Roseanne and me

I cheerfully admit to never watching an episode of Roseanne Barr's TV show back in the 80s and early 90s.  I never thought much about the choice, but maybe it was just the feeling that All in the Family had covered much the same ground in a more thoughtful manner.  Be that as it may, I will not watch the second incarnation of Ms. Barr's exploration of American working class angst.   Her outing herself in both real life and on the show as a tRump voter was not the deciding factor in my decision not to participate in this cultural phenomenon, but it played a part.  From what I have heard, the show is smart, funny and it check's all the boxes in contemporary sociology.  The Conners have a mixed race grandchild, another who is gender non-conforming and Roseanne's sister is still a democrat.  She says she voted for tRump because he mentioned jobs and was going to "shake things up".  For these two sentiments she and millions of others were willing to entrust the awesome power of the presidency to a serial sexual assaulter, bankruptcy filer and all around low life.   Despite the portrayal of Roseanne as salt of the earth working class heroine, she is in real life an extremely rich woman who continues to distort the real life experience of ordinary people. 

Slowly it turns

Spring is approaching, but the pace remains glacial (pun intended).  Stubborn piles of snow remain and the temperatures still fall below freezing most nights.  The local golf courses could still support cross country skiing, but there are signs of the coming season.  I watered my pepper and snapdragon seedlings in the basement this morning.  I have covered the cold frames to warm the soil so I can start planting lettuce seeds this weekend and the garlic beds nearest the south facing barn wall are starting to sprout.  It's not much evidence of spring, but I'll take it after a long and sometimes brutally cold winter.

Moving the goalposts

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens wrote an Op-Ed in the paper of record yesterday advocating the repeal of the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution, the ambiguously worded "right to keep and bear arms".  Of course many on both sides of the issues needed a fainting couch after reading Steven's argument.  The right counted it as rankest heresy and the left as a classic overreach.  Personally, I think Stevens was trolling the opponents of gun control and in a table turning gambit was using the gun nuts own strategy of moving the goal posts in the direction he wishes the argument to be fought.   Of course we will never, at least in my lifetime repeal the 2nd amendment.  But with even a hint such a thing might happen, all of a sudden, things like assault weapons bans and stringent licensing and insurance regulations become possible.  Instead of absolutist positions, compromise becomes a possibility.  The right has been doing this for years.  It's time the rest of us use the same tactics for progressive causes.  Justice Stevens is on to something.

Cage rattling

Judging by the attacks on the March for Our Lives movement by conservatives and gun nuts, the kids are on to something.  The five demands they are making are all sensible, easily doable check-offs, with the exception of an assault weapons ban and buyback program similar to Australia's.  I warmly applaud these well informed young adults and their can do spirit.  It helps that they are obviously nurtured and supported by loving parents who are proud of their efforts.  Like previous generations, this cohort of young people are being challenged, in this case by senseless gun violence.  They are responding like heroes and picking up the mantle of activism once worn by Viet-Nam protestors and before that by those who fought and won World War 2.  They face a united front of those who profit by gun sales and the carnage that results.  I believe they will not be deterred and will continue the fight into the voting booths across the country for the next few cycles until the most pro NRA congressmen are retired.

Likewise, I'm sure

The March For Our Lives, an heroic event organized by the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with a little help from the nascent gun control movement was by all accounts a huge success in that it showed the breadth of the movement.  Now we will find out the depth of said movement.   It would be a fitting tribute to the latest victims of senseless death due to the availability of weapons of mass destruction if assault weapons are banned and like Australia there is a real buy back program to get the millions of these weapons out of the public's hands.  However, unless the marchers are willing to become one issue voters in the same way the NRA devotees are, there will be little progress on the legislative front.   As long as the average congressman perceives gun nuts as more dangerous to his/her reelection than gun control enthusiasts there will be no action.  The millenials and their children will be the ones who will eventually move this issue, but it will take sustained action and exercise of the franchise to make it happen.

