3.3.19: Your Channel and Your Reality... It's Not A Crime Per Se

Fred Yang of Hart Research Associates said, "You get your reality from the [news] channel you watch," referring to the divide among Americans on how they see shape their political beliefs. This column tries to stay away from that though the irony is not lost on the fact that this column centers around a television program, on a channel.

However for this week, we'll keep that more front of mind than usual, which brings us straight away to the House Oversight Committee's hearing with former Trump attorney, Michael Cohen. First, Mr. Cohen is a liar, a cheat and a conman - the three things he directly described the president as being. Foremost, he lied to Congress under oath and that's why in May he will be going to jail for the next three years. At this point, Mr. Cohen is certainly not going to be given a pardon so why did he 'throw himself at the mercy of the world that hates Trump?' as Commentary Magazine's Jon Podhoretz described. Was he telling the truth now as some part of an act of contrition? Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), senior Republican on the Oversight Committee said that Mr. Cohen had lied to Congress again in this hearing.

What we do know is that at this point, Mr. Cohen can not have his sentence reduced any further and was not offered any reduction for his testimony this week so if he lied again the main consequence would be that more years would be added to his sentence. But still, why testify? It seems to this column that Mr. Cohen was a willing and loyal soldier for Mr. Trump, carrying out the dirty work that needed to be done in New York City. Upon Mr. Trump being elected president and Mr. Cohen not being rewarded for his effort, he most probably held out hope that Mr. Trump would back him up when investigators came calling. Mr. Trump did initially, but when Mr. Cohen lied to Congress for Mr. Trump's benefit and then had to take this fall, the loyalty wasn't reciprocated. An ax to grind? Yes, of course, but isn't that the common motivation in a situation like this?

When Mr. Jordan says that Mr. Cohen lied again to Congress this week that's just hard to believe. With that said, everything Mr. Cohen said in terms of charges he made about Mr. Trump has to be verified. Heidi Przybyla pointed out that Mr. Cohen's credibility went up because if he were lying, he would have said that the president did collude with Russia during the 2016 election, but instead he said that he had no knowledge of that. She also gave a few other instances where Mr. Cohen defended the president, so there's that.

Mr. Jordan also said that he doesn't believe that the president has lied at all when it comes to all things Russia, which is just impossible to believe given what's out there in the public record, specifically the overwhelming reporting on the Trump Tower Moscow deal.

It's not a crime per se to lie about this, but it's a relevant fact that the voters should have been made aware of, as Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) pointed out. Mr. Cohen also stated the Mr. Trump was in contact with Roger Stone about Wikileaks prior to the hacked information dump, which Mr. Warner said his counter-intelligence committee is looking into. If the president was aware of this before the fact, then that would be a crime. But Republicans don't want to talk about this and in the hearing instead of defending the president, which they didn't do, they solely focused on attacking the credibility of Mr. Cohen. And as Mr. Jordan outlined today, he doesn't want to talk about Russian collusion, but instead of the many accomplishments of the administration such as: tax reform, putting two conservative justices on the Supreme Court, record low unemployment and economic growth.

There are holes in those accomplishments such as raking up $2 trillion more dollars of debt and the fact that the middle class is suffering on the tax return front because refunds are significantly less because Republicans adjusted the withholding tax structure. Despite that, Mr. Jordan did outline a list of things that conservatives like.

To that point, The New York Times Helene Cooper explained that if you look past the ridiculous tweets and statements, the Administration's actions with regard to North Korea has been sound. Mr. Trump has opened up a dialogue with the Kim regime and smartly walked away from this week's summit because North Korea couldn't meet any of the United States demands in exchange for sanctions relief. However, it should be pointed out that a summit shouldn't really occur if some sort of framework for an agreement hasn't been worked out beforehand. Fine, that's not how Mr. Trump negotiates and that we have to accept. But Ms. Cooper then pointed out that after rightly walking away from the deal, Mr. Trump once again took the word of a dictator over what American intelligence officials had told him.

It's not a crime per se that Mr. Trump said that he takes Kim Jung Un at his word that he didn't know about what happened to Otto Warmbier, but just on the face of it, it's unfathomable that he didn't know. Mr. Trump explained that it would have been to Mr. Kim's advantage for such a thing to happen, as if he was defending the North Korean dictator. That's simply an affront to American values and respect to human rights. Defending a dictator's personal responsibility with regard to the torture and in essence murder of an American citizen is a moral crime.

It prompted a rare statement from Mr. Warmbier's parents:

"We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that."

 As Yahoo News' Matt Bai pointed out, this president seems to lack any measure of empathy and the ability to feel someone else's pain. If we're thinking in terms of realpolitik as Jon Podhoretz brought up in the discussion, it has to be acknowledged that in that context that people do suffer making empathy an essential quality that the President of The United States must possess.


