When we were young

As a young man who came of age in the late 60s and early 70s, I never spared a thought for the survival of democracy in the US.  Seeing the power of the anti-war movement and the transformative spectacle that was Woodstock, I felt I was growing up with a like minded generation of reformers who would strengthen our system of government.  As I got older, married the Divine Mrs. M. and started raising a family, we lived through the Reagan years with some trepidation.  The battle lines were being drawn with progressives and social democrats on one side and conservatives and the remnants of the old "Solid South" on the other.  Still, we all spoke of the institutions of government with reverence, although Reagan first began to identify government as a problem, not a solution.  Fast forward to the GOP "contract with America" under the guidance of the odious Newt Gingrich.  He poured out his vitriol on anyone who disagreed with him and actually shut the government down in a fit of pique.  Add to that the relentless pursuit of the Clintons with a succession of phony scandals which also hurt the reputation of government.  This was followed by the Bush years and their embrace of an alternate reality and government lying to the people.  Obama followed and experienced the relentless opposition of republicans for every legislative gambit.  This further eroded our faith in government as a force for good.  We have finally arrived at the logical end with The Donald and his henchmen in charge.  The point I have been trying to make is that the government institutions I felt were immutable and broadly supported by my fellow citizens have now been reduced to impotence in the face of a movement which has made it clear they have no use for democracy.  I never believed that jackboots would be on the march in 21st century America.  I'm not so sure I don't hear them now and I think the people who will willingly pull on those boots don't share the same belief system with me.

Stupid or Soulless

It is seemingly a minor quibble. Are the administration's firing of the acting attorney general stupid or just a gambit in a much larger game with consequences many of us still can't conceive.  While Trump is not a moron, despite all appearances to the contrary, he is surrounded by many people who are much smarter.  These people, especially Steve Bannon are playing a long game with the climax an all out war between Christianity and Islam.  Like the crusaders of the Middle Ages, these latter day warriors believe there are irrevocable differences between the two major world religions and a battle to the death is the inexorable result.  Bannon and company tolerate the racist, misogynist alt right because they represent cannon fodder and shock troops.   The real game for these Osama bin Ladens of the Christian right is the ultimate confrontation with the "real" enemy.  Meanwhile, the rest of us scramble to condemn the firing Ms. Yates.  Sure, it would have been easier for Trump to have just waited until Jefferson Baureguard Sessions was confirmed at attorney general, but the creation of casual chaos is a feature, not a bug in this administration.  I believe many people realize our democracy hangs in the balance, but we all need to start acting that way.

Small minds

Having managed to restrict immigration almost as a celebration of the yahoo side of the American experience, administration shills appeared on the Sunday political shows to double down on the latest Trumpian outrage.  It seems that not mentioning Jews as prime victims of the Holocaust is somehow an "inclusive" gesture by Cheeto Jesus and his henchmen.  That nearly 6 million Jews perished during WW2 seems to be something the alt right members of the administration would like us all to forget.  We need to get on with the program.  In this case, that means hating on Muslims from a highly select group of countries which conveniently does not include the countries whose citizens perpetrated 9/11.  I guess we can't piss off Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates.  The theory in some quarters is the Trump "brain trust" is pushing this selective ban in an effort to generate maximum outrage among liberals, thus tying them to RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM and providing the administration with a political victory.   Possibly, they even hope that by piling outrage on top of outrage they may exhaust opponents before the main event begins.  I think they are wrong on both counts. 

