Is the Democrats learning anything

     Over at his opinion column at the NYT this morning, Paul Krugman's hair is on fire.  He is concerned Republicans are out to end democracy as we know it in this country by 2024.   Krugman doesn't believe a majority of his fellow citizens will vote for GOP candidates because they believe in the policies espoused by the party: tax cuts for the rich and shredding the social safety net are not popular.  Rather due to a combination of race baiting and voter suppression the party may find itself in control of Congress and the White House after the next presidential election.

     Picture the present House minority in control of the levers of power.  Watch a doddering Mitch McConnell try to restrain Josh Hawley.   And of course, the ultimate nightmare of tRump's return to "executive time" in the White House.  Krugman is worried that no matter how Biden's policies improve the life of the average citizen, the right wing media machine will drown these gains in a tidal wave of hate.  Faux News has already previewed its policy by firing the men at their political desk who called the election for Biden and effectively short circuited tRump's attempt to steal it.  

     State legislatures controlled by Republicans have introduced at least 106 pieces of legislation designed to suppress the votes of young people, POC and the poorest among us.   What we do during the next 2 years as a people will be critical in turning back the tide of authoritarianism threatening to engulf us.

Covid 19 and me

       Well, the Divine Mrs. M and I got the first shot of Covid 19 vaccine yesterday and aside from a sore arm, we can both report feeling well so far.   We had to drive 50 miles to get the immunization, but that was not a high bar for us.   Unfortunately, for too many Americans you might have scheduled their shots on the moon.   Once again, class and race have far too much bearing on medical treatment in this country.  

     

Does character matter?

        In our topsy turvy world, it seems character trumps performance in the world of sports, while in politics, the opposite seems to be true.   The baseball writers refused to elect Roger Clemens and Bobby Bonds to the Baseball Hall of Fame for the 9th consecutive year due to questions regarding their use of PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs).  Looking at pictures of both players in their rookie years and again during the peak performance seasons that defined their careers the differences are remarkable.  Reasonable people can have conflicting opinions about whether to enshrine people who flagrantly broke the rules.

       Meanwhile, in DC, congressional Republicans have advanced a character free judgement of the former commander in chief in the aftermath of his attempt to overthrow a free and fair election which put his opponent into the office instead.   tRump gathered a mob and encouraged them to storm the Capitol and prevent Congress from performing a largely ceremonial counting of electoral votes.  Personally, I would rather have Mr. Bonds or Mr. Clemens  as president as have tRump.   What do you think?

Waiting for the other shoe to drop

        If you follow left leaning blogs, the reaction to Mitch McConnell's "caving in" and allowing Democrats to organize the Senate as the majority party is instructive.   Majority leader Chuck Schumer characterized  McConnell's action in the face of Democrats' willingness to use the nuclear option and do away with the legislative filibuster as a total capitulation.  At one of the more liberal blogs, Eschaton, the commentator opined it was more likely the total opposition to doing away with the filibuster by two conservative Dems, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema that convinced the minority leader his main tool to frustrate the majority would continue to be available.

       Another take would be the Dems should immediately "more in sorrow than in anger", do away with the filibuster as that is what McConnell and the Republicans would do if the situation was reversed.  Meanwhile, Rachel Maddow hailed the power sharing agreement as a win for Democrats, choosing not to mention the statements of Manchin and Sinema which effectively hamstring the putative majority if they choose to initiate progressive legislation.

Time to play hardball

       It is less than a week into the new administration, but to steal a phrase from Chris Matthews, "let's play hardball" with a Republican party which never stopped.   As  I write this, Mitch McConnell is holding up the start of the new Congressional term to wring concessions from incoming majority leader Schumer, including pledging to leave the filibuster as it was in the last term, thereby giving McConnell and the GOP the ability to stifle Joe Biden's legislative agenda.

      It is rare when someone tells you exactly what they intend to do and dares you to do something about it.  At this early date, McConnell is doing just that.  So far it looks like Schumer and the Democrats are willing to do what is necessary to preserve the administration's power.  Let's hope they throw a high hard one right at McConnell's wobbly chins.

The Bad Faith Express

       When John McCain ran against the Shrub for the GOP presidential nomination in 2000, the bus he traveled in from one campaign event to another was called "The straight talk express".  McCain promised reporters he would tell the truth to the American people.   He managed to captivate most of the media covering him and but for some Bush campaign dirty tricks in S. Carolina he may very well have won the nomination and the subsequent election.

      Today's Republican party is engaged in the very opposite of McCain's campaign.   In the wake of the attack on the Capitol by a mob inspired by tRump, the lies are coming fast and furious.  Antifa dressed up as MAGA supporters were the real culprits!   Democrats are tearing the country apart by accusing Republicans of bad faith!  I saw a GOP congresscritter turn herself into a pretzel as a CNN anchor walked her through the incredible leap from voting to decertify Joe Biden's election to arguing she was only echoing the arguments of millions of Americans who had trouble believing in the election.   The Republican was left sputtering after Erin Burnett flat out told her these millions of citizens disbelieved mostly because they were fed lies continuously since election day by her and the right wing media.

