Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) certainly did have his caffeine this morning. Senator Graham was unequivocal in his stance on matters of policy foreign and domestic.
First, with regard to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, Mr. Graham said he was confident that the probe will not be shut down and that most everyone on the Hill believes that Mr. Mueller and his team should be allowed to do his job. Democrats in the Senate, lead by Chuck Schumer, are insisting that legislation protecting the probe should be enacted. In addition, outgoing Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) will refuse to vote on anymore of President Trump's judicial nominations unless such legislation is approved. The constitutionality of such legislation is in question.
The National Review's Rich Lowry made two good points on this that circle round to Senator Graham's confidence. One, he agrees with that said legislation would be unconstitutional due to the fact that Congress can not control Executive Branch hires, of which Mr. Mueller is one. That may disheartening to Democrats, however, he also made the point that the proverbial ship has sailed on firing the Special Counsel because if that happens, the first thing that the new chairman of the judiciary committee come January, presumably Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), will do is call Mr. Mueller in front of Congress and tell everything he knows - in front of the American people, the more significant point in this discussion hence Mr. Graham's confidence. Additionally, Democrats forcing a government shutdown because of the exclusion of such legislation would spend a damaging amount of political capital and ultimately would not go over well.
However, there's one more aspect to this that needs to be touched on, which is Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell's refusal to bring said legislation to the Senate floor for a vote. Mr. McConell also doesn't think the legislation is constitutional but say if it were. He still wouldn't bring it to the floor of the Senate and the reason is that if it were to pass, it would send a message that the Republican-control body officially sanctions the probe and thus its findings. When those findings become public and if there is clear wrong-doing on the part of the president the Democratically-controlled House would vote to impeach. The Senate having given sanction to the Mueller probe, would then have to act accordingly. One thing is for sure and that's that Senate McConnell always puts party over country so he's not inclined to give Democrats any perceived leverage.
The president is lashing out at the Mueller investigation because, frankly, he's freaking out because the special counsel's questions were literally put right in front of him and he realized that he's lost his protectors in the House.
With regard the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and CIA's determination that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman sanctioned the murder, Senator Graham clearly stated his thoughts on the matter, essentially agreeing with the CIA's assessment and gave a flat 'no' when it came to inviting the Kingdom's US ambassador back who also happens to be related to the crown prince. He also explained that the Senate was planning to invoke the Magnitsky Act on Saudi officials. In terms of the Senate that U.S.-Saudi relationship is deeply fractured with Senator Graham calling the crown prince 'irrational' and 'unhinged.'
The problem of taking appropriate steps to sanction Saudi Arabia isn't with Congress, but with this transactional administration. In addition to Jared Kushner's close relationship with the crown prince, there's the perception that the president is making decisions on this, or in this case not making decisions, based on his personal financial relationship with the Saudis and their buying of Trump real estate. In this instance it seems quite clear that the president has violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution, but we can not know for sure until the president's tax returns are subpoenaed by Congress. Hallie Jackson explained that the administration keeps putting this on the back burner, pushing farther and farther back in the hopes that it will go away, but that's the rub, things like this do not simply go away.
"The problem is with the Republicans, not the Democrats," stated Senator Graham on the topic of prison reform, something that is much needed and that has wide bipartisan support in Congress. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said that it was his top priority in the lame duck session. It even has the support of the president. The reason that Mr. Graham made that statement is because some Republican senators such as Tom Cotton (R-AR) who still believe in minimum sentencing and 'three strikes and you're out' for non-violent offenses. Mr. Graham stated that the bill should be brought to the floor where Senator Cotton would be voted down. The rub - the question remains as to whether Mitch McConnell will bring it to the floor for a vote.
Now that the midterms are over and there's divided government, or for the sake of this point, more balanced government, the American people want to see the parties working in a more bipartisan fashion. Congress's bipartisan outrage with regard to Saudi Arabia and its overwhelming agreement on criminal justice reform are a good start. The problem is that aforementioned individuals are putting the personal and party over country.
Panel: Hallie Jackson, NBC; Yamiche Alcindor, PBS; Rich Lowry, The National Review; John Harwood, CNBC
One more thing...
In terms of Nancy Pelosi being the next Speaker of the House, this column is conflicted. Yes, the Democrats need new leadership to come forward but they also need Nancy Pelosi. What the Democrats should do is have some one new in a leadership role and have Ms. Pelosi groom that person. Given the era of Donald Trump, the Democrats right now need some one who is savvy, who can mobilize others, who can go toe to toe with the Republicans and who can fund raise. Given that, the Democrats should get all they can out of Nancy Pelosi because it's true - Republicans demonize her because there is no Democrat who is a more effective politician.
Sunday, November 18, 2018
Sunday, November 11, 2018
11.11.18: A Political Realignment and a Self-Consumed President
The impact of the midterm election results should not be diminished despite what the president would tell you. Particularly in House races, the election was a referendum on the president and it didn't bode well for him. There has indeed been a political realignment. In fact, the results triggered one of the worst performance weeks of his presidency so far. More on that in a minute.
Locally, the Republicans could not be trusted to protect people with preexisting conditions from getting kicked off their health insurance and that was a big factor. As we discussed at length in this column, the Republicans during the campaign were promising to mandate a protection but had no remedy on how to keep costs down so that people weren't simply priced out of the market. Voters understood that with the Affordable Care Act proving quite popular though fixes are needed. Where Democrats need to improve is in their economic messaging. David Brooks of The New York Times made a point that has mostly flown under the radar, which is despite an economy that has been growing and low unemployment, the working class is still having a hard time of it. Finances for most Americans are still extremely strained in large part because of healthcare especially prescription drug prices, but also because real wage growth in relation to the cost of living has been inadequate, and that's being kind.
It's these tensions along with the tenor coming from the White House that drove the Democratic wave in the House lead particularly by women candidates, which makes perfect sense because in most households women oversee the finances particularly with their children in mind and the president's general treatment of women is reprehensible. As Donna Edwards stated, this midterm election was certainly a rebuke of the president's behavior, and now there are 100+ women in Congress, thankfully.
Given those House gains, Republicans did pick up seats in the Senate with a map that was certainly tilted to their advantage. Democrats had to defend seats in red states where the president won by large margins so Joe Donnelly (D) in Indiana is out as is Heidi Heitkamp (D) in North Dakota. And though this column predicted that Claire McCaskill could pull it out again in Missouri, she came up short to Josh Hawley. Florida and Arizona are still up in the air.
This brings us to the president's performance this past Wednesday (the day after the election) which started off with an ugly press conference where Mr. Trump mocked Republican candidates who lost because they did not support him, according to his logic. He also stifled free speech and freedom of the press (in the First Amendment) in unjustifiably banning CNN's Jim Acosta from the White House as well as threatening the same for other reporters. In that same press conference he accused Yamiche Alcindor of PBS of asking a racist question. And he misogyny continued before he left for Paris saying that April Ryan of the Urban Radio Network was a loser and that Abby Phillip of CNN always asks stupid questions. (all African-American women).
Also on Wednesday, the president fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions and appointed his Mr. Sessions' chief of staff Matthew Whitaker as acting Attorney General setting off concerns of a Constitutional crisis. Sifting through all the opinions since the decisions, it's debatable whether the appointment is Constitutional or not. However, even Matthew Continetti of the Washington Free Beacon conceded that Mr. Whitaker is in no way qualified for the job, but Mr. Whitaker was installed into the position to protect Mr. Trump from the Mueller investigation, for which Whitaker is on record saying that the investigation isn't credible. This is not to mention that fact that on Friday, Mr. Trump said that he didn't know Mr. Whitaker when only a month earlier he said that he did know him as is typical of this president. To counter this, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have sent a letter to the DOJ as to whether or not they have given an ethics opinion on Mr. Whitaker, as outlined by Adam Schiff (D-CA) who said it was clearly a political decision where there shouldn't be one. Also, Mr. Schiff explained that the Democrats have to focus on a positive agenda, one on which they ran on. Even with that in mind, oversight of this administration is absolutely necessary.
Then 11 days after the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh another mass shooting occurred at a club in Thousand Oaks, CA. Yet, the president simply refuses to have the larger conversation on mass shooting epidemic we have in this country, only offering his condolences. Then to add insult to injury, wildfires are ravaging through California with 25 people now dead, threatening the community that just lived through the mass shooting and the president blames poor forest management for the fires. He also threatened to pull federal funding to California to combat these fires while they're still raging. As Mr. Schiff stated, Mr. Trump doesn't understand the job he has and shouldn't be levying punitive punishment on those communities at this time.
