sabbatical exactly? Not sure, honestly.
In the meantime, I'll be active on twitter: @MTPOpinion
Thanks again.
Mr. Todd has focused on this very topic many times leading up to this point and it seems that he just doesn't know, asking as many people on-air as he can in an attempt to find out or passive aggressively trying to get everyone on the same page. The latter, I admit, is pretty dismissive, but more dismissively, one could say, "You what Mr. Todd - Media - get your act together and get over yourselves." But I wouldn't say that.
Hal Boedeker of the Orlando Sentinel said that journalists have to keep doing their jobs. In its simplicity, it's still the most insightful. He also pointed out that when you cite the specific press source, people take it more seriously. I think that Mr. Todd conflates what he does as a television political reporter with the established print media too much because they really are different animals, as it were. Editor-in-Chief of The Wall Street Journal, Gerard Baker, and the Executive Editor of The New York Times, Dean Baquet, showed complete faith in the journalistic mission. There is an obligation to the local community to disseminate information about the more practical matters in life - school and road closings, etc. - so there is that base-level trust. For political media, digitally and on-air, the audience is making values judgements. That local level of trust is one reason that makes the press the most likely of institutions to have the ability to regain public trust.
The other reason, and here is where the networks prove their profound relevance as well, is access to confidential sources with the government or administration.
Anyone who works for a government institution, to some degree still believes in the notion of the institution, no matter how ever 'seized upon' you think said institution is. There is also the believe in like institutions, a predisposition of trust to present the truth. People like that don't just go to anyone who will listen, not how it works. And when the stark reality of tragic events - a mass shooting or hurricane/flood - slap an administration in the face there's no shading the actions taken and how the American people react to to those actions.
Did the press completely screw up the coverage of the election and the national mood? Totally. Did they give Donald Trump a free pass on a lot of things - maybe, maybe not - but he definitely duped them all, on any given day.
If I had my two cents, I'd say to cut quickly through the bullsh*t, and stick aggressively to the substance. As noted on today's program, the press needs to find out more about Mr. Trump's businesses, no one even knows all of what he owns exactly. And more ominously, who or what government he's indebted to.
Panel: No panel, really.
A couple more things...
I want to take this opportunity on the very first day of the year to thank you for reading the column. We are, in fact, optimistic for the coming year of 2017 and I wish you all good health and fortune.
With the above said, I'm taking a sabbatical from writing the column for a couple of reasons. One, it has been a crazy and tiring election year and everyone needs a break to recharge. Plus there's still a lot of unsettled business to attend to: an inauguration, cabinet hearings, the first legislative priority out of the gate. I thought I'd wait until all the smoke clears to really have any inclination of how the future will come into focus. Plus, there's some other writing I'd like to focus on, the time for which is long overdue. How long a sabbatical exactly? Not sure, honestly.
In the meantime, I'll be active on twitter: @MTPOpinion
Thanks again.
Sunday, December 18, 2016
12.18.16: Looking In The Mirror / Russian Hacking a Test for Republicans
When you ruminate for a moment on the entire Russian hacking and interference of the U.S. election, it's a real challenge for Republicans officials because as it was happening they must have been feeling uneasy about what was happening but let it ride because they were also the beneficiaries. But now that the election is over, they have to do something about it, but these cyber attacks are inevitably turned toward them.
More on that in a minute, but first, Jeff Greenfield used the word "fantasy"in terms of the electoral college vote doing anything but confirming Donald Trump as president. Democrats have face facts and work through it.
But here's two biggies that should be considered:
1. When Hillary Clinton lost the Democratic primary to Barack Obama in 2008, everyone knew she would be running in 2016 and like clockwork... too telegraphed. After two decades before that had Mrs. Clinton faced attacks and criticism and then her political opponents had 8 years to really focus on the target. The fact is that Mrs. Clinton, though a respected and effective public servant was a deeply flawed candidate, and she failed to come up with 89,000 votes that she needed in WI, MI and PA collectively. John Podesta had nothing adequate to say about the failure in Wisconsin, every panelist agreed on this. Mrs. Clinton should have been there at least ten times. It was a state that Democrats consistently won, yes, but symbolically it was also where the Republican power structure was based with both the Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and RNC Chair Reince Priebus being from the state. Ultimately, the loss is on Secretary Clinton - hard, plain and true.
2. Judging from Chuck Todd's change in body language and tone of voice when talking about criticism of the press, he doesn't like it, for understandable reasons because it's on him. And by extension, the media complains about fake news and no agreed upon set of facts, which is scary because of how people will exploit. However, here's the thing - one could argue that fake news came to be when the networks decided to start profiting from news, which gave it an agenda - eyeballs, clicks, comments. Fox News covers political events differently than NBC covers those same events, different from CNN, and then the internet and ad words...
Donald Trump told Chuck Todd once that he got his information "from the shows" which was mocked on "the shows," but isn't that what they want? Ah...but not by our leaders. Well, as Donald Trump has now proven, you can not have it both ways.
Looking into the mirror sometimes can lead to profound insight.
But back to the "thinly-veiled cyber-espionage" as fmr. Sec. Robert Gates described the Russian cyber-attacks. The U.S. intelligence community and Mr. Gates himself confirm that Russian did interfere with our elections and worked against Hillary Clinton in favor of Donald Trump. Instead of eroding confidence in our intelligence agencies through twitter, Donald Trump should have said something to the effect that if that's the case, the Russians will still be sorry for interfering and that he didn't need their help anyway. Bravado a la Trump style but at least it would get everyone on the same page. Actually, everyone is on the same page except the president-elect, which is inexplicable.
What's also inexplicable is that Chairman of the Hillary Clinton campaign John Podesta's had his emails hacked and released on October 7th, got a call from the FBI on the 9th and hasn't heard from them since. Just another reason in a long line of them why FBI Director James Comey has to go.
Between the generals Mr. Trump has nominated for his cabinet and Senate Republicans with no love for Russia, hopefully there will be appropriate action taken in the form of an independent investigation - there has to be one. If we do as Senator Mitch McConnell suggested and do it solely through the intelligence committee, which he chairs then we'll essentially be giving Vladimir Putin as 'a pass' on his actions.
Panel: Katty Kay, BBC America; Yamiche Alcindor, The New York Times, Jeff Greenfield, Politico; Rick Santelli, CNBC
More on that in a minute, but first, Jeff Greenfield used the word "fantasy"in terms of the electoral college vote doing anything but confirming Donald Trump as president. Democrats have face facts and work through it.
But here's two biggies that should be considered:
1. When Hillary Clinton lost the Democratic primary to Barack Obama in 2008, everyone knew she would be running in 2016 and like clockwork... too telegraphed. After two decades before that had Mrs. Clinton faced attacks and criticism and then her political opponents had 8 years to really focus on the target. The fact is that Mrs. Clinton, though a respected and effective public servant was a deeply flawed candidate, and she failed to come up with 89,000 votes that she needed in WI, MI and PA collectively. John Podesta had nothing adequate to say about the failure in Wisconsin, every panelist agreed on this. Mrs. Clinton should have been there at least ten times. It was a state that Democrats consistently won, yes, but symbolically it was also where the Republican power structure was based with both the Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and RNC Chair Reince Priebus being from the state. Ultimately, the loss is on Secretary Clinton - hard, plain and true.
