Category: Trump effect

October 6, 2019

      The Ukraine scandal sparked by a courageous whistleblower is rapidly descending from tragedy to farce.  Donald Trump has now accused his dim bulb Secretary of Energy, “Dancing With The Stars” alumni, Rick Perry, of pushing him to make his ill-fated call to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, (Source:  “Scoop:  Trump pins Ukraine call on Energy Secretary Rick Perry”,by Alayna Treene, Jonathan Swan, Axios.com, 10/5/19). The “Mad King” spent Saturday rage tweeting Mitt Romney (Mitt Romney?!) for having the temerity to state the obvious— that Trump attempted to pressure Zelensky for his own selfish political ends that had nothing to do with corruption or our national security interest .

      Yet even as this dysfunctional administration is mired in chaos and backbiting, it managed to find the time on Friday to issue an executive order mandating that no immigration visas would be issued to those who could not demonstrate that they had health insurance or the financial resources to pay for medical care, (Source:  “Trump Will Deny Immigrant Visas to Those Who Can’t Pay for Health Care,” by Michael D. Shear and Miriam Jordan, The New York Times, 10/4/19).  This is particularly rich, coming from an administration that has attacked health insurance coverage for Americans with messianic zeal.  It comes on the eve of the administration’s implementation of a new interpretation of the “public charge” rule, widened to deem those who use, or at one time used, Medicaid, food stamps or housing assistance public charges.  This is a “vague and overbroad characterization,” expressly designed to target poor people of color, (Source: “Legal challenges aim to derail Trump’s ‘public charge’ rule that could limit path to citizenship for poor immigrants,” by Abigail Hauslohner, The Washington Post,  10/2/19).  These executive orders show the determination of this vile administration, even as it circles the drain, to erect ever more barriers to citizenship for people of color.  Continue reading “What it will take.”

September 30, 2019

      As more details emerge in the widening scandal of Trump’s attempt to trade arms for political favors, it has become clear that this is part of a pattern.  Emboldened by the commencement of a formal impeachment inquiry, other sources are anonymously revealing what else they have seen. We learned on Friday that Trump told the Russians that he was “unconcerned” with their election interference, because the United States did it all the time, (Source:  “Trump told Russian officials in 2017 he wasn’t concerned with Moscow’s election interference” by Shane Harris, Josh Dawsey and Ellen Nakashima, The Washington Post, 9/27/19).  Trump himself stated that he had tried to get Steve Schwarzman to look into his wild-eyed claim that Hunter Biden got $1.5 billion from a Chinese hedge fund, (Source:  “Trump says he raised Hunter Biden allegations with his China go-between”, by Michael Kranish, The Washington Post, 9/27/19).

       Like the mob bosses targeted by federal prosecutors in the 80’s, in one week, we have strong evidence that Trump and his confederate Giuliani have committed at least three predicate felonies that would warrant his indictment under those same RICO* statutes.  We don’t know yet just how many people were involved in Trump’s corrupt enterprise, leveraging our foreign policy for Trump’s personal gain, but the resignation of Kurt Volker, special envoy to the Ukraine, one day after the release of the whistleblower’s complaint is harbinger of things to come, (Source:  “Kurt Volker, Trump’s Envoy to Ukraine, Resigns,” by Peter Baker, The New York Times, 9/27/19).

    As it increasingly becomes likely that the issue isn’t whether Trump will leave The White House, but when, we must remain vigilant and resist cheap and easy solution, just getting rid of Trump.  We can see signs emerging already. On Sunday, CNN aired gauzy promos for a piece on the five moderate Congresswomen who penned last Monday’s Op-Ed in The Washington Post calling for impeachment.  While we can certainly be glad that these five women did the right thing when  incontrovertible evidence emerged that Trump was jeopardizing national security, lauding them as “heroes” whitewashes recent history and erases the efforts of Congressmembers who risked a lot more than their seats to call for impeachment.