Panel: Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Matt Bai, Yahoo News; Heidi Przybyla, NBC News; Jon Podhoretz, Commentary Magazine

One more thing...
 The president's longest riff... er, speech... occurred this weekend at CPAC this weekend where among other things he he said that 'people try to take you down with bullshit.' Not a crime, but also not very presidential and neither is this:

It's just f**king weird. 

2.24.19: The President Walls Off Particular Subjects

Former Secretary of Homeland Security summed up this week's conversation topics best, "leaders have to lead." Whether it be on Russian interference in the 2016 election, the rise of white nationalism and its violent inclinations or climate change, the president walls himself off with regard to all three.

As Chuck Todd stated, part of the purview of the Mueller investigation is to find out the extent to which Russia interfered in U.S. elections, but the president doesn't seem concerned about this attack on our democracy for the fact that those attacks worked to his advantage in the form of his winning of the presidency. On the question of whether the president's campaign colluded with the Russian government and the countless questions it has raised, you can allow yourself to be a political cynic such as Lonhee Chen, however the aspect that is beyond dispute is the unprecedented number of contacts individuals linked to the Trump campaign had with Russian officials, and the subsequent attempts to cover up those contacts (i.e. lying about them). And as Solomon Wisenberg posited, that's the real mystery - why so many people lied.

Last week there were reports that Robert Mueller would file a report in the coming days, which seemed surprising given the recent indictment of Trump confidant and political operative Roger Stone and the apparent unresolved issues of campaign individuals who may have lied to Congress still outstanding. Turns out that Mr. Mueller is not issuing his report this week, which makes sense. So far there have been 34 indictments and 6 guilty pleas due to the investigation so as former Solicitor General Neal Katyal stated, if this is a witch hunt, Mr. Mueller has found a coven. Mr. Wisenberg also said that there will probably be more indictments returned, but no revealed, but even if the individuals' names are not revealed, the indictments themselves will become public.

In the meantime, the White House is sweating it out, waiting for the other shoe to drop and certainly preparing for the worst, as they should be. When asked this week about the coming Mueller report the president seemed unusually reserved in his answer because he realizes two things. One, Mr. Wisenberg said that the president can not dictate what the attorney general is to do with the report and two, he can not fire another attorney general so quickly if the president's instructions are not followed. This leaves Mr. Trump to continue his floundering PR campaign that Mr. Mueller's investigation is illegitimate and Russian collusion is all a hoax.

Also, the story of the Coast Guard lieutenant who had professed white nationalist rhetoric, accumulated a cache of weapons and had a list of targets comprised of Democratic politicians and media personalities is, to say the least, disturbing. Mr. Johnson said that this form of extremism is relatively new as compared to racist and religious extremism though anti-Semitism is on the rise in the U.S. In light of the arrest of this individual, it's disappointing (understating it) that the President of the United States only responded to it when he was asked by a reporter, especially in Mr. Trump's case - a man who comments on everything via Twitter. On this, he went silent. That searing comment about Charlottesville always comes to mind in instances like this, "There were very fine people on both sides."

Lastly, despite Senator Diane Feinstein's less than stellar interaction with second-graders featured in a video that went viral, the debate on the left about climate change and action plan are stuck in neutral. Lonhee Chen said that there are many lanes of thought on the subject, meaning many different political agendas at work. The 'many lanes' that he is actually referring to consist of Republicans writ large denying climate change (the global catastrophe, as Heather McGhee phrased it), and a president who considers it a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese, hence he continued promotion of the coal industry. It's one thing to dispute climate change, but the president has gone off to the purposely stupid.

If he doesn't like it or it doesn't comport with his views and prejudices that would jeopardize his winning of a news cycle, Mr. Trump wants a wall - physical or metaphorical - high enough so that he'll never have to peer over it.


Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Heather McGhee, president of DEMOS; Alex Cardenas, Republican Strategist; Lonhee Chen, Republican Strategist


 

