The White House Budget Director, Mick Mulvaney, is slimy; at least he proved as much during his interview with Andrea Mitchell, sitting in for Chuck Todd, this morning.
Ms. Mitchell asked Mr. Mulvaney about the fact that in the bill corporate tax cuts are permanent and individual middle class tax cuts are temporary, the budget director explained that because of certain rules and to make the bill a budget one so that 51-vote reconciliation can be enacted instead of the 60-vote Senate requirement for legislation, Republicans have to game the system with expiration dates.
But why not the other way around? Why not make the individual middle class tax cut permanent and make the corporate tax cut temporary? Because that is who Mr. Mulvaney is, never having that inclination. He and other Republicans for that matter would never want to disappoint the people that matter most, the donors.
[And that clip of Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) getting upset at the suggestion that the bill is one for the rich... Please, he gets no quarter of sympathy from this space. He's advocating for trickle-down economic theory and we know that it doesn't work. The latest operative example is how Governor Sam Brownback decimated the economics in his state of Kansas, from which they're still far behind neighboring states.]
Mr. Mulvaney also explained that the $1.5 trillion dollars that would be added to the debt according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office assessment doesn't account for the [presumably positive] impact on the economy that these tax cuts will have. Despite evidence that growth will only recoup about a third of the $1.5 trillion coupled with lack of corporate reinvestment of the money they get back, Mr. Mulvaney wants you to believe the exact opposite.
The consolation of all this is at least we're discussing policy, even in the face of a politically cynical tax bill that just passed through the House. It's a Republican bill and trickle down theory is their dogma and we can debate the merits of that with supporters of that like The National Review's Rich Lowry and Senator Roy Blount (R-MO), respective guests today, without being disagreeable toward the person, personally.
I don't mean for this column to be a hit job on a particular individual, but Mr. Mulvaney said, with a straight face, that he's 'gaming the system,' blatantly admitting that the goal is giving some people advantages at the expense of others.
And then there's his recitation of the Republican talking point as it pertains to the sexual harassment discourse in terms of comparing Roy Moore with Senator Al Franken (D-MN): Mr. Franken has admitted guilt - he's guilty - and Judge Moore denies it. Note: the care in not saying he's not guilty.
But with exceptional addition to that, Mr. Mulvaney first said that he's the budget director and he's not focused on all that much on the details of the accusations against Judge Moore, but then went on to impugn Andrea Mitchell for predisposed political biased on what she and NBC believe, on which Ms. Mitchell clearly pushed back - it's one of the many reasons why you gotta love Andrea Mitchell. The rhetorical sum total of the equation for Mr. Mulvaney and Republicans is that it's up to the people of Alabama to decide who they want in the Senate. (That's called punting.)
Speaking of which, President Trump who 'couldn't resist' taking a shot at Senator Franken, according to Robert Costa, has nothing to say about Roy Moore who is defiant and refusing to step down. Why is that? Because Mr. Trump is accused of the same behavior, but worse. And he's admitted as much on tape. Mr. Costa also explained that this is going to get sticky for Republicans because they're going to have to answer for this implied, but blatant double (triple) standard set because of the president's alleged behavior.
But make no mistake, the talking point is that we're not saying who's worse but Al Franken admitted guilt and Judge Moore denies it. As Andrea Mitchell mentioned, it's about 'degrees and responses.'
Panel: Joy Reid, NBC; Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report; Rich Lowry, The National Review; Robert Costa, The Washington Post
A Couple More Things...
Yes, there should be an ethics investigation of Mr. Franken's behavior to verify that there aren't more instances of this behavior in his past and particularly during his time in the Senate. One difference between Mr. Moore and Mr. Franken is that Mr. Franken agrees with such action.
In citing The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan, she explains that it's Alabama women who are going to ultimately make this election call.
Joy Reid made a notable assessment as to the nature of Democrats (as a party): self-immolation and torturing themselves... Priceless, actually.
And Congresswoman Barbara Comstock's apparently repeated mention of a current member of who showed up at his front door in a towel or robe or whatever is certainly speeding up the timeline as to when we'll find out who that is.
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Sunday, November 05, 2017
11.5.17:The Special Counsel Is Real and Tightening the Screws
There's little doubt that Mr. Trump is worried about the Russia investigation, but not so much his administration, with the exception Attorney General Jeff Sessions who clearly mislead Congress about his contacts with and knowledge of communication with Russian officials, because most of the individuals working for Mr. Trump have been replaced since the start of his administration. Mr. Sessions, for his part, either perjured himself with false testimony to Congress or his memory is so bad to the point of approaching senility that he should step down, unable to do his job. For the record, I do not believe that Mr. Sessions is senile.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigative team are in the process of establishing who were the compromised individuals in the Trump campaign, and it looks as though there are quite a few, at least financially. And that makes Mr. Trump rather nervous because there are rumblings that the Special Counsel's current focus is the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose finances must be known to the president. The indictments and especially the revelation of George Papadopoulos's arrest and subsequent cooperation with the Special Counsel after which 'everyone's memory got better,' as Mr. Todd nicely quipped today, have the president rattled. On camera, Mr. Trump offered a flat denial, "There was no collusion!" And then he lamented about his frustrated inability to personally direct the Justice Dept. to investigate his defeated political opponents - Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.
A bit of a tangent here: Senator James Lankford (R-OK) dismissed the president's comments as coming from someone who doesn't know better. Giving the president... The President of the United States a pass on this is inexcusable in and of itself. There's no quarter for 'not knowing better.' Someone in the administration should have explained this to him before he starts delegitimizing his office. We are neither The Philippines nor Venezuela. With that said, Mr. Lankford's comments on his committee's work and the Special Counsel's were quite commendable. (It makes it into the news that Republican lawmakers don't see any special protections for Mr. Mueller and his team as necessary, but that's because they don't see it in any jeopardy.) Mr. Lankford squarely stated that the Special Counsel should be allowed to do its work. He also confirmed what Senator Warner would not confirm and that was whether the Senate committee has spoken with Michael Flynn and or his son. The quote, "You'll have to ask the committee chairs whether Mr. Flynn and his son have been cooperative witnesses."
Mr. Trump said that it was a disgrace that the Special Counsel continues the investigation, but the real disgrace is that he trying to influence the Justice Dept., calling for it to end. Here is a list of names so far that have legal problems with regard to Russia's meddling in our election: Paul Manafort, J.D. Gordan, Richard Gates, Jeff Sessions, Michael Flynn, Michael Flynn Jr., Donald Trump Jr. Jared Kushner, Carter Page and George Papadopoulos. This list includes are high-ranking campaign and administration officials respectively and what's sad is if this were a Democratic administration, Republicans would be impeaching the president as we speak - it's just a fact. And because many Republican legislators are not holding Mr. Trump accountable to the Constitution of the United States, they are in effective not upholding their oaths of office, which is just sad. They're sad enablers.
What's not sad is what is going on with Democratic party. Forget about the Republicans for a minute because the Democrats really need to get their act together. Everyone is running wild about Donna Brazile's new book about the 2016 election. It's causing a lot of disharmony in the party, but it's necessary for the time being. Ms. Brazile's tact could always be better; as Tom Brokaw noted Ms. Brazile has a tendency to fire first and aim later. But Democrats whether they like it or not, have to get passed Barack Obama, but especially the Clinton-era of being the standard bearers of the party. That's what Ms. Brazile's book will probably end up doing, but not before Republicans start manufacturing more non-controversies.
As for moving forward, the gubernatorial race in Virginia is a huge test for Tom Perez's leadership of the DNC. By the way, I've always said that the Party chair shouldn't be in public office, like Debbie Wasserman Schultz because then you get some one like Debbie Wasserman Schultz, clearly in way over her head, running the party. Focus on your Congressional job... Democrats should win in Virginia but if they don't, their chances of taking back the House or Senate will decline precipitously.