      Rep. Al Green,and  Rep. Maxine Waters having been calling for Trump to be impeached since early in his tenure and Rep. Rashida Tlaib called for impeachment the night she was sworn into Congress.  All of them recognized that this president’s rampant corruption and truly appalling human rights abuses constituted impeachable offenses.  In return, they received death threats and chastisement from the Speaker. 

    The urge to lionize the five self-described “badasses” at the expense of people of color plays into two converging tropes— the need to credit moderate white people for belatedly coming to a conclusion that progressives and people of color saw long before; and treating egregious abuses of power that target marginalized people as mere “political differences” that don’t merit removal from office.  It is telling that talk of impeachment only gained traction when the country’s geopolitical interests were threatened.

      While we have been watching Trump descend further into Captain Queeg-like antics, calling for Adam Schiff to be investigated for treason, the repressive machinery of this administration, working hand in glove with an anti-democratic Republican Senate majority, soldiers on. The Senate Judiciary Committee is rushing to install right-wing ideologue Steven Menashi in the Second Circuit seat once held by Thurgood Marshall.  Menashi has a track record of denigrating feminists, LGBTQ people and people of color dating back to his days as an editor at The Dartmouth Review and continuing to the current day in scholarly articles that come close to endorsing ethnonationalism.  If confirmed, Menashi will be a reliable check on any effort to enforce equal rights for women, LGBTQ people or people of color.  

    Meanwhile, in a Texas courtroom, the judge in the trial of the police officer who shot Botham Jean in cold blood in his own apartment, instructed the jury that it could consider the “Castle doctrine” which allows the use of deadly force in defense of one’s own home, (Source:  “Judge Rules Jury Can Consider Castle Doctrine in Amber Guyger Murder Trial,”dfw.cbslocal.com, 9/30/19).  Given that the officer was an intruder in Botham Jean’s home, it is yet another example of the legal system contorting itself to exculpate white people who kill Black people. 

    The chilling truth is that the impulse to erase the work of people of color, the urge to nullify our rights through the installation of retrograde judges; and the compulsion to repeatedly twist the law to allow Black lives to be extinguished with impunity all come from the same ugly place.  Even if we get Trump behind bars, until we face that fact, nothing will change.

* Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 18 U.S.C. 1961-68

September 26, 2019

      Since Adam Schiff revealed the existence of a DNI whistleblower complaint that was withheld from Congress, the facts have emerged at a breakneck pace.  In the 48 hours since Nancy Pelosi announced the commencement of a formal impeachment inquiry on Tuesday, the news has been overwhelming, with each day successively crazier than the last.

      Yesterday’s release of the “transcript” of the infamous call between Trump and Ukraine President, Volodymyr Zelensky was damning, particularly in light of the fact that Trump had been so convinced it was exculpatory that he had tweeted his expectation that Democrats would apologize “after seeing what was said on the call with the Ukrainian President,”(Source:  “‘Do Us A Favor’: The Forty Eight Hours That Sealed Trump’s Impeachment,” by Susan Glasser, The New Yorker, 9/25/19).  In addition to blatantly responding to Zelensky’s request for Javelin anti-tank missiles with a request that Zelensky investigate Biden, Trump volunteered the cooperation of both his personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, and U.S. Attorney General, Bill Barr, (Source:  “Trump pressed Ukraine’s leader to probe Biden,” by Devlin Barrett, Matt Zapotosky, Carol D. Leonnig and Shane Harris, The Washington Post, 9/25/19). Continue reading “Perilous times”

September 18, 2019

      “Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter.”  One year later, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s phrase is ringing in our ears, as we relive  the traumatic confirmation process that installed an intemperate liar (and likely sexual assaulter) on the Supreme Court.

      Courtesy of a botched book rollout by New York Times writers, Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly, we learned on Saturday that Dr. Ford and Kavanaugh’s second accuser, Yale classmate Debbie Ramirez, had given the FBI the names of 50 people who could corroborate their stories, but the FBI only interviewed nine, (Source:  “New reporting details how FBI limited investigation of Kavanaugh allegations,” by Jackie Calmes, The Los Angeles Times, 9/16/19).  The extent of the sham was hammered home by the news of a third credible accusation that Kavanaugh had drunkenly exposed himself to another classmate. His classmate, Max Stier, claimed to have witnessed the incident and contacted Senate Judiciary Committee Member, Chris Coons, who sent a letter detailing the allegation to FBI Director, Chris Wray, to no avail, (Source:  ibid).