2. Judging from Chuck Todd's change in body language and tone of voice when talking about criticism of the press, he doesn't like it, for understandable reasons because it's on him. And by extension, the media complains about fake news and no agreed upon set of facts, which is scary because of how people will exploit. However, here's the thing - one could argue that fake news came to be when the networks decided to start profiting from news, which gave it an agenda - eyeballs, clicks, comments. Fox News covers political events differently than NBC covers those same events, different from CNN, and then the internet and ad words...
Donald Trump told Chuck Todd once that he got his information "from the shows" which was mocked on "the shows," but isn't that what they want? Ah...but not by our leaders. Well, as Donald Trump has now proven, you can not have it both ways.
Looking into the mirror sometimes can lead to profound insight.
But back to the "thinly-veiled cyber-espionage" as fmr. Sec. Robert Gates described the Russian cyber-attacks. The U.S. intelligence community and Mr. Gates himself confirm that Russian did interfere with our elections and worked against Hillary Clinton in favor of Donald Trump. Instead of eroding confidence in our intelligence agencies through twitter, Donald Trump should have said something to the effect that if that's the case, the Russians will still be sorry for interfering and that he didn't need their help anyway. Bravado a la Trump style but at least it would get everyone on the same page. Actually, everyone is on the same page except the president-elect, which is inexplicable.
What's also inexplicable is that Chairman of the Hillary Clinton campaign John Podesta's had his emails hacked and released on October 7th, got a call from the FBI on the 9th and hasn't heard from them since. Just another reason in a long line of them why FBI Director James Comey has to go.
Between the generals Mr. Trump has nominated for his cabinet and Senate Republicans with no love for Russia, hopefully there will be appropriate action taken in the form of an independent investigation - there has to be one. If we do as Senator Mitch McConnell suggested and do it solely through the intelligence committee, which he chairs then we'll essentially be giving Vladimir Putin as 'a pass' on his actions.
Panel: Katty Kay, BBC America; Yamiche Alcindor, The New York Times, Jeff Greenfield, Politico; Rick Santelli, CNBC
Sunday, December 11, 2016
12.11.16: The Alternate Reality of The Most Self-Interested Administration in U.S. History
Chuck Todd and Reince Priebus got 'into it' on today's "Meet The Press," a contentious back and forth about whether he and the Trump transition team believe that Russian agents were responsible for the hacking of the DNC and John Podesta. The incoming White House chief of staff said that there isn't any 'sourced' evidence that indicates that Russians were involved concluding with "I don't know." However, in a shrill defensive tonality Mr. Priebus disputed the CIA-sourced report that the RNC was hacked as well, but the information wasn't released, flatly saying that wasn't true according to the FBI. He went on to explain that given this part of the story isn't true the entire premise of the story and its contents are false as well.
The Washington Post article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-orders-review-of-russian-hacking-during-presidential-campaign/2016/12/09/31d6b300-be2a-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?utm_term=.d4ddc9257ac5
Yet, seventeen U.S. intelligence agencies agree that Russian agents did indeed hack email systems with the intent of damaging the Clinton campaign. Furthermore, the CIA report was presented to the Congressional Intelligence Committee members of the House and Senate, and Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was not convinced of the evidence and blocked the release of the CIA report this past September.
There isn't any surprise that Mitch McConnell would block the release of such a report given the possibility of increasing his own power, putting self-interest over party, and party over country. Senator McConnell got a two-for in Trump's election win. He's the Senate Majority leader and his wife is a member of the cabinet. This is obviously a man who will do only what is politically advantageous for himself. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John McCain (R-AZ) are getting ready an investigation of the Russian hacking while McConnell will sit on the sideline until he has to move. Mitch McConnell is no leader, just a Machiavellian politician in the classic sense.
[An aside: This may be Senator John McCain's last term in the Senate (speculation on my part), but combating this Russian cyber-meddling (some would say 'warfare') in our system and the Trump Administration's denying/enabling of it will be his swan song. Ultimately, as Senator McCain is wont to do throughout his career is put country over party. If this is his last political battle, he's going to go out with a win.]
The Wall Street Journal's Kimberly Strassel, who said "everyone agrees" that the Russians were responsible for hacking, to which Mr. Todd corrected her because it's everyone except the incoming administration. However, she explained that the problem with the report is that concludes that the Russians were specifically helping Mr. Trump win, which gives the air of political bias on the part of the CIA and The Washington Post. She said that doesn't seem to be the case, but then her argument gets a little twisted. She explained that the Russians hacking was designed to damage what they thought would be a Clinton Administration, to delegitimize her presidency before taking office. But to say that and then say it wasn't at the same time designed to help Mr. Trump makes no sense. The degree to which it worked was underestimated by the Russians so they got an even better result.
The Trump Administration hasn't even taken office yet and they've already caused a rift between them and the CIA, and between the CIA and the FBI.Also, their denying of Russian hacking is siding with a foreign government over the U.S. intelligence community, according to Chuck Todd, and how can you not agree with him?
And Mr. Trump continually reinforces his bromance with Vladimir Putin, at every turn. Now, he's set to nominate CEO of Exxon-Mobil Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. Mr. Tillerson is a personal friend of Vladimir Putin and received the Order of Friendship from Mr. Putin and the Russian government. All this on top of the fact that Mr. Trump wants another billionaire in his cabinet. Lacky Priebus, of course, defended Mr. Tillerson as "one of the preeminent people in the world," after self-correcting that he was only one of the most preeminent business people in the world.
Because of all this, fmr. U.S. Russian Ambassador Michael McFaul called it 'initially disturbing' of the nomination. The program also quoted Senator Graham with "unnerving." Most Republicans, still giddy with unfettered power, are in the wait and see mode because no one's even been sworn in yet so legally no damage has been done. Little consolation.
Right now we're trending generals and billionaires and friends with Putin so welcome to the alternate reality of the most self-interested administration in U.S. History.
Panel: Kimberly Strassel, The Wall Street Journal; Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian; Rick Stengel, fmr. Time magazine; Michael Steele, fmr. RNC Chair
One more thing...
John Glenn, pilot, astronaut, senator, American hero (not close to summing it up).
I'll just say that when I think of John Glenn, remembered of course for being the first human to orbit the earth, 3 times, I think how important the exploration of space is because of all the science and imagination that goes into it. That's amazing... and hopeful.
The Washington Post article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-orders-review-of-russian-hacking-during-presidential-campaign/2016/12/09/31d6b300-be2a-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?utm_term=.d4ddc9257ac5
Yet, seventeen U.S. intelligence agencies agree that Russian agents did indeed hack email systems with the intent of damaging the Clinton campaign. Furthermore, the CIA report was presented to the Congressional Intelligence Committee members of the House and Senate, and Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was not convinced of the evidence and blocked the release of the CIA report this past September.