2.17.19: A Political Emergency for Conservatives

Before we get to the conversation about the wall and the president's declaration of a national emergency, let's briefly tackle what's going on with the Democrats and specifically the Amazon deal with New York City. Part of what Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said was true that Amazon executives made an arbitrary decision to pull out of their plans to build in Long Island City, and it is not acceptable that corporations can push around and dictate terms to municipalities like they do. However, it's also accurate to say that some New York City politicians created a difficult political atmosphere that Amazon didn't want to contend with.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal proposal, as this column has stated, is a good idea in its aspiration, however it is not ready for prime time to become a bill. The greenest part of this 'New Deal' is the congressperson who introduced it and her advocating for and celebrating Amazon's pull-out is misguided. Not to mention what Politico's Eliana Johnson explained inasmuch as a majority of Ms. Ocasio Cortez's constituents wanted Amazon in Long Island City in Queens. The National Review's Jonah Goldberg was absolutely correct when he said that Ms. Ocasio Cortez didn't do her homework. And if the figures that Mr. de Blasio outlined are correct and that $27 billion in revenue would have been brought to the city and state along with 27,000 jobs for $3 billion in tax incentives once the revenue and jobs are there then that's a deal you take. That $3 billion is NOT residing else where; it only exists with the revenue that the Amazon deal would have brought. The only point that New York City should have insisted on was that Amazon contribute to the renovation of the subway through Queens. But now none of it is happening and it's a loss for New York and it's created conflict among Democrats.

That aside, the conflict within the Democratic party is largely created by the media nitpicking the differences of candidates' positions and proposals very early in the election cycle. For perspective, DNC Chair Tom Perez framed it more reasonably that despite these differences, all the candidates believe in a set of core principles such as climate change being real, Americans should have more affordable healthcare and more access to it, and that capitalism should work better for the vast majorities of the people. 

The other commonality among Democrats is their desire to stop a president that is becoming increasingly autocratic. This is their political emergency but it's also a political emergency for conservatives. The question is will they rise to the challenge or will they fold abdicating their Constitutional power and obligations? If the rest of the Republican caucus follows Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-KY) then they've already bent over and we've received our answer.

By his own admission, President Trump's declaration of a national emergency is not in fact an emergency as he stated on Friday in the White House Rose Garden that he didn't have to do it.



When questioned by Mr. Todd, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) said that the president does have the Constitutional authority to declare a national emergency but that he also has concerns about this type of extension of presidential power. In other words, Senator Johnson doesn't agree with the action taken by the president, but he's also unwilling to stand up to him. He also said that Congress needs to assert its Constitutional power but in fact Republicans have been abdicating it since Mr. Trump took office. Mr. Todd explained that since the emergency declaration act came to be in 1976 no president has used it in the fashion where Congress has reached a funding compromise and then the president circumvents it, taking control of funds through the National Emergency Declaration Act, to satisfy a political goal.

And that is what this is, a politically manufactured crisis on the part of President Trump, who is not a conservative, certainly when it comes to limited governmental power, deficits and Constitutional norms and laws. This declaration will go through the courts but to answer Eliana Johnson's question as to whether the courts will become involved in the question of what is and what is not an emergency, the answer is 'no, they will not.' And as Amy Walter explained, this declaration is all about the 2020 election and Mr. Trump maintaining his base. He's certainly not trying to expand it.

What was extraordinary was that you saw the most liberal member of the panel (Eddie Glaude, Jr.) and the most conservative member (Jonah Goldberg) using similar terminology to describe the president's action. Mr. Glaude said that this was the imperial presidency run amok and Mr. Goldberg described the action as monarchical. Mr. Goldberg also said that this end around Congress was next level abuse of presidential power.

Mr. Glaude explained that this emergency declaration is built on a lie that there is a crisis on the southern border, which in terms of illegal crossings there is not. Government statistics indicate that illegal crossings are down 76% since 2000. In terms of a humanitarian crisis, there is one manufactured by the Administration with its separation of families zero-tolerance policy.

The emergency is one for Republicans in Congress, a test at a tipping point for our Constitutional democracy.


Panel: Amy Walter, the Cook Political Report; Eliana Johnson, Politico; Eddie Glaude, Jr., Princeton University; Jonah Goldberg, The National Review

2.10.19: Fiscal Hypocrisy Has Made Progress Prohibitive

Much was made of the Democratic party divide on today's program about which the direction the party should go as more Democrats declare their candidacies for the presidency in 2020. However, Senator Michael Bennett (D-CO) put it in the proper perspective explaining that the country is as nearly divided as the parties are in Washington. Debates on the Democratic side regarding whether or  to move more toward the left base versus the center is naturally politically predictable at this point in time. Two issues in particular set the conversation today: Democratic positions on healthcare and the environment respectively.

On the Democratic side, some are saying that we should have Medicare for all while others are saying that it's unrealistic while facing down the backdrop of Republican criticism that Medicare for all is a move toward socialism. (On the last point, don't believe the hype as the scare tactics of moving toward socialism in America are completely overblown. Plus, Americans happen to like the two biggest socialist programs we have - Medicare and Social Security.) With that said, we have to acknowledge particular truths that Senator Bennett outlined. One, the United States is the only industrialized country in the world that doesn't cover all its citizens and that we pay the most for healthcare.