       We are left to grapple with the distressing fact that, as Amanda Marcotte wrote, Republicans knew that the accusations against Kavanaugh were credible, they just didn’t care.  Worse still, as everyone from The New York Times, in its deleted tweet, describing Kavanaugh’s sexual misconduct as “harmless fun,” to Ted Cruz’s smirking appearance on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” made clear, far too many people think that sexual assaults, particularly those perpetrated by privileged white men, are a joke, (Source:  “How Brett Kavanaugh Got The Last Laugh,” by Megan Garber, TheAtlantic.com, 9/17/19).

      We are awash in men who find humor, not only in mocking the marginalized; but in making a mockery of the very values that used to bind us as a nation:  respect for the truth and reverence for the principle that no person is above the law.  How else are we to view the startling sight of Sean Spicer in neon lime green Flamenco shirt, as if laughable fashion choices are adequate penance for his role as propagandist for an inveterate liar and would-be autocrat?  What are we to make of Cory Lewandowski’s pugnacious performance in yesterday’s Congressional hearings, where he refused to answer questions that were not already covered in the Mueller Report?   The episode played more like a scene from “Rhinoceros,” than a sober minded search for the truth, (Source:  “Lewandowski mocks Democrats, talks over lawmakers, promotes possible Senate bid,” by Rachael Bade, Colby Itkowitz and John Wagner, The Washington Post, 9/17/19).

       The amoral bullies running this country substitute cruel pranks for policy.  Every decision is motivated, less by an effort to achieve some discernible goal, than by how much anger and anguish it will provoke among progressives, or anyone moderately left of center.  Consider Trump’s announcement that his administration was rescinding the Clean Air Act waiver that allows California to set more stringent emission standards than the EPA. Trump revoked California’s waiver despite the fact that four major automakers asked him not to do so, (Source:  “The Fight Over California’s Emissions Rules Just Got Real,” by Aarian Marshall, Wired.com, 9/18/19).  In short, Trump’s rollback of the nearly 50 year old rule is a vindictive middle finger to the 57% of Americans (and 84% of Democrats and Democratically leaning independents), who are alarmed about climate change, (Source:  “U.S. concern about climate change is rising, but mainly among Democrats,” by Brian Kennedy and Meg Hefferon, Pew Research Center, 8/28/19).  Trump, a real-life Biff Tannen, was elected by a group of people desperate to get in on the joke.  Look around you. Ain’t a damn thing funny.

#VoteSaveAmerica

#FairFight2020

September 13, 2019

      A whittled down field of ten candidates took the stage at last night’s Democratic debate and featured the three frontrunners sharing the stage for the first time.  For the most part, the candidates refrained from attacking each other, preferring to split hairs over the arcana of Bernie’s Medicare for All bill and whether various candidates’ Medicare option would leave people uncovered.  Kamala Harris helpfully interjected that Democratic quibbling missed the point — Trump and the Republicans are busily trying to strip healthcare from everyone. Continue reading “What it takes to be President”

September 10, 2019

      It is as if we are drinking battery acid from a fire hose.  We are both sickened and overwhelmed by the ceaseless acts of dishonesty and depravity being committed by this White House.  Although the news last week was dominated by Sharpiegate, it was far from the most egregious act committed by Trump in the last seven days.  The pathetic saga detailed here by Tara Law, would be funny if it were not proof that the President of the United States is incapable of performing his most apolitical and basic function, to keep the American  people safe by providing accurate and scientifically verifiable information.