A tiny tempest

So, Stormy Daniels' supposedly bombshell interview finally aired on "60 Minutes" last night and based on what I saw, the rest of the nation probably uttered a collective "So What?".   That tRump cheated on his wives is nothing new.  The part about Ms. Daniels spanking him with a copy of Forbes magazine was also known ahead of time, although it sounded a bit kinky when she told Anderson Cooper about it.  But without documentary evidence that she was threatened by an employee of the tRump organization to induce her silence, there seems no reason for Stormy's 15 minutes of fame.  Her lawyer hyped the televised interview as something more than what actually happened.  Unless he or she can come up with something else, this whole thing will blow over in a matter of a few weeks.  After all, we'll probably be on a war footing by May.

Fasten seat belts

It looks like the *president finally has his diplomatic dream team; Mike Pompeo at State and John Bolton as his national security advisor.  Pompeo is widely expected to practice bare knuckled diplomacy with friend and foe alike.  Bolton on the other hand has no use for talks.  To him every dispute is a nail and a military response is his hammer.  Both advocate scrapping the Iran deal, despite the fact it was negotiated with our European allies.  Our renewal of sanctions against the Iranians is a toothless threat because our allies will never follow that lead, leaving Bolton free to propose the military option.  Likewise, a blustering threat filled summit with N. Korea will likely lead to increased tension and fear in Asia.  It's like these idiots will be playing the board game Risk*, only with the lives of hundreds of millions at stake. 

What do we really want?

Perhaps more than ever before, we the people are creations of the media.   Specifically, our opinions are generated by the relentless assault on our senses by social media.  Facebook, twitter, instagram and a whole panoply of apps I am personally unfamiliar with but which Millenials and their children have grown up using.  In addition, cable news has conveniently set itself up to cater to the opinions we naturally gravitate toward.  I'm not saying "the greatest generation" did not have its own foibles; segregation and intolerance were part and parcel of growing up in the mid 20th century.  However, we now have a gigantic marketplace of ideas to choose from.  So how did a mountebank like tRump manage to get elected?   What itch does his completely bonkers style of governance scratch among the population at large.  It would seem we are creatures of grievance, looking for someone to voice our inchoate rage against the established order.   Despite the fact over 3 million more people voted for Hillary than for The Donald, a fluke in our electoral system allowed the American Id to gain national power.  What happens next is anyone's guess.

Full employment

One of the leading contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, Kirsten Gillibrand has come out in favor of a national policy of full employment.  That may sound like campaign boilerplate, but Gillibrand's proposal is to guarantee a job to any American who wants one, which would result in zero unemployment instead of the 4-5 per cent which economists tout as full employment.  The vehicle would be an infrastructure bank which would finance local projects in communities around the nation.  It would be paid for by a 5% tax on income over $200,000 on individuals.  Of course this doesn't get much play on the cable news shows which are all in on the latest tRump scandal, but it does poll extremely well, especially among blacks, latinos and poor whites.   Mainstream pundits and economists will shoot the whole idea down as unworkable and sure to be opposed by the Koch brothers and virtually every corporation in America.  These entities thrive with the existence of a large pool of unemployed and under employed workers who are desperate enough to work for whatever the corporations are willing to pay.  This depresses wages for everyone.  The issue is one which Gillibrand or whoever wins the Democratic nod in 2020 can frame as a coalition builder.  Much as tRump energized the racist and misogynist vote in 2016, a Democrat can scoop up the support of those left behind economically in the 21st century.   It's worth a try.

Pass the Scorecard

There are so many scandals hovering around the tRump administration you literally need a scorecard to keep track.   Yesterday came news the company used by the *president to engage in social media, Cambridge Analytica has been busted for illegally harvesting personal information from the accounts of 50 million facebook users.  On top of the firing of Andrew McCabe in an obvious effort to taint his usefulness as a witness in the Mueller investigation and further developments in said investigation the casual observer can be excused the whiplash all this information causes.  Meanwhile legitimate policy languishes as The Donald and his not so merry men play whack-a-mole.   The very real needs of our country are not being met.  Of course, if Hillary had been elected, the drumbeat of congressional investigation would have hamstrung any attempt at governance on her part.   However, we would not be saddled with Scott Pruitt, Ryan Zinke and the host of slimy weasels who have infested the federal government.  I would advocate for passing the popcorn if the very real damage these charlatans are doing were not an outrage which may take years if not decades to correct.