Lastly, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) is absolutely correct when he says that we need a cyber-doctrine - some sort of policy to address insidious action via social media and the internet. Actually, I like what Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said (a first) - that we should retaliate against Russia in some way, the more covert the better. But here's the rub with that, The damn president doesn't think Russia did anything to meddle in the election; it's all a hoax, to use his word. He's not going to retaliate against Russia because of something he refuses to believe.
Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Tom Brokaw, NBC News; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post
One More Thing...
On November 6, 1947, Martha Rountree began... Yes, for 70 years! The insightful genius to make "Meet The Press" the first television program. It's why I call it the (political) program of record... It's earned the title. Congratulations... and thank you.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigative team are in the process of establishing who were the compromised individuals in the Trump campaign, and it looks as though there are quite a few, at least financially. And that makes Mr. Trump rather nervous because there are rumblings that the Special Counsel's current focus is the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose finances must be known to the president. The indictments and especially the revelation of George Papadopoulos's arrest and subsequent cooperation with the Special Counsel after which 'everyone's memory got better,' as Mr. Todd nicely quipped today, have the president rattled. On camera, Mr. Trump offered a flat denial, "There was no collusion!" And then he lamented about his frustrated inability to personally direct the Justice Dept. to investigate his defeated political opponents - Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.
A bit of a tangent here: Senator James Lankford (R-OK) dismissed the president's comments as coming from someone who doesn't know better. Giving the president... The President of the United States a pass on this is inexcusable in and of itself. There's no quarter for 'not knowing better.' Someone in the administration should have explained this to him before he starts delegitimizing his office. We are neither The Philippines nor Venezuela. With that said, Mr. Lankford's comments on his committee's work and the Special Counsel's were quite commendable. (It makes it into the news that Republican lawmakers don't see any special protections for Mr. Mueller and his team as necessary, but that's because they don't see it in any jeopardy.) Mr. Lankford squarely stated that the Special Counsel should be allowed to do its work. He also confirmed what Senator Warner would not confirm and that was whether the Senate committee has spoken with Michael Flynn and or his son. The quote, "You'll have to ask the committee chairs whether Mr. Flynn and his son have been cooperative witnesses."
Mr. Trump said that it was a disgrace that the Special Counsel continues the investigation, but the real disgrace is that he trying to influence the Justice Dept., calling for it to end. Here is a list of names so far that have legal problems with regard to Russia's meddling in our election: Paul Manafort, J.D. Gordan, Richard Gates, Jeff Sessions, Michael Flynn, Michael Flynn Jr., Donald Trump Jr. Jared Kushner, Carter Page and George Papadopoulos. This list includes are high-ranking campaign and administration officials respectively and what's sad is if this were a Democratic administration, Republicans would be impeaching the president as we speak - it's just a fact. And because many Republican legislators are not holding Mr. Trump accountable to the Constitution of the United States, they are in effective not upholding their oaths of office, which is just sad. They're sad enablers.
What's not sad is what is going on with Democratic party. Forget about the Republicans for a minute because the Democrats really need to get their act together. Everyone is running wild about Donna Brazile's new book about the 2016 election. It's causing a lot of disharmony in the party, but it's necessary for the time being. Ms. Brazile's tact could always be better; as Tom Brokaw noted Ms. Brazile has a tendency to fire first and aim later. But Democrats whether they like it or not, have to get passed Barack Obama, but especially the Clinton-era of being the standard bearers of the party. That's what Ms. Brazile's book will probably end up doing, but not before Republicans start manufacturing more non-controversies.
As for moving forward, the gubernatorial race in Virginia is a huge test for Tom Perez's leadership of the DNC. By the way, I've always said that the Party chair shouldn't be in public office, like Debbie Wasserman Schultz because then you get some one like Debbie Wasserman Schultz, clearly in way over her head, running the party. Focus on your Congressional job... Democrats should win in Virginia but if they don't, their chances of taking back the House or Senate will decline precipitously.
Lastly, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) is absolutely correct when he says that we need a cyber-doctrine - some sort of policy to address insidious action via social media and the internet. Actually, I like what Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said (a first) - that we should retaliate against Russia in some way, the more covert the better. But here's the rub with that, The damn president doesn't think Russia did anything to meddle in the election; it's all a hoax, to use his word. He's not going to retaliate against Russia because of something he refuses to believe.
Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Tom Brokaw, NBC News; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post
One More Thing...
On November 6, 1947, Martha Rountree began... Yes, for 70 years! The insightful genius to make "Meet The Press" the first television program. It's why I call it the (political) program of record... It's earned the title. Congratulations... and thank you.
Sunday, October 29, 2017
10.19.17: Who's To FIx The Political Mess We're In
Thank you for bearing with me; a much-needed break was warranted.
At a certain point, time is going to run out on blaming past administrations for foreign policy mistakes, mismanagement domestically and a slow-growing economy, but are those things going to matter? Starting tomorrow, probably not as Special Counsel Robert Mueller takes into custody the subject of his first grand jury indictment into to the Russia campaign-meddling investigation.
The state of U.S. political affairs right now are like a Jenga puzzle that's fallen apart and there's no one left to put it back together. You a man with authoritarian inclinations in the White House who profits off the presidency, a Republican fmr. chief strategist to Mr. Trump declaring war on the Republican establishment, against which the Republican Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is now openly fighting. Democrats have their own credibility problems and no juice to fix them. Excluded completely from the legislative process, Democrats' voices have been drowned out, with their only hope that the Republican party goes so far off the extremist deep end that they'll be the only alternative. It's likely. Senators like Ted Cruz (R-TX) telling Republican colleagues to "shut up and do your jobs," in the face of a bully president while you have senators like Rob Portman (R-OH) barely able to speak in trying to fly below the radar of the Bannon-Trump attack machine because moderates are getting squeezed.
Senator Portman said that party in-fighting is nothing new for either side, but emphasized that if the president succeeds, the country succeeds, but it's difficult to see that when the president has a 38% approval rating. Neither Mr. Portman nor anyone else has any idea what the definition of success in the mind of President Trump. For Mr. Portman, does that mean sitting by complacently silent, while someone else defines your principles, consistently violating them. A meek performance today. That's not to say that Senator Portman isn't better for the country then any Bannon-backed candidate, he definitely is, but the blind fury of the base hasn't abated.
Fmr. Chairman of the American Conservative Union, Al Cardenas described the current state of the Republican party in terms of everyone being expected to take a knee to the president. Mr. Portman did his best.
Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO), for her part, refreshingly talks substance and details of tax reform, but it falls on deaf ears because Republicans have no inclination to listen. Describing herself as a moderate, she said that she is willing to work across the aisle, either that or obstruction, but she concluded that it will be a party-line vote, but she didn't give you the other part of the equation, which is Republicans don't want to work with her, or any Democrat for that matter.
Once the indictment comes tomorrow, we'll be facing a whole new set of problems, none of which will do anything to close the voter enthusiasm gap that Amy Walter kept coming back to. The big question is it enough for Democrats? Double digits, she and Chris Matthews both agreed. Dems. aren't going to get it. Fox commentators, such as Sean Hannity, are already ramping up the attacks on the integrity of the special counsel, picking up the slack for a president tempering his responses, for legally jeopardizing reasons most probably. (The president 'tempering' his comments is relative, of course.)