On the environment, the Green New Deal introduced by Congresspersons Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ed Markey (D-MA) is an aspirational proposal to address climate change as today's panel accurately described it, however which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called a 'green dream,' playing the pragmatic realist understanding that Republicans will never go for it.

In both cases there has to be the acknowledgement by both parties that one, everyone needs to be covered with healthcare and two, that climate change is real and needs to be seriously addressed. So far, only Democrats have come to embrace these realities. As much as Republicans hate the Affordable Care Act, they are still yet to offer a serious proposal that would be better. To Senator Bennett's credit (as he mentioned today), he has authored a bill with Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) that puts in place a public option (i.e. Medicare) for who ever wants it. It would be the first move in a gradual process of potentially providing Medicare for all. The problem for Republicans, and why they blocked it in the original ACA proposal, is their fear that it will in fact become the most popular option for healthcare.

Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas explained, the American system of democracy and legislating was designed to be slow. Extrapolating that out a bit, change is meant to be gradual and providing a public option is provides for a gradually directed process of getting more people covered.

As for the environment, the first step is getting Republican politicians to simply acknowledge that climate change is real. In 2019, it's inexplicable that Republican politicians writ large still deny the overwhelming science that climate change presents a clear and present danger. As NBC's Katy Tur mentioned, the eventual economic damage and loss of human life is becoming ever more prevalent and can no longer be ignored especially here in the United States where we're having to allocate more and more billions of dollars in emergency relief funds for areas of the country hit by catastrophic storms, floods and fires.

Speaking of emergency funds, according to the acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney the president is thinking of taking some of those funds as part of a declaration of a national emergency to build a border wall at the southern border, where there is no security crisis. Mr. Mulvaney said he was not optimistic about a border security deal given on his experience in Washington. More clearly, he's not pessimistic about a deal, just one that the president will be willing to sign into law, hence why another government shutdown is not being taken off the table. However, if Republicans and Democrats do strike a deal and the president doesn't sign it, the responsibility of another government shutdown will fall squarely on his shoulders and will further tank his approval ratings.

All this speaks to what Senator Bennett called the fiscal hypocrisy on the part of the Republicans, running up the biggest budget deficit in American history during the last Congress, completely controlled by the GOP. With the tax cuts passed by the Republican-controlled Congress, preparing for emergency contingencies including rebuilding infrastructure and providing affordable healthcare have become completely prohibitive.

Lastly, Congress Adam Schiff (D-CA) explained that the Intelligence Committee will expand its scope beyond Russian meddling in the 2016 election to include President Trump's potential financial ties to the Kremlin and to Saudi Arabia to find out whether or not the president is financially compromised in anyway which would hence put his personal financial interests ahead of his duties as president. Despite the president's protests, this type of oversight is to be expected and is necessary.  Congressman Schiff explained that the committee needs to present the facts to the American people no matter which way they cut, and this should be the case.


Panel: Katy Tur, NBC News; Kimberly Atkins, WBUR in Boston; David Brody, Christian Broadcast Network; Markos Moulitsas, the Daily Kos

One more thing...
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) should have never claimed Native American status and though she has since apologized for this it was disingenuous of her to use a 1/64th heritage (or whatever ultra-slim margin it was) to claim minority status. This problem doesn't bode well for her chances to become the Democratic nominee for president in 2020, despite her populace economic message.

However as equally distasteful perhaps more so is the president's utterly callous reference to the 'Trail of Tears' in a tweet.  It's pathetic that the President of the United States doesn't realize how offensive this is. Four thousand Cherokee Native Americans died from disease, cold and starvation by being forcibly relocated west while white Americans looted their homes because they weren't allowed to take any of their possessions with them.

2.5.19: Notes from President Trump's State of the Union Address

Here are my notes from President Donald Trump's second State of the Union address.  Make of them what you will...

President enters the House chamber at 9:03pm EST.

POTUS to the rostrum at 9:05pm EST.

This is a moment of unlimited potential.

Hoping to govern not as two parties but as one nation.

The agenda of the American people.

Victory is winning for out country...

Platitudes platitudes platitudes...

75 years in June of the Allied liberation of Europe in WWII.
Salute to the WWII veterans in attendance.

50 years Apollo 11 moon landing...

In the 20th century there was nothing to compete with America.
Now, create a new standard of living in the 21st century.

More platitudes.... and empty applause lines...

Embrace compromise and the common good.

Pointless destruction.. Tonight I ask you to choose greatness.

In just over two years - unleashed an economic boom...

600,000 new manufacturing jobs...

5 million Americans lifted off food stamps.

The hottest economy in the world. Pence is such a sycophant...

