12.12.21: Democracy and Rationality On the Back Foot

 At the top this morning, we wish the people in Kentucky and the other five states affected by the tornadoes, where perhaps the longest sustained tornado in American history destroyed entire cities and towns. An understandably emotional Governor Andy Breshear (D) said the tornado traveled approximately 227 miles, 200 hundred of which torn through his state. For context, it's 226 miles from New York City to Washington DC. He ask for any many prayers that we can offer and he can count on ours.

To help directly, go to: TEAMWKYRELIEFFUND.KY.GOV

On top of the tragedy, the hospitals in western Kenkucky were already in a state of emergency due to the spike in covid cases and hospitalizations. The governor explained that by coalescing resources from around the state, the hospitals are holding, which is good to hear but the situation cannot be getting better anytime.

As Mr. Todd noted, eighty percent of covid hospitalizations and deaths are among the unvaccinated, which is a tragedy of our own doing, at this point so it was refreshing to hear Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS), medical doctor Roger Marshall,  encourage people to get vaccinated and or boosted with a third shot. And though we disagree with the senator that the federal government can enforce some mandates, we respect his position.

And then...

Mr. Marshall said everything/anything - borderline ramble - except that Joe Biden is the legitimately elected president. He said he has greeted him as Mr. President, but he would not actually state the words that he was legitimately elected. 

Disqualified...

Meaning that he stands by his vote not to certify the election and it can be presumed that he will not do so again if the outcome isn't for his party's preferred candidate.

We must admit that even the notion of a Democracy Summit right now is cringe-worthy to say the least since we're water-backsliding, ever more slippery, toward not respecting the will of the voters. Noting The Atlantic article by Barton Gellman and how the Trump's subversion of U.S. democracy is already happening, John Heilemann flatly stated: fact, and not hyperbole. Even Republican Strategist Brendan Buck said he was concerned about Secretary of State elections, particularly in Georgia, which that is the individual that certifies the vote count. Succinctly explained, The Boston Globe's Kimberly Atkins Stohr said that the danger of Trump continues as the Republican party has adopted the tactics that have put winning [read: obtaining power] over democracy.

Speaking of which, we agree with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that Ukraine's sovereignty is vitally important. Putin is employing the same rhetoric with regard to Ukraine as President Xi in China spouts about Taiwan, essentially that it's not its own sovereign country. But one can not help but notice that when you check in with reality, they are. In the case of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, it would essentially put a military threat at the doorstep of western Europe, but more significantly it would jeopardize the entire world political system, which would only lead to war, the Secretary Blinken explained.

If Mr. Putin does in fact invade the sovereign country of Ukraine, then unfortunately for the Russian people the Russian state should given pariah status and treated as such by the World Bank and other international banks. NATO should build up defense systems with its eastern most partners and continue diplomacy with stick in hand. And if anyone thinks that's too extreme, it doesn't go far enough and the consequences of doing nothing would have far greater implications.

Democracy and rationality can only hold out so long when all its balance is on the back foot.

Panel: Marianna Sotomayor, The Washington Post; Kimberly Atkins Stohr, The Boston Globe, John Heilemann, The Recout; Brendan Buck, Republican Strategist

12.5.21: Has The Elephant Finally Caught The Car?

"Abortion, guns and covid," was how Mr. Todd phrased it. We can not help thinking that the 'stars' are aligning for Republicans to get all that they want on 'abortion, guns and covid.' And more... Through extreme gerrymandering in the states, of which a majority are completely controlled by Republicans and the disproportionate influence that smaller states have in the U.S. Senate they will accomplish their goals without the majority support of the American people. And if in 2022, Republican-controlled state legislatures nullify any votes because of new laws giving the legislature authority over the Secretary of State to certify elections then minority rule will be solidified.

Senator Mike Braun (R-IN) did not feel comfortable talking about abortion and Roe v. Wade in the slightest, that's for sure. Because now that the dog (or the elephant in this case) has caught the car so to speak, it will become a very tenuous situation for Republicans. Senator Braun said it is a decision that should be left to the states because it's too divisive on a federal level. Seriously? 