With a recount underway in Florida's senate race and votes still being counted in Arizona, the president made accusations of fraud in both contests. This is completely uncalled for by the President of the United States. But this is simply another in a long list of compulsions of Mr. Trump to tear this country apart. With that said, Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) does have a point about Broward County in Florida that the way they run elections there is incompetent at best and unconstitutional at worst. After the fiasco that was the 2000 recount, this county has had 18 years to get their act together, and they haven't. That's just ridiculous. Of Mr. Gardner took a step too far in saying that we should have an accounting and an election we can be proud of in that county, conveniently forgetting about how Mr. Bush was given the presidency in 2000 with a Supreme Court stoppage of the vote counting.
Lastly, Mr. Trump flew all the way to Paris to take part in the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of WWI and he didn't make the trip to Ainse-Marne cemetary, an hour outside the city, to pay tribute to the 1,600 American soldiers who died in battle there. This is a basic job of the president and he couldn't do it because of rain? Give us a break. This shows total disrespect for our soldiers who fought and died for this country. Not to mention the fact that the president has yet to visit any troops in active combat areas around the globe. Politico's Eliana Johnson said that Mr. Trump has no range as a politician meaning that he doesn't have the capacity to expand his base or the electorate in his favor. You should really take that one step farther and say he has no range as a leader of the American people, at home or abroad.
Is President Trump so self-consumed with his own preservation that he's unable to do the right thing, the presidential act, in any situation? If you've read this far, the question has been answered.
Panel: Matthew Continetti, The Washington Free Beacon; Donna Edwards, fmr. Congresswomen from Maryland; Eliana Johson, Politico; David Brooks, The New York Times
Locally, the Republicans could not be trusted to protect people with preexisting conditions from getting kicked off their health insurance and that was a big factor. As we discussed at length in this column, the Republicans during the campaign were promising to mandate a protection but had no remedy on how to keep costs down so that people weren't simply priced out of the market. Voters understood that with the Affordable Care Act proving quite popular though fixes are needed. Where Democrats need to improve is in their economic messaging. David Brooks of The New York Times made a point that has mostly flown under the radar, which is despite an economy that has been growing and low unemployment, the working class is still having a hard time of it. Finances for most Americans are still extremely strained in large part because of healthcare especially prescription drug prices, but also because real wage growth in relation to the cost of living has been inadequate, and that's being kind.
It's these tensions along with the tenor coming from the White House that drove the Democratic wave in the House lead particularly by women candidates, which makes perfect sense because in most households women oversee the finances particularly with their children in mind and the president's general treatment of women is reprehensible. As Donna Edwards stated, this midterm election was certainly a rebuke of the president's behavior, and now there are 100+ women in Congress, thankfully.
Given those House gains, Republicans did pick up seats in the Senate with a map that was certainly tilted to their advantage. Democrats had to defend seats in red states where the president won by large margins so Joe Donnelly (D) in Indiana is out as is Heidi Heitkamp (D) in North Dakota. And though this column predicted that Claire McCaskill could pull it out again in Missouri, she came up short to Josh Hawley. Florida and Arizona are still up in the air.
This brings us to the president's performance this past Wednesday (the day after the election) which started off with an ugly press conference where Mr. Trump mocked Republican candidates who lost because they did not support him, according to his logic. He also stifled free speech and freedom of the press (in the First Amendment) in unjustifiably banning CNN's Jim Acosta from the White House as well as threatening the same for other reporters. In that same press conference he accused Yamiche Alcindor of PBS of asking a racist question. And he misogyny continued before he left for Paris saying that April Ryan of the Urban Radio Network was a loser and that Abby Phillip of CNN always asks stupid questions. (all African-American women).
Also on Wednesday, the president fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions and appointed his Mr. Sessions' chief of staff Matthew Whitaker as acting Attorney General setting off concerns of a Constitutional crisis. Sifting through all the opinions since the decisions, it's debatable whether the appointment is Constitutional or not. However, even Matthew Continetti of the Washington Free Beacon conceded that Mr. Whitaker is in no way qualified for the job, but Mr. Whitaker was installed into the position to protect Mr. Trump from the Mueller investigation, for which Whitaker is on record saying that the investigation isn't credible. This is not to mention that fact that on Friday, Mr. Trump said that he didn't know Mr. Whitaker when only a month earlier he said that he did know him as is typical of this president. To counter this, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have sent a letter to the DOJ as to whether or not they have given an ethics opinion on Mr. Whitaker, as outlined by Adam Schiff (D-CA) who said it was clearly a political decision where there shouldn't be one. Also, Mr. Schiff explained that the Democrats have to focus on a positive agenda, one on which they ran on. Even with that in mind, oversight of this administration is absolutely necessary.
Then 11 days after the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh another mass shooting occurred at a club in Thousand Oaks, CA. Yet, the president simply refuses to have the larger conversation on mass shooting epidemic we have in this country, only offering his condolences. Then to add insult to injury, wildfires are ravaging through California with 25 people now dead, threatening the community that just lived through the mass shooting and the president blames poor forest management for the fires. He also threatened to pull federal funding to California to combat these fires while they're still raging. As Mr. Schiff stated, Mr. Trump doesn't understand the job he has and shouldn't be levying punitive punishment on those communities at this time.
With a recount underway in Florida's senate race and votes still being counted in Arizona, the president made accusations of fraud in both contests. This is completely uncalled for by the President of the United States. But this is simply another in a long list of compulsions of Mr. Trump to tear this country apart. With that said, Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) does have a point about Broward County in Florida that the way they run elections there is incompetent at best and unconstitutional at worst. After the fiasco that was the 2000 recount, this county has had 18 years to get their act together, and they haven't. That's just ridiculous. Of Mr. Gardner took a step too far in saying that we should have an accounting and an election we can be proud of in that county, conveniently forgetting about how Mr. Bush was given the presidency in 2000 with a Supreme Court stoppage of the vote counting.
Lastly, Mr. Trump flew all the way to Paris to take part in the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of WWI and he didn't make the trip to Ainse-Marne cemetary, an hour outside the city, to pay tribute to the 1,600 American soldiers who died in battle there. This is a basic job of the president and he couldn't do it because of rain? Give us a break. This shows total disrespect for our soldiers who fought and died for this country. Not to mention the fact that the president has yet to visit any troops in active combat areas around the globe. Politico's Eliana Johnson said that Mr. Trump has no range as a politician meaning that he doesn't have the capacity to expand his base or the electorate in his favor. You should really take that one step farther and say he has no range as a leader of the American people, at home or abroad.
Is President Trump so self-consumed with his own preservation that he's unable to do the right thing, the presidential act, in any situation? If you've read this far, the question has been answered.
Panel: Matthew Continetti, The Washington Free Beacon; Donna Edwards, fmr. Congresswomen from Maryland; Eliana Johson, Politico; David Brooks, The New York Times
Sunday, November 04, 2018
11.4.18: Two Days To Go and The Stakes Couldn't Be Higher
Given Donald Trump's win in 2016, predictions for this election cycle are tepid at best. No one wants to go too far out on a limb, as was the case in this special election edition of "Meet The Press." This was summed up by Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher admitting that he doesn't trust the polls because of what happened in 2016 and due to the extraordinary turnout in early voting.
With that in mind there were a few things that stood out from today's interviews that will end up being significant in who controls the House and Senate after the polls close on Tuesday. First, Senator Chris Van Hollen said that Democrats can not go 0 for 4 in the Senate races of Missouri, Tennessee, North Dakota and Texas. That's significant because that could very well be the case.
To break down what we've seen so far, accounting for high turnout for both parties, Marsha Blackburn will take the seat over Phil Bredesen in Tennessee because Mr. Bredesen who should be leading has run a tentative campaign having had to modulate between Republican and Democratic held positions too much where Ms. Blackburn can simply stay on the hard right. In North Dakota, Heidi Heitcamp can still win if she gets the voter turnout. To contradict what Hugh Hewitt said about Brett Kavanaugh being a factor in Senate races, that's not going to be the deciding factor in North Dakota. In Missouri, the Kavanaugh factor could play a part, but ultimately again, not a big part. Let's face it, the man is on the Supreme Court so Republicans got what they wanted. Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee did not act inappropriately in the joint hearings with Dr. Blasey-Ford and Judge Kavanaugh. If you watched those hearings the accusatory voices where those of Republicans (e.g. Senator Lindsey Graham) and Mr. Kavanaugh himself who acted inappropriately when Democrats asked him questions. And though this column has respect for Tom Brokaw, his anecdote that suburban women who have sons are turning back to the Republican party because of Kavanaugh doesn't really float. At this point in this day and age, if those suburban mothers haven't talked to their sons about sexual assault, it reflects poorly on them. With that said, Claire McCaskill can still pull out the race, but as with all her races it will be close.