Republicans will soon has to choose sides, depending on what this first, and surely not the last, indictment brings, and the rule-of-law and the faith in our institutions are without a doubt going to be put to the test. Huntington, West Virginia Fire Chief Jan Radar said that it has been years since a day went by in her county that there wasn't at least one overdose call - every fourth call is for an overdose. The president's declaration of a public health crisis designates no compulsory funding to counter the problem, only a national emergency would do that, a health care budget provision that Republicans want to scrub.
President Donald Trump is ultimately going to be held responsible for the aforementioned mess. When you're the president, it is inevitable. He's broken it, most certainly, and smashing everything into tinier pieces, but is special counsel Robert Mueller the one to fix it? Even if you wish that were likely, it's not.
Panel: Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report; Eliana Johnson, Politico; Al Cardenas, fmr. chairman of the American Conservative Union; Chris Matthews, NBC News
At a certain point, time is going to run out on blaming past administrations for foreign policy mistakes, mismanagement domestically and a slow-growing economy, but are those things going to matter? Starting tomorrow, probably not as Special Counsel Robert Mueller takes into custody the subject of his first grand jury indictment into to the Russia campaign-meddling investigation.
The state of U.S. political affairs right now are like a Jenga puzzle that's fallen apart and there's no one left to put it back together. You a man with authoritarian inclinations in the White House who profits off the presidency, a Republican fmr. chief strategist to Mr. Trump declaring war on the Republican establishment, against which the Republican Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is now openly fighting. Democrats have their own credibility problems and no juice to fix them. Excluded completely from the legislative process, Democrats' voices have been drowned out, with their only hope that the Republican party goes so far off the extremist deep end that they'll be the only alternative. It's likely. Senators like Ted Cruz (R-TX) telling Republican colleagues to "shut up and do your jobs," in the face of a bully president while you have senators like Rob Portman (R-OH) barely able to speak in trying to fly below the radar of the Bannon-Trump attack machine because moderates are getting squeezed.
Senator Portman said that party in-fighting is nothing new for either side, but emphasized that if the president succeeds, the country succeeds, but it's difficult to see that when the president has a 38% approval rating. Neither Mr. Portman nor anyone else has any idea what the definition of success in the mind of President Trump. For Mr. Portman, does that mean sitting by complacently silent, while someone else defines your principles, consistently violating them. A meek performance today. That's not to say that Senator Portman isn't better for the country then any Bannon-backed candidate, he definitely is, but the blind fury of the base hasn't abated.
Fmr. Chairman of the American Conservative Union, Al Cardenas described the current state of the Republican party in terms of everyone being expected to take a knee to the president. Mr. Portman did his best.
Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO), for her part, refreshingly talks substance and details of tax reform, but it falls on deaf ears because Republicans have no inclination to listen. Describing herself as a moderate, she said that she is willing to work across the aisle, either that or obstruction, but she concluded that it will be a party-line vote, but she didn't give you the other part of the equation, which is Republicans don't want to work with her, or any Democrat for that matter.
Once the indictment comes tomorrow, we'll be facing a whole new set of problems, none of which will do anything to close the voter enthusiasm gap that Amy Walter kept coming back to. The big question is it enough for Democrats? Double digits, she and Chris Matthews both agreed. Dems. aren't going to get it. Fox commentators, such as Sean Hannity, are already ramping up the attacks on the integrity of the special counsel, picking up the slack for a president tempering his responses, for legally jeopardizing reasons most probably. (The president 'tempering' his comments is relative, of course.)
Republicans will soon has to choose sides, depending on what this first, and surely not the last, indictment brings, and the rule-of-law and the faith in our institutions are without a doubt going to be put to the test. Huntington, West Virginia Fire Chief Jan Radar said that it has been years since a day went by in her county that there wasn't at least one overdose call - every fourth call is for an overdose. The president's declaration of a public health crisis designates no compulsory funding to counter the problem, only a national emergency would do that, a health care budget provision that Republicans want to scrub.
President Donald Trump is ultimately going to be held responsible for the aforementioned mess. When you're the president, it is inevitable. He's broken it, most certainly, and smashing everything into tinier pieces, but is special counsel Robert Mueller the one to fix it? Even if you wish that were likely, it's not.
Panel: Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report; Eliana Johnson, Politico; Al Cardenas, fmr. chairman of the American Conservative Union; Chris Matthews, NBC News
Sunday, October 08, 2017
10.8.17: Flooded America
There's no doubt that America is flooded - beaten and battered and flooded by hurricanes, awash in guns, engulfed by political chaos and a lack of leadership, drowning in debt and left irreparably moldy by the undercurrent of an opiod addiction.
On that happy note, in the wake of the most horrific mass shooting in modern American history in Las Vegas where 58 people lost their lives and over 500 were injured, all that comes about is a debate about having the debate, about guns, which Mr. Todd lead with on today's program.
Exhibit A is the two explanations from Congressman Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) respectively on whether bump stocks should be made illegal, and you can imagine where each one falls on this. I agree with Mr. Scalise that most people didn't even know what a bump stock was a week ago. I certainly didn't. He went on to say that he needed all the facts before he could make a decision on such a ban. However, Ms. Feinstein explained that automatic machine guns are illegal and bump stocks turn semi-automatic rifles into machine guns, hence they should be illegal. What more do you need to know? In essence.
However, Mr. Scalise's interpretation of history and the second amendment is a bit warped. Individual guns rights coming before the Constitution is speculative at best. The second amendment does specifically mention 'a well-regulated militia,' which don't exist anymore. If you watch Ken Burn's The Civil War documentary you learn that each state had its own militia all the way up through the end of the war. After the war, a standing national army replaced militias. Some historians have said that after the Civil War, the United States were really formed. Before then it was separate states together on a continent. And that's when the notion of the second amendment and individual guns ownership rights took root. That's not a bad thing, per se.
If we're not going to amend the amendment then a 'militia' has to be taken into account. Military style weapons are unnecessary in society. If you cannot feel comfortable defending your home with a 15-shot clip in a handgun, frankly, then an assault rifle won't do you any more good because you are unqualified to handle one in the first place, probably. Mr. Scalise, shot and almost killed on a baseball field, is still adamant about no restrictions. Wait and see on the bump stock.
You really can't argue with the Senator when she says that mass shooting occur everywhere in this country; it's a literal truth - movie theaters, country music festivals, night clubs, churches, colleges, high schools, office buildings, elementary schools... elementary schools.
NBC News' Kristen Welker is right when she said the gun legislation debate was settled after Newtown. If no legislative was taken then after the senseless murder of twenty children and six adults then nothing will be done. Ugh, a gut punch. Representing the conservative viewpoint on the panel, Hugh Hewitt stated that gun regulations are no unconstitutional or that you should be able to identify unusual heavy purchasing in a short time, i.e. raise a red flag. Does Mr. Hewitt understand that he's way to the left of where the practical whole of the Republican party is on this?
And the White House won't lead on guns... Let's face it, according to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the president is a "f**king moron." In his press conference earlier this week, Sec. Tillerson didn't give it the 'dignity' of a response. Eesh. To be fair, expectations that the president would pick up the issue in a serious way is to betray his base on such a root level that it makes a health care deal with Democrats almost forgivable.
Even as this is being written, the president and retiring Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) are battling it out on social media. Senator Corker said that Rex Tillerson (Sec. of State), John Kelly (Chief of Staff) and John Mattis (Sec. of Def.) are the only once standing in the way of chaos, referring to Mr. Trump's leadership. Predictably the president responded the Mr. Corker had no guts for not running for reelection. Mr. Corker: It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center.
Serious discussions or legislation on guns? Not likely.
Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC News; Carol Lee, NBC News; Hugh Hewlitt, Salem Radio Network; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post
A couple more things...