If the Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade, it would instaneously divide the country even further. Simply for the fact that there are a number of states that have trigger laws that make abortion instantly illegal if the law is struck down. How does that logic not divide this country on a deeper level which is locally. In a state like Wisconsin where state-wide there is a Democratic majority, but the state is gerrymandered in a way that gives Republicans control of the state legislature. Once again, the majority will not have a voice.

Dispatch founder Stephan Hayes explained that in the Virginia gubernatorial race, abortion wasn't an issue for the electorate that Terry McAuliffe had made it out to be spending millions on television ads. But Errin Haines of the 19th gave the 'why' which is because people took it for granted, specifically women. Come the Court's decision next spring, they may not be able to take it for granted anymore because over half the states in the United States will make abortion illegal, meaning that when it comes to a woman's pregnancy, the state has a say in what you can do with your body. They legislated it.

Mr. Hayes also mentioned the rise of libertarianism with Ron and Rand Paul, but frankly libertarianism is dead in this country. If you consider yourself to be a true libertarian that you do not believe in the legislating of an individual's body in any circumstance, with no respect to religion.

Oh and by the way, if abortion is illegal and that law is broken then who are we locking up? The women? The doctors? The building owners where the prodecure took place? The Uber driver? All of the above? Senator Braun didn't want to get anywhere close to an answer on that one when Mr. Todd asked him. Again, he reverted to throwing it back to the states, knowing full well that a federal law like the Womens' Health Protection Act that Senator Amy Klobachar (D-MN) discussed will never pass, never get 10 Republican votes in the Senate. (Because the two North Dakota senators who represent 770,000 people have the same amount of influence as two California senators who represent 40 million people...just saying... This also doesn't account for the comic gullibilty of one Sentor Susan Collins (R-ME).)

The sanctity of life, protecting it, we get it... But Republicans sure do not. 

If they were truly protective of it, then they would do something, anything, to try and stop a 15 year-old with negligent parents from going into a local high school with a semi-automatic pistol and kill four people, wounding a score of others. But no... you can not ignore that. Nor can one ignore that fact that over 780,000 Americans have died of Covid-19 and taking vaccines has been politicized. 

Republicans blame President Biden for not ending the pandemic while they subvert the Administration's effort at every turn locally and federally for political gain, while their constituents continue to die. 

Back to guns...

Should the parents be held accountable in this particular case? Hell yes. Is this rare case of the parents being charged with manslaughter for their negligence despite their son's obvious behavior is going to impact any change? Oh, hell no.

With all that said, we agree with the panel that the vast majority of gun owners are responsible guns owners, where they continued to put their emphasis during the discussion. 

Despite the vast majority being responsible, we as a society certainly have not been.

Panel: Ashley Parker, The Washington Post; Errin Haines, the 19th; Eugene Daniels, Politico; Stephan Hayes, The Dispatch

11.21.21: Aspiring to a Higher Standard is Becoming a Thing of the Past

We posted mid-week with regard to Kyle Rittenhouse and we haven't changed our perspective because the reasoning still holds. In terms of the verdict, it was the narrow points of confrontation, in which Mr. Rittenhouse had to defend himself and the jury made a decision based on the charges with regard to those moments. What wasn't taken into full account, it seems, was that Mr. Rittenhouse was the initial provocatur by the fact that he was the one who brought the semi-automatic rifle into the equation. 

Our issue isn't with the jury or the narrowness of the case, it's with the judge. Two young men are dead at the hands of Mr. Rittenhouse and the judge dictated that they could not be deemed 'victims.' In his eyes maybe not, but tell that to the one of the men's mother and fiance. The judge also threw out the unlawful possession of a fire arm charge and reckless endangerment, the latter he is surely guilty of for in fact putting himself in danger.

The nuances can of course be debated, glofifying Mr. Rittenhouse as a hero is wrong, and sad because we're elevating a misguided teen who is responsible, no matter how you look at it, for the deaths of two people and permanently crippling a third person. Civil Rights attorney David Anderson was succinct and accurate when he said that politicians should not be celebrating any loss of Americans lives (paraphrasing), but that's what they are doing.

Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) said something that we need to unpack a bit. The senator stated that 'people have the right to protect themselves with the increase in violence.' If there is an increase in violence, glorifying someone who killed two people or in the case of Congressman Paul Gosar, not condemning social media posts depicting violence against a colleague then you're part of the problem. Twenty-six states with open carry and 32 states with stand your ground laws surely cannot be the way to deescalate. Add in the acceptance of violent political threats and it only makes society more volitile. 

And speaking of Mr. Gosar and for those who excuse what he did, one has to pose the question. At your job, if some posted a cartoon of them murdering you or others at work, would you report it? Would you expect that person to be repremmanded at the least or perhaps fired? No company would accept that type of behavior so why should we condone it in the House of Representatives? 

Holding ourselves to a higher standard seems like something that we no longer aspire to. We all see that shining city on the hill, but we're definitely not in it.

Panel: Kelly O'Donnell, NBC News; Reverend Al Sharpton, Political Action Network; Kristen Soltis Anderson, Republican Strategist; David Anderson, Civil Right Attorney

11.15.21: The Ghost of Nightmare Past

On July 21, 2013, we wrote this:

A gun provided George Zimmerman with false sense of strength and the ego to believe that he was in control of circumstances when the truth is his actions came from a place of fear and he wasn't in control. 

This was one of the comments we made with regard to the Zimmerman-Martin verdict at the time, but fast forward to the cusp of a verdict in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and one could say...

A gun provided Kyle Rittenhouse with false sense of strength and the ego to believe that he was in control of circumstances when the truth is his actions came from a place of fear and he wasn't in control.  

Same sh*t, different gun.

 

11.14.21: Governor Sununu Got It Right, Doing Nothing Is Not A Win

There is no doubt that both parties are guilty of doing nothing, but when New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu (R) said that he couldn't live, professionally, in an environment where doing nothing is considered a win, one would conclude that he meant that for his own party. 

Whether you agree with the infrastructure and or the Build Better Better legislation that fact remains that it is in fact, legislation; something that Republicans have quite a lot of trouble with outside of tax cuts. The American Enterprise Institute's Matthew Continetti, previously editor-in-chief at the conservative Washington Free Beacon explained that after so many failed infrastructure weeks under the previous president, we finally got it and it's toxic for Republicans to support it. 

And not to make light of things, but deaths threats over infrastructure, really? It's sad to know that there are large groups of people who agree with these individuals making threats who are so gone from the reality of living in a civil society. Needless to say there is no place for this behavior in American politics as it is obviously dangerous, but also profoundly sad.

Speaking of doing nothing, Director of the Economic Council for the President, Brian Deese didn't have any good answers for what to do about inflation in the short term, particularly for Americans in the middle of the country. Comparatively, the Build Back Better bill will have a more immediate impact of the everyday lives of Americans than the infrastructure bill, but as fmr. Senator Claire McCasklill (D-MO) warned, Democrats may not implement it fast enough for the mid-terms.

Mr. Deese also didn't touch Mr. Todd's immigration question as to whether we should open it up to help with supply chain issues, so we'll touch it. The answer to the question is 'yes,' but here's how to initially approach it. We have a truck driver shortage so what the Administration should do is approach Poland and work to recruit Polish truck drivers shut out of Britain in the wake of Brexit. This would be beneficial on a foreign policy scale as well. It would deepen the dialogue between Warsaw and Washington to work together on the Law and Justice Party's flouting of EU regulations and getting the Polish government more in line with the EU so that collectively they can confront Belarus who is trying to destabilize Europe and the Russians as well who have amassed troops on the Ukrainian border. 

Yes, we realize that none of that was discussed on today's program, but it's a good illustration of how with targeted immigration we can achieve goals at home and abroard.

And with the accurately labeled 'political football' that is Russia in this country (frustrating in and of itself), as entertaining as the Steele dossier is, we never put much stock in it because there wasn't a need to do so. There were so many other implicating actions that the dossier was irrelevant. As bad as all that was, the 2020 election and what the president did in its aftermath makes it pale in comparison. 