That's leaves us with Texas, which conventional wisdom would dictate that Ted Cruz will prevail but who knows... Mr. O'Rourke has certainly run the better campaign but that may not be enough though he is the better face for the future of Texas. Also, even though Mr. Cruz may still hold on, he certainly doesn't deserve to win. Donald Trump disparaged his wife and said that his father took part in JFK's assassination yet Mr. Cruz still in the end kissed his ass, frankly. That's simply not Texas, but...
As for governor's races, most of the attention has rightly focused on Georgia and Florida, to which President Trump has said that neither Democratic candidate is qualified to hold office - this coming from a man with no political or governmental administrative experience. In fact, the two Democratic candidates in those respective races, Stacey Abrams in Georgia and Andrew Gillum in Florida are the most qualified. In Florida, Ron DeSantis was a congressman and has no experience running a municipality whereas Mr. Gillum is the mayor of the state's capital, Tallahassee. In Georgia, as Ms. Abrams outlined in her interview today, she is clearly the most qualified having worked across the aisle in Georgia's state legislature and as an administrator. Despite the race being a toss-up due to the fact that the state leans Republican and her opponent Secretary of State Brian Kemp's prior attempts to suppress the vote, Ms. Abrams is well positioned. Additionally, Mr. Kemp should hope that if he wins it's with a 50% majority because if not the race goes to a run-off which will only put a brighter spotlight on the race - something that will not be to his benefit.
Then there are the House races, which by all prognosticating favor the Democrats. No where is Donald Trump more on the ballot than Houses races are concerned and control of the House will most certainly reflect the country's assessment of Mr. Trump's job performance in his first two years in office. The majority of Americans do not subscribe to the fear and loathing that Mr. Trump has brought to the office of the presidency. The continual race-baiting, fear, lying and misogyny will catch up to him and Tuesday could be the day where the American people speak in opposition to all of it. Or at least that's the message that should be sent. Kasie Hunt said that suburb women should not be underestimated in this regard as to their power to dictate the outcome of these midterms and that is truly the case. Instead of how Mr. Brokaw outlined it, suburb women will be the loudest voice in rebuking the president's behavior in office.
Something Tom Brokaw did say should also resonate with Americans and that is that we are slaughtering our own citizens with greater frequency. Mr. Trump is incapable of speaking to this in an heart-felt way and Americans know it. His callousness has been grossly on display especially when he says that the 'bomb' stuff and the mass murder of Jewish Americans in Pittsburgh has slowly the momentum for Republicans in the midterms.
In addition, the trajectory of healthcare is a bigger factor and given the sustained conversation about it since the passage of the Affordable Care Act it is foremost in voters minds. The bottom line is that with all the votes taken up by Republicans to repeal the ACA in full, which includes protections for pre-existing conditions, the electorate is not confident that those will be maintained. And as stated before in this column, if there are maintained by Republicans premiums will essentially go up where millions will be priced out of the market.
Mr. Trump has refused to or is in capable of leading American as one nation so only divided government can put the prop checks in place and that means a Democratically controlled House, which looks likely - said with extremely cautious optimism.
If that's not the outcome, American democracy will take a turn for the worse.
Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Savannah Guthrie, "The Today Show;" Cornell Belcher, Democratic Strategist; Hugh Hewitt, Salem Radio Network; Tom Brokaw, NBC News
One more thing...
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
(It's your civic duty.)
With that in mind there were a few things that stood out from today's interviews that will end up being significant in who controls the House and Senate after the polls close on Tuesday. First, Senator Chris Van Hollen said that Democrats can not go 0 for 4 in the Senate races of Missouri, Tennessee, North Dakota and Texas. That's significant because that could very well be the case.
To break down what we've seen so far, accounting for high turnout for both parties, Marsha Blackburn will take the seat over Phil Bredesen in Tennessee because Mr. Bredesen who should be leading has run a tentative campaign having had to modulate between Republican and Democratic held positions too much where Ms. Blackburn can simply stay on the hard right. In North Dakota, Heidi Heitcamp can still win if she gets the voter turnout. To contradict what Hugh Hewitt said about Brett Kavanaugh being a factor in Senate races, that's not going to be the deciding factor in North Dakota. In Missouri, the Kavanaugh factor could play a part, but ultimately again, not a big part. Let's face it, the man is on the Supreme Court so Republicans got what they wanted. Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee did not act inappropriately in the joint hearings with Dr. Blasey-Ford and Judge Kavanaugh. If you watched those hearings the accusatory voices where those of Republicans (e.g. Senator Lindsey Graham) and Mr. Kavanaugh himself who acted inappropriately when Democrats asked him questions. And though this column has respect for Tom Brokaw, his anecdote that suburban women who have sons are turning back to the Republican party because of Kavanaugh doesn't really float. At this point in this day and age, if those suburban mothers haven't talked to their sons about sexual assault, it reflects poorly on them. With that said, Claire McCaskill can still pull out the race, but as with all her races it will be close.
That's leaves us with Texas, which conventional wisdom would dictate that Ted Cruz will prevail but who knows... Mr. O'Rourke has certainly run the better campaign but that may not be enough though he is the better face for the future of Texas. Also, even though Mr. Cruz may still hold on, he certainly doesn't deserve to win. Donald Trump disparaged his wife and said that his father took part in JFK's assassination yet Mr. Cruz still in the end kissed his ass, frankly. That's simply not Texas, but...
As for governor's races, most of the attention has rightly focused on Georgia and Florida, to which President Trump has said that neither Democratic candidate is qualified to hold office - this coming from a man with no political or governmental administrative experience. In fact, the two Democratic candidates in those respective races, Stacey Abrams in Georgia and Andrew Gillum in Florida are the most qualified. In Florida, Ron DeSantis was a congressman and has no experience running a municipality whereas Mr. Gillum is the mayor of the state's capital, Tallahassee. In Georgia, as Ms. Abrams outlined in her interview today, she is clearly the most qualified having worked across the aisle in Georgia's state legislature and as an administrator. Despite the race being a toss-up due to the fact that the state leans Republican and her opponent Secretary of State Brian Kemp's prior attempts to suppress the vote, Ms. Abrams is well positioned. Additionally, Mr. Kemp should hope that if he wins it's with a 50% majority because if not the race goes to a run-off which will only put a brighter spotlight on the race - something that will not be to his benefit.
Then there are the House races, which by all prognosticating favor the Democrats. No where is Donald Trump more on the ballot than Houses races are concerned and control of the House will most certainly reflect the country's assessment of Mr. Trump's job performance in his first two years in office. The majority of Americans do not subscribe to the fear and loathing that Mr. Trump has brought to the office of the presidency. The continual race-baiting, fear, lying and misogyny will catch up to him and Tuesday could be the day where the American people speak in opposition to all of it. Or at least that's the message that should be sent. Kasie Hunt said that suburb women should not be underestimated in this regard as to their power to dictate the outcome of these midterms and that is truly the case. Instead of how Mr. Brokaw outlined it, suburb women will be the loudest voice in rebuking the president's behavior in office.
Something Tom Brokaw did say should also resonate with Americans and that is that we are slaughtering our own citizens with greater frequency. Mr. Trump is incapable of speaking to this in an heart-felt way and Americans know it. His callousness has been grossly on display especially when he says that the 'bomb' stuff and the mass murder of Jewish Americans in Pittsburgh has slowly the momentum for Republicans in the midterms.
In addition, the trajectory of healthcare is a bigger factor and given the sustained conversation about it since the passage of the Affordable Care Act it is foremost in voters minds. The bottom line is that with all the votes taken up by Republicans to repeal the ACA in full, which includes protections for pre-existing conditions, the electorate is not confident that those will be maintained. And as stated before in this column, if there are maintained by Republicans premiums will essentially go up where millions will be priced out of the market.
Mr. Trump has refused to or is in capable of leading American as one nation so only divided government can put the prop checks in place and that means a Democratically controlled House, which looks likely - said with extremely cautious optimism.
If that's not the outcome, American democracy will take a turn for the worse.
Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Savannah Guthrie, "The Today Show;" Cornell Belcher, Democratic Strategist; Hugh Hewitt, Salem Radio Network; Tom Brokaw, NBC News
One more thing...
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
(It's your civic duty.)
Sunday, October 28, 2018
10.28.18: At the End of a Sad and Tragic Week...
Sadly, it's difficult to feel optimistic that things will get better and say that this tragic week in American history is a culmination of sorts as opposed to a next step in the escalating of anger and hatred in this country. This statement is profoundly more sad when you consider that yesterday we witnessed in horror of the worst anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history.
It's almost paralyzing to write because processing the events of this week are so overwhelming, and today's interviews on "Meet The Press" offered no comfort.