Head exploding week

My head can barely contain the contradictions and absolute bizarre pronouncements emanating from the administration of the Sunkist King.   Mass resignations/firings at the state department, announcement of a 20% tax on all goods from Mexico to "pay for the wall", the rumor that sanctions on Russia will be lifted unilaterally with no negotiation and finally, the Mexican president cancelling a meeting with Trump after being disrespected on the international stage.  From "no drama Obama" to this in just the first week of the presidency is beyond strange.  Meanwhile, investigations of Russian influence on the recent elections are popping up and continuing.  Yesterday came news of Russia "disappearing" one of their intelligence service's cyber warfare experts perhaps on suspicion he was the US mole in their works.  This happened in early December and the implication is the possibility Trump's intelligence briefings may have included this guy's name!   It is going to be a long and very interesting 4 years, if the tangerine nightmare lasts that long.  I think there is better than even money President Mike Pence will be running for election in 2020.

The health insurance dilemma

In a country where many in the working and middle classes find the premiums for crappy health insurance onerous, the potential demise of Obamacare is either met with indifference or gallows humor.  There is a sour spot in the individual coverage market where people are making what the ACA considers too much money to be eligible for any subsidies.  This makes coverage with even a bronze plan the equivalent of a car or rent payment.  These people are not living in high style to begin with and as they look at policies with $10,000 deductibles, they wonder if paying the IRS penalty is not the way to go.  They also look at people slightly below them on the income ladder with expansive government subsidies or even further to the large number of Medicaid beneficiaries and wonder what were the drafters of the bill thinking.  While not a large number compared to those covered by employers insurance or those with subsidies or Medicaid these forgotten, unsubsidized people could be the vanguard of the new uninsured under republican replacement plans.  The GOP is saying all people should have "access" to health care.  The dirty little secret is that access costs money and given the choice between another 500-800 per month or more for indifferent coverage, many will opt out and swell the ranks of those who are one medical emergency away from bankruptcy.  Welcome to the brave new world of Trumpcare!

The exhaustion of outrage

Another day, another body blow to those of us who believe in an inclusive, generous America.  We will find out today where and when the "big beautiful wall" between the US and our southern neighbor will start being built.  A 2006 law gives this administration the power to direct the build out.  However, congress will have to approve the funds to build it, as I don't see the possibility of Mexico paying for it.  Having installed his pro torture nominee to head the CIA, Trump will continue to push his vote suppressing choice for DOJ as well as his EPA suing nominee to head that agency.  The EPA and many other agencies have been hit with gag orders from the incoming administration instructing them to cease communication with the public.  This is not merely a lack of transparency.  This is stonewalling our right to know what our government is doing or not doing in the public's name.    Meanwhile, activists who organized the Women's March protests are gearing up for the long haul to fight these serial outrages.  I hope will not become inured to the caustic assaults on democracy by Trump and his shills.

Yesterday's Trump B.S.

I think I will blog under the above tag when moved by the level of B.S. being spewed by the Sunkist King.  For one thing, Trump blatantly lied about the election results again.  His easily bruised ego and need for justification can't deal with the fact that nearly 3 million more Americans voted for Hillary than for him.  So he repeated the lie he has stuck with since November 9, telling a bi-partisan delegation of congressional leaders that 3-5 million illegals voted for the Democratic nominee.  Needless to say, if even one tenth of one percent of that total was true, congress would have already enacted draconian vote suppressing legislation designed to keep vote fraud at bay.  The NYT headline this morning uses the word "lie" to describe the allegation.  I would imagine I could blog about Trump lies every day for the next 4 years, but I think outrage exhaustion will settle in quickly, so I think I will limit the liar blogs to the most egregious outbursts from Cheeto Jesus.  Hopefully the national media will keep the pressure for truth on this administration.  Otherwise, the Wonderland of "alternate facts" will quickly destroy the ability to hold the Trumpkins accountable for their crimes and misdemeanors.