     While we were mocking Trump’s ridiculous vanity, we learned of not one, but two instances, of blatant grift.  Mike Pence chose to stay at a Trump resort in Doonbeg, Ireland, 181 miles away from his meetings in Dublin, at a cost to taxpayers of nearly $600,000.  That obvious corruption was soon dwarfed by news that Air Force planes were stopping at the tiny Glasgow-Prestwick Airport, rather than at air bases  to refuel, and putting up their crews in Trump’s Turnberry Resort. This year alone, there have been 259 refueling stops at Glasgow-Prestwick, up from 180 in 2017 at a cost of $17.2 million dollars, (Source:  “Trump Had Deal With Scotland Airport That Sent Flight Crews to His Resort,” by Eric Lipton, The New York Times, 9/9/19). Continue reading “Root and branch”

September 3, 2019

      We have fallen down a rabbit hole of such epic stupidity, violence and greed that it is tough to see how we find our way out.  While we all paused to mark the end of summer with last minute beach getaways and barbecues, the world around us was literally either drowning or burning.  Hurricane Dorian slammed into the Bahamas, packing 185 mile per hour winds and decimating everything in its path. The storm features a lethal combination of extremely high winds and extremely slow movement, such that it is poised to wreak maximum damage wherever it lands.  Dorian’s unpredictability and continued force has four U.S. states (Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina) on edge, preparing for the worst.   Continue reading “A Confederacy of Dunces”

August 27, 2019

        On Sunday, after months after sharply criticizing Trump on Twitter, former one-term Congressman Joe Walsh announced a primary challenge to Trump.  Unlike mild-mannered moderate, Bill Weld, whose primary bid was like a tree falling in the forest, Walsh’s announcement made a splash. The media-savvy radio talk show host teased the decision for a week before formally announcing on “This Week With George Stephanopoulos,” (Source:  “Former Congressman and Talk Radio Host Announces Trump Primary Challenge,” by Bobby Allyn, NPR.com, 8/25/19). Never Trumpers and some progressives cheered his entry into the race on the theory that it would weaken Trump. Continue reading “Cheap Tricks”

August 22, 2019

     On Tuesday, Trump verbalized what many of us long suspected– that in addition to being a foaming at the mouth racist and misogynist, he is a raging anti-Semite.  In an Oval Office interview where Trump redoubled his attacks on Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, he revealed his disgusting anti-Semitism when he averred that any Jewish people who supported Democrats were guilty of “great disloyalty,” (Source:  “Trump Accuses Jewish Democrats of ‘Disloyalty,’” by Julie Hirschfeld Davis, The New York Times, 8/21/19).

      Yesterday, Trump upped the ante during one of the regular rants in front of Marine One that have replaced the press conference.  Trump proclaimed that he was “the Chosen One” to handle a trade war with China. He deployed his favorite epithet, “nasty,” against Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister who dubbed his scheme to “buy” Greenland “absurd.”  This was hours after claiming that he was “like the King of Israel,” (Source: “‘I am the Chosen One’: with boasts and insults, Trump sets new benchmark for incoherence,” by Tom McCarthy, TheGuardian.com, 8/21/19). Continue reading “The intersectionality of hate”

August 14, 2019

     It is easy to feel as though we all have plummeted, en masse, to Dante’s 10th circle of Hell.  We are subjected, on a daily basis, to acts of unspeakable depravity, cruelty and violence, led or inspired by this administration.  There appears to be no level to which this administration will not sink.

     Mere days after watching Latinx people murdered in cold blood in racially targeted mass shootings, this administration carried out a raid on chicken processing plants in Mississippi on the first day of school, in keeping with their guiding principles of  governing through “fear, cruelty and chaos.”. The DHS raid rounded up nearly 700 undocumented workers, some of whom have been in this country for 19 years.  To this regime, though, there was no escape from the crime of being Brown. A callous federal prosecutor responded to multiple tales of traumatized children by analogizing crossing the border with drug abuse or tax evasion and claimed that the government had no choice, (Source:  “Their parents were taken in Mississippi immigration raids. For these kids, the trauma is just beginning,” by Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN.com, 8/11/19). Continue reading “Fear, cruelty and chaos”