Tax cut for working families and double the child tax credit.
Nearly ended the death tax - small businesses and family farms? Really?

Cut the mandate on Obamacare, and cut regulations...

Number 1 producer of oil and natural gas in the world.

A net exporter of energy - first time in 65 years.

Thankfully, I'm drinking during this...

The state of our union is strong.

An economic miracle is happening...

Ridiculous partisan investigations can stop this miracle... There can't be war and investigations... That's just weird... He needs to be investigated...

Nearly 300 individuals waiting to be confirmed by the Senate.

Criminal justice reform, which he seems to be taking credit for...

Story of Alice Johnson....

The First Step Act - gives non-violent offenders redemption.

The urgent national crisis - 10 days left to negotiate a deal to secure our very dangerous southern border.

Large organized caravans are on the way to the United States. I have ordered another 3,750 troops to the border. Defend our very dangerous southern border.

Tolerance for illegal immigration is cruel...

MS13 operates in 20 states...

Instilling fear with regard to the southern border.

A common sense proposal to Congress - physical barrier or wall... A proper wall, I will get it built.

A steel see-through barrier. - Where a wall goes up, illegal crossings go way way down.

With a powerful barrier in place, El Paso is now one of the safest cities... So not true.

"Walls work and walls save lives."

I need another drink...

More women in the workforce than ever before, and thanks to Democrats there are more women serving in Congress than anytime before.... who all dislike Donald Trump.

Calamitous trade policies... $250 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods. A new trade deal with China.
and the catastrophe known as NAFTA.

America's crumbling infrastructure... investments in the cutting edge industries of the future... doesn't mention what they are and then moved right to healthcare - prescription drugs and preexisting conditions.

Mitch McConnell looks sad... I guess his pharmaceutical donors won't be happy.

We will defeat AIDS in America and beyond...

The fight against childhood cancer...
$500 million for childhood cancer research and now it's time for school choice... non sequitur

I'm asking Congress to pass legislation on late-term abortions.  Cherishes innocent life, but not the separated children at the southern border... Hmmm.

$700 billion last year and $716 billion this year for the military. Allies need to pay their fair share - NATO...

Missile defense treaty with Russia - IMF Treaty. Not to mention that this is what Putin wants...

The Korean peninsula  - If I had not been elected we would be in a war with North Korea. He's meeting with Kim Jung Un again... twice!  Reckless foreign policy...

Calls for socialism in this country - we were born free and we will stay free. Of course the camera cuts to Bernie Sanders.
"America will never be a socialist country..." Ridiculous...

Principled realism in the Middle East... Opened the American Embassy in Jerusalem...
"Great nations do not fight endless wars."

Removing the troops from Syria... Even if you don't like that, we'd be leaving our allies out to dry and giving the Putin regime exactly what they want there by ceding influence.

18 years ago - the USS Cole attack... Happened in October 2000 FYI.

Defense against anti-semitism - honoring holocaust survivors and a SWAT team member from the Tree of Life synagogue tragedy... He's making up for his Charlottesville fine people on both sides comments... my cynical commentary aside it is genuinely a good thing to honor such individuals...

Look at the opportunities before us...
We do the incredible...
Re-ignite the American imagination...
I am asking you to choose greatness. We must go forward together...

If only he'd stop tweeting...

2.3.19: Virginia Governor Ralph Northam Is a Lonely Pariah

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam's explanation for his past behavior from photos that have surfaced this week was unacceptable. As it is now, dawning black face in 1984 was offensive. As The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson clearly explained, everyone didn't do that at that time. It was offensive in 1984, and Rich Lowry's explanation that people's entire lives shouldn't be judged for moments of stupidity or offensiveness doesn't hold up.  Mr. Northam's statements in which he first apologized and then denied that it was not him in the photograph show that he is not truly contrite. Also in his press conference yesterday he explained that he was in a dance contest in San Antonio that same year wearing black face to imitate Michael Jackson and his moonwalk dance step. This admission damaged his credibility even further essentially making things even worse. Chuck Todd touched on the fact that Mr. Northam was familiar with the difficulty of removing shoe polish from one's face, which illustrates that he has some experience with this.

As the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Karen Bass (D-CA) stated, Mr. Northam hasn't been honest. This is very clear. Mr. Northam explained that remaining in office would be best so that the conversation on race can progress. However, Ms. Bass disagreed and that if he wants to continue the conversation, he should do so while not in office, to which Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) agreed. As Donald McEachin (D-VA) said flatly, there is nothing that Mr. Northam can do at this point to correct this and that he should step down, especially in the 400th year anniversary of Africans being brought to Jamestown, Virginia and enslaved. If Mr. Northam wants to be a leader, he should do what a real leader would and resign his office, or he will be the 'lonely pariah' as Hallie Jackson described.