Mick Mulvaney is despicable as a budget director. As a congressman all he did was rail against any kind of spending. Even on today's program he defended denying funding for the Hurricane Sandy rebuild in New Jersey and New York. He then, today, had the gall to say that the government is going to run deficits to facilitate growth. If things go as planned this further deficit spending will be incurred because of a huge tax cut. Meanwhile, if you're Puerto Rico you're not getting any help if Mr. Mulvaney has his say. There's a man of principle for you.
Harvey Weinstein? Why should we be surprised? In every power-center industry there is always a percentage of sleaze - in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley. To be fair, it's heavily outweighed by good people on the left and the right. Good for Hugh Hewitt to say that even though he absolutely disagrees with Ron Howard or Rob Reiner politically, for example, he states that they are fine people. That's everywhere. In this instance as always go with Eugene Robinson for the most common sense - Growing up in a certain age defense? In any 'age' when was this ever appropriate? Exactly... The conspiracy of silence is probably going to play out ugly...
Oh, and for Rex Tillerson, he'll be out at the turn of the year. After the president's China trip is complete, he'll wind down his profile (unless there is a diplomatic emergency) while rumors will elevate until...
On that happy note, in the wake of the most horrific mass shooting in modern American history in Las Vegas where 58 people lost their lives and over 500 were injured, all that comes about is a debate about having the debate, about guns, which Mr. Todd lead with on today's program.
Exhibit A is the two explanations from Congressman Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) respectively on whether bump stocks should be made illegal, and you can imagine where each one falls on this. I agree with Mr. Scalise that most people didn't even know what a bump stock was a week ago. I certainly didn't. He went on to say that he needed all the facts before he could make a decision on such a ban. However, Ms. Feinstein explained that automatic machine guns are illegal and bump stocks turn semi-automatic rifles into machine guns, hence they should be illegal. What more do you need to know? In essence.
However, Mr. Scalise's interpretation of history and the second amendment is a bit warped. Individual guns rights coming before the Constitution is speculative at best. The second amendment does specifically mention 'a well-regulated militia,' which don't exist anymore. If you watch Ken Burn's The Civil War documentary you learn that each state had its own militia all the way up through the end of the war. After the war, a standing national army replaced militias. Some historians have said that after the Civil War, the United States were really formed. Before then it was separate states together on a continent. And that's when the notion of the second amendment and individual guns ownership rights took root. That's not a bad thing, per se.
If we're not going to amend the amendment then a 'militia' has to be taken into account. Military style weapons are unnecessary in society. If you cannot feel comfortable defending your home with a 15-shot clip in a handgun, frankly, then an assault rifle won't do you any more good because you are unqualified to handle one in the first place, probably. Mr. Scalise, shot and almost killed on a baseball field, is still adamant about no restrictions. Wait and see on the bump stock.
You really can't argue with the Senator when she says that mass shooting occur everywhere in this country; it's a literal truth - movie theaters, country music festivals, night clubs, churches, colleges, high schools, office buildings, elementary schools... elementary schools.
NBC News' Kristen Welker is right when she said the gun legislation debate was settled after Newtown. If no legislative was taken then after the senseless murder of twenty children and six adults then nothing will be done. Ugh, a gut punch. Representing the conservative viewpoint on the panel, Hugh Hewitt stated that gun regulations are no unconstitutional or that you should be able to identify unusual heavy purchasing in a short time, i.e. raise a red flag. Does Mr. Hewitt understand that he's way to the left of where the practical whole of the Republican party is on this?
And the White House won't lead on guns... Let's face it, according to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the president is a "f**king moron." In his press conference earlier this week, Sec. Tillerson didn't give it the 'dignity' of a response. Eesh. To be fair, expectations that the president would pick up the issue in a serious way is to betray his base on such a root level that it makes a health care deal with Democrats almost forgivable.
Even as this is being written, the president and retiring Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) are battling it out on social media. Senator Corker said that Rex Tillerson (Sec. of State), John Kelly (Chief of Staff) and John Mattis (Sec. of Def.) are the only once standing in the way of chaos, referring to Mr. Trump's leadership. Predictably the president responded the Mr. Corker had no guts for not running for reelection. Mr. Corker: It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center.
Serious discussions or legislation on guns? Not likely.
Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC News; Carol Lee, NBC News; Hugh Hewlitt, Salem Radio Network; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post
A couple more things...
Mick Mulvaney is despicable as a budget director. As a congressman all he did was rail against any kind of spending. Even on today's program he defended denying funding for the Hurricane Sandy rebuild in New Jersey and New York. He then, today, had the gall to say that the government is going to run deficits to facilitate growth. If things go as planned this further deficit spending will be incurred because of a huge tax cut. Meanwhile, if you're Puerto Rico you're not getting any help if Mr. Mulvaney has his say. There's a man of principle for you.
Harvey Weinstein? Why should we be surprised? In every power-center industry there is always a percentage of sleaze - in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley. To be fair, it's heavily outweighed by good people on the left and the right. Good for Hugh Hewitt to say that even though he absolutely disagrees with Ron Howard or Rob Reiner politically, for example, he states that they are fine people. That's everywhere. In this instance as always go with Eugene Robinson for the most common sense - Growing up in a certain age defense? In any 'age' when was this ever appropriate? Exactly... The conspiracy of silence is probably going to play out ugly...
Oh, and for Rex Tillerson, he'll be out at the turn of the year. After the president's China trip is complete, he'll wind down his profile (unless there is a diplomatic emergency) while rumors will elevate until...
Sunday, September 17, 2017
9.17.17: It's Put Up or Shut Up Time, No One's Exempt This Week
In being non-ideological and narcissistic as many would describe, President Trump this week has left Democrats and Republicans alike to doubt his position on anything. But when you're goal is to simply get 'wins' and be liked, you're not going to commit to any position. The unfortunate but predictable result of that is nothing gets done, which is what you've seen for the first eight months of his presidency.
Ann Coulter's rhetorical question of "who doesn't want Trump impeached?" is the firebrand's way of asking, "what is this president for?" After this week, everyone is left to wonder. By impulse is no way to run the United States of America and it seems that President Trump hasn't internalized that concept. As far as other conservative commentators are concerned (Limbaugh, Hannity, et al), NBC's Katy Tur who just wrote a book about her experience on the Trump campaign said that the Trump supporter (apparently a new political party according to Chuck Todd, not really) don't even listen to those people. At least they have that going for them.
But the Trump supporter is to the right of the right, the "if I don't like the game, I'm taking the ball and going home" crowd if you will, and what the president showed glimpses of is that he may not be their guy. Mr. Trump plays to the crowd he's in front of, and now conservative commentators are realizing that he really was just playing. Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin gave the most succinct insight that only a presidential historian could, which was that Mr. Trump has "lost his mojo."
What is simply inexplicable is how Christian conservatives, white evangelicals can give the president a pass on the president's behavior, statements (past and present) and personal transgressions. David Brody from the Christian Broadcasting Network, who has his finger on the pulse of these things, explained that white evangelicals feel that Mr. Trump is their cultural warrior. Really? The perception is that Mr. Trump is playing to an unconscious (or maybe conscious) xenophobia. If that's a too 'loaded' explanation, that's only one of two possibilities; the other being in opposition to abortion. If the president ever waffles on that, he's lose all that support - the ultimate deal breaker.
And speaking of Christians, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) didn't have much Christian charity to show toward the DREAMers, some of whom have served in the military. I guess he didn't ask about that either in his time in the service, just like he punted on the issue of transgender individuals being allowed to serve. As has been mentioned in this column previously, DACA recipients are Americans, for all intent and purpose, and Mr. Cotton is certainly indifferent to the human element of the issue. The Arkansas senator threw out the phrase "unlimited chain migration," which pushes all the right wing buttons creating another 'immigration boogie' suggesting that this is what is going on now; it's unlimited and endless.