In a joint interview with the respective chairs of the House Congressional Committees, Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) and Steve Stivers (R-OH) responsible for getting candidates in their parties elected, the dialogue strode the edge of civility as Mr. Stivers initiated an attack on his Democratic counterpart for defending what he said were Democratic candidates who have made bigoted statements. He did have to go there, especially today, but he did. Also, Mr. Stivers defended an ad running in Minnesota that demonizes George Soros, to which he simply said that ad was factually accurate but when you watch the ad, the tone clearly implies insidious motives.
https://youtu.be/hU00BW-trLo
That Mr. Stivers could defend this ad against a Holocaust survivor in the wake of a bomb threat and a heinous mass shooting hate crime in which 11 people were killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh is beyond the pale.
As The Cook Political Report's Amy Walter explained, no one wants to take responsibility, and 'everyone' is to blame. She went on to say that as a candidate, it's a zero-sum game to win the election, but once the person is in elected office the presidency in particular, you have to be a unifying force. But President Trump has no interest in unifying the country, especially not now with 9 days to go before the midterm elections. Elections that will dictate the trajectory of the rest of his first term.
The week started with a bomb being mailed to billionaire George Soros, then escalated to a total of 13 bombs being mailed to prominent Democratic politicians, prominent Trump critics and CNN. This act of domestic terrorism propelled the ATF, FBI, NYPD and NYFD along with U.S. Post Office Security into high alert. Two of the bomb targets were two former first couples, Mr. and Mrs. Obama and Mr. and Mrs. Clinton. When asked if he would call the former presidents to offer support, Mr. Trump said he would pass. And even given the bomb threats (before Saturday's shooting), Mr. Trump was also asked if he should tone down his divisive rhetoric, to which he answered he could actually 'tone it up,' as NBC's Kristen Welker reported.
Fox News and right-wing talk radio, specifically Rush Limbaugh, forwarded false flag theories, that these bomb threats were perpetrated by liberals. To digress for a moment, Rush Limbaugh is a blowhard and the reason for that description is because 15 hours a week attacking some people and making others angry, but never offers any solutions. With no solutions, you're just part of the problem.
Also, let's also point out the in Kentucky this week, two African-Americans were shot dead at a Kroger's supermarket in a racially motivated attack. The perpetrator's initial target was an African-American community church with the goal to kill more people. (https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/26/us/kentucky-kroger-shooting/index.html).
Jonathan Greenblatt, president of the Anti-Defamation League said that in 2017, there has a 57 percent rise in anti-Semitic acts, and through social media bigoted, racist and anti-Semitic language has increased exponentially just about putting it into the mainstream.
Dissertations and books discussing how we've gotten to this place as a society are in infinite supply, to be sure, but let's face it, though President Trump is a symptom of this digression, he's done nothing to combat the downward spiral. Many make the argument like conservative commentator Charlie Sykes, cited today, who called the president the 'arsonist in chief.' Alas, as Resurgent editor-in-chief Erick Erickson said, the president isn't going to change, which means the leadership has to come from someplace else. But where?
There's one president and he's the authority, as Joshua Jackson clearly put it. This means that he has to be the president for all the American people, and his after-the-fact perfunctory statements just don't cut it. These statements are especially galling considering that after the president offers a form of 'thoughts and prayers' he goes right back to attacks opponents as un-American and as some form of evil, along with his consistent demonizing of the 'other,' (see all his statements on immigration).
As long as the president sows divisive rhetoric refusing to take the mantle of trying to heal our differences, tragic and truly sad weeks like this will continue to plague this country.
Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC News; Joshua Jackson, NPR; Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report; Erick Erickson, The Resurgent
It's almost paralyzing to write because processing the events of this week are so overwhelming, and today's interviews on "Meet The Press" offered no comfort.
In a joint interview with the respective chairs of the House Congressional Committees, Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) and Steve Stivers (R-OH) responsible for getting candidates in their parties elected, the dialogue strode the edge of civility as Mr. Stivers initiated an attack on his Democratic counterpart for defending what he said were Democratic candidates who have made bigoted statements. He did have to go there, especially today, but he did. Also, Mr. Stivers defended an ad running in Minnesota that demonizes George Soros, to which he simply said that ad was factually accurate but when you watch the ad, the tone clearly implies insidious motives.
https://youtu.be/hU00BW-trLo
That Mr. Stivers could defend this ad against a Holocaust survivor in the wake of a bomb threat and a heinous mass shooting hate crime in which 11 people were killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh is beyond the pale.
As The Cook Political Report's Amy Walter explained, no one wants to take responsibility, and 'everyone' is to blame. She went on to say that as a candidate, it's a zero-sum game to win the election, but once the person is in elected office the presidency in particular, you have to be a unifying force. But President Trump has no interest in unifying the country, especially not now with 9 days to go before the midterm elections. Elections that will dictate the trajectory of the rest of his first term.
The week started with a bomb being mailed to billionaire George Soros, then escalated to a total of 13 bombs being mailed to prominent Democratic politicians, prominent Trump critics and CNN. This act of domestic terrorism propelled the ATF, FBI, NYPD and NYFD along with U.S. Post Office Security into high alert. Two of the bomb targets were two former first couples, Mr. and Mrs. Obama and Mr. and Mrs. Clinton. When asked if he would call the former presidents to offer support, Mr. Trump said he would pass. And even given the bomb threats (before Saturday's shooting), Mr. Trump was also asked if he should tone down his divisive rhetoric, to which he answered he could actually 'tone it up,' as NBC's Kristen Welker reported.
Fox News and right-wing talk radio, specifically Rush Limbaugh, forwarded false flag theories, that these bomb threats were perpetrated by liberals. To digress for a moment, Rush Limbaugh is a blowhard and the reason for that description is because 15 hours a week attacking some people and making others angry, but never offers any solutions. With no solutions, you're just part of the problem.
Also, let's also point out the in Kentucky this week, two African-Americans were shot dead at a Kroger's supermarket in a racially motivated attack. The perpetrator's initial target was an African-American community church with the goal to kill more people. (https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/26/us/kentucky-kroger-shooting/index.html).
Jonathan Greenblatt, president of the Anti-Defamation League said that in 2017, there has a 57 percent rise in anti-Semitic acts, and through social media bigoted, racist and anti-Semitic language has increased exponentially just about putting it into the mainstream.
Dissertations and books discussing how we've gotten to this place as a society are in infinite supply, to be sure, but let's face it, though President Trump is a symptom of this digression, he's done nothing to combat the downward spiral. Many make the argument like conservative commentator Charlie Sykes, cited today, who called the president the 'arsonist in chief.' Alas, as Resurgent editor-in-chief Erick Erickson said, the president isn't going to change, which means the leadership has to come from someplace else. But where?
There's one president and he's the authority, as Joshua Jackson clearly put it. This means that he has to be the president for all the American people, and his after-the-fact perfunctory statements just don't cut it. These statements are especially galling considering that after the president offers a form of 'thoughts and prayers' he goes right back to attacks opponents as un-American and as some form of evil, along with his consistent demonizing of the 'other,' (see all his statements on immigration).
As long as the president sows divisive rhetoric refusing to take the mantle of trying to heal our differences, tragic and truly sad weeks like this will continue to plague this country.
Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC News; Joshua Jackson, NPR; Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report; Erick Erickson, The Resurgent
Sunday, October 21, 2018
10.21.18: What's Really at Stake in These Midterms
Let's start off on a good note.
It was pleasantly refreshing to hear Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) agree that Saudi Arabia's explanation on what to Washington Post columnist Jamal Kashoggi, that it was just not credible that a 59 year-old journalist got into a brawl with 15 Saudi security agents that resulted in his death.
While understandably Mr. Tillis was a bit more measured in his comments because of common party affiliation with the president, he did state that it looks like Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman was involved in the decision to kill Mr. Khashoggi and that the Saudis need to be held accountable. More and more, it seems as though senators of both parties hold a position that is in opposition to the president.
Senator Durbin stated that the United States should immediately expel the Saudi ambassador until a full investigation has been conducted, the facts come to light and the Saudis are held accountable. Senators of both parties would agree with this action, however, the president has been dragging his feet on coming out on the side of the U.S. intelligence service. It begs the question of why, which can be easily answered.
President Trump's and, for that matter, Jared Kushner's financial ties to the Saudis is compromising the administration's ability to make decisions that represent American values. That's saying it politely. In other words, the president is violating the Constitution of the United States, specifically the emoluments clause, by accepting Saudi money to his businesses. Obviously, the Mr. Trump doesn't want to personally upset the Saudi government or it will divest from his businesses. Once again, Mr. Trump is compromised in his decision making because he is putting personal profit over the interests of the United States. Yes, it's that clear and simple.
What's not clear and simple is predicting the upcoming midterm elections. As Christian Broadcast Network News' David Brody said, the biggest issue on the table is anger, and which side - Republican or Democrat - has more of it. The panel all agreed that there needs to be someone to bring people together to calm the situation, and though Peggy Noonan disagreed with Chuck Todd that person should be the president, it should be. However, the difference with Donald Trump and every other president that has proceeded him is that he has no aspiration to be the president for all Americans. He'll never let up on pitting individuals against one another. Even if the right-wing and left-wing press together called a truce along with politicians of all stripes, it's the president that truly wields the influence when trying to bring people together. Mr. Trump has no interest whatsoever in that.