Credibility

While Trump's fans would cheer him on if he shot an innocent bystander on 5th Avenue and then denied it, most of the rest of the reality based community would understand the deed and assign appropriate punishment.   So, on his first full day in office, Cheeto Jesus decided to argue with media and government estimates of crowd size at the inauguration and the subsequent Women's March.  As was apparent to even the meanest understanding, the swearing in was poorly attended and a bust in terms of television audience and the protests around the world the following day were unprecedented and far more interesting.  Nonetheless, the petulant child who is now our leader couldn't keep from bickering and lying about it.  The honeymoon lasted less than 24 hours, but that should not comfort those who feel that protests will have any effect on this president.  As  has been pointed out many times, unlike past presidents, what Trump says bears little relation to what he will do.  After a lifetime of lies and stiffing most contractors and banks who expected him to live up to the terms he agreed to, it passes belief he will make good on the populist promises which inspired so many middle class voters to flock to him.  Watch the legislation which moves through congress and see how quickly he signs bills which will hurt the very constituency he moved to vote for him.  History does not lie.

The stupidity of projection

The letters to the editor section of my local newspaper were full of hopeful projections from local readers the last few days.  I wish I could be more respectful of these purblind idiots, but it's an impossible task.   To think that a willful, emotionally stunted NY billionaire would have the least concern for middle class citizen struggling against a system rigged in his favor is beyond belief.  The staggering corruption and incompetence on display by the nascent administration has put the lie to any hope of an America progressing for at least the next 4 years. The really scary scenario has us falling into an armed conflict with China over trade or that nation's pursuit of the "one China policy" which has been acknowledged by American diplomacy since Nixon's presidency.  Probably the least of our worries will be a trade war with the Chinese.  That will only destabilize the economy which so many Trump supporters have denigrated for not supplying jobs which pay well with no particular skills or education necessary.  Those jobs have forever been relocated to countries where people are willing to work for a fraction of what reader's of the Press Republican consider a livable wage.  The really disheartening takeaway is these people will continue to project their own hopes and fears on the billionaire "populist" who a credulous minority of eligible voters have installed in the oval office until at least 2020.  I wish I could believe a higher power could save us from the imminent disaster, but last month's elections have pretty well proven if there is a god, she has a warped sense of humor.

One more day

In approximately 24 hours, the most powerful nation on earth will turn from the administration of "no drama Obama"  to the tangerine tweet machine.  We have had eight years of a reasonable, competent, classy government.  Based on the 3 ring circus of confirmation hearings for a range of pernicious, maladroit and downright unqualified cabinet candidates you would think the imminent dissolution of Ringling Brothers was taking place on Capitol Hill.  It seems the Trumpsters' idea of a department head is the person most antithetical to the mission of that particular government function.  Why else nominate a serial litigator against the EPA to guide it.  Why not an advocate of school vouchers to supervise the Education portfolio.  Let's nominate someone who doesn't even know the department of energy is in charge of the nations' nuclear stockpile.  To paraphrase H.L. Mencken, the people have at last reached their heart's desire and the White House is occupied by a downright moron.  After doing everything but offer a free set of steak knives to get people to come to the inauguration, Cheeto Jesus will be confronted the day after his enthronement with what looks like a 200,000 strong women's march on Washington.  I can only imagine the tweetstorm as this latest demonstration takes place.  If your idea of entertainment is making our country the laughingstock of the planet, it's going to be a very interesting 4 years.  If good government is your thing this is going to be a proctologist's dream!

Climate and the NCR

I'm taking a day off from thinking about the accession of Cheeto Jesus before my moral and ethical circuits overload.  Instead, as I was slip sliding away to work this morning my thoughts turned to climate change.  It was slushy and raining today on the NCR, which could be attributed to a traditional "January thaw".  However, there was no snow on the ground when this latest weather system arrived and according to the long range forecast, it will be off and on rain and snow showers for the next 10 days with temperatures ranging from 30 to 45 degrees.  This following a moderately cold and nearly snowless December has me thinking in terms of getting my garden seed orders in as quickly as possible.  Without appearing to be one of those old fogies who relentlessly relive the past, I have to say in just the 16 years I have lived in the North Country the overall change has been more than transient.   In the early 2000's, there were winters where the temperature stayed below freezing for weeks at a time with interludes where it stayed below 0 for days.  This simply does not happen any more.   My biggest fear is a repeat of the ice storm of  1998 when the temperature hovered near freezing for a week and rain froze on everything in several inch deep layers of ice which created havoc for months afterward.  The more I think about it though, the less likely the conditions would repeat, as the highs would likely be in the 40s which would melt the ice before significant damage could occur.  Without the continuation of government efforts to mitigate climate change, I believe snow and ice will increasingly become rarities in this area.  Unfortunately, there are other changes such as summer droughts and increasing year round warmth which will impact all of us in ways we can't imagine yet.    Which brings us back to the current political regime....may the Flying Spaghetti Monster have mercy on us all!

