10.11.20: Dim Prospects for the Super Spreader in Chief and Senate Republicans

"It was a very good week for Senate Republicans," said Hugh Hewitt with 23 days until the election. That may be true in North Carolina where Democratic Senate candidate Cal Cunningham has to now respond to allegations of an affair. Otherwise, it's difficult to see how Senate Republicans have benefited this week from a president who continues to be cavalier (that's being charitable) in his messaging about the virus. His positive diagnosis and then the less-than-forthcoming medical information about his condition have left people to label the president as a "super spreader" of the virus. Coupled with disastrous debates by Marth McSally (R-AZ), Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the last of whom got his clock cleaned by Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison. 

There are two Republican senators of the judiciary committee who have tested positive for the coronavirus, but the Republican-controlled Senate is pushing ahead with the Supreme Court confirmation while at the same time, these very Republican senators are holding up a relief package for the American people. It also doesn't help Republicans that the president has switched positions on the relief package three times this week.

Speaking of the court, it's Constitutional for the Republican Senate to confirm Judge Barrett, and they will do it, as we've previous said. Given that 7 in 10 Americans want the Senate to wait until after the election, it seems wrong to push this nomination through. The controversy surrounding this nomination process stems from the hypocritical position the Republicans have put themselves in because of what they said 4 years ago, that a justice should not be confirmed in an election year. Despite this, Republicans are pushing ahead because they see their electoral prospects becoming dimmer by the day. All this has prompted the media to press the Biden campaign on whether or not Democrats would "pack" the court if they were to take control of the White House and Senate. Former VP Biden has refused to answer this question. There's that saying, "Give the people what they want," but it by no means applies to your political opponent. In other words, Mr. Biden should not answer this question because it only creates political fodder - don't lend out ammunition against yourself, politics 101.

Mr. Biden, smartly, is keeping the attention on the Trump Administration's handling, or lack thereof, of the coronavirus pandemic. In this week's vice-presidential debate, where a fly on VP Pence's head took center stage,  Ms. Harris pointed out that Mr. Pence is the head of the Covid-19 task force and over 210,000 Americans have died on his watch. And of course, it begs the question that if the Administration can't keep the staff of the White House safe, how are we to expect they can provide the populace writ large? 

Twenty-five percent of Americans feel the president is doing a good job on battling the pandemic and a majority thinks the country is on the wrong track. Yet, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), who is in self-quarantine, believes that this election will turn on optimism and turn out. First, that's a lot of optimism for 25 percent to shoulder and it's fear that driving turnout - fear that is coming from both sides. Democrats have the existential fear of another Trump term and the president has been stoking fear in his base for the past 4 years. Optimism was a nice thought put forth by Mr. Cruz, but all evidence indicates that the American people are hardly feeling that way.

And if you want confirmation on how well the Administration is doing, look no further than Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) who hasn't been to the White House in months, saying that the White House hasn't taken precautions that he has feels necessary to take in the Senate [read: The White House is not safe.] On top of this, we still don't know if the super spreader in chief hasn't tested negative for the virus while he has scheduled three rallies this week. Think about all the personnel involved in moving the president and the danger it creates for potential spread, but as NBC's Hallie Jackson explained, Mr. Trump feels that getting out and doing rallies is the only way to turn things around for his reelection. 

Despite what the president said this week, this is no cure and there is no vaccine for the virus, as Bill Gates confirmed in his interview today. Mr. Gates also explained that a vaccine could be ready for next year but that it would be a second or third generation of a vaccine to get life back to normal. However, unequivocally, Mr. Gates said that the United States has the worst testing system of any country and we will see a significant amount of more deaths if the leadership doesn't get its act together. Only problem, that's not going to happen any time soon.

*****

Lastly, there is grave concern in the FBI that white supremacists are the number one domestic threat in the country, and it was clearly evidenced this week with the arrest of 13 individuals who plotted to kidnap the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, and put her on 'trial' in another state. For the average American, this is WTF?. As the panel agreed, this is a straight up act of terrorism, but Mr. Hewitt pointed out that this should preclude the president criticizing the governor for her handling of the coronavirus in her state. What a dodge and a contribution to the problem. Governor Whitmer had to be living with this threat for months and surely the president knew about it. But in these months, the president has refused to denounce white supremacists [see: Stand Back and Stand By]. When Gov. Whitmer stated in a press conference that leaders who encourage these groups or give them a pass are complicit. Jake Sherman reported that the Republican response on the Hill has been muted, further demonstrating their collective fecklessness. Timothy McVeigh was no rogue actor, he was backed by the Michigan Militia. It's sad to say, but this domestic terror threat will only become more emboldened with a Trump election win. However, the FBI and law enforcement anticipate immediate violence in the wake of a Trump lose. Lose-lose until we formally and legally recognize these group for what they are, terrorists.