Both sides are fired up, there is no doubt and what we're going to see if the next 16 days before the vote is that constituents are going to come home to their usual respective parties, with one big exception - women. Women will decide these primaries, specifically suburban women and women of color, as pointed out by Eugene Robinson. Millennial turnout will once again be low and for the most part, minority turnout (with the exception of black women) will also be lackluster.
Senator Tillis said that it can be rationalized that the huge tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, predominantly, will pay for themselves, but Republicans are not running on tax cuts, because let's face it, the game is up and the populace isn't buying it anymore. The warning to Republicans, as Peggy Noonan explained, is that in a time where there haven't been any new wars and with the economy doing well, the president can not get his approval rating over 50 percent. Republicans have been supplying the argument that the president is getting results despite the deeply divisive nature of how he's going about it. However, given Ms. Noonan's point, the president's words do matter greatly.
Healthcare has become a central issue for the Democrats as that what most of the electorate, justifiably so, is concerned about. Republicans are saying that they want to repeal the Affordable Care Act but keep protections for preexisting conditions. As this column pointed out last week, there will be no way to pay for it, and people with preexisting conditions will be essentially priced out of the market. Democrats, this time around, are now embracing the ACA as they should have been doing all along. It's ok to say that it's not perfect and fixes are needed, but at the same time the basis tenets of the bill are beneficial to ordinary people.
Sticking with conventional wisdom, the Senate will most likely stay in Republican control. However, if the House doesn't flip to Democratic control, here's what will happen: Mitch McConnell as he stated this week will start the 'need' to get the federal budget under control. The federal budget has been blown up with an unnecessary Republican tax cut. So how does Mr. McConnell propose to control spending? He's stated that Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security be 'reformed.' In other words, those programs need to be cut.
Those programs are all tied to healthcare and that's really the main stake in this midterm election.
Panel: Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Katy Tur, MSNBC; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; David Brody, Christian Broadcast Network News
One more thing...
Scaramucci has he was concerned about what happen with Jamal Khashoggi (he didn't mention him by name) and the Saudi government, but that he still sending a representative from his financial firm, Skybridge Capital, to Saudi Arabia for the financial conference. In other words, the only thing he cares about is money. This guy is so disingenuous that there is really no reason to ever take him seriously.
It was pleasantly refreshing to hear Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) agree that Saudi Arabia's explanation on what to Washington Post columnist Jamal Kashoggi, that it was just not credible that a 59 year-old journalist got into a brawl with 15 Saudi security agents that resulted in his death.
While understandably Mr. Tillis was a bit more measured in his comments because of common party affiliation with the president, he did state that it looks like Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman was involved in the decision to kill Mr. Khashoggi and that the Saudis need to be held accountable. More and more, it seems as though senators of both parties hold a position that is in opposition to the president.
Senator Durbin stated that the United States should immediately expel the Saudi ambassador until a full investigation has been conducted, the facts come to light and the Saudis are held accountable. Senators of both parties would agree with this action, however, the president has been dragging his feet on coming out on the side of the U.S. intelligence service. It begs the question of why, which can be easily answered.
President Trump's and, for that matter, Jared Kushner's financial ties to the Saudis is compromising the administration's ability to make decisions that represent American values. That's saying it politely. In other words, the president is violating the Constitution of the United States, specifically the emoluments clause, by accepting Saudi money to his businesses. Obviously, the Mr. Trump doesn't want to personally upset the Saudi government or it will divest from his businesses. Once again, Mr. Trump is compromised in his decision making because he is putting personal profit over the interests of the United States. Yes, it's that clear and simple.
What's not clear and simple is predicting the upcoming midterm elections. As Christian Broadcast Network News' David Brody said, the biggest issue on the table is anger, and which side - Republican or Democrat - has more of it. The panel all agreed that there needs to be someone to bring people together to calm the situation, and though Peggy Noonan disagreed with Chuck Todd that person should be the president, it should be. However, the difference with Donald Trump and every other president that has proceeded him is that he has no aspiration to be the president for all Americans. He'll never let up on pitting individuals against one another. Even if the right-wing and left-wing press together called a truce along with politicians of all stripes, it's the president that truly wields the influence when trying to bring people together. Mr. Trump has no interest whatsoever in that.
Both sides are fired up, there is no doubt and what we're going to see if the next 16 days before the vote is that constituents are going to come home to their usual respective parties, with one big exception - women. Women will decide these primaries, specifically suburban women and women of color, as pointed out by Eugene Robinson. Millennial turnout will once again be low and for the most part, minority turnout (with the exception of black women) will also be lackluster.
Senator Tillis said that it can be rationalized that the huge tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, predominantly, will pay for themselves, but Republicans are not running on tax cuts, because let's face it, the game is up and the populace isn't buying it anymore. The warning to Republicans, as Peggy Noonan explained, is that in a time where there haven't been any new wars and with the economy doing well, the president can not get his approval rating over 50 percent. Republicans have been supplying the argument that the president is getting results despite the deeply divisive nature of how he's going about it. However, given Ms. Noonan's point, the president's words do matter greatly.
Healthcare has become a central issue for the Democrats as that what most of the electorate, justifiably so, is concerned about. Republicans are saying that they want to repeal the Affordable Care Act but keep protections for preexisting conditions. As this column pointed out last week, there will be no way to pay for it, and people with preexisting conditions will be essentially priced out of the market. Democrats, this time around, are now embracing the ACA as they should have been doing all along. It's ok to say that it's not perfect and fixes are needed, but at the same time the basis tenets of the bill are beneficial to ordinary people.
Sticking with conventional wisdom, the Senate will most likely stay in Republican control. However, if the House doesn't flip to Democratic control, here's what will happen: Mitch McConnell as he stated this week will start the 'need' to get the federal budget under control. The federal budget has been blown up with an unnecessary Republican tax cut. So how does Mr. McConnell propose to control spending? He's stated that Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security be 'reformed.' In other words, those programs need to be cut.
Those programs are all tied to healthcare and that's really the main stake in this midterm election.
Panel: Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Katy Tur, MSNBC; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; David Brody, Christian Broadcast Network News
One more thing...
Scaramucci has he was concerned about what happen with Jamal Khashoggi (he didn't mention him by name) and the Saudi government, but that he still sending a representative from his financial firm, Skybridge Capital, to Saudi Arabia for the financial conference. In other words, the only thing he cares about is money. This guy is so disingenuous that there is really no reason to ever take him seriously.
Sunday, October 14, 2018
10.14.18: Democrats Need To Take Control of the Narrative
Democrats, if they want to be successful in these midterm elections, need to take back control of the narrative. When you listen to Josh Hawley, senate candidate against incumbent Claire McCaskill in Missouri, you hear him say how awfully Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee behaved and the ensuing 'mob' behavior.
First, note to women: When Republican men, the only ones using this language, say 'mob' they are referring to you! Women.
Let that sink in and think about how you feel. They're saying that women whose pleas to be heard about sexual assault and being ignored are an angry mob.
In terms of the behavior on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democrats asked tough questions, relevant questions of Judge Kavanaugh, not once yelling at or insulting him. Yet, Judge Kavanaugh rudely interrupted female Democratic senators, in particular asking Senate Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) if she ever blacked out from drinking. Completely inappropriate. And this was all before Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) completely debased himself with his 'I hope you never get power' rant. Mr. Graham used to be a politician that even though he disagreed with his policy positions, you could respect, but no longer. Now, he's simply a sycophantic suck-up to Donald Trump. Mr. Graham, no doubt, is angling for the Attorney General job.
Women, the angry mob, really? How about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) saying that Republicans would 'plow through' the nomination. More like 'plow over' women, not take seriously a word they have to say and push through Mr. Kavanaugh. That's mob mentality...
And to that point, Mr. Todd interviewed Stacey Abrams, running in Georgia to be the first African-American female governor in the country. And what is her opponent Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp doing? Suppressing the vote by withholding 53,000 voter registrations, 70 percent of which are for people of color. In Texas, Andrea Mitchell explained that Hispanic turn-out will probably not be as strong as it should be because legal or not, they don't want to register because they are afraid of ICE and the government.
If this midterm election is a choice between judges and healthcare, as Mr. Hawley outlined, healthcare is the winner. The energy that Republicans tout from the Kavanaugh confirmation is anecdotal and really won't translate into voters at the polls. However, if Democrats let that stand and don't take back the narrative, their turn-out will indeed be dampened as well. Thus the conventional wisdom that Democrats will take back the House will be in jeopardy. Mr. Hawley also said that you can repeal Obamacare and yet mandate insurance companies by law not to deny coverage for preexisting conditions. The government could do that but price controls would go out the window! Insurance companies would reject anyone with preexisting conditions but they would set the cost, the monthly premium, so high that millions would be priced out of the market. He conveniently doesn't mention that.