This brings us to Senator Brown's statement about Mr. Trump that he is a racist president, to which Chuck Todd interrupted him to explain such a strong charge. However, Senator Brown made the case citing Mr. Trump's questioning of Barack Obama's citizenship and his actions during his business life and housing discrimination in New York City, of which Mr. Trump was found guilty. Not to mention that Mr. Trump's Charlottesville statements and less us not forget the Central Park Five rape case and how he called for the death penalty even after the men were exonerated. And to cap it off, there is the wall he wants on the southern border, which is rooted in his bigoted views.

Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) were not negotiating in good faith with the president inasmuch as they will not concede any money for a border wall. However, as much as Senator Scott said he wants a fix for TPS (citizens with temporary protective status) and the 'Dreamers,' these two issues are none starters for the president who will be accused by his base of granting amnesty to these groups.

As Chuck Todd pointed out, the president had these deals on his desk and he walked away from them so how can the Democrats be sure that he is negotiating in good faith and won't just blow up any made deal on a whim? Or the president can do what he usually does and falsely claim that 'we're building wall.' Hallie Jackson explained that it's a matter of semantics, but if you listen to the president speak, it makes you wonder about whatever happened to grammar. If the negotiations fall apart, the president will possibly declare a national emergency, which as Mr. Lowry described as just another way to lose, to which this column agrees but it would be a matter of all of us losing, not just the president.


Panel: Maria Teresa Kumar, CEO Voto Latino, Hallie Jackson, NBC News; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; Rich Lowry, The National Review; Mark Leibovich, The New York Times Magazine

A couple more things...
Senator Rick Scott said that with regard to Venezuela, no options should be taken off the table. However, U.S. military intervention is NOT the right course of action for the Administration to take. However, with the Trump Administration under such pressure from all of the its questionably ethical conduct (understating it), there remains the concern for a wag-the-dog decision. Not good.

Senator Brown mentioned Medicare for citizens at age 50. That's a great proposal.

1.27.19: Clearly The Wrong Track, But At Least The Shutdown Is Over

After 35 days, the longest government shutdown in American history is finally over. Chuck Todd called it a 'temporary truce,' that is for now at least until February 15th when the continuing resolution ends. However, at the end of that time, there is no way the president forces another shutdown and survive politically. During the shutdown, the president said the 'buck stops with everyone,' but it doesn't. It indeed stops with him. With Mr. Trump reopening the government without money for his vanity border wall, the shutdown and the pain his administration caused was pointless... Pointless.

Without getting too much into the weeds with the 'winners and losers' in this shutdown fight suffice to say that politically President Trump and Republicans took at hit, Nancy Pelosi and Democrats came out on top, and the American people lost. Tom Brokaw explained that the shutdown, though partial, was more systemic than most people realized with farmers having to be in contact with government agriculture officials who weren't in. Things came to a head on Friday when air traffic at major airports was delayed. Mr. Brokaw also said that he didn't think the disconnect between the beltway and the rest of the country couldn't get any wider until this shutdown, however, that picture shouldn't be painted with as broad a brush as he used. Specifically, it was individuals in the Trump Administration that were completely out of touch namely the president's daughter-in-law Lara Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who put the final rhetorical stake in the insulting injury. "I don't know why government workers have to go to food pantries...,' which PBS's Yamiche Alcindor put in stark relief.

NBC's Kristen Welker explained that the Administration had no strategy or plan B going into the shutdown, which is how Mr. Trump likes to play it, but as we've painfully found out it is no way in which to run a country. All this coupled with the news that Mr. Trump's long-time political advisor Roger Stone was indicted on Friday for obstruction and lying to Congress among other things, 7 counts in all leaves the presidency in a shambles. If there is any silver lining (or perhaps just gray) to come out of all of this it is that the legislative branch of the U.S. government is asserting its duty again. For all the naysayers in the Democratic party of Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) leadership when taking control of the House, she's been the best thing to happen for them (again) in combating Trump's erratic leadership and it has forced Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to get off the sidelines and start leading his caucus instead of just following the president.

As far as House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is concerned, he like other House Republicans is still blindly following the president saying that the president was the only one being reasonable in the negotiations. Really? How can the president be reasonable when he's not negotiating based on fact, just what he wants to believe. That's irrational. What was good to hear from the minority leader and Congressman Hakeen Jeffries (D-NY) was that Congress is considering legislation to stop shutting down the government. 