the non inauguration

Despite the decision by the national media to cover the inauguration of Cheeto Jesus like it was a normal Presidential oath taking as opposed to the attempted legitimization of an historically unqualified and unpopular pretender, many Americans are expressing their discontent in various ways.  Virtually no A list celebrities or show business acts will be appearing/performing at the inaugural "festivities".  Even those that are committed, such as the Rockettes and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir have had dissention among their members.  For the rest, it will be state and county fair headliners doing the bulk of the entertainment.  Even a Bruce Springsteen cover band was convinced to pull out of a commitment to perform for  a New Jersey inaugural ball.  Maybe Chris Christie can sub for them.  He certainly knows all the lyrics!  More than 30 representatives and senators will be boycotting the event.  That number is likely to grow as more liberal reps are overwhelmed by constituents demanding they stand with John Lewis.  I refuse to watch Putin's Poodle take the oath of office and then proceed to amuse his fellow countrymen with a pack of lies.  Believe it or not, NPR is offering a live fact check of the inaugural address!  I will watch the coverage of the demonstrations taking place on January 21 in D.C and around the country.  We cannot afford to offer any cover for what will be the most corrupt administration of modern times.  Vive la resistance.

Delegitimizing Trump

Civil Rights icon John Lewis took the first step to delegitimize the president elect.  When the man who put his body on the line in Selma during the march to Birmingham to protest Jim Crow says the election of Donald Trump was an illegal act, many people sat up and took notice.  Of course, Trump took to twitter to denounce Lewis and suggested he work for his district instead of criticizing his betters.  As I have said before, if the election had turned the other way and Trump had won the popular vote, there would be battalions of pitchfork wielding lawyers on the steps of the capitol demanding the congress overturn the results.  The fact that so far only Mr. Lewis has made the case this is a fundamentally flawed election which will lead to a rollback of much progressive legislation is a sad critique of the Democratic party.

Uneducated and proud of it

A recent study showed that 45% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans don't know that Obamacare has given access to health insurance to at least 20 million of their fellow citizens.  Where have these people been living for the past seven years?  I realize that many of my fellow Americans are either apolitical or live in the fantasy bubble of Faux News, but this level of policy ignorance strains credulity.  Certainly the major media networks and newspapers have published the progress of the ACA, showing the reduction in the rate of health care spending and the increase access to health care.  Unfortunately, the "Tea Party" deflected much of the good news with their transparently racist appeal to working class whites to protest against "Those people" getting better health care than hard working 'Murcans.  Ironically, many whites who got coverage through the Obamacare exchanges in states like Kentucky don't realize the ACA made this possible and the immediate effect of repeal will result in their loss of care.  This is one of the reasons I think the wonks who feel Republicans will pay a price for repeal of the health care law are wrong.  Many if not most of the real people on the losing end of this folly will either blame Democrats or celebrate their fellow Americans loss on the basis of their skin color.  Either Black or White, these millions of people have virtually no political power and can safely be ignored by the GOP.  The only hope is for Cheeto Jesus to live up to his promise to replace the health care law with something better.  I'm buying lottery tickets this weekend.