 

Panel: Hallie Jackson, NBC News; Jake Sherman, Politico; Hugh Hewitt, Salem Radio Network; Maria Teresa Kumar, Voto Latino

 

10.4.20: Continually Testing But Ultimately Failing

The administration's attitude toward the Covid-19 pandemic, specifically the president's, has been metaphoric of their performance over the last four years. The president keeps being tested and ultimately he's failed the test.

Before going further on this point, it must be said that we hope that the president and the first lady make a healthy and speedy recovery. For all the divisive statements and actions the president has adopted, he is after all the president of the United States and for the sake of the American people you never want to see the president's health in danger.

Yet, with the president now at Walter Reed Hospital whose condition has been made less than clear, we see again that the Trump Administration and its campaign are putting politics over the safety of the nation. By having Vice President Mike Pence go out on the trail, the Trump campaign is putting the continuity of government at risk. That is to say unless the administration wants Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to act as president as she is third in line. As Peggy Noonan explained, the nation is in a state of emergency and that should require leaders to be in Washington, especially the vice president. It's another small test of the Administration that they don't even realize they're failing.

Given the irresponsibility that the campaign has thus far demonstrated in terms of following CDC protocols, Senior Campaign Advisor Jason Miller's are hardly reassuring when he says that he has no concerns at all about the "aggressive" campaign schedule planned this week for the vice president. "Meet The Press" wasn't the only Sunday program that Mr. Miller on and throughout he manages to have the gall keeping a straight face while explaining that the president has always urged the American people to get tested and socially distance with a mask in between tests.

During the debate, the president mocked Mr. Biden for wearing a mask, even when he's '200 feet away from people' but isn't for the president to model behavior recommended by his health experts? For Mr. Trump, his answer during the debate was 'no' as he openly disagreed with administration health officials. 

Throughout this pandemic, the president's failures have been well documented along with all the misinformation he has unceasingly spouted, but while the reasoning that if the president can contract the virus anyone can is sound, the administration DID NOT take all the necessary precautions to protect the president. The truth here is that President Trump is the administration and he acted irresponsibly and now he is among over 7 millions Americans infected with Covid-19.

The debate, if that's what we're calling it, was certainly an embarrassment but it was also instructive in some ways. As the National Review's Rich Lowry pointed out, Mr. Trump's strategy was to steam roll Mr. Biden but the fmr. vice president didn't buckle. The big elephant in the room is to ask why the president took this strategy instead of the consequence of it. Mr. Trump couldn't debate the issues because on the most important to the American people, he has failed the test. Obviously on he's failed on his pandemic response (He's contracted it!) but in the wake of George Floyd's and Breonna Taylor's deaths, he failed to bring heal the country. Going back to what seems like a distant memory, the administration completely botched the response to Hurricane Maria and the relief effort for Puerto Rico. 

In terms of healthcare writ large, the administration is seeking to completely nullify the Affordable Care Act in the midst of a pandemic with no replacement plan. On the economy, pandemic recession aside, the trade deficit with China that Mr. Trump says he's combatting is higher than it's ever been and we're in a manufacturing recession. As Peggy Noonan said, getting 90 minutes undiluted Donald Trump is just too much. The reason is that Mr. Trump's sound bite discourse is catches up with him in a debate setting because he can not speak intelligently and insightfully about any issue important to the American people. The populace, even Republicans deep down, implicitly know that Mr. Trump has failed these tests of leadership. With him contracting Covid-19, these failures all come into crystalizing relief.

Even though Mr. Biden didn't really help himself all that much during a debate where he also made a few regrettable remarks, referring to the president as a clown, but it was clear that Mr. Biden went into the debate hoping to have some semblance of normal discourse where it was clear that that was not Mr. Trump's intention at all. Americans are literally sick and tired, and the realization that after four years, the president still can not demonstrate the capacity for empathy and helpful thought-out solutions to the country's ills is the reason why Mr. Biden has a 14 point lead on Mr. Trump. 

Do we need more debates? Interestingly both Rich Lowry and Peggy Noonan, connected in Republican circles, both feel that we've seen the last one in the 2020 election cycle. Maybe they know more details about the president's health that the rest of us do not. The president's health aside, as Jeh Johnson said, it would be very helpful to have more debates, but not like this last one.