There isn't any surprise that Mitch McConnell would block the release of such a report given the possibility of increasing his own power, putting self-interest over party, and party over country. Senator McConnell got a two-for in Trump's election win. He's the Senate Majority leader and his wife is a member of the cabinet. This is obviously a man who will do only what is politically advantageous for himself. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John McCain (R-AZ) are getting ready an investigation of the Russian hacking while McConnell will sit on the sideline until he has to move. Mitch McConnell is no leader, just a Machiavellian politician in the classic sense.
[An aside: This may be Senator John McCain's last term in the Senate (speculation on my part), but combating this Russian cyber-meddling (some would say 'warfare') in our system and the Trump Administration's denying/enabling of it will be his swan song. Ultimately, as Senator McCain is wont to do throughout his career is put country over party. If this is his last political battle, he's going to go out with a win.]
The Wall Street Journal's Kimberly Strassel, who said "everyone agrees" that the Russians were responsible for hacking, to which Mr. Todd corrected her because it's everyone except the incoming administration. However, she explained that the problem with the report is that concludes that the Russians were specifically helping Mr. Trump win, which gives the air of political bias on the part of the CIA and The Washington Post. She said that doesn't seem to be the case, but then her argument gets a little twisted. She explained that the Russians hacking was designed to damage what they thought would be a Clinton Administration, to delegitimize her presidency before taking office. But to say that and then say it wasn't at the same time designed to help Mr. Trump makes no sense. The degree to which it worked was underestimated by the Russians so they got an even better result.
The Trump Administration hasn't even taken office yet and they've already caused a rift between them and the CIA, and between the CIA and the FBI.Also, their denying of Russian hacking is siding with a foreign government over the U.S. intelligence community, according to Chuck Todd, and how can you not agree with him?
And Mr. Trump continually reinforces his bromance with Vladimir Putin, at every turn. Now, he's set to nominate CEO of Exxon-Mobil Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. Mr. Tillerson is a personal friend of Vladimir Putin and received the Order of Friendship from Mr. Putin and the Russian government. All this on top of the fact that Mr. Trump wants another billionaire in his cabinet. Lacky Priebus, of course, defended Mr. Tillerson as "one of the preeminent people in the world," after self-correcting that he was only one of the most preeminent business people in the world.
Because of all this, fmr. U.S. Russian Ambassador Michael McFaul called it 'initially disturbing' of the nomination. The program also quoted Senator Graham with "unnerving." Most Republicans, still giddy with unfettered power, are in the wait and see mode because no one's even been sworn in yet so legally no damage has been done. Little consolation.
Right now we're trending generals and billionaires and friends with Putin so welcome to the alternate reality of the most self-interested administration in U.S. History.
Panel: Kimberly Strassel, The Wall Street Journal; Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian; Rick Stengel, fmr. Time magazine; Michael Steele, fmr. RNC Chair
One more thing...
John Glenn, pilot, astronaut, senator, American hero (not close to summing it up).
I'll just say that when I think of John Glenn, remembered of course for being the first human to orbit the earth, 3 times, I think how important the exploration of space is because of all the science and imagination that goes into it. That's amazing... and hopeful.
 |
| click NY Times for obituary |
Sunday, December 04, 2016
12.4.16: The Trump Transition Team's Amateur Matinee
Instead of starting with the "Post-Truth Trump Presidency," we'll first tackle how we got here, hence the back and forth with the rival campaign managers. You can look at the myriad of reasons, factors and influences as to why Hillary Clinton lost and Donald Trump won, but what it came down to was that Donald Trump was a better campaigner than Hillary Clinton, deeply flawed as they both were. Joel Beneson, for the Clinton side, couldn't admit that the candidate herself bears a lot of the responsibility for the loss. On the other hand, despite what KellyAnne Conway actually said, she and the Trump team have not been gracious in the win at all, but their prerogative. President-elect Trump's "Thank You" tour is, let's face it, a victory lap.
Is the press to blame? No, but it bears responsibility for not pressing the candidates on policy specifics more, as Andrea Mitchell mentioned. Unlike any election in all of our lifetimes, the shear chaos of things overwhelmed the press but of its inability to focus on anything with detail. There were a few excepts like David Fahrenthold's reporting in The Washington Post. Between offensive videos and countless, tasteless, bigoted, subtly racist, ignorant, non-factual statements from Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton's 'deplorable' comment, stupid email practice, email leaks and FBI intervention all with Benghazi echoing in the background and no one knows which way to go.
[Side Note: Democrats telegraphed their candidate so blatantly and pushed every other contender out the day after President Obama was reelected, and from that moment Republicans were pushing hard on Benghazi and spent a lot of our money to smear Hillary Clinton through the next four years. They didn't know that their investment would ultimately pay out so 'bigly' but that's what it was - one big continually negative campaign against Hillary Clinton who would inevitably get the nomination despite this, and Republicans could it do because they controlled the House.]
After all that bitterness and rancor, it seems like were into the amateur hour matinee of the country's presidential programming because right at this moment that's what the Trump team is giving us. And it's an embarrassment. And Vice President-elect Mike Pence didn't make it any better in his interview.
Donald Trump hasn't even taken office yet and he's already endangering the most complicated but indispensable relationship with China by committing a mistake that clearly shows that the Trump team doesn't do its homework. Donald Trump tweeted that the Taiwanese leader called him, essentially saying that it wasn't his 'fault.' And then when Mike Pence dismisses it as just a courtesy call from the "President of Taiwan," as Andrea Mitchell explained is a serious diplomatic mistake in terms of the China, do you think the Chinese will wonder where's the courtesy to them? The Cook Political Report's Amy Walter explained that at this point there should already be a China policy in place which has considered a position in Taiwanese relations to avoid missteps, in light of these statements. However, during this transition such positions are still foggy at best.
It was refreshing to see Chuck Todd stick up for the press and say that the Trump team uses 'blaming the media' as a crutch because it does. And words do matter. This 'making excuses' tactic on the part of the Trump team is going to get very old very quickly if it continues into the Trump Administration.
In the call with the president of Pakistan, Mr. Trump called him a terrific guy and looked forward to visiting his country, also saying that he'd help end Pakistan's problems [reading: border disputes with India over Kashmir]. You can imagine that the Indian parliament loved hearing that.
President-elect Trump, post-call, disputes what the Pakistani's say what was said - a he-said, he-said thing. After a while, our countries will cut back relations with the U.S. because they'll never know where they stand with the Trump Administration. That's not how it is or necessarily will be, but this is what's trending now.
Rich Lowry described a rude awakening that Congressional Republicans are going to get when they realize that Trump isn't just going to go along with their agenda and sign bills. Republicans and Mr. Trump seem to be on the same page in terms of tax cuts, which will be a massive windfall for the wealthy, needless to understate that it will much less positive for the middle class, but many conservatives, including Rich Lowry didn't love this Carrier deal that saved 1,000+ jobs, but still over half of all of the jobs will in fact move to Mexico. Conservatives didn't like it because it was government intervening in the free market and given that it was in Gov. Mike Pence's Indiana, it reeked of crony-capitalism, that according to Sarah Palin. But dare I say that she has a point. The other sent message is that a company can threaten to move to another country in an attempt to exhort the state and/or federal government for tax concessions. Sure, be glad for the people who kept their jobs, but it's clearly how the business of creating American jobs should be done.