Democrats need to take control of the discourse in the next 25 days so that they reestablish their chances for taking the Senate as well. The energy is on their side if they are bold enough to harness it because as it stands right now, Democratic strategists are doing a disservice to candidates like Beto O'Rourke in Texas and Phil Bredesen in Tennessee.
Part of this is putting the president's ethics back front and center. NBC's Carol Lee explained that the president is feeling pretty good at the moment because the president's scandals are not a focal point at the moment.
And two more fresh examples of the president's unfitness for office are front and center this week. President Trump hasn't made any strong statements for the people and communities devastated by Hurricane Michael and is planning to visit this upcoming week. There has been no sense of urgency on behalf of the administration to address this disaster - at least that's how it's playing out in his media narrative.
The second is the disappearance of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who went in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 1 and never left. Mr. Trump is clearly facing a difficult political situation with Saudi Arabia but is reluctant to sanction them because of what he says is a large arms deal. Basically, he is sacrificing American principles for money. In other words, money is more important to him than the principles for which this country has stood for over 240 years. And let's be clear, money not for the country, his money. Saudis have given millions upon millions of dollars in real estate purchases in Trump properties. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) said that if it is proven that the Saudis did indeed kill Mr. Khashoggi then Congress will act swiftly and decisively in a bipartisan manner, which will isolate the president and his position. The money that Mr. Trump personally stands to lose if Congress sanctions Saudi Arabia creates a clear conflict of interest. The administration has a legal obligation to investigate which Mr. Trump doesn't want to do. Not to mention the fact that Mr. Trump has violated the Constitution by taking emoluments from the Saudi government.
Government's function is to serve the people, not serve itself. However, with Republicans in power that's exactly what they're doing - enabling a thoroughly corrupt president and serving themselves to have absolute power. Democrats don't need to kick them when Republicans go low, they just need to shout the truth - LOUD.
Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Carol Lee, NBC News; Peter Baker, The New York Times; Lanhee Chen, Stanford University
One more thing...
Kanye West and Jim Brown are fools if they think for one minute that President Trump cares one iota about the plight of people of color in this country. How these two men can support him simply defies common sense and decency. Just an off-the-cuff opinion.
First, note to women: When Republican men, the only ones using this language, say 'mob' they are referring to you! Women.
Let that sink in and think about how you feel. They're saying that women whose pleas to be heard about sexual assault and being ignored are an angry mob.
In terms of the behavior on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democrats asked tough questions, relevant questions of Judge Kavanaugh, not once yelling at or insulting him. Yet, Judge Kavanaugh rudely interrupted female Democratic senators, in particular asking Senate Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) if she ever blacked out from drinking. Completely inappropriate. And this was all before Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) completely debased himself with his 'I hope you never get power' rant. Mr. Graham used to be a politician that even though he disagreed with his policy positions, you could respect, but no longer. Now, he's simply a sycophantic suck-up to Donald Trump. Mr. Graham, no doubt, is angling for the Attorney General job.
Women, the angry mob, really? How about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) saying that Republicans would 'plow through' the nomination. More like 'plow over' women, not take seriously a word they have to say and push through Mr. Kavanaugh. That's mob mentality...
And to that point, Mr. Todd interviewed Stacey Abrams, running in Georgia to be the first African-American female governor in the country. And what is her opponent Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp doing? Suppressing the vote by withholding 53,000 voter registrations, 70 percent of which are for people of color. In Texas, Andrea Mitchell explained that Hispanic turn-out will probably not be as strong as it should be because legal or not, they don't want to register because they are afraid of ICE and the government.
If this midterm election is a choice between judges and healthcare, as Mr. Hawley outlined, healthcare is the winner. The energy that Republicans tout from the Kavanaugh confirmation is anecdotal and really won't translate into voters at the polls. However, if Democrats let that stand and don't take back the narrative, their turn-out will indeed be dampened as well. Thus the conventional wisdom that Democrats will take back the House will be in jeopardy. Mr. Hawley also said that you can repeal Obamacare and yet mandate insurance companies by law not to deny coverage for preexisting conditions. The government could do that but price controls would go out the window! Insurance companies would reject anyone with preexisting conditions but they would set the cost, the monthly premium, so high that millions would be priced out of the market. He conveniently doesn't mention that.
Democrats need to take control of the discourse in the next 25 days so that they reestablish their chances for taking the Senate as well. The energy is on their side if they are bold enough to harness it because as it stands right now, Democratic strategists are doing a disservice to candidates like Beto O'Rourke in Texas and Phil Bredesen in Tennessee.
Part of this is putting the president's ethics back front and center. NBC's Carol Lee explained that the president is feeling pretty good at the moment because the president's scandals are not a focal point at the moment.
And two more fresh examples of the president's unfitness for office are front and center this week. President Trump hasn't made any strong statements for the people and communities devastated by Hurricane Michael and is planning to visit this upcoming week. There has been no sense of urgency on behalf of the administration to address this disaster - at least that's how it's playing out in his media narrative.
The second is the disappearance of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who went in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 1 and never left. Mr. Trump is clearly facing a difficult political situation with Saudi Arabia but is reluctant to sanction them because of what he says is a large arms deal. Basically, he is sacrificing American principles for money. In other words, money is more important to him than the principles for which this country has stood for over 240 years. And let's be clear, money not for the country, his money. Saudis have given millions upon millions of dollars in real estate purchases in Trump properties. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) said that if it is proven that the Saudis did indeed kill Mr. Khashoggi then Congress will act swiftly and decisively in a bipartisan manner, which will isolate the president and his position. The money that Mr. Trump personally stands to lose if Congress sanctions Saudi Arabia creates a clear conflict of interest. The administration has a legal obligation to investigate which Mr. Trump doesn't want to do. Not to mention the fact that Mr. Trump has violated the Constitution by taking emoluments from the Saudi government.
Government's function is to serve the people, not serve itself. However, with Republicans in power that's exactly what they're doing - enabling a thoroughly corrupt president and serving themselves to have absolute power. Democrats don't need to kick them when Republicans go low, they just need to shout the truth - LOUD.
Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Carol Lee, NBC News; Peter Baker, The New York Times; Lanhee Chen, Stanford University
One more thing...
Kanye West and Jim Brown are fools if they think for one minute that President Trump cares one iota about the plight of people of color in this country. How these two men can support him simply defies common sense and decency. Just an off-the-cuff opinion.
Sunday, October 07, 2018
10.7.18: The Civil Cold War Is Official
Brett Kavanaugh has been confirmed to the United States Supreme Court... in the closest vote in 137 years.
You have to let that sink in because it is, indeed, the reality now.
No matter what side of the aisle you're on, we have to move on despite the fact that all this confirmation process did was further divide and weaken the United States, leaving the president that only winner, a man whose goal it is to divide America a much as possible. Instead of our politicians taking the steps to lead us out of this morass, they simply take actions to deepen the divide, with the United States Senate - no longer should it be considered the world's most deliberative body - leading the way.
On top of no longer being deliberative, the Senate doesn't even remotely reflect America writ large. After this bitter, partisan fight, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said that there are no Republican women on the Senate Judiciary committee because being on said committee is really hard work, inferring that women can't handle it. This is reflective of the fact that Senate Republicans were never ultimately going to deny Judge Kavanaugh a seat on the court, no matter what. Even if you feel that Mr. Kavanaugh was not guilty of the allegations brought by Dr. Ford, as we said in last week's column, he illustrated his ill-temperament to be on the court with his naked partisanship spouting conspiracy theories, of all things. Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute said that judges usually grow in the office, gaining a deeper understanding of their responsibility, but that hasn't been the case with Clarence Thomas nor will it be the case with Brett Kavanaugh. And if you think many women are angry now, if Roe v. Wade comes before the court again, and five men decide the to strike the precedent, the divide will become irreparable.
Founder of the MeToo Movement, Tamara Burke, explained that most people do not understand the life cycle of a sexual assault survivor, and it's not difficult to put people such as Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham or Chuck Grassley in that camp. In the joint interview, Alyssa Milano, who brought MeToo into the cultural consciousness said that she is not playing for the 'win,' but against the abuse of power. The only problem with that is she's fighting forces (see the aforementioned Senators) that are fighting for the win and don't care how their potential abuses of power are perceived. On the part of Republicans in the Senate, their really is a disconnect.