Panel: Jennifer Palmieri, Democratic Strategist; Jeh Johnson, fmr. Security of Homeland Security; Rich Lowry, National Review; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal

9.27.20: The President's Supreme Court Nominee Isn't There to Save Him

The respective interviews today with Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Corey Booker (D-NJ) are superfluous due to all the answers they gave on Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett make no difference in the what is to come. Judge Barrett will be confirmed by the Republican-lead United States Senate before the election on November 3rd. 

Never mind that Senate Republicans four years ago said that a Supreme Court Justice shouldn't be confirmed in an election year and denied Judge Merrick Garland (President Obama's nominee) hearings. The hypocrisy of Republicans is baked into their political cake and frankly, they don't care about being called out on it. It's an opportunity at a naked power grab and there is no doubt that Republicans will take advantage of it no matter what Democrats in congress say, no matter what the press says and definitely no matter what the will of the American people is. 

Judge Barrett will be confirmed before the November election. Hard Stop. 

However (there's always a however), and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell certainly knows this, the effect of this confirmation is not going to bode well for Republicans in the election. This confirmation is going to motivate Democratic turn-out in a major way and will also sway independents toward Joe Biden and Democrats down ballot. Republican voters still left to vote may not feel as motivated because they got 'their pick.' But none of this matters because Mr. McConnell already sees the writing on the wall. The Republicans in the Senate are headed for the minority and in the lame duck session it will be politically untenable to confirm a justice. Given this, why not get out of the majority what Republicans can while they can? 

Also, much has been made of President Trump's judicial nominee list for the Supreme Court and part of Republicans rhetorical argument is that Joe Biden has presented a list because he's a tool of the left. This column finds this tact typically Republican. We all know that Mr. Trump's list is in actuality not his list, but a list provided to him by the Federalist Society so couldn't the argument be made that the Trump is a tool of the right when it comes to the court?

The president has said that nine justices on the court are a necessity to resolve any election disputes, but if the polls and Mitch McConnell's calculations are correct, the Supreme Court won't be a factor in deciding the election like in 2000. Instead, this shift in the court will address something more important to Republicans, which is getting rid of the Affordable Care Act, that's the real motivation. Even if Joe Biden is elected, the court could strike down the ACA, which would be invalidated around June when the decision comes and then some months after until it's void. There is no way to recover the bill in time so that millions of Americans won't lose their healthcare. Republicans pay lip service to preexisting conditions and keeping young adults on their parents' plan, but without the ACA those two aspects will become unaffordable.

What this nomination does and what the president said this week about not committing to a peaceful transfer of power, something that Senator Booker described as menacing our democracy, all serve to distract from the fact... the fact that Mr. Trump has presided over the fourth largest mass casualty event in American history - his horrendously inexcusable handling of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Over 7.1 million Americans infected and 204,450 (756 yesterday) dead. (source: NY Times)

So the complainer-in-chief who famously doesn't prepare for debates (the one upcoming on Tuesday being no exception) better not be surprised when those numbers and that failure are shoved into his face during the debate.

Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, PBS; Peter Baker, The New York Times; Lanhee Chen, fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford; Claire McCaskill, fmr. Senator from Missouri l Court Press 

9.20.20: Deeper Into Political Warfare

As if we couldn't go any deeper into chaos and civil political warfare, the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg silences an essential voice on the Court and in American life and history writ large. She can never be replaced.

Here's a link to The Washington Post's obituary...

The sad news of her passing and her legacy has been predictably overshadowed by what will be the most ferocious political battle in modern history on top of a presidential election will determine the course of the American democratic experiment. 

Justice Ginsburg’s dying wish was to not have her seat filled until after the election, but Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has no inclination to honor Justice Ginsburg already having stated that the Republican-controlled Senate will have a floor vote on a new nominee. Never mind that NBC's Pete Williams said that the average turnaround time for seating a Supreme Court Justice is seventy days, never mind the damaging of the court's credibility, and never mind the rank hypocrisy of behalf of Republicans who all said four years ago that they wouldn't seat a justice until after the election so that the American people can decide.

Now, to hell with the American people making the decision. 

Senator Tom Barrasso (R-WY) tried to defend why the rules that Republicans made in 2016 only apply to Democrats and not Republicans by citing the fact that the presidency and the senate are both controlled by the same party, to which he said there was historical precedent. Republican senators already have all their talking points down pat, citing the number of times this has happened and each nuance blah blah blah... But there is no precedent and there is no 'Biden rule' as Senator Barrasso tried to through out there. 