And not to leave out any chastising for the other side, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wouldn't say if he would run as a Democrat or Independent. He also punted, on this question, and the problem is that if you want to tell the Democratic party what to do and sometimes, frankly, lecture them on how they should do things, then he should get invested and join the party. Because giving yourself the easy out when you have to backtrack on something or even nuance it by saying, "Oh, well I'm not a Democrat, I'm an Independent," is sorry to say a little chickenshit. Mr. Sanders, what's it going to be. Don't get me wrong, I agree with Mr. Sanders that Medicare for all is a good plan and you could incrementally integrate it by lowering the requirement age over a series of time periods to absorb cost adjustments. However, what Mr. Sanders wants to do, essentially, is take the profit motive out of health care. And that's not necessarily bad per se, just incredibly difficult.
In the time being, Congress should be working on prescription drug prices down because its behavior on this issue has been disgraceful. Congress enables the pharmaceutical companies to get millions upon millions of Americans on one medication or another, also addictive and deadly (opiates), and then gauge those same Americans on the price. Now that I think of it, that's actually drug dealing, and through campaign contributions, politicians get a cut of that. Too much to think about.
The program also covered North Korea and Chuck Todd's trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands, the latter of which you should go online and watch again, however I wanted to keep the column to the president's actions over the week and the interviews with the respective senators, but no one is exempt this week. On all sides, Americans of all stripes are saying the same thing, "Put up or shut up."
Panel: Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian; Katy Tur, NBC News; Alex Cardenas, fmr. president of the American Conservatives Union; David Brody, Christian Broadcasting Network
Ann Coulter's rhetorical question of "who doesn't want Trump impeached?" is the firebrand's way of asking, "what is this president for?" After this week, everyone is left to wonder. By impulse is no way to run the United States of America and it seems that President Trump hasn't internalized that concept. As far as other conservative commentators are concerned (Limbaugh, Hannity, et al), NBC's Katy Tur who just wrote a book about her experience on the Trump campaign said that the Trump supporter (apparently a new political party according to Chuck Todd, not really) don't even listen to those people. At least they have that going for them.
But the Trump supporter is to the right of the right, the "if I don't like the game, I'm taking the ball and going home" crowd if you will, and what the president showed glimpses of is that he may not be their guy. Mr. Trump plays to the crowd he's in front of, and now conservative commentators are realizing that he really was just playing. Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin gave the most succinct insight that only a presidential historian could, which was that Mr. Trump has "lost his mojo."
What is simply inexplicable is how Christian conservatives, white evangelicals can give the president a pass on the president's behavior, statements (past and present) and personal transgressions. David Brody from the Christian Broadcasting Network, who has his finger on the pulse of these things, explained that white evangelicals feel that Mr. Trump is their cultural warrior. Really? The perception is that Mr. Trump is playing to an unconscious (or maybe conscious) xenophobia. If that's a too 'loaded' explanation, that's only one of two possibilities; the other being in opposition to abortion. If the president ever waffles on that, he's lose all that support - the ultimate deal breaker.
And speaking of Christians, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) didn't have much Christian charity to show toward the DREAMers, some of whom have served in the military. I guess he didn't ask about that either in his time in the service, just like he punted on the issue of transgender individuals being allowed to serve. As has been mentioned in this column previously, DACA recipients are Americans, for all intent and purpose, and Mr. Cotton is certainly indifferent to the human element of the issue. The Arkansas senator threw out the phrase "unlimited chain migration," which pushes all the right wing buttons creating another 'immigration boogie' suggesting that this is what is going on now; it's unlimited and endless.
And not to leave out any chastising for the other side, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wouldn't say if he would run as a Democrat or Independent. He also punted, on this question, and the problem is that if you want to tell the Democratic party what to do and sometimes, frankly, lecture them on how they should do things, then he should get invested and join the party. Because giving yourself the easy out when you have to backtrack on something or even nuance it by saying, "Oh, well I'm not a Democrat, I'm an Independent," is sorry to say a little chickenshit. Mr. Sanders, what's it going to be. Don't get me wrong, I agree with Mr. Sanders that Medicare for all is a good plan and you could incrementally integrate it by lowering the requirement age over a series of time periods to absorb cost adjustments. However, what Mr. Sanders wants to do, essentially, is take the profit motive out of health care. And that's not necessarily bad per se, just incredibly difficult.
In the time being, Congress should be working on prescription drug prices down because its behavior on this issue has been disgraceful. Congress enables the pharmaceutical companies to get millions upon millions of Americans on one medication or another, also addictive and deadly (opiates), and then gauge those same Americans on the price. Now that I think of it, that's actually drug dealing, and through campaign contributions, politicians get a cut of that. Too much to think about.
***
The program also covered North Korea and Chuck Todd's trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands, the latter of which you should go online and watch again, however I wanted to keep the column to the president's actions over the week and the interviews with the respective senators, but no one is exempt this week. On all sides, Americans of all stripes are saying the same thing, "Put up or shut up."
Panel: Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian; Katy Tur, NBC News; Alex Cardenas, fmr. president of the American Conservatives Union; David Brody, Christian Broadcasting Network
Sunday, September 10, 2017
9.10.17: Irma Preempts Everything, Covers Everyone
"Meet The Press" has been preempted today due to wall-to-wall coverage of Hurricane Irma, for which we'll say that we hope everyone in the path of the storm comes out the other side of it safely, of course. As it has been said many times, in the midst of a natural disaster there is no politics, no red nor blue, just United States and Americans helping one another.
With that said, such comprehensive storm coverage gives cover to many things, namely special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation and the fact that he's seeking to interview six White House staffers, current and former. Normally, this would be huge news but fortunately for Mr. Mueller, the general news media is preoccupied. The most high profile current staffer is interim White House Communications Director Hope Hicks. Former W.H. Press Secretary Sean Spicer and fmr. Chief of Staff Reince Priebus are also on Mr. Mueller's list of interviewees.
The special counsel's interest in these individuals centers around Donald Trump Jr.'s June 2016 meeting with Russian representatives but more specifically who was privy to the discussion about Mr. Trump Jr.'s official statement, crafted by the White House staff on board Air Force One on the way back from the G20 Summit. Just the factual description of the above scenario invites so many obvious questions with potentially damaging answers. For example, did you know about the meeting? Did the president know about this meeting? Why did the White House craft the statement and who was involved in its drafting? Not good stuff, like that... Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer said that bungled collusion is still collusion, so are the actions on board Air Force One obstruction?
Of said individuals, the one the administration has to worry about the most, this column believes, is fmr. Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. Ms. Hicks has been with the president too long, years before he even decided to run, loyal and as close to being family without actually being family. But Mr. Priebus is a different story...
For every situation in question, he was present and who knows at this point how Mr. Priebus is feeling about the president and the administration, which in other words is to question his degree of loyalty to the president at this point in time. As fmr. Chairman of the RNC, Mr. Priebus is a party guy and he knows full well what actions cross the line and which ones do not. But also being a party guy means that ultimately that's where he'll put his faith. Let's face it, he got the hard boot from the White House so the loyalty wasn't reciprocated and he won't end up needing a pardon from the president.
A bit of conjecture there, for sure but the point is that this is a serious development in this investigation, and its not getting crazy coverage, which all told is a good thing.
The other thing that we need to touch on, and yes we have to go there, is the fact of atmospheric change which is causing climate occurrences like droughts and hurricanes, etc. to be much more intense. Even if you don't believe that man's activities are having an effective on the climate changing (despite the overwhelming scientific evidence), we can all agree that these extreme weather events happen and are occurring with more frequency so can't we at least get together on climate event prevention and build and zone cities to accommodate the facts of devastation on the ground?