Lastly, there's one more job to comment on, and it's that of House Minority Leader. Nancy Pelosi was reelected to lead the Democratic caucus in the House, but the party should have gone in a different direction. The party needs a different type of leadership energy and for those paying attention who had that feeling of - OK, we got beat but I'm invigorated and motivated by the anger of the loss - just had their motivational bubble popped. Because with Nancy Pelosi back in the leadership position after so many Congressional losses (she's the House messenger of the Democratic platform), there's no avoiding the same stall energy, and hence disappointment.
Panel: Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report; Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Heather McGhee, President Demos Action; Rich Lowry, National Review
Is the press to blame? No, but it bears responsibility for not pressing the candidates on policy specifics more, as Andrea Mitchell mentioned. Unlike any election in all of our lifetimes, the shear chaos of things overwhelmed the press but of its inability to focus on anything with detail. There were a few excepts like David Fahrenthold's reporting in The Washington Post. Between offensive videos and countless, tasteless, bigoted, subtly racist, ignorant, non-factual statements from Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton's 'deplorable' comment, stupid email practice, email leaks and FBI intervention all with Benghazi echoing in the background and no one knows which way to go.
[Side Note: Democrats telegraphed their candidate so blatantly and pushed every other contender out the day after President Obama was reelected, and from that moment Republicans were pushing hard on Benghazi and spent a lot of our money to smear Hillary Clinton through the next four years. They didn't know that their investment would ultimately pay out so 'bigly' but that's what it was - one big continually negative campaign against Hillary Clinton who would inevitably get the nomination despite this, and Republicans could it do because they controlled the House.]
After all that bitterness and rancor, it seems like were into the amateur hour matinee of the country's presidential programming because right at this moment that's what the Trump team is giving us. And it's an embarrassment. And Vice President-elect Mike Pence didn't make it any better in his interview.
Donald Trump hasn't even taken office yet and he's already endangering the most complicated but indispensable relationship with China by committing a mistake that clearly shows that the Trump team doesn't do its homework. Donald Trump tweeted that the Taiwanese leader called him, essentially saying that it wasn't his 'fault.' And then when Mike Pence dismisses it as just a courtesy call from the "President of Taiwan," as Andrea Mitchell explained is a serious diplomatic mistake in terms of the China, do you think the Chinese will wonder where's the courtesy to them? The Cook Political Report's Amy Walter explained that at this point there should already be a China policy in place which has considered a position in Taiwanese relations to avoid missteps, in light of these statements. However, during this transition such positions are still foggy at best.
It was refreshing to see Chuck Todd stick up for the press and say that the Trump team uses 'blaming the media' as a crutch because it does. And words do matter. This 'making excuses' tactic on the part of the Trump team is going to get very old very quickly if it continues into the Trump Administration.
In the call with the president of Pakistan, Mr. Trump called him a terrific guy and looked forward to visiting his country, also saying that he'd help end Pakistan's problems [reading: border disputes with India over Kashmir]. You can imagine that the Indian parliament loved hearing that.
President-elect Trump, post-call, disputes what the Pakistani's say what was said - a he-said, he-said thing. After a while, our countries will cut back relations with the U.S. because they'll never know where they stand with the Trump Administration. That's not how it is or necessarily will be, but this is what's trending now.
Rich Lowry described a rude awakening that Congressional Republicans are going to get when they realize that Trump isn't just going to go along with their agenda and sign bills. Republicans and Mr. Trump seem to be on the same page in terms of tax cuts, which will be a massive windfall for the wealthy, needless to understate that it will much less positive for the middle class, but many conservatives, including Rich Lowry didn't love this Carrier deal that saved 1,000+ jobs, but still over half of all of the jobs will in fact move to Mexico. Conservatives didn't like it because it was government intervening in the free market and given that it was in Gov. Mike Pence's Indiana, it reeked of crony-capitalism, that according to Sarah Palin. But dare I say that she has a point. The other sent message is that a company can threaten to move to another country in an attempt to exhort the state and/or federal government for tax concessions. Sure, be glad for the people who kept their jobs, but it's clearly how the business of creating American jobs should be done.
Lastly, there's one more job to comment on, and it's that of House Minority Leader. Nancy Pelosi was reelected to lead the Democratic caucus in the House, but the party should have gone in a different direction. The party needs a different type of leadership energy and for those paying attention who had that feeling of - OK, we got beat but I'm invigorated and motivated by the anger of the loss - just had their motivational bubble popped. Because with Nancy Pelosi back in the leadership position after so many Congressional losses (she's the House messenger of the Democratic platform), there's no avoiding the same stall energy, and hence disappointment.
Panel: Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report; Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Heather McGhee, President Demos Action; Rich Lowry, National Review
Sunday, November 27, 2016
11.27.16: Day Two And Fidel Castro Is Still Dead; and The Defensive Transition
KellyAnne Conway should stop saying that Donald Trump didn't have to run for president, as she did today on the program. Because before you know it even more people (his supporters) are going to be asking, "Then why did you?"
More on that in a minute, but first Fidel Castro (1916-2016).
Time is the vanquisher of history and it will do its work on Fidel Castro, and with his death the end of the Castro regime, and hopefully system of government as the panel discussed, in Cuba is seeing its final days. Make no mistake, Castro was an A-List dictator, meaning he was unmercifully brutal to his people and a murderer of his political enemies. He was only, distinctly outdone by Che Guevara who laid the foundation for that brutality. (If you read Jon Lee Anderson's definitive biography you would come to agree.) The mistake that Che made was that he left the country in pursuit of leftist military revolution and got caught in Bolivia by the CIA.
Chuck Todd was talking about 'feel' and kept posing the past hypothetical that if this were ten years ago. In other words, he doesn't feel as significant as it should be because he's been out of the picture since 2008. Understandable, but it seemed a bit dismissive, and if you believe that the United States is on the right side of history then Castro's death no matter when it came was history's justice.
My opinion, as The New York Times Helene Cooper would point out, is from an Americo-centric perspective and I can live with that. But this is exactly why Ms. Cooper is an important voice in our media because without acknowledging and seriously considering that broader perspective, your argument demands less respect. At least that's my take.
Finally, it's a good day because Fidel Castro is responsible for some of the worst U.S. policy over the last 50 years, as Mr. Todd outlined. Black eye after black eye, and let's not forget Castro as parcel for near nuclear annihilation.
So...
As Ms. Conway was saying about Mr. Trump that this is an unprecedented time with a business man becoming President of the United States, but as we all know that's not all it is. Staying on topic with the conflicts of interest that this particular presidency poses are endless. Chuck Todd, thankfully, called out Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) on that fact that we don't know about all his business dealings.