This hypocritical power grab is NOT the will of the people either, with President Trump never having won the support of a majority of Americans and there is no 'will of the electoral college.' But Republicans aren't interested in the will of the people if it doesn't serve there interest. This is the latest move that exacerbates those feelings of foreboding as if we're living in an apartheid-type state where the minority rules the majority. 

However, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) may be correct that Senate Republicans do not have the votes because a few are resisting the majority leader for various reasons, top among them is the vulnerability of their seats, e.g. Susan Collins of Maine, Corey Gardner of Colorado. Then there are senators like Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) who recognize the hypocrisy but want to either stick it to the president or don't trust the president's pick will protect women's issues.

Secretary Hillary Clinton, the person who recommended Justice Ginsburg for the court, said that the nominating and confirmation process is broken and that this was another blow to our institutions. But maintaining institutions was never of interest to Mitch McConnell, unless the institution is a Republican-controlled Senate. When in the minority, Mr. McConnell would obstruct and when in the majority, as we see now, he makes up rules for Democrats that don't apply to Republicans. But Mitch McConnell has always been like this; he hasn't co-authored a bill since the last century. Now, with a president intent on taking down American institutions and politicizing everything, Mr. McConnell's destructive actions only get magnified.

And speaking of destructive, or non-constructive as it were, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar is firmly in denial mode. Like other administration officials he refuses to acknowledge the numbers never verbally uttering that there are 200,000 Americans dead... in six months. Mr. Azar must have won a big game recently because they've poured Kool-Aid all over this guy (We know, it's Gatorade, but for the purposes of this analogy...) with his sunny statements of things to come. He also disagreed with CDC Director Robert Redfield who testified to Congress this week saying the mask is the most effective tool in fighting the virus, more so than a vaccine because it's determined that 'successful' means 50 percent effectiveness. This column's earlier determination that Mr. Azar was for the most part a straight shooter was misplaced. He's just another nail for Trump's hammer.

 

Panel: No panel

Latest Coronavirus Numbers:
    6.8 million+ infected
    199,308 deaths
    (source: NY Times)

9.13.20: A New Presidential Norm - Lying about Lies

"I didn't lie."

President Trump responding to Jonathan Karl's question about lying to Americans by downplaying the severity of the coronavirus.

Trump on the defensive.

"Downplaying something is really a threat."

Dr. Anthony Fauci responding to Andrea Mitchell about downplaying the virus.

Thank goodness, we had Republican National Committee Chair, Ronna McDaniel, to clear up the confusion and put our minds at ease. Ms. McDaniel explained that the president has taken all the right actions to protect the American people and that "history will look on him well" with regard to his leadership.  She also condemned the Democrats for politicizing the pandemic because Speaker Pelosi called it the "Trump virus." That is disgusting, indeed. And the president doesn't lie about lying.

Now that the record is straight, don't you feel much better? 

There's one question, however, that keeps putting a monkey wrench in all that logic. Why does the United States have 4 percent of the world's population but 25 percent of the total deaths?

The latest CDC Numbers:

6,427,058 total cases (46,045 cases in the last 24 hrs.)

192,388 total deaths (1,035 dead in the last 24 hrs.)

Basically, in the span of 6 months, over 190,000 people have died from the coronavirus in the United States. Unless history loses its pencil, the record is going remember this most of all. Ms. McDaniel said in response of this '25 percent' that we have increased testing, which translates into more positive cases, hence deaths; so essentially we have more deaths because we have more testing. We'll call this 'head in the sand' logic - if we don't know, there's no problem. By contrast, Dr. Michael Osterholm, Dir. of the Center of Disease Control at the University of Minnesota, said today that he is on the same page as Dr. Fauci assessing that we've plateaued at 40,000 confirmed cases and 1,000 deaths per day. 

How in the real world is 1,000 dying everyday, the equivalent to a 9/11 death toll every 4 days, remotely acceptable? Of course, the president downplayed and politicized the danger and he's lying about it as of this very writing, saying that we've 'rounded the corner' on the virus. The president explained that he wanted people to remain calm, not creating a panic, but as Chuck Todd explained the last thing the president exerts is calm, indeed with a wantonness to incite panic - they're coming to get you in the suburbs...

Long time Republican strategist Al Cardenas explained that people are accepting it as a norm that this president lies, which is an incredible statement unto itself, but factor in that 38 to 45 percent of Americans still support the president despite this, and it becomes... well, sad.