With that said, such comprehensive storm coverage gives cover to many things, namely special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation and the fact that he's seeking to interview six White House staffers, current and former. Normally, this would be huge news but fortunately for Mr. Mueller, the general news media is preoccupied. The most high profile current staffer is interim White House Communications Director Hope Hicks. Former W.H. Press Secretary Sean Spicer and fmr. Chief of Staff Reince Priebus are also on Mr. Mueller's list of interviewees.
The special counsel's interest in these individuals centers around Donald Trump Jr.'s June 2016 meeting with Russian representatives but more specifically who was privy to the discussion about Mr. Trump Jr.'s official statement, crafted by the White House staff on board Air Force One on the way back from the G20 Summit. Just the factual description of the above scenario invites so many obvious questions with potentially damaging answers. For example, did you know about the meeting? Did the president know about this meeting? Why did the White House craft the statement and who was involved in its drafting? Not good stuff, like that... Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer said that bungled collusion is still collusion, so are the actions on board Air Force One obstruction?
Of said individuals, the one the administration has to worry about the most, this column believes, is fmr. Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. Ms. Hicks has been with the president too long, years before he even decided to run, loyal and as close to being family without actually being family. But Mr. Priebus is a different story...
For every situation in question, he was present and who knows at this point how Mr. Priebus is feeling about the president and the administration, which in other words is to question his degree of loyalty to the president at this point in time. As fmr. Chairman of the RNC, Mr. Priebus is a party guy and he knows full well what actions cross the line and which ones do not. But also being a party guy means that ultimately that's where he'll put his faith. Let's face it, he got the hard boot from the White House so the loyalty wasn't reciprocated and he won't end up needing a pardon from the president.
A bit of conjecture there, for sure but the point is that this is a serious development in this investigation, and its not getting crazy coverage, which all told is a good thing.
The other thing that we need to touch on, and yes we have to go there, is the fact of atmospheric change which is causing climate occurrences like droughts and hurricanes, etc. to be much more intense. Even if you don't believe that man's activities are having an effective on the climate changing (despite the overwhelming scientific evidence), we can all agree that these extreme weather events happen and are occurring with more frequency so can't we at least get together on climate event prevention and build and zone cities to accommodate the facts of devastation on the ground?
Sunday, September 03, 2017
9.3.17: The Heat Into The Fall, The President's August and What It Means for September
The challenges for President Trump have arrived and his tumultuous month of August lingering into these beginning days of September with the aftermath of the tragic Hurricane Harvey and as reported this morning a new nuclear test in North Korea, one that registered a 6.3 on the Richter Scale.
As the Sylvester Turner, Mayor of Houston, stated it's all about housing in terms of the relief and aid for the communities. Secondarily, he said that the removal of debris was essential to prevent any public health crisis. So far, the president has responded well to the disaster and has signaled an immediate injection of $7.8 billion for hurricane relief. It's a start but realistically, that amount is only half of the tip of the iceberg of monetary resources that it's going to take to rebuild southeast Texas.
With the limited amount of congressional working days in September and funding for hurricane relief the first order of business on the domestic front and the North Korean threats on the foreign policy end, the administration's legislative agenda is all but dead. With the suggestion that Hurricane Harvey relief funds be tied to the raising of the debt ceiling will length the debate and simply create more uncertainty with the best to hope for is a continuing resolution to fund the government. Not to mention that Mr. Trump called out and picked fights with a number of Republican legislators this past month, number one on that list being the Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). This comes after the president isolating himself with an abhorrent press conference in the wake of Charlotttesville, an alternative-universe like rally in Phoenix where he dissed both of the state's Republican senators, and then a pardon for an unrepentant bigoted sheriff who defied the rule of law. Now, senators like John McCain (R-AZ) want to stick it in the president's eye, so to speak.
The president is still talking about health care, which will not be taken up again by Congress and there just isn't the legislative time to get tax reform done, with everything else on the table. Nothing legislatively is going to get done in this next session. Further complicating the domestic agenda is the president's coming Tuesday decision on what to do about DACA - the deferred action on childhood arrivals.
Many conservative members of Congress has urged the president not to rescind the executive order (DACA), but as today's panel discussed, doing away with DACA doesn't play well with Mr. Trump's base. The hard line attorney general Jeff Sessions is advocating for the order's cancellation. There was also conjecture from the panel that the president would kick it to Congress to decide what to do, which would be the politically logical thing to do, as Princeton professor Eddie Glaude pointed out, but he seemed to think that because it's Mr. Trump, conventional political logic doesn't apply. One can only speculate, but rescinding DACA would also implement harsh deportation policy on places particularly like southeast Texas, which would be a slap in the face by the president to that community if he rescinded the order now. Bottom line is: These 800,000 'Dreamer' kids are Americans and should be made so.
And while Mr. Trump was throwing cold water on Congressional relations in August, it was fire and fury everywhere else. In addition to inflaming racial divisions with irresponsible comments, "fire and fury" was the phrase that the president used as a response to missile tests by North Korea. It's worth noting a statistic that Chuck Todd outlined: Kim Jung Il conducted 16 missile tests in his entire time in power, and his son Kim Jung Un has had 18 since Mr. Trump became president. It's quite obvious that the young dictator is testing the ill-tempered president.
Mr. Trump's terrible August, frankly, has set him up well for a productive September and despite outside mitigating issues such as the Russian investigation, can the president overcome all of these challenges to simply show that he can be competent in the job?
September is going to be the most significant month of his presidency so far.
Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC News; Susan Page, USA Today; Eddie Glaude, Princeton University; Matthew Continetti, Washington Free Beacon
As the Sylvester Turner, Mayor of Houston, stated it's all about housing in terms of the relief and aid for the communities. Secondarily, he said that the removal of debris was essential to prevent any public health crisis. So far, the president has responded well to the disaster and has signaled an immediate injection of $7.8 billion for hurricane relief. It's a start but realistically, that amount is only half of the tip of the iceberg of monetary resources that it's going to take to rebuild southeast Texas.
With the limited amount of congressional working days in September and funding for hurricane relief the first order of business on the domestic front and the North Korean threats on the foreign policy end, the administration's legislative agenda is all but dead. With the suggestion that Hurricane Harvey relief funds be tied to the raising of the debt ceiling will length the debate and simply create more uncertainty with the best to hope for is a continuing resolution to fund the government. Not to mention that Mr. Trump called out and picked fights with a number of Republican legislators this past month, number one on that list being the Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). This comes after the president isolating himself with an abhorrent press conference in the wake of Charlotttesville, an alternative-universe like rally in Phoenix where he dissed both of the state's Republican senators, and then a pardon for an unrepentant bigoted sheriff who defied the rule of law. Now, senators like John McCain (R-AZ) want to stick it in the president's eye, so to speak.
The president is still talking about health care, which will not be taken up again by Congress and there just isn't the legislative time to get tax reform done, with everything else on the table. Nothing legislatively is going to get done in this next session. Further complicating the domestic agenda is the president's coming Tuesday decision on what to do about DACA - the deferred action on childhood arrivals.
Many conservative members of Congress has urged the president not to rescind the executive order (DACA), but as today's panel discussed, doing away with DACA doesn't play well with Mr. Trump's base. The hard line attorney general Jeff Sessions is advocating for the order's cancellation. There was also conjecture from the panel that the president would kick it to Congress to decide what to do, which would be the politically logical thing to do, as Princeton professor Eddie Glaude pointed out, but he seemed to think that because it's Mr. Trump, conventional political logic doesn't apply. One can only speculate, but rescinding DACA would also implement harsh deportation policy on places particularly like southeast Texas, which would be a slap in the face by the president to that community if he rescinded the order now. Bottom line is: These 800,000 'Dreamer' kids are Americans and should be made so.