Tiny hands, tiny mind

This past weekend was illustrative of the depths to which our political system has sunk.  On Friday afternoon, the deputy director of the FBI  was fired for "lack of candor", less than 24 hours from his retirement.  This was done to demean and degrade the man, Andrew Mc Cabe and deny him his pension after 21 years of service.  Following this bit of petty vengeance, we heard the *president's lawyers are suing a porn actress for blabbing about an affair she engaged in with the liar-in-chief while his third wife was caring for their new born child.  In a world where we face the very real possibility of nuclear war, climate change and countless other challenges, our leader chooses personal vendettas instead of real issues.  Kevin Drum and others have published McCabe's statement in which he excoriates tRump as a petty would be tyrant who obviously feels he is entitled to politicize the FBI and treat civil service employees like the fools who work for him in his business organization and the White House.  2020 can't come soon enough.

The clown car cometh

We are finally about to see the kind of government The Donald thinks we deserve.  Forget the marginally qualified grifters like Ben Carson of HUD or the tempermentally unsuited like Rex Tillerson.  Let's make a torturer the head of the CIA, a CNBC blowhard the head of the council of economic advisors and and all around warmongering nutball the National Security Advisor.  Then let's raid Faux News for the rest of the subcabinet openings.  It's reality TV on a grand scale.  What could possibly go wrong.

Terror and the erosion of decency

Despite the work history of the new nominee to head the CIA, it appears she will win enough votes to become the first woman to head the agency.  Gina Haspel, who was "chief of base" at a black ops base in Thailand after 9/11 and allegedly supervised the torture of detainees, is being lauded by the usual suspects, including Dick Cheyney's spawn.  Why do Americans consistently approve of torture?   A Reuter's poll in 2016 made it clear that a majority of my countrymen and virtually all self identified Republicans approve of torture despite many studies which prove very little true information is gleaned during the procedure.  I don't doubt it, but that is not what prompts my incredulity.  It seems when questioned by the pollster, most people said they wanted more torture because they were afraid of terror attacks at various public venues, including airports, sporting events, etc.   Why?   I am not a warrior by any means, but I have never felt afraid of being caught in a terror attack and certainly would never approve of torturing anyone to get actionable intelligence.  It would seem that starting on the day the twin towers fell, we have been fed a steady stream of agitprop designed to make us afraid of terrorists.  Faux News is a major source of this misinformation, but even the bastions of the MSM are guilty to an extent.  The chance of the average Fox viewer being killed by a terrorist are about the same as being struck by lightning.  However, the fear mongering in the media, aided and abetted by those in government who know better has shaped a world in which we are about to have a torturer become head of the CIA.  Jesus would weep if he had any tears left.

Reining in the reign of rain

The wannabe copy editor at casa Monzeglio, the Divine Mrs. M took umbrage the other day when our local paper used rein instead of reign in a news story.  I doubt one in one hundred of the Press-Republican's readers (If it has that many) noticed the mistake, but as my better half opined it is a symptom of the times.   Many things can derail a democracy, but a decline in literacy is a major indicator that something is wrong.  Of course the very existence of a tRump presidency is a tell tale, but the inability of people to grasp proper grammar and usage is a serious problem, despite what many people would describe as elitist attitudes. 