The answer to this pandemic crisis is not to downplay it and draw our attention to another crisis, like the continuing social unrest in the country and demonizing protesters. But as the crises mount, the economy in shambles with millions still out of work and devastating fires overwhelming the west coast, smoke from which has been detected in Europe by the way, blame and deflection and telling us to put our heads in the sand is only going to bring more catastrophe on the heads of Americans.

 

Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor in Chief of The Atlantic; Al Cardenas, Republican Strategist

A couple more things...

Even if you believe that fmr. FBI Director of Counter-Intelligence Peter Strzok is a partisan, there is no denying what he said as fact, as it's in the public record - no Presidential Administration in modern history has had this many broad and deep contacts with Russian Intelligence officers. Coincidence, this definitely is not. Does Putin have something on Trump? Yes. Financial. For sure.

Jeffrey Goldberg mentioned that the president keeps 'shadow boxing' by fighting old battles, citing that last night at a campaign rally, Mr. Trump was arguing with Hillary Clinton. He also said that Bob Woodward, the legendary most-trusted reporter in Washington D.C., a whack job. Really? Smell that? Smells like desperation in the morning. 

It begs the question that Mr. Trump has yet to answer, what's your vision for a second term? And political survival isn't a vision. 

9.6.20: 1.3 Million Losers and Suckers, and Other Voting Disses

Editor's Note: This week's "Meet The Press" was a Special Vote Watch edition, and it must have been taped on Wednesday at the latest because given the week's events in the aftermath of Geoffrey Goldberg's bombshell story in the Atlantic magazine released on Thursday, in which President Trump disparages the United States' war dead, disabled veterans and our P.O.W.'s calling them losers and suckers. We'll comment on this Special Vote Watch edition, but we'll be more timely and poignant this week than our namesake. (Hey, can't blame them, this administration runs everyone in the press ragged so they could use a longer break, and we only comment once a week... work/ life balance is vital.)

Way back on May 26, 2013, we posted an article entitled Our Soldiers - Recognized and Unrecognized, which is the most widely read post on this blog. The primary reason must be this referential list:

The total number of deaths in U.S. major wars:

American Revolutionary War:  25,000
War of 1812:  15,000
Mexican-American War:  13,283
U.S. Civil War:  625,000
Spanish-American War:  2,446
Philippine-American War:  4,196
World War I:  116,516
World War II:  405,399
Korean War:  36,516          
Vietnam War:  58,209
The Gulf War:  294
Afghanistan:  2,031
Iraq War:  4,487

Total: 1,308,377 

Over 1.3 million "suckers and losers," according to President Donald Trump. The Atlantic story has been verified by The Washington Post, Fox News, CNN and the Associated Press among others, and given the president's past comments it's easy to see the truth in his statements.

Think about that... Died for the cause of the Revolution or of ending slavery, sucker. Why did the U.S. fight on the side of the allies in WWI? (a question asked by Mr. Trump) So the Marines who died at Belleau Wood, losers. The Greatest Generation... losers. Didn't get out of service in Vietnam? Sucker. Disabled in Afghanistan or Iraq... don't expect to be included in any parades for the military.

It's difficult to comment on something so alien in the mind of every American, that we wouldn't honor our war dead and veterans; and that it is our president making these statements is all beyond our collective comprehension.

What can we possible say that hasn't already been said about this with the exception of pointing out the obvious, which is a vote for Donald Trump is a vote of profound disrespect for our military, and supportive of antithetical statements and feelings in contrast to every president that has preceded him.

And speaking of the vote, this entire Special Vote Watch edition of this week's "Meet The Press" is directly due to the chaos and doubt through statement and action that President Donald Trump sows every day. If we had two candidates (instead of only Joe Biden) who actually believed in democracy then this "special edition" probably wouldn't even be necessary, but oh well, here we are.

Mr. Todd checked off a series of issues concerning election officials this November that included voter suppression, election meddling and the possibility of voter fraud because of mail-in ballots. 

Here's the good news as we see it. Given the amount of scrupulous attention that this election has been getting for the past two years already with marches on the streets and litigation in the courts already at full speed and 330 million other observers, in the end we feel that we will get it right. Everyone watching and drawing attention to every aspect in every corner is a good thing.

That little optimist bit is in spite of the Trump Administration's efforts. It's no wonder that 52 percent of Trump supporters don't trust mail-in balloting, it reflects the president's comments. Mr. Trump, the hypocrite, votes by mail. Mr. Trump, he idiot and accessory to felony, has told his North Carolina supporters to vote twice and see what happens. 