    This is the ecosystem Biden and Harris will have to deal with for the next 4 years if they do not deal with the lies and bad faith of GOPers such as Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and the chief insurrectionist himself.  I wish them good luck, but as one pundit said, a revival of the Fairness Doctrine might be more to the point.

The new beginning

        It was a good beginning.   Despite the windswept and largely deserted Capitol steps and the 25,000 National Guardsmen patrolling the streets of DC, it was still a hopeful scene.   The legitimately elected president, a decent old white guy, was inaugurated by a visibly relieved looking John Roberts.  Perhaps as important in a cosmic sense, Kamala Harris, a black woman of Jamaican and Southeast Asian ancestry took the oath as Vice President.

       Of course, when your party wins and takes power, no matter what the President and VP say it will sound high minded.  As one pundit reminded us, however, Jimmy Carter sounded very good at his inaugural and look what happened.   Fortunately, unlike Carter, Joe Biden has made a career out of the inside deal in Washington.   Carter was an engineer, not a politician and could not get along, even with Democrats.   

       Another criticism of Biden is his relentless centrist stands on policy matters great and small.  Fortunately, the party itself is moving leftward at a pretty good pace and Biden seemingly has no problem with that.   Most of his appointees are decent progressives who will acquit themselves well.   He made a great start soon after the inauguration, signing a flurry of executive orders meant to cancel the previous president's* witless and mendacious attempts to make Americans' lives harder.  He also started the process of getting rid of moles planted by tRump's minions.  

     So far, so good.   It will get hard soon, but at least the new POTUS is saying the right things.

Ending the Error

        Leaving the White House as gracelessly and low class as he entered it 4 years ago, tRump and his wife departed in a cloud of suspicion and recrimination.   Goodbye and good riddance.

It didn't have to be that bad

       The above could apply to virtually any tRump policy you can name, from the Covid 19 response to putting children in cages to running up the national debt to raise the wealth of a few individuals and corporations.   It didn't have to be that bad!

       The fact we (collectively) elected an unqualified ignoramus president in 2016 did not necessarily mean we would have a failed government.   The star of The Apprentice assured us he would only hire the best people to run the government.   He then went out and did the opposite, hiring many people who actively opposed the mission of the departments they were chosen to run.  Or, they were even less qualified than the mountebank who deputized their cheerful nihilism.

     As Joe Biden is proving with his every selection, there are many people who have the expertise and enthusiasm to run government at a very high level.   From foreign policy to environmental protection his teams represent relentless competence.   tRump was handicapped in the sense Republicans have become the can't do party since Obama's first inauguration.   Even as simple a fix as raising the minimum wage to reflect inflation and productivity will be opposed by the GOP for "reasons".   Biden and his team have 2 years to convince Americans that government can be a force for good.  Let's hope they get it right.  The alternative is not worth contemplating.

Half a million!

       It is now estimated over 500,000 Americans will have died by the end of February no matter what happens between now and then.   A corrupt and incompetent administration basically gave up on fighting the disease progression in the weeks leading up to the 2020 elections.   To repeat the refrain describing so much of tRump's government, "They must be held accountable.  

     There are so many things the federal government could have done to increase the pace of vaccinations as the medicine became available.   Setting up mass vaccination centers, loosening the regulations concerning who should be protected first, training a cadre of people to actually get shots into arms.  These programs could have been set up months ago, but none were.  instead it was left up to underfunded state governments to do the hard work.   

     Now we face a winter of tragedy.   Let's hope the Biden-Harris administration can lead us to a spring of hope.

One more time

        Once again, an incoming Democratic administration is taking office amid the smoking ruins of an economy brought low by the bungling of the coronavirus epidemic.   Much like the Obama administration, Biden's boys and girls must try to right the ship with little or no help from Republicans.   The difference is this time they know ahead of time bipartisanship is DOA.    The deficit chickenhawks will be in full voice again.  Paul Krugman in the NYT today has a motto for Biden; "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead"!

Don't do it

       As the eponymous patron saint of this blog once observed, an old jewish proverb contained the words of an elderly lady who was told an obvious lie turned to the liar and said "Don't pee on my back and tell me it's raining".   I was reminded of this story as i listened to republicans yesterday prior to the impeachment vote in the house.   Many of the more moderate GOPers told America we need "unity".  Impeaching the president would cause strife they told us.   Please.   As Jerry would probably say, we should be carrying urinals instead of umbrellas.

Sedition

       Amid news 4400 of our fellow Americans died of Covid 19 complications yesterday comes revelations that members of congress may have escorted rioters through the Capitol on Jan.5.  If true, Americans should be rightly shocked that elected officials who took an oath to the Constitution on Jan. third promptly betrayed it two days later.   

      It is hard to believe anyone could put loyalty to a bloated toad whose allegiance is to no one but himself above fealty to our nation.  That members of congress may have been involved in this attempted coup is even more disturbing.   If found to be true, there must be swift and sure justice.  The members must be immediately expelled and brought to trial.