And while Mr. Trump was throwing cold water on Congressional relations in August, it was fire and fury everywhere else. In addition to inflaming racial divisions with irresponsible comments, "fire and fury" was the phrase that the president used as a response to missile tests by North Korea. It's worth noting a statistic that Chuck Todd outlined: Kim Jung Il conducted 16 missile tests in his entire time in power, and his son Kim Jung Un has had 18 since Mr. Trump became president. It's quite obvious that the young dictator is testing the ill-tempered president.
Mr. Trump's terrible August, frankly, has set him up well for a productive September and despite outside mitigating issues such as the Russian investigation, can the president overcome all of these challenges to simply show that he can be competent in the job?
September is going to be the most significant month of his presidency so far.
Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC News; Susan Page, USA Today; Eddie Glaude, Princeton University; Matthew Continetti, Washington Free Beacon
Sunday, August 20, 2017
8.20.17: Is There Any Regaining Of A Moral Center?
Today's commendable edition of "Meet The Press" offered insightful perspectives from every guest and panelist. The down side is that while generous in their means to inform, alas it all falls to the wayside and no one listens because it all comes back to the only individual that matters in this entire conversation and that is Mr. Donald Trump.
The overriding question in discussion of the president is whether or not he lost his moral authority this week, and if so, can he regain it?
To quote The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan and The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson respectively, "No" and "no." Ms. Noonan explained that you can not lose something that you never had as a candidate nor as president. Mr. Robinson does not see how he regains it due to the lack of any kind of moral center, nor does Julius Krein, editor of the American Affairs blog, on whom there are more comments to come in a moment. "Disastrously amoral," is the phrase that Mr. Robinson used. But as fmr. Rep. J.C. Watts (R-OK) explained, Mr. Trump never understood the magnitude of what it meant to be president and Mr. Trump, by his words, seems to have decided that he will only be the president of red America, as Chuck Todd noted, which in and of itself is obviously problematic for the nation.
Mr. Trump, indeed, is not the calm in the center of the storm, as Peggy Noonan opined as how the president should conduct himself amidst such tragedies as Charlottesville, and once again its all about the president. One of things that people forget is that in order to be good president, let alone a great one, is to be able to show humility in the face of humanity, like Eugene Robinson noted about President Reagan's speech (that Peggy Noonan wrote) when the Challenger exploded. Mr. Trump has not shown himself to have this quality in the slightest, at least not publicly. This is further evidence that he could never regain or achieve a moral authority. But then again, according to editor-in-chief of The Weekly Standard, Stephen Hayes, the president is happy with the position he's taken.
The president called some of the protesters who opposed the removal of the General Lee statue "very fine people," and explained that they weren't all neo-Nazis, during his press conference this week. That's what he really thinks and by that fact all his credibility as a voice of reason and morality is lost, which again keeping sight of the larger fact that it does none of us any good. Despite agreeing with fmr. congresswoman Donna Edwards (D-MD) that the country has maintained its moral center, it's difficult to succeed as a country with a president not holding it as well.
Now, it's interesting Mr. Krein who once strongly supported Donald Trump and his ideas and who now is staunchly in opposition to the president, especially on a character basis, is getting so much attention. When asked by Chuck Todd if there was any way of getting him back into the fold, a flat 'no' was Mr. Krein's response. "They torched it," (no pun intended) he said. To that, one can only ask, "Where was your head to begin with?" From the first day of Mr. Trump's campaign when he ridiculously called out Mexicans as rapists, you knew where he stood on race. So when Mr. Krein says that Charlottesville was the last straw, I would reply that he's a day late and twenty dollars short.
More directly in terms of what to do about white supremacists and neo-Nazis, Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook explained that violence is necessary to rid the country of this scourge because its so vastly different from other forms violence. Conversely, Richard Cohen of the Southern Poverty Law Center said that that was not the answer at all. He said that the most effective way to combat hate speech is with even more speech [in opposition]. It would be a mistake to see these two views on a sliding scale, the violence isn't the answer, but many times speech is not enough. So what to do?
Enter civil right leader, fmr. UN ambassador, fmr. mayor of Atlanta Andrew Young who could not bring himself to completely condemn white supremacists. (The magnanimous nature of this man is staggering, from which we could all learn.) Instead, he talked about the poverty of these people and how they should unjustly be happy with a black-lung job and not health care, for example. He explained that these people needed help as well. Wow.
Which brings us to this crazy notion... Mr. Trump has decimated his credibility as president with his own words, there is little doubt. However... There are still deeds. In the spirit of Mr. Young, the president could turn the health care debate on its head and decide on Medicare for all would be the way to go, giving millions of working poor health care. As implausible as it would be, it is only such as deed that would begin to scrub away the words.
Panel: Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Donna Edwards, fmr. Congresswoman (D-MD); Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; Stephen Hayes, The Weekly Standard
The overriding question in discussion of the president is whether or not he lost his moral authority this week, and if so, can he regain it?
To quote The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan and The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson respectively, "No" and "no." Ms. Noonan explained that you can not lose something that you never had as a candidate nor as president. Mr. Robinson does not see how he regains it due to the lack of any kind of moral center, nor does Julius Krein, editor of the American Affairs blog, on whom there are more comments to come in a moment. "Disastrously amoral," is the phrase that Mr. Robinson used. But as fmr. Rep. J.C. Watts (R-OK) explained, Mr. Trump never understood the magnitude of what it meant to be president and Mr. Trump, by his words, seems to have decided that he will only be the president of red America, as Chuck Todd noted, which in and of itself is obviously problematic for the nation.
Mr. Trump, indeed, is not the calm in the center of the storm, as Peggy Noonan opined as how the president should conduct himself amidst such tragedies as Charlottesville, and once again its all about the president. One of things that people forget is that in order to be good president, let alone a great one, is to be able to show humility in the face of humanity, like Eugene Robinson noted about President Reagan's speech (that Peggy Noonan wrote) when the Challenger exploded. Mr. Trump has not shown himself to have this quality in the slightest, at least not publicly. This is further evidence that he could never regain or achieve a moral authority. But then again, according to editor-in-chief of The Weekly Standard, Stephen Hayes, the president is happy with the position he's taken.
The president called some of the protesters who opposed the removal of the General Lee statue "very fine people," and explained that they weren't all neo-Nazis, during his press conference this week. That's what he really thinks and by that fact all his credibility as a voice of reason and morality is lost, which again keeping sight of the larger fact that it does none of us any good. Despite agreeing with fmr. congresswoman Donna Edwards (D-MD) that the country has maintained its moral center, it's difficult to succeed as a country with a president not holding it as well.
Now, it's interesting Mr. Krein who once strongly supported Donald Trump and his ideas and who now is staunchly in opposition to the president, especially on a character basis, is getting so much attention. When asked by Chuck Todd if there was any way of getting him back into the fold, a flat 'no' was Mr. Krein's response. "They torched it," (no pun intended) he said. To that, one can only ask, "Where was your head to begin with?" From the first day of Mr. Trump's campaign when he ridiculously called out Mexicans as rapists, you knew where he stood on race. So when Mr. Krein says that Charlottesville was the last straw, I would reply that he's a day late and twenty dollars short.
More directly in terms of what to do about white supremacists and neo-Nazis, Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook explained that violence is necessary to rid the country of this scourge because its so vastly different from other forms violence. Conversely, Richard Cohen of the Southern Poverty Law Center said that that was not the answer at all. He said that the most effective way to combat hate speech is with even more speech [in opposition]. It would be a mistake to see these two views on a sliding scale, the violence isn't the answer, but many times speech is not enough. So what to do?