The Trump Administration has been trying to kneecap the Post Office, as we all know, which has provided the opening for conservative lawyers to question the security of drop boxes such as Ben Ginsberg did today. However, in Ohio the Secretary of State Frank LaRose outlined that the drop boxes have 24/7 security cameras and are emptied by a bi-partisan team every day. Listening to the other respective election officials in Michigan (Jocelyn Benson) and North Carolina (Karen Brinson Bell) they have been working in the same vain to ensure ballot integrity. No secretary of state in either party wants to have the vote in their state mismanaged - that's failing democracy on your watch - and you don't want to go down with that on your record, no mention that your career is basically over at that point.

For average voters, let us, it's essential to be factually informed on the election laws of your state and yes, to plan your vote but outside of that right now you can't worry about what you can't control.

 

Panel: Janai Nelson, NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Education; Michael Waldman, NYU Law School; Clint Watt, fmr. FBI agent and NBC security analyst

8.30.20: Whiners Never "Own the Moment"

Earlier this week, the column spoke to a Californian, center-right independent voting friend for some perspective on the two presidential candidates. And while, he said he didn't disagree with many of the president's policies, but also said that the president showed no leadership combating the pandemic. The conversation was very much a referendum on Mr. Trump's presidency as he simply quipped, "Oh yeah, Biden could totally run the country." In the end, he said the one thing that bothered him the most, the deal-breaker, was that the president constantly whines and blames others, and not "owning up to things" (and using some derogatory words inappropriate for the column), as he put it.

So when Congressman and co-chair of the Biden campaign Cedric Richmond (D-LA) said that the president "has to own the moment," he makes a point. Any other individual who abdicated this much responsibility would be the object of universal scorn, but not Donald Trump. It's such an odd moment when you say that the President of the United States, the richest and most powerful country in the world, isn't man enough to take responsibility for his own policies, never "owning the moment." But as they say, here we are.

And where we are is that this week, a white police officer in Kenosha, WI shot Jacob Blake, an African-American man 7 times in the back. There are no excuses that can justify that action. Mr. Blake may not be the most model citizen and he didn't have a gun. Two "trained" police officers can not deescalate the situation or subdue an individual without shooting or killing the person? the 65-day sprint

In the ensuing protests in Kenosha and Portland, Trump supporters clashed with Left-wing rioters and three people were shot dead, and one other severely injured. Neither the Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, or fmr. North Carolina gov. Pat McCrory specifically called out the shooting in Kenosha by the teenage vigilante, but did refer to the killing in Portland of a Patriots Prayer member, a right-wing group in Oregon. Mr. McCrory said the condemned all "bad shootings," which washes over some very disturbing facts.

The reason Republicans won't address it is not because they're afraid to answer that first question: Do you denounce a teenage vigilante taking the law into his own hands and killing two people? No, it's the follow up question that blows a hole through the "support of law enforcement" argument, hence the president's message. And that question is: How come the Kenosha police didn't stop and question a minor walking the streets with an AR15 while others are yelling to the police that he shot two people? Or why didn't the police do anything but say that they appreciate him being there and offering him water? 

Why? 

KellyAnne Conway, as a parting gift before leaving the administration, said that the violence in the streets is good for President Trump's campaign, which Hallie Jackson confirmed that the campaign is doubling down on this message as it thinks it's a positive one for Mr. Trump. Michael Schmidt of The New York Times described Mr. Trump running as if he is not in charge of the country and called his an unprecedented approach to the presidency. He's not only running as if he's not in charge, but he's governing this way as well making ideological policy decisions without caring about the negative effects. Just as President Trump said about the administration's pandemic response that he takes no responsibility at all, he's applying this more widely.

An administration with the only goal of playing only to its base will say what is necessary to placate it, despite reality, as we've seen. It was disappointing when Chuck Todd asked Mr. Meadows about what the president could do (and this is where Mr. Todd fumbled the ball, searching for the right phrase)... to make our streets safer? This gave Mr. Meadows the opportunity to filibuster with law and order rhetoric. Instead Mr. Todd should have asked what is the president going to say to the entire nation to console and bring peace? Or something to that effect.