It still comes down to race

      As more and more studies are done on the mob that broke into the Capitol last week the majority seem to conclude that race was probably a huge contributing factor.  Many of the rioters, 99% plus white appealed to white officers in the Capitol Police to aid them in finding members of congress.   Some of these officers appeared to aid the mob, even taking selfies with rioters.   Meanwhile, newly released footage shows some insurrectionists beating police with flagpoles.

     It is a huge short term challenge, but police forces around the country are going to have examine their officers for racist ideology and fire them.  With the inauguration 8 days away, it is hard to believe there will not be more than a few racists among the forces keeping the peace during the festivities.   This could be a huge security challenge, but it must be tackled expeditiously.

     Enabling racism is one of the tRump administration's most hideous legacies.   From the president* on down to heads of individual departments, officials have turned a blind eye to racism.  It needs to stop.

What is to be done

 Vladimir Lenin's pithy phrase continues to echo down history.   In the wake of a violent insurrection at the US Capitol last Wednesday, so far all the officials in charge of security seem to be able to do is point fingers of blame at each other.

     Members of Congress were hiding under tables in barricaded offices for hours.  It turns out there was an organized effort by the mob to kill Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi.  Fortunately, due to quick thinking by individual Capitol police officers these and other tragedies were avoided.  Will we be so lucky next time.    

     Social media is full of calls for armed militia members to show up at the inauguration and "Take back our country".   This movement needs to be decapitated.   Anyone advocating the violent overthrow of our government should be brought to justice.  That includes anyone in government who actively plotted last Wednesday's attack or who encouraged it.

Golf and insurrection

      Golf is easily the whitest of sports.  As an avid player, I concede that point and wish it was not so.  The irony that the greatest player in the history of the game is black is lost on many who play the game.   As one commentator has said, if Tiger Woods showed up at a Trump golf property before his era of fame commenced, he would probably have been referred to the groundskeeper's office. 

      It is worth noting John Feinstein, who has chronicled golf for many years, has urged the PGA to move its championship from tRump's golf club in New Jersey after the events of the past couple of days.   If this comes to pass, it will be possibly the most severe rebuke the president* will face in the next 12 days.   Despite the will of Democrats and some Republicans to impeach Cheeto Benito after the clumsy coup attempt on Wednesday at the Capitol,  the fascist wing of the GOP will prevent conviction in the Senate.  The spineless Vice President will not invoke the 25th amendment to remove our would be despot.  

     It will be the little things such as denying tRump a golf tournament on his property that will come to define the punishment he will face.  Somewhere, the Founders weep...

A Blind alley

      Yesterday was a blot on the history of America.   A mob of white supremacists, egged on by a would be dictator took advantage of lax Capitol security overran the House and Senate chambers, taking gleeful selfies.   It was truly a pathetic display on both sides.   Fortunately, only one person was killed in what could easily have become a bloodbath, but the potential of hundreds of deaths was a distinct possibility.  

     The rest of us will have to live with the shame of  being citizens of a failing democracy who have to share a country with a fair number of people who live in a fantasy world where a failed businessman turned reality TV host is to them a national hero.   The roots of this failure go back to our collective inability to agree on basic facts.   One of our national political parties used this confusion to convince Republicans the recent election was a fraud.   This treasonous behavior is being discounted by many as a harmless fantasy.  

     I don't see an easy way forward from the events of yesterday.  

Turning the corner

      Despite the media's reluctance to call Jon Ossoff as the winner in his contest with David Perdue, it seems fairly certain he will join Raphael Warnock as Senator from Georgia.   That will give Democrats a tie in the Senate with 50 members caucusing with them and 50 with Republicans.  Vice President Harris (doesn't that sound good) will provide the tie-breaking vote.   The biggest result of Georgia turning blue is the transfer of power to Chuck Schumer as Majority leader and all committees in the Senate will now be chaired by the Dems.   Change is coming.

So much sadness

      One of the most incisive commentators who appears on MSNBC, Jamie Raskin, lost his son on New Year's Eve to suicide.   Raskin and his wife published a moving obituary chronicling Tommy Raskin's brief life and it is hard to believe how much achievement he stuffed into a 23 year span.   He seemed to be superbly comfortable in his own skin and destined for great things.   He was cut down by depression and begged his parents and siblings to "Please look after each other, the animals and the global poor for me."

      Depression is an insidious disease which robs us of some of our best and brightest each year.  Its origins and progression are mostly unknown and the first inkling many family members have of its effects is a suicide note such as the one Tommy Raskin left for his parents and sisters.   There must be more we can do to combat this life threatening syndrome.

If it quacks like a duck

       Most liberal media and some of the conservative outlets are running with the leaked tape of Cheetolini's conversation with the secretary  of state of Georgia.  In it, the loser of the 2020 presidential election is heard telling Brad Raffensberger he needs to find 11,780 votes for him.  tRump indicates Raffensberger merely needs to "recalculate" the vote in order to find the votes necessary to overturn the election.

      In any sane universe, this is the very definition of election tampering.   tRump should by now be frogmarched into police custody and charged for crimes against the constitution.  Period.