With all that said, Mr. Kavanaugh's reputation is destroyed as his career almost was, and if there isn't solid evidence that he committed this criminal act, like it or not you're innocent in the United States until proven guilty. The FBI investigation was incomplete at best so Senator Lamar Alexander's (R-TN) explanation isn't based on all the facts. On the other hand, despite Democrats emphasizing the point too late that this is a job interview as mentioned today by Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), that's in fact what it was, and Mr. Kavanaugh did not do well. Again, proving he shouldn't have been confirmed.
Republican strategist Al Cardenas had the most sensible solution in the aftermath of this most damaging battle and that is that the Senate should move to set clear guidelines for their role of advise and consent. Unfortunately, the problem is with Mitch McConnell leading the way, that's never going to happen because it doesn't allow him to change the rules or muddy the water when he wants as to ensure that he gets what he wants.
Where does this leave us? Mr. Cardenas said we're headed for a civil cold war, but we're already there. Both sides are energized and are ready for the midterm fight. NBC's Kasie Hunt explained the conventional wisdom says that Democrats will take the House and Republicans will keep control of the Senate. The problem with that thinking is that you have to ask yourself, has anything in the last three years been conventional? Not in the slightest.
This picture pretty much sums up the week, doesn't it?
Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute; Al Cardenas, Republican Strategist; Michael Beschloss, Presidential Historian
You have to let that sink in because it is, indeed, the reality now.
No matter what side of the aisle you're on, we have to move on despite the fact that all this confirmation process did was further divide and weaken the United States, leaving the president that only winner, a man whose goal it is to divide America a much as possible. Instead of our politicians taking the steps to lead us out of this morass, they simply take actions to deepen the divide, with the United States Senate - no longer should it be considered the world's most deliberative body - leading the way.
On top of no longer being deliberative, the Senate doesn't even remotely reflect America writ large. After this bitter, partisan fight, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said that there are no Republican women on the Senate Judiciary committee because being on said committee is really hard work, inferring that women can't handle it. This is reflective of the fact that Senate Republicans were never ultimately going to deny Judge Kavanaugh a seat on the court, no matter what. Even if you feel that Mr. Kavanaugh was not guilty of the allegations brought by Dr. Ford, as we said in last week's column, he illustrated his ill-temperament to be on the court with his naked partisanship spouting conspiracy theories, of all things. Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute said that judges usually grow in the office, gaining a deeper understanding of their responsibility, but that hasn't been the case with Clarence Thomas nor will it be the case with Brett Kavanaugh. And if you think many women are angry now, if Roe v. Wade comes before the court again, and five men decide the to strike the precedent, the divide will become irreparable.
Founder of the MeToo Movement, Tamara Burke, explained that most people do not understand the life cycle of a sexual assault survivor, and it's not difficult to put people such as Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham or Chuck Grassley in that camp. In the joint interview, Alyssa Milano, who brought MeToo into the cultural consciousness said that she is not playing for the 'win,' but against the abuse of power. The only problem with that is she's fighting forces (see the aforementioned Senators) that are fighting for the win and don't care how their potential abuses of power are perceived. On the part of Republicans in the Senate, their really is a disconnect.
With all that said, Mr. Kavanaugh's reputation is destroyed as his career almost was, and if there isn't solid evidence that he committed this criminal act, like it or not you're innocent in the United States until proven guilty. The FBI investigation was incomplete at best so Senator Lamar Alexander's (R-TN) explanation isn't based on all the facts. On the other hand, despite Democrats emphasizing the point too late that this is a job interview as mentioned today by Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), that's in fact what it was, and Mr. Kavanaugh did not do well. Again, proving he shouldn't have been confirmed.
Republican strategist Al Cardenas had the most sensible solution in the aftermath of this most damaging battle and that is that the Senate should move to set clear guidelines for their role of advise and consent. Unfortunately, the problem is with Mitch McConnell leading the way, that's never going to happen because it doesn't allow him to change the rules or muddy the water when he wants as to ensure that he gets what he wants.
Where does this leave us? Mr. Cardenas said we're headed for a civil cold war, but we're already there. Both sides are energized and are ready for the midterm fight. NBC's Kasie Hunt explained the conventional wisdom says that Democrats will take the House and Republicans will keep control of the Senate. The problem with that thinking is that you have to ask yourself, has anything in the last three years been conventional? Not in the slightest.
This picture pretty much sums up the week, doesn't it?
Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute; Al Cardenas, Republican Strategist; Michael Beschloss, Presidential Historian
Sunday, September 30, 2018
9.30.18: Brett Kavanaugh Lacks the Temperament for The Supreme Court
Today's "Meet The Press" has been preempted for coverage of the Ryder Cup.
On Thursday as part of the Senate hearings on Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination for the Supreme Court, we heard from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Kavauagh himself with regard to allegations that he sexually assaulted Dr. Ford in high school.
Finally, now, the FBI is going to be interviewing Mark Judge who Dr. Ford places in the room, along with other allegations brought forth by other woman.
While both individuals gave compelling testimony, essentially this was another interview in the process of the job application of Mr. Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court. Whether you believe Dr. Ford's account and allegations or not, Brett Kavanaugh's testimony was telling, especially this passage from his opening statement:
This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record. Revenge on behalf of the Clintons and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups. This is a circus. The consequences will extend long past my nomination. The consequences will be with us for decades. This grotesque, character assassination will dissuade confident and good people of all political persuasions from serving our country and as we all know in the political system of the early 2000s, what goes around comes around.
The manner in which Brett Kavanaugh delivered this statement illustrated an extreme partisan bent that we have not seen in modern times from a prospective Supreme Court jurist. In particular, "revenge of behalf of the Clintons" refers to Mr. Kavanaugh's time spent on Bill Clinton's impeachment as part of Special Prosecutor Ken Starr's team, in addition to Mrs. Clinton's defeat in 2016. As you can also see from the above portion, he called the hearings a 'circus,' and later went further to say that Democrats weren't there to advise and consent but to search and destroy.
As Mr. Kavanaugh notably stated, we know he drank beer, likes beer and still does. However, when asked about his past drinking habits, Mr. Kavanaugh was less than forthcoming and engaged in a distasteful "whataboutism" with Senators Amy Klobachur (D-MN) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) asking them if she had blacked out from drinking and what he liked to drink.
Perhaps out of embarrassment for youthful transgressions, Mr. Kavanaugh did not want to disclose insights about his drinking habits in high school and college. However, if he was completely innocent of the allegations Dr. Ford why wouldn't he agree to have the FBI conduct additional interviews to thoroughly vet the circumstances. A number of Democratic senators, most notably Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), asked him if he would agree with this step, and in his answers he never once said he thought it was the right thing to do.
From the looks of it, Mr. Kavanaugh is in fact hiding something, or in being generous is less than forthright about his drinking.
This column is of the opinion that indeed Dr. Ford and Mr. Kavanaugh are correct. Brett Kavanaugh did commit this sexual assault on Dr. Ford when they were both in high school, but Mr. Kavanaugh in his severely drunken state at the time doesn't remember this incident. However, as the Bard has told us, here within lies the rub: Mark Judge probably does remember this incident and because lying to the FBI can land you in jail, he'll recall what Brett Kavanaugh would forever had hoped to forget.
Lastly, given Judge Kavanaugh's lasted testimony and the confrontational nature in which he engaged Democratic senators on the Judiciary committee, he showed that his temperament is insufficient for a lifetime appointment to the nation's highest court. Given his opening screed alone, how could anyone ever think that he could be impartial on the bench? Answer: he no longer can be seen as impartial on any judicial level.
One more thing...
His rant during the hearing not withstanding, it's difficult to not be cynical when Senator Lindsey Graham says that he's been a lawyer, a judge and a senator and not think he's in fact interviewing for a job in the Trump Administration, specifically as the next Attorney General. Also, the American Bar Association, which he called the gold standard has sent a letter stating that it could not support Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation until a full FBI investigation has been completed.
On Thursday as part of the Senate hearings on Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination for the Supreme Court, we heard from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Kavauagh himself with regard to allegations that he sexually assaulted Dr. Ford in high school.
Finally, now, the FBI is going to be interviewing Mark Judge who Dr. Ford places in the room, along with other allegations brought forth by other woman.
While both individuals gave compelling testimony, essentially this was another interview in the process of the job application of Mr. Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court. Whether you believe Dr. Ford's account and allegations or not, Brett Kavanaugh's testimony was telling, especially this passage from his opening statement:
This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record. Revenge on behalf of the Clintons and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups. This is a circus. The consequences will extend long past my nomination. The consequences will be with us for decades. This grotesque, character assassination will dissuade confident and good people of all political persuasions from serving our country and as we all know in the political system of the early 2000s, what goes around comes around.