Sure, it's easy to agree with The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan in her call to put patriotism of country over his business interests and liquidate the company. But here's the rub: NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Donald Trump will never liquidate his assets, no matter how hard or easy it is. Never. Not to mention that it would probably involve a measure of disclosure, to which the president-elect has a famous aversion. Ms. Conway said that the kids would have 'very senior positions' in the company but that doesn't constitute President-elect Trump giving up control. The children shouldn't even be running his business of course, but we Americans fell for it.
Also, I have to mention that when Ms. Conway says that she's 'astonished' by the media reporting on the rumored in-fighting about making Mitt Romney Secretary of State, it's laughable. Frankly, I could care less if she thinks it's astonishing or not. I would say the same of John Podesta admonishing people about his email leaks. Ms. Conway's whining defensiveness is tiresome. Her candidate is going into the White House and you want sympathy? Equally laughable. She was so reflexively defensive that she mentioned the pointless recount in WI, PA, and MI without even being asked about it.
And speaking of falling for things, the 'backing away' on positions such as waterboarding and climate change, the Affordable Care Act, Hillary Clinton's prosecution, whatever... it's simply confirms what both Democrats and Republicans already knew which is that President-elect Trump's political principles and convictions are all negotiable. And contrary to what Ms. Conway would say, it's near impossible to imagine that Donald Trump's businesses aren't still most important to him, easily over the presidency.
Panel: Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Matt Bai, Yahoo News; Mark Murray, NBC News; Danielle Pletka, ,
A couple more things...
Senator Rubio said that he wouldn't retroactively revoke any of the 'Dreamers' permits, but he also said that he wouldn't support renewing any of them when they expire. I suspect, hope, that he'll refine or revise that statement that he wouldn't support issuing more, at the very least. But really, we're going to tell these kids that after your permit expires that we don't want you here. These kids weren't the ones who broke the rules, but they've had to follow the rules ever since. And then they'll have to get out? Some would argue that they've earned it. And if you consider that then it goes against what we represent as a country. I would contend that Dreamers understand that it's a privilege to live in the U.S., more so than thinking its a right to be taken for granted.
Tim Ryan (D-OH), represents Youngstown, OH - conservative Democrat
Why couldn't he be the guy? He made a very frank, critical, and encouraging point, which was that Democratic policy positions are the way to go, but the messaging was bad. Accurate. Is he too inexperienced for such a high-profile gig, most probably but Nancy Pelosi has to go. The Democrats need a new energy, a vocal energy, for their leadership. Congressman Ryan's been in since 2003, he's vocal and he wants to win all over the map instead of Dems. simply being a coastal party. So again, why couldn't he be the guy?
More on that in a minute, but first Fidel Castro (1916-2016).
Time is the vanquisher of history and it will do its work on Fidel Castro, and with his death the end of the Castro regime, and hopefully system of government as the panel discussed, in Cuba is seeing its final days. Make no mistake, Castro was an A-List dictator, meaning he was unmercifully brutal to his people and a murderer of his political enemies. He was only, distinctly outdone by Che Guevara who laid the foundation for that brutality. (If you read Jon Lee Anderson's definitive biography you would come to agree.) The mistake that Che made was that he left the country in pursuit of leftist military revolution and got caught in Bolivia by the CIA.
Chuck Todd was talking about 'feel' and kept posing the past hypothetical that if this were ten years ago. In other words, he doesn't feel as significant as it should be because he's been out of the picture since 2008. Understandable, but it seemed a bit dismissive, and if you believe that the United States is on the right side of history then Castro's death no matter when it came was history's justice.
My opinion, as The New York Times Helene Cooper would point out, is from an Americo-centric perspective and I can live with that. But this is exactly why Ms. Cooper is an important voice in our media because without acknowledging and seriously considering that broader perspective, your argument demands less respect. At least that's my take.
Finally, it's a good day because Fidel Castro is responsible for some of the worst U.S. policy over the last 50 years, as Mr. Todd outlined. Black eye after black eye, and let's not forget Castro as parcel for near nuclear annihilation.
So...
As Ms. Conway was saying about Mr. Trump that this is an unprecedented time with a business man becoming President of the United States, but as we all know that's not all it is. Staying on topic with the conflicts of interest that this particular presidency poses are endless. Chuck Todd, thankfully, called out Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) on that fact that we don't know about all his business dealings.
Sure, it's easy to agree with The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan in her call to put patriotism of country over his business interests and liquidate the company. But here's the rub: NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Donald Trump will never liquidate his assets, no matter how hard or easy it is. Never. Not to mention that it would probably involve a measure of disclosure, to which the president-elect has a famous aversion. Ms. Conway said that the kids would have 'very senior positions' in the company but that doesn't constitute President-elect Trump giving up control. The children shouldn't even be running his business of course, but we Americans fell for it.
Also, I have to mention that when Ms. Conway says that she's 'astonished' by the media reporting on the rumored in-fighting about making Mitt Romney Secretary of State, it's laughable. Frankly, I could care less if she thinks it's astonishing or not. I would say the same of John Podesta admonishing people about his email leaks. Ms. Conway's whining defensiveness is tiresome. Her candidate is going into the White House and you want sympathy? Equally laughable. She was so reflexively defensive that she mentioned the pointless recount in WI, PA, and MI without even being asked about it.
And speaking of falling for things, the 'backing away' on positions such as waterboarding and climate change, the Affordable Care Act, Hillary Clinton's prosecution, whatever... it's simply confirms what both Democrats and Republicans already knew which is that President-elect Trump's political principles and convictions are all negotiable. And contrary to what Ms. Conway would say, it's near impossible to imagine that Donald Trump's businesses aren't still most important to him, easily over the presidency.
Panel: Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Matt Bai, Yahoo News; Mark Murray, NBC News; Danielle Pletka, ,
A couple more things...
Senator Rubio said that he wouldn't retroactively revoke any of the 'Dreamers' permits, but he also said that he wouldn't support renewing any of them when they expire. I suspect, hope, that he'll refine or revise that statement that he wouldn't support issuing more, at the very least. But really, we're going to tell these kids that after your permit expires that we don't want you here. These kids weren't the ones who broke the rules, but they've had to follow the rules ever since. And then they'll have to get out? Some would argue that they've earned it. And if you consider that then it goes against what we represent as a country. I would contend that Dreamers understand that it's a privilege to live in the U.S., more so than thinking its a right to be taken for granted.
Tim Ryan (D-OH), represents Youngstown, OH - conservative Democrat
Why couldn't he be the guy? He made a very frank, critical, and encouraging point, which was that Democratic policy positions are the way to go, but the messaging was bad. Accurate. Is he too inexperienced for such a high-profile gig, most probably but Nancy Pelosi has to go. The Democrats need a new energy, a vocal energy, for their leadership. Congressman Ryan's been in since 2003, he's vocal and he wants to win all over the map instead of Dems. simply being a coastal party. So again, why couldn't he be the guy?
Sunday, November 20, 2016
11.20.16: Trump and the Conflict Presidency
A fairly dramatic title to this post, I will admit, but I'll give it some forceful, but not hysterical perspective.