looking in the mirrow

Late posting today as I had to clean the driveway of the latest snowfall this morning at first light.  It's looking like it will have to be done this evening again.  Ugh!  I hate winter.   Meanwhile, in flyover country it looks like the Dems picked up a seat in the House last night.  Conor Lamb, a fresh faced veteran and former prosecutor was able to persuade a Trump +20 congressional district to give him a chance.  I was struck by the pictures of Lamb's supporters.   They looked like a cross section of the mainly white suburban/working class voters who pushed tRump to electoral victory.  Another recent study of these increasingly republican leaning voters posits they are less driven by economic factors than racial resentment and fear of the "other".  That would explain how nearly 50% of the electorate in that district would vote for a republican who is promising to destroy the ACA and is fine with a regressive tax cut for the rich.  It is comforting that a slice of that demographic will at least give the democrat a chance.   It bodes well for a reckoning in November.

Slip sliding away

After a nasty fall on some black ice in the driveway yesterday, my 66 year old body was not feeling the love when I woke up this morning.  With bruises on top of my bruises, I am hating winter with a cold, hard certainty.  The meager comfort of more daylight in the evening is being tempered by a winter weather advisory predicting up to 10 inches of snow by tomorrow.  

All over again

Although somewhat jet lagged by the latest switch to daylight savings time, I am still gobsmacked by the continuing assault on my sense of outrage by the tRump administration.   The outrages continue to pile up, but I think I will try this week to discuss virtually anything by The Donald.  It will be better for my blood pressure.  Today's highlight will be the NYT column by David Leonhardt regarding sugar in our diets.  As a perennial wintertime struggler against waistline creep, I can certainly get behind the elimination of as much sugar as possible from my diet.  The problem being that sugar is ubiquitous in most foods that are even minimally processed.  The Divine Mrs. M and I subsist on a diet of mostly fresh, unprocessed food.  But the little processed food we do eat contributes mightily to our calorie intake.  Changing that equation will be a lot harder than it sounds.

Mind Boggling

Stormy Daniels, steel and aluminum tariffs, North Korea, Robert Mueller and on and on.  The scandals and stupidity come on like an avalanche, crushing and distorting everything in their path.  Even the pundits can't keep up with the craziness.   The Daniels scandal pretty much proves the *president is vulnerable to bribery, not to mention the illegal machinations used to cover up the tryst.  The steel and aluminum tariffs are most likely a reaction to other news which enraged our toddler in chief and will probably kick off a disastrous trade war.  The spur of the moment decision to meet with the North Koreans is evident by the stunned reactions of the Pentagon and State Departments indicating neither was consulted.  The consensus reaction is we are being rolled by the North Koreans who will advertise this "summit" as the capitulation of  the US in the face of a nuclear armed North.  Meanwhile, the Mueller investigation is inquiring about the back channel to the Kremlin that the tRump administration seemed desperate to get in place before the inauguration.  What is that all about.  Inquiring minds want to know.  And so it goes.

Weather or Not

Thankfully the latest winter storm did not reach our area with any ferocity.  A light dusting of snow caused a few fender benders and further depleted the snow clearing budgets of local towns, but we missed the accumulations and power outages which will plague more southern areas in New England for the next several days.  As much as we would like this winter to be over, heavy snow and freezing temps remain possibilities for at least another month.  The latest reports on the science of climate change now say the Northeastern US will lag behind much of the world in the global warming department as Polar cold is displaced to our area despite the continued thaw  in the Arctic regions.  This is unfortunate because it will allow climate deniers in Washington to continue their pernicious lies regarding human caused climate change.  By the time we start planting palm trees on the shores of Lake Champlain it will be too late to mitigate the damage much of the rest of the world will experience.

The Free Trade Charade

The serious media wonks are horrified that the tRump administration would put tariffs on imported steel!  Not the farcial rollout of what appears to be an off the cuff Trumpian moment, but the actual policy, if it is ever written out and enforced.   America has subsidized world trade for the past 50 years by running major trade deficits with most of the world.  American manufacturing has been hollowed out by the relentless off shoring of jobs and factories.  The buying power of the middle class has declined to the point it won't be able to consume the huge amount of production allotted to it.   The populist rhetoric tRump deployed during the campaign resonated with his base and this is obviously a half hearted attempt to satisfy the MAGA crowd.  However, it is a hare-brained scheme with no firm policy objectives other than to momentarily distract us from the Mueller investigation of Russian meddling in the elections, past, present and future.  Some adjustment of our trade policy is warranted, especially vis-a-vis China, Germany and other countries with huge trade surpluses.   Scattershot, vindictive tariffs which hurt close allies like Canada and Mexico is not the way to do it.