And this is why you have to throw the book at Steve Bannon for not complying with a subpoena, a Congressional one. If this were you or me - working schmucks with no political friends and no podcast - we would be seeing the police showing up at our doors and bringing us in to testify. Frankly, that a-hole shouldn't get special above-the-law treatment. And if he refuses to testify and goes to prison for a year, it will be a better year for all of us - not having to hear about what a blowhard has to say about primary elections.

As for former chief of staff Mark Meadows, he should focus on this because he could be next. He punk'ed out of his Congressional testimony; no guts which is the sign of a punk.

There, yeah, we said it...

But we wouldn't call Kyle Rittenhouse that, 'misguided,' yes. We're following the trial but not the subtle nuances such as what we learned today from the discussion which was that Mr. Rittenhouse's mother drove him to Kenosha. If in fact that is the case, that is indeed reckless endangerment of a minor... We think the panel got it right that in that case, no one's going to be happy with the verdict.

Panel: Leigh Ann Caldwell, NBC News; Claire McCaskill, fmr. Senator from Missouri; Eugene Scott, The Washington Post; Matthew Continetti, American Enterprise Institute 

11.7.21: Thanks to Democrats, Their Lose is America's Gain

The Democrats didn't so much receive a drubbing on Tuesday, but given that perception is everything and the major embarrassment of losing the gubernatorial race in the high profile state of Virginia, one could reasonably say that Democrats got the wind knocked out of them in a big way and doubled over got a huge shiner of a black eye that's not going away soon enough.

The New York Times' Peter Baker said it most concisely in that voters don't object to voting for Republicans, just Trump himself. That may have gotten lost in the conversational mix, but it's profound in saying that as long as Trump isn't on the ballot (or actively campaign for a particular candidate), Republicans are acceptable. 

But let's face it, Terry McAuliffe ran a poor race and didn't do what New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy was describing in speaking about kitchen table issues. Like pandemic fatigue, voters have Trump fatigue, which is mostly being perpetuated from the Democrats, specifically Mr. McAuliffe. And give credit to Governor-elect Glen Youngkin for running on local concerns, keeping his opponent on his back foot, and while acknowledging that the former president is on your team, he gave him a stiff Heisman, that's for sure.

Mr. Youngkin gave fellow Republicans a blueprint on how to deal with questions about Trump and Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) wasted no time in employing that strategy today in his interview. He completely evaded any question with regard to the former president's recent statements or why 4 in 5 Republicans think the election of Joe Biden was illegitimate. 

Instead, he railed against the Democrats spending, its 'socialist' agenda and the national debt, which is at $30 trillion - all the fiscal responsibility issues Republicans take up again when they are not in control of Congress. Racking up $8 trillion in debt over four years of Trump with nothing to show for it but a tax cut defies trusting the rhetoric of Mr. Scott. 

Ironically, the Democrats' lose however is America's gain, thanks to... the Democrats, who finally got their act together enough to stop wasting time and pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Don't think it wasn't in reaction to the Virginia result. 

The entire strategy by progressives in the House to hold up the infrastructure bill until their budget agenda (the reconciliation bill) was passed first was flawed and not well thought out. It would have had to still pass through the Senate where it would be amended by moderate Democrats. In such a divisive political climate, don't take one big win, take a series of big wins. And when you have an easy one sitting right in front of your face, you grab it, and don't look back. 

Panel: Sara Fagen, Republican Strategist; Donna Edwards, The Washington Post; Peter Baker, The New York Times; Amna Nawaz, NPR

One more thing...

Since we made a football reference earlier, we have to weigh in about Aaron Rogers of the Green Bay Packers testing positive for Covid-19 this week.  We don't have an issue with his decision to not be vaccinated, which is his right. Not at all. What we do take issue with is that he was dishonest about it or at the very least deceptively coy. When asked if he was vaccinated, he responded, "Yeah, I'm immunized." There's no other way to interpret that other that thinking he received the vaccine.  This week he said he isn't an anti-vaxer, just a critical thinker. Really? His critical thinking could use some critiquing. 