There is no doubt that conflicts already abound in the infancy of the era of Trump, and there will continue to the appearance of many for the next month and a half. However, as Robert Costa pointed out, President-elect Trump will first work to disentangle himself from any standing legal conflicts like Trump University settlement. Taking the new White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus at his word, he said that there will be no violation of these [conflict of interest] rules, "I can assure you of that." This column will most certainly hold him to those words but I'm also willing to wait and see, actions matter. And President-elect Trump actions have so far been inadequate - meeting with his Indian business partners at this time is a complete conflict. Those meetings, according to the president-elect himself should be now conducted by his children who are supposed to be running his businesses. Divestment and blind trusts are a fantasy that Donald Trump will never fulfill, let's face it.
As Kathleen Parker explained, Donald Trump needs to give a speech about how he sees his presidency, addressing the concerns of many Americans, especially given the appalling poltical identity attacks he used during his campaign. He's already sewn cultural conflicts and is now not stemming the rapid growth of his business conflicts. If all of this isn't corrected by January 20, 2017, which I doubt will happen, a cloud will be cast over practically every decision the president makes, domestic or international one could ask how it could affect President Trump's business.
The reality of how this is going to play out is that there will so many of these little 'skirmishes' that the press will not know what to focus, on creating an overall cloud of conflict, but nothing that tips the balance. With Steve Bannon as chief strategist, one can presume that certain media outlets will comes to President Trump's defense. And columns such as this one will get bogged down in the minutia of every instance instead of bigger policy decisions.
On that note, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who knows Donald Trump better than any other U.S. senator, said that he would be willing to work with President Trump on trade and infrastructure but oppose him on policies like repealing the Affordable Care Act or civil liberties or Supreme Court picks, most importantly. This kind of balance will be criticized by the base of the Democratic party but from a pragmatic point of view, you have to do the best with the reality you're confronted with and so I can understand such a stance from someone in Senator Schumer's position, without diminishing the importance and necessity of the Democratic base to shout in the face of it as the cast of Hamilton has now famously done to Vice-President-elect Mike Pence. The comments of the cast were in bounds, as it were, but the timing was off the mark and shouldn't have been at the end of the show. But one has to keep in mind what the motivation was to do it, and that is to stand up to the bigotry that has been propagated during the Trump campaign.
But say that President Trump 'partners' with Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats on an infrastructure bill, but on the opposite side doesn't pay for it adequately to Tea Party Republicans' satisfaction. What happens then? Donald Trump already has a lot of Republican opposition in the Congress and this kind of example will only build on that.
This brings the question of whether the Democrats should work with the administration or oppose everything in every circumstance the way the Republicans did with President Obama? My initial thought is if you're the Democrats you need to take it on a policy by policy basis because if Democrats think they represent America better than Republicans they need to show people that they're not childish. Many times... countless, in fact, Republicans during President Obama's two terms showed themselves to be just that. We have to move away from that, but frankly, it's shitty (only way to capture it) that the Republicans in Congress can never come around on that idea.
Even Bernie Sanders seemed open to working with President Trump in areas where they shared common ground like instituting the Glass-Steagall Act once again, which would prohibit commercial banks from engaging in the investment business, and there's no doubt that would limit the consolidation of the big banks among other things.
But Robert Costa of The Washington Post said something that's sticking with me today - he said that if Democrats going along with Trump on policy items, he could destroy them as well. This is to say that if they compromise with Trump on anything then they've compromised their principles on everything and the party could break a part. It seems like an extreme conclusion, but let me remind you that Donald Trump is going to be the President of the United States (as difficult as that is to write).
Infrastructure, which no matter how you look it it would be a good compromise, will end up being the only area of agreement. Things like Glass-Steagall will never get to the floor of a Republican House. The one issue that is most troublesome is on climate change, as Bernie Sanders mentioned. Denial of it is completely idiotic at this point, and if appointments to the Dept. of Energy and Interior are anything like President-elect Trump's choices so far, we'll setting our country back in so many ways. Instead of denying climate change, use the Paris Agreement as a clarion call to America to lead the way, creating the technologies to combat the effects that the rest of the world will have to rely on. That's how America has always lead, and in this area it's how we should do it again.
Panel: Neera Tandem, Democratic Strategist; Kathleen Parker, The Washington Post; Thomas Friedman, The New York Times, Robert Costa, The Washington Post
A couple more things...
I can't believe I'm even saying this but I hope that Mitt Romney is offered the position of Secretary of State. John Bolton and especially Rudy Giuliani (in the top two for consideration) would each be a disaster. I rather see a sane person with a sense of responsibility than either one of those two, and then take bets on the over/under on whether Gov. Romney lasts the entire term.
If President-elect Trump were to calm my political nerves only slightly, it would be to dump Rudy Giuliani like he dumped Chris Christie. (How toxic is he now - soon to be impeached.)
Also, any tempered or pragmatic commentary I offer that may infuriate you either way, I will make clear, if I haven't already in this column, that it can not be overstated what Bernie Sanders said with regard to President-elect Trump and the birther issue. In fact, I would say that it's not an issue but a smear and a completely racist one at that. There's not a word that I write about Donald Trump where the depth of how despicable that he would use a racist conspiracy as the impetus to run for president. There's no giving him a pass on this. I could make it an editor's note at the bottom of every column, but saying it here once, clearly, is enough.
There is no doubt that conflicts already abound in the infancy of the era of Trump, and there will continue to the appearance of many for the next month and a half. However, as Robert Costa pointed out, President-elect Trump will first work to disentangle himself from any standing legal conflicts like Trump University settlement. Taking the new White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus at his word, he said that there will be no violation of these [conflict of interest] rules, "I can assure you of that." This column will most certainly hold him to those words but I'm also willing to wait and see, actions matter. And President-elect Trump actions have so far been inadequate - meeting with his Indian business partners at this time is a complete conflict. Those meetings, according to the president-elect himself should be now conducted by his children who are supposed to be running his businesses. Divestment and blind trusts are a fantasy that Donald Trump will never fulfill, let's face it.
As Kathleen Parker explained, Donald Trump needs to give a speech about how he sees his presidency, addressing the concerns of many Americans, especially given the appalling poltical identity attacks he used during his campaign. He's already sewn cultural conflicts and is now not stemming the rapid growth of his business conflicts. If all of this isn't corrected by January 20, 2017, which I doubt will happen, a cloud will be cast over practically every decision the president makes, domestic or international one could ask how it could affect President Trump's business.
The reality of how this is going to play out is that there will so many of these little 'skirmishes' that the press will not know what to focus, on creating an overall cloud of conflict, but nothing that tips the balance. With Steve Bannon as chief strategist, one can presume that certain media outlets will comes to President Trump's defense. And columns such as this one will get bogged down in the minutia of every instance instead of bigger policy decisions.