De-Pressing

As Michael Moore pointed out last night, the president elect's news conference featured a bravura performance by the speaker and a challenge to the media.  Either accept that they will be played unceasingly by the new administration, or roll up their journalistic sleeves and begin some hard reporting on the facts.  A case in point is the now infamous dossier published by Buzzfeed which purports to document the compromising information and pictures of Trump while he was in St. Petersburg and Moscow at various times during the past few years.  Many argue that they should not have published unverified information.   But it turns out virtually everyone in DC has known of these rumors for months.  The public was left out in the cold.  Now, realistically, there is no way to verify much of the allegations contained in the document.  Maybe if we ask politely the Russian intelligence agency will share with us!  However, the sources of the information we now know about were considered reliable enough by our intelligence agencies that they briefed both Obama and Trump regarding their contents.  Since Buzzfeed published, other sources have come forward, so it is possible that by risking their journalistic reputation, Buzzfeed may well have done all of us a service.  We are about to inaugurate a president who will in all likelihood make us the laughingstock of the world and susceptible to blackmail by a long time adversary.  We deserve to know how and why this is so and to put pressure on our elected representatives to remedy this situation.  This is the challenge facing journalism.  It is also a challenge to all US citizens.  As president Obama put it the other night, it is our most sacred duty.

Class and Crass

The contrast between the outgoing and incoming Presidents was on full display last night and it could not have been more stark.  President Obama took a well deserved victory lap, noting achievements of his administration, exhorting Americans to take their duties as citizens seriously and finally giving a shout out to his wife, the VP and all those who worked tirelessly for eight years to better the lives of their fellow countrymen.  By contrast, a new dossier compiled by a former British intelligence agent purports to reveal contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives as well as salacious material collected by the Russians with the goal of compromising the man they helped elect.  Besides being possibly the least qualified candidate to ever win the presidency it may be that Trump is now a virtual puppet of Vladimir Putin due to personal indiscretions and business ties with Russian oligarchs and organized crime.   If even a tiny bit of this intelligence information is true, Trump is a lame duck before his inauguration and may very well face impeachment soon after taking the oath of office.   I rest my case.

The Majority Report

A facebook troll annoyed the Divine Mrs. M the other day.  Commenting on the distress of democrats during the period leading up to the inauguration of Cheeto Jesus, he basically said "The election is over, Trump won, get over it".   As my better half did also, I beg to differ with said troll.  Trump won after a relentlessly ugly negative campaign of insults and lies regarding his opponent.  He won due in part to Russian hacking of Democratic National Committee e-mails which were leaked by wikileaks in a steady stream to maximum effect.  He won because the FBI director issued a highly partisan letter insinuating there was a continuing investigation of Hillary Clinton's e-mails.  He won because less than 80,000 voters in three swing states chose to vote against their own best interests.  He won despite losing the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes.  I could go on, but you get the general idea.  A significant percentage of the American public will never acknowledge the presidency of the Tangering Nightmare, so Mr. Troll, enjoy the fruits of your vote in solitude.  It's not going to be a fun 4 years.

They were not Giants

Most of the time, this blog comments on vegetable gardening, politics and the goings on of various members of the Monzeglio clan, not necessarily in that order.  Today, I will break with this agenda and write about an obsession which has cost me much psychic peace over the years.  I have to admit I am a New York Giants football fan.  I am not fanatical about it, but have followed the team's fortunes for over 50 years.  I still remember Sunday afternoons as a college freshman watching pathetic losses under Allie Sherman and wondering if the wealthy Mara family would ever cough up the resources to bring back the glory years of the early 50s which I had inconveniently missed by being to young to appreciate Charlie Connerly and Sam Huff.  Flash forward to the Bill Parcells era and a couple of Super Bowls brought to the team by Lawrence Taylor and Phil Simms.  Fans got used to winning again and the teams Eli Manning brought to the big game and humbled the Patriots seemed like the start of something really big.  Unfortunately it looks like Eli is on the back side of his career and the Giants lay down in front of a Green Bay Packer's bulldozer yesterday.  Some soul searching must be done in the aftermath of yesterday's massacre, because this iteration of the G-Men is not likely to win much without a makeover.  Nuff said.