The manner in which Brett Kavanaugh delivered this statement illustrated an extreme partisan bent that we have not seen in modern times from a prospective Supreme Court jurist. In particular, "revenge of behalf of the Clintons" refers to Mr. Kavanaugh's time spent on Bill Clinton's impeachment as part of Special Prosecutor Ken Starr's team, in addition to Mrs. Clinton's defeat in 2016. As you can also see from the above portion, he called the hearings a 'circus,' and later went further to say that Democrats weren't there to advise and consent but to search and destroy.
As Mr. Kavanaugh notably stated, we know he drank beer, likes beer and still does. However, when asked about his past drinking habits, Mr. Kavanaugh was less than forthcoming and engaged in a distasteful "whataboutism" with Senators Amy Klobachur (D-MN) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) asking them if she had blacked out from drinking and what he liked to drink.
Perhaps out of embarrassment for youthful transgressions, Mr. Kavanaugh did not want to disclose insights about his drinking habits in high school and college. However, if he was completely innocent of the allegations Dr. Ford why wouldn't he agree to have the FBI conduct additional interviews to thoroughly vet the circumstances. A number of Democratic senators, most notably Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), asked him if he would agree with this step, and in his answers he never once said he thought it was the right thing to do.
From the looks of it, Mr. Kavanaugh is in fact hiding something, or in being generous is less than forthright about his drinking.
This column is of the opinion that indeed Dr. Ford and Mr. Kavanaugh are correct. Brett Kavanaugh did commit this sexual assault on Dr. Ford when they were both in high school, but Mr. Kavanaugh in his severely drunken state at the time doesn't remember this incident. However, as the Bard has told us, here within lies the rub: Mark Judge probably does remember this incident and because lying to the FBI can land you in jail, he'll recall what Brett Kavanaugh would forever had hoped to forget.
Lastly, given Judge Kavanaugh's lasted testimony and the confrontational nature in which he engaged Democratic senators on the Judiciary committee, he showed that his temperament is insufficient for a lifetime appointment to the nation's highest court. Given his opening screed alone, how could anyone ever think that he could be impartial on the bench? Answer: he no longer can be seen as impartial on any judicial level.
One more thing...
His rant during the hearing not withstanding, it's difficult to not be cynical when Senator Lindsey Graham says that he's been a lawyer, a judge and a senator and not think he's in fact interviewing for a job in the Trump Administration, specifically as the next Attorney General. Also, the American Bar Association, which he called the gold standard has sent a letter stating that it could not support Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation until a full FBI investigation has been completed.
Sunday, September 23, 2018
9.23.18: Mitch McConnell Has Poisoned The Court, A Seventh Vetting of Kavanaugh Is Necessary
The Senate faces a difficult and damaging situation; there is no doubt. However, it's only be made worse by the Senate itself. And it all goes back to the biggest wretch in what has been called, "the world's most deliberative body," and that would be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). He, above anyone else, has poisoned the nomination process of the Supreme Court and it all started with refusing to give former Supreme candidate Merrick Garland a hearing when Barack Obama was president. Then he changed the rules for a 60-vote benchmark to confirm a Justice, going with a simple majority once Donald Trump won the presidency. Now he's trying to ram through the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh before the midterm elections, anticipating the possibility that Republicans may lose control of the Senate in November.
Mitch McConnell has single-handedly politicized and poisoned the Supreme Court beyond repair, and as long as he is the leader of the Republican caucus in the Senate, it should be given no quarter, ever.
This brings us to the Senate's performance with regard to the sexual assault allegation brought forth by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford against Judge Kavanaugh, which in agreement with Chris Matthews she had the duty as a citizen to come forward. To be clear, Senators on both sides have done a disservice to the American people, but considering that Republicans are in control and chair the Judiciary Committee, they shoulder much more of the blame.
Not to leave out the fact that Senate Republicans have made the following statements:
Senator Dean Heller (NV) - "This is a hiccup." Really? Sexual Assault is a hiccup?
Senator Orrin Hatch (UT) - "This woman who ever she is, is mixed up." He's had a misogynistic attitude his entire Senate career.
And last but not least, Senator Mitch McConnell (KY), "We're going to plow right through it, and do our job." What a tool. It? There is a person involved and her name is Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
In Chuck Todd's interview with Senator David Perdue (R-GA), he stated the Judge Kavanaugh has been vetted six times by the FBI. Well, there should be a seventh time because as Mr. Todd pointed out he has not been vetted about this incident, which Mr. Perdue thinks unnecessary. Then Mr. Todd posed the question of what Mr. Perdue did in these types of situations when he was in the private sector, to which he answered that he would seek to be thorough and get all the information in determining the truthfulness of the allegation. But do you see the contradiction here? Now that he's a senator, he finds it unnecessary to use all of the resources available, namely the FBI looking into it, to get to the truth of the matter.
As Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) pointed out, the Republicans have predetermined this to be a he said/ she said because they have not called for the FBI to look into it. She also said that Republicans failed the test in 1991 with Anita Hill and they are doing no better in 2018; no doubt.
With all that said, it's easy to see that the Democrats are playing politics here as well in there attempts to delay the vote on Judge Kavanaugh or scuttle it altogether, retribution for Merrick Garland. Though after watching the hearings, the real issue is that Judge Kavanaugh lied to the Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) about not knowing that he received stolen confidential emails while Mr. Kavanaugh worked in the Bush White House. That should have already been a disqualifying instance.
As Helene Cooper of The New York Times pointed out, it's incredibly difficult for a woman to come forward to report a sexual assault. This is backed up by the point that Senator Murray made that there was a time when young women were told by their parents not to say anything. One could accept that that still happens. When young boys are sexually assaulted by the clergy, they may not report it for decades out of shame, just one of many reasons. It's a similar situation in both cases.
On Thursday, the American people will hear from Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Blasey Ford, and they'll make the determination of which person is more credible, but if you've been paying attention Mr. Kavanaugh's credibility is already suspect and he's undeserving of a lifetime appointment to the United States' highest court.
Panel: Chris Matthews, MSNBC; Eliana Johnson, Politico; Jonah Goldberg, The National Review; Helene Cooper, The New York Times
Mitch McConnell has single-handedly politicized and poisoned the Supreme Court beyond repair, and as long as he is the leader of the Republican caucus in the Senate, it should be given no quarter, ever.
This brings us to the Senate's performance with regard to the sexual assault allegation brought forth by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford against Judge Kavanaugh, which in agreement with Chris Matthews she had the duty as a citizen to come forward. To be clear, Senators on both sides have done a disservice to the American people, but considering that Republicans are in control and chair the Judiciary Committee, they shoulder much more of the blame.
Not to leave out the fact that Senate Republicans have made the following statements:
Senator Dean Heller (NV) - "This is a hiccup." Really? Sexual Assault is a hiccup?
Senator Orrin Hatch (UT) - "This woman who ever she is, is mixed up." He's had a misogynistic attitude his entire Senate career.
And last but not least, Senator Mitch McConnell (KY), "We're going to plow right through it, and do our job." What a tool. It? There is a person involved and her name is Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
In Chuck Todd's interview with Senator David Perdue (R-GA), he stated the Judge Kavanaugh has been vetted six times by the FBI. Well, there should be a seventh time because as Mr. Todd pointed out he has not been vetted about this incident, which Mr. Perdue thinks unnecessary. Then Mr. Todd posed the question of what Mr. Perdue did in these types of situations when he was in the private sector, to which he answered that he would seek to be thorough and get all the information in determining the truthfulness of the allegation. But do you see the contradiction here? Now that he's a senator, he finds it unnecessary to use all of the resources available, namely the FBI looking into it, to get to the truth of the matter.
As Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) pointed out, the Republicans have predetermined this to be a he said/ she said because they have not called for the FBI to look into it. She also said that Republicans failed the test in 1991 with Anita Hill and they are doing no better in 2018; no doubt.
With all that said, it's easy to see that the Democrats are playing politics here as well in there attempts to delay the vote on Judge Kavanaugh or scuttle it altogether, retribution for Merrick Garland. Though after watching the hearings, the real issue is that Judge Kavanaugh lied to the Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) about not knowing that he received stolen confidential emails while Mr. Kavanaugh worked in the Bush White House. That should have already been a disqualifying instance.
As Helene Cooper of The New York Times pointed out, it's incredibly difficult for a woman to come forward to report a sexual assault. This is backed up by the point that Senator Murray made that there was a time when young women were told by their parents not to say anything. One could accept that that still happens. When young boys are sexually assaulted by the clergy, they may not report it for decades out of shame, just one of many reasons. It's a similar situation in both cases.
On Thursday, the American people will hear from Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Blasey Ford, and they'll make the determination of which person is more credible, but if you've been paying attention Mr. Kavanaugh's credibility is already suspect and he's undeserving of a lifetime appointment to the United States' highest court.
Panel: Chris Matthews, MSNBC; Eliana Johnson, Politico; Jonah Goldberg, The National Review; Helene Cooper, The New York Times
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