On that note, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who knows Donald Trump better than any other U.S. senator, said that he would be willing to work with President Trump on trade and infrastructure but oppose him on policies like repealing the Affordable Care Act or civil liberties or Supreme Court picks, most importantly. This kind of balance will be criticized by the base of the Democratic party but from a pragmatic point of view, you have to do the best with the reality you're confronted with and so I can understand such a stance from someone in Senator Schumer's position, without diminishing the importance and necessity of the Democratic base to shout in the face of it as the cast of Hamilton has now famously done to Vice-President-elect Mike Pence. The comments of the cast were in bounds, as it were, but the timing was off the mark and shouldn't have been at the end of the show. But one has to keep in mind what the motivation was to do it, and that is to stand up to the bigotry that has been propagated during the Trump campaign.
But say that President Trump 'partners' with Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats on an infrastructure bill, but on the opposite side doesn't pay for it adequately to Tea Party Republicans' satisfaction. What happens then? Donald Trump already has a lot of Republican opposition in the Congress and this kind of example will only build on that.
This brings the question of whether the Democrats should work with the administration or oppose everything in every circumstance the way the Republicans did with President Obama? My initial thought is if you're the Democrats you need to take it on a policy by policy basis because if Democrats think they represent America better than Republicans they need to show people that they're not childish. Many times... countless, in fact, Republicans during President Obama's two terms showed themselves to be just that. We have to move away from that, but frankly, it's shitty (only way to capture it) that the Republicans in Congress can never come around on that idea.
Even Bernie Sanders seemed open to working with President Trump in areas where they shared common ground like instituting the Glass-Steagall Act once again, which would prohibit commercial banks from engaging in the investment business, and there's no doubt that would limit the consolidation of the big banks among other things.
But Robert Costa of The Washington Post said something that's sticking with me today - he said that if Democrats going along with Trump on policy items, he could destroy them as well. This is to say that if they compromise with Trump on anything then they've compromised their principles on everything and the party could break a part. It seems like an extreme conclusion, but let me remind you that Donald Trump is going to be the President of the United States (as difficult as that is to write).
Infrastructure, which no matter how you look it it would be a good compromise, will end up being the only area of agreement. Things like Glass-Steagall will never get to the floor of a Republican House. The one issue that is most troublesome is on climate change, as Bernie Sanders mentioned. Denial of it is completely idiotic at this point, and if appointments to the Dept. of Energy and Interior are anything like President-elect Trump's choices so far, we'll setting our country back in so many ways. Instead of denying climate change, use the Paris Agreement as a clarion call to America to lead the way, creating the technologies to combat the effects that the rest of the world will have to rely on. That's how America has always lead, and in this area it's how we should do it again.
Panel: Neera Tandem, Democratic Strategist; Kathleen Parker, The Washington Post; Thomas Friedman, The New York Times, Robert Costa, The Washington Post
A couple more things...
I can't believe I'm even saying this but I hope that Mitt Romney is offered the position of Secretary of State. John Bolton and especially Rudy Giuliani (in the top two for consideration) would each be a disaster. I rather see a sane person with a sense of responsibility than either one of those two, and then take bets on the over/under on whether Gov. Romney lasts the entire term.
If President-elect Trump were to calm my political nerves only slightly, it would be to dump Rudy Giuliani like he dumped Chris Christie. (How toxic is he now - soon to be impeached.)
Also, any tempered or pragmatic commentary I offer that may infuriate you either way, I will make clear, if I haven't already in this column, that it can not be overstated what Bernie Sanders said with regard to President-elect Trump and the birther issue. In fact, I would say that it's not an issue but a smear and a completely racist one at that. There's not a word that I write about Donald Trump where the depth of how despicable that he would use a racist conspiracy as the impetus to run for president. There's no giving him a pass on this. I could make it an editor's note at the bottom of every column, but saying it here once, clearly, is enough.
Sunday, November 13, 2016
11.13.16: Republicans Riding High On The Trump Tiger
Writer's Note: For the lifetime of this blog, with the exception of my last post, I've always tried to maintain of level of objectivity and hence used words like "we" or "this column" in the hope that people who read these columns and would consider a broader perspective on the issues discussed. At the end of this election, I had made the decision that I would discontinue this column to focus on other writing, but how can I now? We've entered into uncharted waters so how could I stop? I will continue to write and comment more critically than ever, with more focus on calling out any softness that we witness from the media people (in addition to the politicians) that appear on "Meet The Press." The one major change, I'm going to give myself a voice and write this column from the first person, yes a major change. (I may lapse back to the collective 'we' once in a while - old habits...) Thank you as always for reading.
And this is what I'm talking about with regard to the show and by extension the press - the manner in which it pigeon holes people into every imaginable category. Chuck Todd said that his late father would have kicked him in the pants for framing people, in shorthand, as college equaling educated and non-college as uneducated and by extension city vs. rural. If a lawyer who fights for farmers lives in a city, he or she is educated, but bring that person to the farm and ask im or her to plow a field, now uneducated. Really, do I have to explain this?
What this country needs to do is that educated is a matter of perspective and instead of being condescending or resentful of the other, understand the specialty of each and that it should compliment one another - connect the diversity of the talent. The press needs to correct this and since I comment of "Meet The Press" specifically, we'll have to use Chuck Todd as the barometer.
Another course correction for the program has to be more in-studio guests that puts individuals on the spot. The interview with KellyAnne Conway was taped with questions edited out. Maybe in some instances I'll be able to go to the web site for the full interview, but that's not entirely the point. In a live studio atmosphere you get less inflammatory and more substance. We've always said that in this respect, "Meet The Press" would do well to go back to its original format. In fact, now more than ever, NBC should create an entire separate half hour program in which a press panel of four, with a moderator, interviews two politicians - one from each side - to discuss a few key issues. This way people can hear both perspectives side by side. We're certainly not getting that now.
And to be sure, Ms. Conway was smug during today's interview, but would you expect anything different considering the big win she was instrumental in orchestrating? No doubt she would give a couple of kicks to the Clinton campaign saying that it misread America and calling them "pretenders" that red states would go blue. The first part of that is false while the second part is true. Red states weren't going to go blue, for which ever reason you want to give it wasn't going to happen. Did Democrats misread America - maybe but how do you win the popular vote and say you misread America?
Did the Comey FBI letters play a part in effecting turn-out for Clinton, most certainly, but as it turns out Sec. Clinton did go to enough places where it would have mattered. Hindsight being what it is, you would though that the Clinton campaign would have looked at every stop President Obama made in 2012 and went to everyone of them (or the next town over) and packed in more stops on top of that. That's what it took this time around and the Clinton campaign didn't accomplish that. Chuck Todd analyzed states in which Trump had won as opposed to states Clinton lost. Well, there's no doubt that if next to your name you don't have the most votes in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, KellyAnne Conway is going to stick it in your face.
Going back a step, one of my reservations about Sec. Clinton as president was not the Secretary herself. It was always the sword of Damocles that is Bill Clinton saying or doing something stupid while his wife served as president. Now, we'll never have to find out what would have happened there. Yet, what we have now is no better, worse as a matter of fact. Ethically, you have to remember we have no idea what Trump has going on in his businesses (no release of the tax returns) and there has been little talk about the separation of his businesses and his presidency. Something that was grievously overlooked in today's conversation.