Yamiche Alcindor of PBS explained from her reporting that leaders in the African-American community feel that the disproportionate rate at which black men are killed by the police (2 to 1 vs. white males) should be something this country can get right, yet these tragedies continue. Congressman Richmond did remind us that the president has indeed answered one question that he himself posed back in 2016. To the African-American community, Mr. Trump asked, "What do you have to lose?" African American men are getting the message that if they have an encounter with a police officer, it could be their lives. Eton Thomas, fmr. NBA player, explained that the current players are speaking out because they are worried for their sons, their community and themselves. He also went on to say that despite all the accomplishments and millions of dollars a black professional athlete might have, when they have an encounter with police they're thinking they could die at that moment.

Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, PBS; Hallie Jackson, NBC News; Michael Schmidt, The New York Times; Pat McCrory, fmr. governor of North Carolina

A few more things...

"Let's make America great again... again." A quote from Mike Pence. He's definitely not carrying the ticket, that's for sure. Vice President Pence, we say this only to help you so please excuse this column if we come off as offending you but: You sound like a complete jackass when you say this.

A pet peeve of this column... perpetrated today by Mark Meadows... "the Democrat party..." It's the Democratic Party. We're offended by this intentional grammar error on the part of all Republicans, but we're also offended by Democrats who let this slide because the goal of Republicans is to separate the Democratic Party from anything democratic. And to hear Mr. Meadows use it repeatedly today, not to mention by all his Republic Party friends, is like putting a nail in the ear and then dragging the ear accross a chalkboard.

Lastly, despite the utterly false rosy picture painted by the administration and its response to the Covid-19 pandemic, by this time next week, the United States will be over 6 million infection cases and over 185,000 dead.

 

 

8.23.20: The Dystopia that Trump Describes is Because of His Leadership

 It's half time in the political convention game with the Democrats concluding their convention last week and Republicans readying to start tomorrow. So what's the state of the race? First, keep in mind that the polls will tighten as we get into the first week of October and we haven't had any of the debates yet, meaning that we still have a ways to go.

With that in mind, the respective interviews with Trump Campaign Senior Advisor Jason Miller and fmr. South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttegieg were instructive. The Democratic convention focused on character and the Covid crisis and was light on policy, in which Mr. Miller described it as a 'massive grievance fest,' and explained that the Republicans will present a completely different notion of what a Trump voter is from what is presented in the media. He also said that the convention will focus more on policy and their vision for the future, finishing that they would be telling a 'very beautiful story.'

The balloon that Mr. Miller was trying to blow up had already been burst at the top of the interview with Chuck Todd reminding him that 30 million people are receiving unemployment and that we're approaching 180,000 Americans dead from Covid-19. For politics and convention watchers alike it will be interesting to see how the Trump campaign addresses the pandemic because it cannot talk about the way Mr. Trump has been, painting a rosy picture when the reality on the ground is much different. 

Chuck Todd didn't ask Mr. Miller about Qanon, but he did ask about the audio recordings of the president's sister and former federal judge MaryAnne Trump explaining how the president lies all the time and has no principles. He did say it was 'shameful' that The Washington Post released the recordings a day after the president's brother had been laid to rest, but we would call it 'hardcore' instead. Ultimately, these recordings will matter little as they only reinforce what everyone... yes, everyone already knows, and it doesn't matter to Mr. Trump's base.

Conversely, to the legitimate point that the Democrats were light on policy, Mr. Buttegieg explained that it was a matter of detailing the policy plans that the Democrats put forth last week, but whether or not you want this policy vision for the country. (Mayor Pete does have a way of cutting through the clutter.) More importantly, where the fmr. Vice President Biden did give detail was in his policy for combating the pandemic. To this, Mr. Buttegieg said that as long as Donald Trump is president we will not have a national strategy or leadership on this crisis. One has to agree with this point, simply for the fact that if the Trump Administration had a national strategy, they would have already instituted it. 

Yet, the president tells us that the only thing that stands between the American dream and totally anarchy, madness and chaos is him. Spare us this very rare exception in this column, but that is total f**king bullshit. The dystopia that Trump describes is happening under his leadership. 

And this brings us back around to something that Mr. Miller said: We'll present a different notion of the Trump voter... The Trump voter, not the Republican voter. The Wall Street Journal's senior editor Gerald Seib wrote a book about this evolution of the party from Reagan to Trump and how it's moved in a populist/ nationalist direction. 

Former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) said that Mr. Trump's policies have been solidly conservative citing the massive tax cut and stance on abortion as a few examples. But not on deficit spending, trade, Russia, and the country's role in the world, Mr. Seib explained and posed the question of whether Trump's Republican party is aberration or not, depending on whether he wins reelection or not. 