10.31.21: Today's "Meet The Press" Missed The Mark

First and foremost, we have a bone spur to address with "Meet The Press" today. The program was too much, and perhaps becoming, inside the beltway talk. President Joe Biden is in Rome for the G20 Summit and it wasn't even brought up at all let alone as a topic of discussion. The fact that the G20 came to an agreement of a 15 percent minimum corporate tax means that companies won't be able to hide their money in tax shelter countries, which will give a big boost to American tax revenue, helping to pay for the reconcilliation package. Or simply that our president is on the world stage and it didn't seem to matter.

Instead, in discussing the reconcilliation package with Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and Virginia Gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe (D), Mr. Todd kept coming back to the question of what is not in the bill, instead of maybe asking about the 'pay-for's' on what's in the package. Dare we say that there was a bit of harping on it on the part of Mr. Todd. We get it, but make the point ask the tough question and then move on. 

That tough question, which really didn't come through should have been on prescription drugs. Talk about an industry that has the United States and the world frankly, with Covid, by the collective cajones. 

The free Covid-19 vaccine most of us are getting isn't free; the government paid the pharmaceutical companies for the doses, of course. And 20 years after the prescription drug 'donut hole' the American people still can not negotiate on the price of drugs and continue to pay the premium. 

The impatience of the American people never ceases to amaze, everything to be done yesterday in a country of over 330 million people, and that's why you see the president's poll numbers dragging right now, but as Secretary Granholm made the point, they can rebound when the Democrats pass these two massive bills. Next summer when Americans start seeing construction on roads and bridges and then send their 5 year olds to universal Pre-K, things may turn around. 

The other thing that the secretary mentioned, plugging her boss, is that the president is working for the middle class, and let's face it there is a big corporate machine that works against the little guy. See above for our prescription drug example, and the Sacklers are still billionaires. It takes time and it takes wading through an avalache of opposition rhetoric backed by a lot of cash.

Case in point, the panel's discussion of mayoral races and police funding. Interestingly, maybe because it isn't a tough contest, no one on the panel cited the New York City mayoral race where candidate Eric Adams (D) who was a former police officer is sloganing that a safe city is a prosperous city and that better policing, not less, is answer. That's the model that Democratic mayoral candidates should think about. 

And when it comes to the Virginia gubenatorial race, from afar it has seemed like Mr. McAuliffe's to win or lose all along. He was already sucessful in the position and should have been able to capitalize greatly on that progress. However, the mire that Republicans sift around in politically these days, culture wars all day, everyday, then requiring a response brings everyone down sapping the energy from voters' enthusiam.

But make no mistake, it would be a catastrophic lose for the Democrats and a signal that Americans short attention spans are fully functioning. 

Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC News; Anna Palmer, Punchbowl News; Cornell Belcher, Democratic Strategist; Brad Todd, Republican Strategist

10.24.21: Should Mitch McConnell Be Physically Punished?

Back from a two-week hiatus, we have to say that not much has changed given today's "Meet The Press" with an independent, Senator Angus King (M), trying to thread a legislative needle, Democrats being hammered during their very public and messy legislative sausage making, and Republicans saying 'no' to anything and everything.

One thing is for sure, Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) who is not running for reelection doesn't give a shit about anything with the exception of the small bit of power he can still wield in the Senate, which is not the 'world's most deliberative body' because you can not call it that when their is zero deliberation, and that was Senator King's point when discussing the filibuster. Mr. Blunt for his part had not one constructive answer to any of Ms. Mitchell's questions.

In the Senate as it is, having the majority means nothing except when it comes to appointing judges, which is now the chamber's basic function as legislating takes a back seat. Senator King said that there should be filibuster reform but to achieve it, you have to 'thread the needle' of retaining minority rights while also not effectively giving them a veto on everything the majority wants. 

The filibuster as it stands now exacerbates the disproportionate representation in the Senate. Because every state has two senators the country a disproportionate amount of senators represent fewer people. E.g. Two senators for California's 40 million people and two senators for South Dakota's 860,000 people. Given that, there needs to be reform because as it stands whether the Republicans are the majority in the senate or the minority, they have control. 