But Republicans aren't worried about it as winning changes everything and they're giddy about their unexpected opportunity to govern with complete control. With that in mind, right now they're riding high on the tiger and putting the wish list together.
Senator Corey Booker (D-NJ) said that neither party should be standing with pride right now and should be humble, but we know that simply not going to happen. Republicans in control of the Senate will use reconciliation to pass legislation and to confirm Supreme Court recommendations, of which I'm going on record to say that Ted Cruz is completely unacceptable for the Supreme Court (ask me for a reason).
Getting back to Ms. Conway for a moment, in the interview she also said that the cultural zeitgeist of the country has also changed, which honestly is a shallow euphemism for an openly white dominated culture, which has come to the fore since the election result. As Senator Booker said, people are fearful of how they'll be treated in this xenophobic context. Ms. Conway said President-elect Trump has already addressed it (with a tweet) and that President Obama and Sec. Clinton should really be the ones to step up and talk about the protests. Bullshit. With winning comes responsibility and the fledgling Trump administration personnel better get a handle on that concept. He needs to speak out on this divisive forces (both sides) in a more clarifying presidential tone to reassure people. The longer he waits to say something the deeper the resentment will become and coupled with the Republicans' slash and burn politics, it will come to an ugly head sooner or later. And it will cut this nation deeply.
In this first post-election post, I can't leave on a completely down note but I can neither be optimistic for any reason. Moment to moment, I'm in a wait and see mode.
Panel: Nina Turner, fmr. State Senator (D-OH); Katty Kay, BBC News; David Brooks, The New York Times; Hugh Hewlitt, Salem Radio Network
A few more things...
I think Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) would be a great choice for the DNC chairmanship, but I agree with David Axelrod's call to have a full-time chair. You need someone who is always listening to the constitutes throughout the country and building on a local level - something that Rep. Ellison can not possibly accomplish given his responsibilities in Congress where he should be projecting his voice the loudest. I never liked Debbie Wasserman-Schultz as the DNC chair and you see where that lead the party.
And the Trump administration would be best served not going after Sec. Clinton legally for the email server once in power and just have the Clinton era quietly fade. Democrats, for their part, have to just say goodbye and move on.
And this is what I'm talking about with regard to the show and by extension the press - the manner in which it pigeon holes people into every imaginable category. Chuck Todd said that his late father would have kicked him in the pants for framing people, in shorthand, as college equaling educated and non-college as uneducated and by extension city vs. rural. If a lawyer who fights for farmers lives in a city, he or she is educated, but bring that person to the farm and ask im or her to plow a field, now uneducated. Really, do I have to explain this?
What this country needs to do is that educated is a matter of perspective and instead of being condescending or resentful of the other, understand the specialty of each and that it should compliment one another - connect the diversity of the talent. The press needs to correct this and since I comment of "Meet The Press" specifically, we'll have to use Chuck Todd as the barometer.
Another course correction for the program has to be more in-studio guests that puts individuals on the spot. The interview with KellyAnne Conway was taped with questions edited out. Maybe in some instances I'll be able to go to the web site for the full interview, but that's not entirely the point. In a live studio atmosphere you get less inflammatory and more substance. We've always said that in this respect, "Meet The Press" would do well to go back to its original format. In fact, now more than ever, NBC should create an entire separate half hour program in which a press panel of four, with a moderator, interviews two politicians - one from each side - to discuss a few key issues. This way people can hear both perspectives side by side. We're certainly not getting that now.
And to be sure, Ms. Conway was smug during today's interview, but would you expect anything different considering the big win she was instrumental in orchestrating? No doubt she would give a couple of kicks to the Clinton campaign saying that it misread America and calling them "pretenders" that red states would go blue. The first part of that is false while the second part is true. Red states weren't going to go blue, for which ever reason you want to give it wasn't going to happen. Did Democrats misread America - maybe but how do you win the popular vote and say you misread America?
Did the Comey FBI letters play a part in effecting turn-out for Clinton, most certainly, but as it turns out Sec. Clinton did go to enough places where it would have mattered. Hindsight being what it is, you would though that the Clinton campaign would have looked at every stop President Obama made in 2012 and went to everyone of them (or the next town over) and packed in more stops on top of that. That's what it took this time around and the Clinton campaign didn't accomplish that. Chuck Todd analyzed states in which Trump had won as opposed to states Clinton lost. Well, there's no doubt that if next to your name you don't have the most votes in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, KellyAnne Conway is going to stick it in your face.
Going back a step, one of my reservations about Sec. Clinton as president was not the Secretary herself. It was always the sword of Damocles that is Bill Clinton saying or doing something stupid while his wife served as president. Now, we'll never have to find out what would have happened there. Yet, what we have now is no better, worse as a matter of fact. Ethically, you have to remember we have no idea what Trump has going on in his businesses (no release of the tax returns) and there has been little talk about the separation of his businesses and his presidency. Something that was grievously overlooked in today's conversation.
But Republicans aren't worried about it as winning changes everything and they're giddy about their unexpected opportunity to govern with complete control. With that in mind, right now they're riding high on the tiger and putting the wish list together.
Senator Corey Booker (D-NJ) said that neither party should be standing with pride right now and should be humble, but we know that simply not going to happen. Republicans in control of the Senate will use reconciliation to pass legislation and to confirm Supreme Court recommendations, of which I'm going on record to say that Ted Cruz is completely unacceptable for the Supreme Court (ask me for a reason).
Getting back to Ms. Conway for a moment, in the interview she also said that the cultural zeitgeist of the country has also changed, which honestly is a shallow euphemism for an openly white dominated culture, which has come to the fore since the election result. As Senator Booker said, people are fearful of how they'll be treated in this xenophobic context. Ms. Conway said President-elect Trump has already addressed it (with a tweet) and that President Obama and Sec. Clinton should really be the ones to step up and talk about the protests. Bullshit. With winning comes responsibility and the fledgling Trump administration personnel better get a handle on that concept. He needs to speak out on this divisive forces (both sides) in a more clarifying presidential tone to reassure people. The longer he waits to say something the deeper the resentment will become and coupled with the Republicans' slash and burn politics, it will come to an ugly head sooner or later. And it will cut this nation deeply.
In this first post-election post, I can't leave on a completely down note but I can neither be optimistic for any reason. Moment to moment, I'm in a wait and see mode.
Panel: Nina Turner, fmr. State Senator (D-OH); Katty Kay, BBC News; David Brooks, The New York Times; Hugh Hewlitt, Salem Radio Network
A few more things...
I think Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) would be a great choice for the DNC chairmanship, but I agree with David Axelrod's call to have a full-time chair. You need someone who is always listening to the constitutes throughout the country and building on a local level - something that Rep. Ellison can not possibly accomplish given his responsibilities in Congress where he should be projecting his voice the loudest. I never liked Debbie Wasserman-Schultz as the DNC chair and you see where that lead the party.
And the Trump administration would be best served not going after Sec. Clinton legally for the email server once in power and just have the Clinton era quietly fade. Democrats, for their part, have to just say goodbye and move on.
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