King Lear syndrome

King Lear is a Shakespearean tragedy and most people believe Lear is the victim.  Unfortunately, the king is the perpetrator of everyone else's grief.   He doesn't come to this realization until the last act, when his manipulation by his unscrupulous daughter becomes evident.  I doubt there is a less sympathetic character in all of the bard's plays.  Which brings us to present day America and the tragedy playing out at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.  Truly, the *president makes Lear seem like a self aware empath.   As the special prosecutor closes in on him and his closest associates, tRump continues to flail like a drunk attempting to make his getaway in a car he is locked out of.   He appears to be ready to sacrifice virtually anyone in his way.   The exception is probably his daughter, Ivanka and possibly his son-in-law, though if I was Jared, I wouldn't count on it.  The fool in this little play appears to be a former employee, Sam Nunberg who made the rounds on cable news yesterday.  He alternately taunted and groveled before the subpoena requiring him to testify before Mueller's grand jury.  Perhaps this is a preview of The Donald's  King Lear moment. 

Marching times on

With Winter Storm Riley inflicting another body blow on the northeast and another Nor'easter in the pipeline for this coming Wednesday it looks like March is coming in like a lion.  We can only hope the "going out like a lamb" part balances out the weather karma.  Fortunately, the NCR was spared the brunt of the storm, but heavy snow south of us and storm tides along the New England coast spread the weather pain across a pretty big swath of the Northeast US. 

Laws of Entropy

The universe tends toward chaos.  Nowhere is this better illustrated than the current White House.   When The Donald was a relatively new phenomenon, the media gleefully portrayed the growing incoherence of its daily operations as some sort of charming peccadillo of the chief inhabitant.  Amusing, but not very dangerous.   As the months roll by and the body count of fired or resigned aides and assistants grows alarmingly, it has become less amusing and more horrifying.  There is genuine concern about finding replacements for staffers now that  employment in the tRump administration is seemingly a one way ticket to self immolation.   During other, more sane administrations, a job in the West Wing was seen as a ticket to a lifetime of secure and lucrative employment divided between government service and high priced lobbying gigs.  Now, ex Trump employees have a radioactive taint which will probably see them leave D.C. in disgrace, with bullseye on their backs.   It will be interesting to see how many tell all books will be written in the next few years.   In the meantime, the dissonance continues and the last person to talk to the chief agent of Chaos (may Don Adams RIP) is seemingly the best informed as to what will happen next.

In plain sight

Many commentators and pundits keep saying the tRump administration has been lucky and so far has not faced a crisis which will define its shortcomings, such as the botched handling of Hurricane Katrina forever scarred the Shrub's.   Meanwhile, out of sight and mind of most Americans, Puerto Rico continues its fitful recovery from a storm which occurred in August.  For months, most of population has not had electricity and it is estimated the storm caused or is responsible for at least a thousand deaths.   Most of these deaths happened several weeks after the storm when prompt restoration of power probably would have prevented them.  Of course the media narrative is the island power grid was in terrible shape and somehow the general population is responsible for this shortcoming.  Unfortunately, racism is a big part of this story.  Similar, but less deadly storms in Texas and Florida were met with massive amounts of federal aid.  Power was restored quickly and most residents were happy with the response.  Meanwhile, in PR, FEMA's feeble response has resulted in islandwide suffering of the entire population which has been underreported, due to the geographic isolation and the racial makeup of most inhabitants.  It would be hard to imagine a similar federal response to a major storm in Hawaii.  What happens when the next big crisis appears?