Because Democrats always like to bite off more than they can chew, we'd suggest a first step. One this one rules change to the filibuster and that would be to make it standing, meaning that if a Senator wants to filibuster a bill he or she must stand up and hold the floor with pertinent rhetoric on why they oppose it.

Democrats should make that one change and then stick it to Republicans by bringing a slew of bills to the floor so that they have to physically make octogenarians like Mitchell McConnell and Chuck Grassley stand at the podium for 8 to 12 hours and then have a vote. 

Why make legislating physically punishing?  Let's throw that back the other way and ask haven't the American people been physically punished enough with unaffordable housing and healthcare, crappy employment and covid? Is it a little cynical to physically punish Mitch McConnell? Yes, but it's justified.

Stand up and make a case or shut the hell up, right? Since when is the United States an apartheid state where it's minority rule?

Specifically, voting rights for all Americans are being curtailed by conservative state legislatures and what used to be a bipartisan no-brainer of reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act is no more since The Supreme Court's 2013 decision to eliminate the pre-clearance provision in which states wanting to change election laws had to have approval from the Justice Dept. States like Texas and Arizona are running wild in changing their laws to suppress and potentially nullify votes. No Republicans voted to reauthorize the Act. 

Again, Roy Blunt not helpful with his disingenuous answer that a voting rights bill would be a national take over of voting, empty rhetoric. Look at it this way, states set their own minimum wage, but there is a baseline national minimum wage, which is $7.25 by the way. What the voting rights bill establishes is some basic minimums like making presidential election day a national holiday. 

But here's the rub, the bill also institutes a reauthorization of the pre-clearance provision. The Republican minority is saying 'no' to that, and what the minority in the Senate wants, it gets.

 

Panel: Ayesha Rascoe, NPR, Maria Teresa Kumar, Voto Latino; Eugene Daniels, Politco; Brendan Buck, Republican Strategist

 

10.3.21: Doesn't Matter How the Watch Works, It Just Has To Keep The Time

There's a point in the film Sicario where Emily Blunt's character asks the sicario, Benecio del Toro, if there is anything she should know about the drug trade, and he responds: You're asking me how a watch works, for now let's just keep our eye on the time.

Deciphering the negotiations going on between the Democrats in Congress is just like asking someone how a watch works and for the owners of that watch, the American public, we're not concerned about the repair process just whether it works once you're done.

In other words, one shouldn't fret about the intermediate steps that without overbearing media coverage would be part of the larger work of what is called legislating...

Make no mistake, however, that time is a factor, as the panel outlined in a number of ways. Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson outlined it most concisely explaining that the Democrats may not have control of congress after the midterms, for which campaigning will start next year and perhaps a four-year presidential term so the window is now for the Democrats. USA Today's Susan Page called it the 'last train leaving the station,' as to say that it's unknown when the Democrats will have another opportunity like this to pass transformational legislation. 

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) called the Democrats' budget bill the most significant piece of legislation in our life times, while Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman explained that the legislation is the culmination of everything Nancy Pelosi has been fighting for for thirty years. All this means that it will take time to get Democrats unified on their priorities and what the cost will be. At the moment, the media is asking every legislator what their number is on this budget bill, but it isn't asked as to gain insight, just to get something on the record because we'll only know what the number is when they arrive at it.

The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan said that she didn't understand why the Democrats wouldn't give the president a legislative win by bringing the infrastructure bill to a vote and getting it passed then go to the budget. It's sound logic of moderation, but as outlined above most Democrats are looking at both as the only opportunity to forward their agenda. And the president himself is on record as saying that the two bills are linked. 

What is inexcusable and hopefully not the case is that the progressives in the Democratic party are willing to scuttle both bills if they don't get what they want in the budget bill. That's like taking the watch in for repair, paying in advance, and getting it back still broken. 

Panel: Susan Page, USA Today; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Jake Sherman, Punchbowl News; Jeh Johnson, fmr. Homeland Security Secretary.