Enter civil right leader, fmr. UN ambassador, fmr. mayor of Atlanta Andrew Young who could not bring himself to completely condemn white supremacists. (The magnanimous nature of this man is staggering, from which we could all learn.) Instead, he talked about the poverty of these people and how they should unjustly be happy with a black-lung job and not health care, for example. He explained that these people needed help as well. Wow.
Which brings us to this crazy notion... Mr. Trump has decimated his credibility as president with his own words, there is little doubt. However... There are still deeds. In the spirit of Mr. Young, the president could turn the health care debate on its head and decide on Medicare for all would be the way to go, giving millions of working poor health care. As implausible as it would be, it is only such as deed that would begin to scrub away the words.
Panel: Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Donna Edwards, fmr. Congresswoman (D-MD); Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; Stephen Hayes, The Weekly Standard
Sunday, August 13, 2017
8.13.17: Trump's Failure To Lead Scores A Hat-Trick
The title of this week's post became a no-brainer when three-quarters of the way through the program Chuck Todd reminded viewers that the president also picked a fight with Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
That, the icing before the cake, along with the president's profoundly unwise bellicose statements on North Korea and his fecklessness shown from his no-statement on the violence in Charlottesville, VA have sealed off any doubt that Mr. Trump has drowned under the turbulent water that is the presidency and is woefully ill-suited to lead this country.
However, it's not surprising in the least, as much as it was inevitable to see. The president not specifically condemning white supremacists for the tragic violence in Charlottesville may finally be the straws that permanently pry open the eyes of Republicans in Congress.
What Mr. Trump never came around to comprehending was that as President of The United States of America, you have to be able to speak to all Americans, even the ones who didn't vote for you. His campaign whistled to and cultivated the support of the alt-right through its extreme immigration initiatives - words and deeds from Mr. Trump himself which are now obviously a big part of his presidency.
Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists fully armed in paramilitary gear (thanks National Rifle Association for pointless open carry laws) march on a town in Virginia to rally around a statue of Robert E. Lee, a general in the Confederacy. And the president doesn't specifically condemn that? President Abraham Lincoln referred to the Confederacy as rebels... traitors to the principles of the Constitution that all men are created equal and deserve equal justice under the law, hence traitors against their country because their cause was to uphold slavery. Couldn't agree more with that view. Americans have fought and died against the forces of Nazism and Racism, but Mr. Trump has nothing to say about it with the exception of a platitude that gives white supremacists a pass.
A failure to lead the country.
The fmr. Joint Chief of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen said that Mr. Trump's rhetoric takes away his maneuvering options, and North Korea knowing that the U.S. will not take military action without suffering the "unintentional consequences," as Adm. Mullen described them, called Mr. Trump's bluff making additional threats.
Only a political wing-nut would use words like "fire and fury" or "locked and loaded" referring to our military, not the president of the United States. Period, end of discussion. (The word "shrewd" never comes up when describing Mr. Trump.)
Mr. Trump's statements put two of our closest allies in more immediate peril, ramping up an international crisis that Adm. Mullen assessed could get out of control fast.
A failure to lead the world.
The National Review's Rich Lowry said that Mr. Trump need the Republican Congress and Mitch McConnell for "scandal control," which would be hysterical if it weren't so true. As Joy-Ann Reid reminded us, the Senate majority leader's wife is in Mr. Trump's cabinet - Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao. But so what, Senator McConnell couldn't get the votes on health care. He couldn't get a win for Trump which makes him a loser, as how our simplified political math is trending right now. The Republican party, especially House members, is all Mr. Trump has right now. He's been losing pieces one at a time in the Senate but forfeiting the most strategically important one is politically shortsighted to say the least. And the Senate clearly supports McConnell.
Failure to lead his party; a triple fail.
Panel: Joy-Ann Reid, NBC News; Rich Lowry, The National Review; Amy Walter, the Cook Political Report; Helene Cooper, The New York Times
Other things... just to be sure...
Adm. Mullen said that Kim Jung Un is not a rational actor.
As Chuck Todd and the panel agreed, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and Presidential Senior Advisor Steven Bannon can NOT work together. One is going to have to go, which will be the most telling choice the Administration makes. Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller and Sebastian Gorka have no place in The White House.
Helene Cooper is sick of hearing that taking down the statues of Robert E. Lee and such people might make anger some people, to which she replied, "Make them angry." Amen to that.
That, the icing before the cake, along with the president's profoundly unwise bellicose statements on North Korea and his fecklessness shown from his no-statement on the violence in Charlottesville, VA have sealed off any doubt that Mr. Trump has drowned under the turbulent water that is the presidency and is woefully ill-suited to lead this country.
However, it's not surprising in the least, as much as it was inevitable to see. The president not specifically condemning white supremacists for the tragic violence in Charlottesville may finally be the straws that permanently pry open the eyes of Republicans in Congress.
What Mr. Trump never came around to comprehending was that as President of The United States of America, you have to be able to speak to all Americans, even the ones who didn't vote for you. His campaign whistled to and cultivated the support of the alt-right through its extreme immigration initiatives - words and deeds from Mr. Trump himself which are now obviously a big part of his presidency.
Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists fully armed in paramilitary gear (thanks National Rifle Association for pointless open carry laws) march on a town in Virginia to rally around a statue of Robert E. Lee, a general in the Confederacy. And the president doesn't specifically condemn that? President Abraham Lincoln referred to the Confederacy as rebels... traitors to the principles of the Constitution that all men are created equal and deserve equal justice under the law, hence traitors against their country because their cause was to uphold slavery. Couldn't agree more with that view. Americans have fought and died against the forces of Nazism and Racism, but Mr. Trump has nothing to say about it with the exception of a platitude that gives white supremacists a pass.
A failure to lead the country.
The fmr. Joint Chief of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen said that Mr. Trump's rhetoric takes away his maneuvering options, and North Korea knowing that the U.S. will not take military action without suffering the "unintentional consequences," as Adm. Mullen described them, called Mr. Trump's bluff making additional threats.
Only a political wing-nut would use words like "fire and fury" or "locked and loaded" referring to our military, not the president of the United States. Period, end of discussion. (The word "shrewd" never comes up when describing Mr. Trump.)
Mr. Trump's statements put two of our closest allies in more immediate peril, ramping up an international crisis that Adm. Mullen assessed could get out of control fast.
A failure to lead the world.
The National Review's Rich Lowry said that Mr. Trump need the Republican Congress and Mitch McConnell for "scandal control," which would be hysterical if it weren't so true. As Joy-Ann Reid reminded us, the Senate majority leader's wife is in Mr. Trump's cabinet - Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao. But so what, Senator McConnell couldn't get the votes on health care. He couldn't get a win for Trump which makes him a loser, as how our simplified political math is trending right now. The Republican party, especially House members, is all Mr. Trump has right now. He's been losing pieces one at a time in the Senate but forfeiting the most strategically important one is politically shortsighted to say the least. And the Senate clearly supports McConnell.
Failure to lead his party; a triple fail.
Panel: Joy-Ann Reid, NBC News; Rich Lowry, The National Review; Amy Walter, the Cook Political Report; Helene Cooper, The New York Times
Other things... just to be sure...
Adm. Mullen said that Kim Jung Un is not a rational actor.
As Chuck Todd and the panel agreed, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and Presidential Senior Advisor Steven Bannon can NOT work together. One is going to have to go, which will be the most telling choice the Administration makes. Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller and Sebastian Gorka have no place in The White House.
Helene Cooper is sick of hearing that taking down the statues of Robert E. Lee and such people might make anger some people, to which she replied, "Make them angry." Amen to that.
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