Here Come the Russians

As a kid, I remember the movie "The Russians are Coming", with Alan Arkin.   As I remember, he played a bumbling commander of a Russian submarine crew stranded off the American coast.  The plot was mostly about the crew's misadventures and their interaction with the Americans they encountered, all in a comic vein, albeit with a slightly hysterical take on the American subconscious.  A remake of the same movie today would have to be a much darker comedy or a downright sinister tale of American bumbling and Russian interference in our affairs.  The Senate hearings on Russian hacking of the recent elections were a revelation and I'm sure the classified portion was even more alarming.  Meanwhile, according to the Washington Post, they partied in the Kremlin when the popular vote loser was declared the winner of the Presidency.  Putin got his useful idiot installed as the supposedly most powerful person in the world.  Who will be pulling the strings that make The Donald dance?  I think we need the answer to that and other troubling questions.

The new racism

As the election post mortems continue, it is becoming more and more obvious that the simplest explanation is the most correct.   Many white Americans are racist and sexist and are willing to vote for someone who promises to reverse the multicultural society we are becoming and somehow restore white supremacy.  What about all the white voters who voted for Obama, but not Clinton?  As Jamaal Bouie at Slate explains it, when the choice is between a bog standard republican such as John McCain or the plutocrat Mitt Romney, they could vote for a black man who championed the interests of the bottom 99%.  When, however, Donald Trump promised the return of the halcyon days of the 1940s and 50s when white men were the bosses and women and niggers knew their places they were able to switch to the GOP.  Of course, outside of Breitbart fans and the KKK, these rural white voters would never admit the validity of the proposition, but a new study which teases out the racism and sexism factors shows that those were decisive at both conscious and unconscious levels in many white voters.  As long as the democrats remain the multiracial party, they will have to deal with the possibility that republicans will from now on become more explicit in their appeals to the dark side of their base. 

To Govern or not to govern

That is the question republicans will have to answer for at least the next two years.   After 10 years of being the opposition party with little or no skin in the game, the GOP now controls all the levers of power in the federal government.  The problem is many representatives and not a few senators have  made a career of obstruction and demonizing government.  They claimed the government was the problem and have steadily tried to starve it of resources and credibility.  Now they are expected to make it work.  We have a crumbling infrastructure, a rube Goldberg health care system and a top heavy military system which has funneled pork projects to conservative representatives' districts regardless of their utility.  If they approach governance in the same way they have during Obama's two terms in office, we could be facing crises in a number of different areas in short order.  Add the lack of experience and ability of Cheeto Jesus at the head of the federal bureaucracy and it is a recipe for disaster.  Rural America votes overwhelmingly for republicans and gets a far greater share of federal resources than the wealthier, democratic cities.  Now these god-fearing and democratic hating rubes will finally get what they think they voted for.  And don't they wish they will like it.  For the rest of it, when the revelation comes to them it will be cold comfort to the rest of us.

New Year's first thoughts

My first new year's resolution is  to try to ignore the tweets of Cheeto Jesus and concentrate on the actual policies his administration is implementing.  Unfortunately, it seems the MSM can't see the forest for the trees and keeps chasing the shiny objects Trump keeps throwing out.  No, people, house republicans did not reverse course and stop themselves from gutting the ethics office.  They merely put it off until the furor dies down.  No, Ford did not cancel a plant in Mexico due to pressure from the incoming administration.  Sales of the company's small cars are tanking due to low fuel prices, so the new plant has been shelved.  No new jobs in the US.  Executives of US companies feel obliged to suck up to The Donald on the off chance he may direct his follower's ire in their direction.    I have a feeling most of the media will not realize they are still being played until it is time for the next election, if then.