With all the dysfunction we've discussed, it was refreshing to see Chuck Todd and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) have a rational discussion about border security and immigration. Political preferences aside, Mr. Rubio was part of the gang of eight in the Senate that put together a comprehensive immigration bill that had many elements of compromise, but at the time the Republican-controlled House didn't bring the legislation to the floor because of provisions that included a path to citizenship for the dreamers. They also discussed whether it would be better try and pass smaller measures or go big with something more comprehensive like the gang of eight bill. The problem at this juncture is that there isn't enough time to finalize anything, especially with the president being a wildcard when it comes to what he'll support and what he won't which can change from day to day.

Lastly, the indictment of Roger Stone has now shown the clearest link between Wikileaks and the Trump campaign. This has prompted many politicians on both sides of the aisle, in spite of the president's continued attacks, to support the Mueller investigation to its completion. The number of campaign officials and advisors indicted or who have pleaded guilty is simple untenable. It has clearly become a matter of 'what the president knew and when he knew it.' The key point in the indictment as Mr. Todd pointed out, is that a senior campaign official was directed to contact Stone about additional releases. This leaves the obvious questions of who was the senior campaign official and who directed that person? The fate of Mr. Stone withstanding, it seems these two individuals were too close to Mr. Trump for him not to know. When an indictment such as this prompts steadfast Trump supporter Hugh Hewitt to say that these two individuals might be going to jail with Roger Stone, you know there's serious trouble.

Finally, Mr. Todd featured a particular word cloud twice which featured the phrase 'wrong track' most prominently. In fact, 63 percent of Americans feel this way about the country. Nice hat, catchy slogan but it's now obvious that Mr. Trump isn't making America great again.


Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, PBS; Kristen Welker, NBC News; Tom Brokaw, NBC News; Hugh Hewitt, Salem Radio Network

1.20.19: The President Is Holding America Hostage

With regard to the on-going government shutdown, now in its 30th day, let's consider a few perspectives taken from today's program. First, American Enterprise Institute's Danielle Pletka explained that with the state given by President Trump yesterday, he has moved in offering some concessions to the Democrats, like 3-year temporary relief for DACA individuals and temporary status for immigrants seeking asylum. This is something the hard right has already called 'giving amnesty.' However, she ignored the core argument of the shutdown, which NBC's Heidi Przybyla clarified, which was that the Democrats are not going to negotiate border security while the government is shuttered. Virginia Senator Mark Warner (D) described it as hostage-taking and that Democrats will not negotiate under those circumstances.

Mr. Warner makes the correct argument inasmuch that if Democrats give into the president and his demand for a wall, what that means is that they have rewarded the Mr. Trump for unreasonable action, in order to end the shutdown. It sets a bad precedent in negotiating that any time the president wants something and doesn't get it, he will shutdown the government. To that end, Mr. Warner has it correct - first, open the government and then negotiate on border security, which runs counter to what Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) said in first getting border security and then opening the government. Ms. Przybyla also noted that there has been talk from the hard right about another shutdown over funding for Planned Parenthood - cut it off or shutdown the government again.

On both sides of the border, the president has shown no sympathy for the dignity of humanity. His administration has punished and dehumanized migrants and asylum seekers by separating people from their children and locking them in cages, while on this side of the border he has created hardships for not only the 800,000 federal employees but millions if you count their families and the businesses that economically rely on their business. The stories of hardship are innumerable, in which the president and he alone deserves the blame. His callousness has only served to hurt hardworking Americans.

As the panel discussed, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the Democratic leadership are fighting for the principal of not giving into the hostage taking that the president is committed to. Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is willing to sit on the sideline and wait for Democratic capitulation as he's only interested in a political win. We know this because in the two years that the president presided over a completely Republican-controlled congress there was no sense of urgency for the wall and no threat of a government shutdown. If it was so urgent why didn't Mr. Trump force the issue then when he had the votes? Reason: Because there is no emergency as the president describes it at the southern border.

Ms. Cheney explained that Republicans voted for paying people while still having the government shuttered, but this is like putting a Band-Aid on a severed limb, only marginally helping individuals forced to return to work but not the hundreds of thousands have been furloughed. When the shutdown ends, which as NPR's Joshua Johnson mentioned none of us knows when that will be, the president will be the face of the pain it's inflicted.

The blame for all this disfunction squarely sits with Donald Trump. Hard stop. Not only has he taken 800,000 government workers hostage, he's taken all of us hostage.

The rest of us suffer through the president's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani continually changing the story on how the president or his campaign interacted with Russia. Not only did Mr. Giuliani deny that he said that there was never any collusion with Russia by the campaign earlier this week on CNN, today he said that the president had discussions about a Trump Tower Moscow project as late as October 2016, maybe even into November, which runs contrary to what the president had said during the campaign. Discussions about the project are 'dealings.' To use a word that Mr. Trump and Mr. Giuliani are fond of, the various entanglements the Trumps have had with Russia are disgraceful.