We'd disagree with Mr. Seib as to whether it's a aberration or not because win or lose, the Republican party as we've traditionally known it [read: Reagan or Bush] is done. If Trump wins reelection, the party is solidly rooted in Trumpism. If he loses, which most likely would put the Republicans in the minority in not only the executive branch but also in the House and Senate, leaves the Trumpist Republicans free of governing responsibility putting them firmly in grievance stance, a position in which Trumpism thrives.

Either way, the Republican party is changed forever.

Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC News; Gerald Seib, The Wall Street Journal; Scott Walker, fmr. governor of Wisconsin (R)

 

8.16.20: The President is Sabotaging His Own Interests, in Addition to American Democracy

We have to say upfront that the location from which this column is written (in the U.S.) only receives mail from the U.S. Post Office two times a week. It used to be six so you tell us, do we have an ax to grind with regard to the postal service?

More on that in a minute...

More importantly, congress left town this week without a deal on a Covid-relief package for Americans in the midst of what Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) called today, a 'horror show.' He also used the phrase 'economic desperation' to describe millions of American families facing eviction and food emergencies, and the message from the White House and Congress is clearly that "you're on your own."

Now whatever you or more exactly a conservative congressperson thinks for the Democratically-passed House bill, it was passed back in May and then it sat on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-TN) desk for three months. Now, he may have thought that the bill was a piece of shat because it was passed with a Democratic majority, but the fact is he kept confirming judges while ignoring working Americans. It was only in the week that the benefits were to expire that he picked it, promptly handed it off and maintained a persona non grata position while the negotiations continued.

While locked in this stalemate, the president's mega-donor Louis Dejoy, now Postmaster General, is as President Barack Obama put it 'kneecapping' the post office so that Donald Trump can call into question the integrity of mail-in voting and explicitly said this week that the post office isn't going to get the money they need because he doesn't want mail-in ballots deciding the election. 

However, once again Mr. Trump is hurting his own interests. 

On top of the pandemic which negatively impacts every single American (5.3 million infections and 169,000+ deaths, as of today by the way), as Kasie Hunt pointed out, so does mail disruption and no one likes it especially during a pandemic when every American relies on it more than ever, especially in rural communities as NBC's Carol Lee pointed out. In his bid to win reelection, Mr. Trump will be suppressing his own base's vote. Rank and file Republicans understand this and probably applaud the effort to suppress the vote, but not at the expense of their own constituents. For them it's the delay vital services that the post office delivers to their communities that has set their collective hairpieces on fire.

However, a resolution for the post office is tied to the relief package which languished in the Senate so once again, thank you very little Mr. McConnell. 

The U.S. Post Office was an invention of Benjamin Franklin and until two years ago, the first post office in Philadelphia that his son managed was a functioning post office (since closed for tourism). Think about that for a second... the name of its originator; the duration. Then think that one of the things that the Senate does is vote of naming U.S. Post Office locations, which they usually name after themselves. Why tear down the buildings that carry your name? That's some legacy.

With all this said, it is still necessary to note that Senator Bernie Sanders made it very clear that this is a 'sabotaging of our democracy,' and you'd be pressed to disagree. Given that, Mr. Sanders rightly smacked down Mr. Todd's question about progressives maybe not being satisfied by the Biden/ Harris ticket. Progressive and moderate Democrats alike are all on the same page with Mr. Sanders in thinking that this election is about saving American democracy so petty squabbles matter little at this point.

If all this wasn't enough there is also the threat of election interference, which National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien politicized on today's program.  It's particularly sad since in the first half of the interview, he recapped what is genuinely good news - the historic normalizing of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Mr. O'Brien got a bit over his skis this week saying that this is Mr. Trump's Nobel moment... please. What's really not good is that he put Russia's active election interference measures on the same level as China and Iran only desiring (at this point) particular outcomes. The fact still remains is that the Trump Administration never intended to deal with Russian election interference in any meaningful way as long as it benefits him, which it does. 

Panel: Carol Lee, NBC; Kasie Hunt, NBC; Jeh Johnson, fmr. Homeland Security Secretary

Couple more things...

Once again, Joe Biden is part of an historic ticket, but not only is choosing Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) historic, she highly qualified having served at every level of government; you have to admit a gifted politician; and she is essentially a center-left candidate which melds very well with the Biden governing philosophy.

Lastly, (and liberals who read this, please unwedge your underwear) condolences to President Trump and his family, as the president's brother, Robert Trump, died this week at 71.