Mr. Giuliani even contradicted himself in today's interview when he first said that the president denies ever having the 'take it easy of Flynn' conversation with then FBI Director James Comey and then less than two minutes later he said that when the president had the conversation with Mr. Comey about Michael Flynn that did not amount to obstruction. 'Moving the goal posts' isn't an apt description because it suggests that this is some kind of game. It's anything but, and all Mr. Giuliani is doing and he knows it, is trying to create confusion for what is surely nefarious activity on the part of Donald Trump.


Panel: Heidi Przybyla, NBC; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute; Joshua Johnson, NPR; Peter Baker, The New York Times

One more thing...
This is what Donald Trump has wrought upon our country...

Boys from a Catholic school in MAGA hats mocking a native American. Hardly great... There are other words to describe this but this blog has a sense of decorum. A Kentucky diocese has already apologized for this incident. Should have never happened...

ABC News Story

1.13.19: Donald Trump Is Leading Us Into Uncharted and Devastating Terrain

"A producer would reject it," The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan said in response to Chuck Todd's assertion that the FBI opening a counterintelligence investigation into the President of the United States was like a bad Hollywood movie script.

But this is where we are...

Donald Trump is taking this country into all kinds of unknown dangerous terrain on several different levels, the first of which to address is what is now the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, with federal workers now having missed their first paycheck. In listening to both Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Time Kaine (D-VA) during their respective interviews, both sides are blaming the other for rejecting bills that would have kept the government open. Even if there is ambiguity on which party is at fault, there is certainty that the Republicans in the Senate were prepared to vote on a Continuing Resolution that the president squashed by tweeting that he would reject such a bill. The biggest obstructing factor in this situation is the president, himself.

The wall or barrier is a vanity project of the president's that the majority of Americans do not support. Even many Trump supporters on the Texas border do not support it, but it was Mr. Trump's loudest promise on during the campaign so he's being egged on by xenophobic right-wing media while he has effectively stifled Republicans in congress afraid of their base that has been taken over by Mr. Trump. What was equally loud was Mr. Trump's promise was that Mexico was going to pay for the wall, which he is now walking back with a nuanced answer that through the new trade deal, they will, but the reality of that is the money won't go into the Treasury, instead to private corporations, and Americans will still float the bill.  The wall should not be built on the backs of U.S. taxpayers. Hard stop.

In terms of declaring a national emergency, the president circumvent Congress and have the military, Army Corps of Engineers, built the wall. The president has said that "I may do it... I have the absolute right to do it... I'd rather not do it. Congress should easily do it." However, if it were really an emergency, wouldn't the president have made this declaration already? It's obviously not an emergency, or as Chuck Todd explained, the president is threatening a national emergency because of his political emergency.

On the heels of the New York Times story that the FBI opened up an unprecedented counterintelligence investigation into Mr. Trump and his relationship to Russia, we learn from the Washington Post that the president has gone to unusual lengths to keep the transcripts of his private meetings with Vladimir Putin secret from everyone in government including his senior staff in the White House. At this point, no one can say that the president has nothing to hide. He's hiding the transcripts! As NBC's Carol Lee explained, though it's not being said publicly, Republicans in Washington are concerned. And despite what defenses Senator Cruz offered today with regard to Mr. Trump's 'actions' of being tough on Russia. (As an aside: Mr. Cruz has no credibility when discussing a government shutdown, as the one he orchestrated in 2013 was purely political.) If the administration is being tough on Russia why did the Treasury Department seek to quietly lift sanctions on Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska in December? When Treasury Secretary was brought before Congress this week in a closed-door meeting and asked about it, he apparently didn't have a good answer.

As the New York Times Michael Schmidt explained, we now know that the FBI investigation, which the Mueller probe has now inherited, was two-pronged with the obstruction and collusion. The FBI was worried that the president may be an witting or unwitting asset of the Kremlin. Lawfare's Ben Wittes added that the FBI saw the investigations in a light that we should all should focus our attention, and that is that the obstruction - the firing of James Comey, the president's attempts to shutdown the Mueller investigation and his continued attempts to discredit law enforcement - and the collusion are linked. The obstruction of the investigation is part of the collusion with President Trump trying to prevent the FBI from figuring out what happened in the 2016 election.

As Mr. Wittes stated flatly: The investigation into Trump is about Russia. Full stop. Uncharted and devastating terrain indeed.


Panel: Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Carol Lee, NBC; Al Cardenas, Republican Strategist; Cornell Belcher, Democratic Strategist