Wag the dog

April 10,2018

Phones around the country simultaneously erupted yesterday with the news alert that the FBI had raided the office, home and hotel room of Trump fixer, lawyer Michael Cohen. Trump exploded predictably, decrying the raid as an “attack on our country” revealing once again, his narcissistic delusion that “L’Etat C’est Moi.”

To the contrary, the raid was evidence that we have remnants of a functioning democracy; and that even Trump appointees to the Justice Department have more fealty to the Rule of Law than to the lizard-brained autocrat that appointed them. Still raging this morning, Trump shrieked on Twitter that the “Attorney/Client Privilege” is dead. While it is true that an FBI raid on an attorney’s office is a drastic move, that is more of an indication of the severity of the evidence against Cohen than of lawlessness within the Justice Department. Continue reading “Wag the dog”

Prelude to a purge

April 8, 2018

 

Week after week, we slog through the ongoing traumatic assault that is life under the Trump administration, dispirited by the continuing evidence that, for Congressional Republicans, no amount of corruption, instability or racism is too much, as long as they get their policy goals of tax cuts and rampant de-regulation.

This week, apparently spurred on by an inflammatory segment on “Fox and Friends” on Puebla Sin Frontera, an annual caravan of migrants fleeing political persecution and gang violence, Trump lashed out with the demonstrably false claim that rapes were occurring at “levels that nobody has ever seen before,” (Source: “Trump claims female migrants are ‘raped at levels that nobody has ever seen before,’” by Veronica Shacqualursi and Elizabeth Landers, CNN.com, 4/5/18). Trump’s scapegoating followed his announcement on Wednesday that he was ordering deployment of National Guard to the U.S./Mexico border, despite the dubious legality of such a move and despite the fact that border crossings by undocumented people are at an all time low (Source: “The Stats on Border Apprehensions,” by Lori Robertson, Factcheck.org, 4/6/18).

As always, the actions of this administration must be viewed through the twin lenses of politics and profit motive. The politics of Trump’s paroxysm of xenophobia are obvious. From Scott Pruitt’s epic, dunderheaded corruption, to the Stormy Daniels drama, to the ongoing news coming out of the Mueller, probe, Trump has been relentlessly battered by weeks of bad headlines. The Republican tax cut message is not resonating with a base that has scarcely seen any economic benefits from it (Source: “Blue Collar Voters are Shrugging at Their Tax Cuts,” by Michael Tackett, The New York Times, 3/7/18). Faced with these headwinds, Trump defaults to his demagogic instincts and seeks to whip up his base with hatred and fear of the “other.” Despite the fact that this has been a losing message, from Ed Gillespie in Virginia to homophobic pederast, Roy Moore, in Alabama, Trump and the Republicans keep pivoting to it again and again because it’s all they have.

We also cannot ignore the perverse profit motive behind the administration’s efforts to ensnare as many people as possible in ICE’s dragnet and funnel them into the for-profit detention centers. Never forget that, thanks to 2010 federal legislation, for-profit prisons have a federal contract that guarantees them 34,000 beds per night at a cost to the federal government of $125 per detainee/day. These for-profit prisons ratchet up their profit margin by forcing detainees to do all of the work maintaining the facility, for as little as $1/day (Source: “When Migrants Are Treated Like Slaves,” by Jacqueline Stevens, The New York Times, 4/4/18). These for-profit prisons earned new lucrative contracts from the Trump administration after donating generously to Trump’s campaign and Inaugural Committee (Source: “Private Prison giant, resurgent in Trump era, gathers at president’s resort,” by Amy Brittain and Drew Harwell, The Washington Post, 10/25/17).

The good news is that, for now, the majority of the country rejects the noxious mix of naked racism and corruption that this administration represents, as evidenced by progressive candidate Rebecca Dallet’s 12-point victory in Tuesday’s election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Dallet’s win continued the Democrats’ streak of wins in unlikely special elections (Source: “Rebecca Dallet’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election latest victory for women,” by Scott Bauer (Associated Press), Wisconsin State Journal, 4/6/18).  Although these wins are encouraging, we can’t afford to take anything for granted. Never forget that the people we seek to defeat are actively trying to establish slave labor and contempt for human rights as the official policy of the United States. If they succeed with undocumented immigrants, who do you think will be next?

 

#Immigrationreformnow

#Noprivateprisons

#Bluewave2018

What we fear most

April 5, 2018

 

   Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.   There were sober reflections, book-length re-appraisals, op-eds in the “paper of record,” and appropriate commemorations.  The assessment of both the magnitude of Dr. King’s achievements and of how relentlessly those achievements have been attacked from the moment of his death is necessary, but not sufficient.

    It is insufficient because no mere recitation of facts and figures showing how little progress we have made towards Dr. King’s anodyne dream that Black people be judged by “the content of their character,” let alone his more radical call that we confront militarism and capitalism, along with racism, gets to the root of our persistent problem.  We know that the laws mandating desegregation and equal opportunity were met with instantaneous and steadfast opposition. We know that as a result, schools are more segregated now than they were prior to Brown v. Board of Education (S.Ct. 1954).  We know that employment discrimination is stubbornly persistent, despite the passage of Title VII and that the wealth gap between white and black Americans has exploded.  What we don’t spend enough time confronting is why? Continue reading “What we fear most”

The stench of corruption

April 3, 2018

The stench of corruption coming from this administration rivals a garbage barge on the Hudson.  It is worse than the smell of a broken, urine-soaked project elevator.  The profligacy and venality of these people knows no bounds.  In the past several days, we have learned that EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt approved the pipeline expansion request of Enbridge, a Canadian energy company, while simultaneously enjoying a sweetheart deal provided by Enbridge’s lobbying firm, Williams & Jensen.  While this decision was under review, Pruitt  was renting a room in the condo owned by the wife of Williams & Jensen’s chief at the absurdly below market rate of $50 per night  (Source: “A Lobbyist, A Condo Deal, A Green Light,” by Eric Lipton, The New York Times, 4/3/18).  This goes beyond the appearance of impropriety into an evident quid pro quo. Continue reading “The stench of corruption”

Easter Sermon

April 1, 2018

Resurrection Sunday is a celebration of renewal, a holiday that rewards faith and hope with a victory over suffering and death. One lesson from Jesus’ life, that we seem compelled to learn again and again, is that messengers of love who seek to uplift the least among us, will be demonized and murdered by corrupt and greedy regimes. Those in power are continually threatened by the message that it is “easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God,” (Matthew 19:23). Given the doctrinal roots of Christianity, consider how much the message of Jesus has been perverted by those who preach these-called Prosperity Gospel and distorted to the point that 81% of Evangelical Christians voted for Trump and still offer him unwavering support (Source: “The Last Temptation,” by Michael Gerson, TheAtlantic.com, April 2018). To whom are these purported Christians actually demonstrating allegiance? Continue reading “Easter Sermon”

Freedom isn’t free

March 29, 2018

Tuesday we were assaulted with the completely unsurprising news that the Attorney General  of Louisiana had decided not to indict the two Baton Rouge police officers responsible for the murder of Alton Sterling.  By now, we are accustomed to the pattern.  A black person suspected of a petty crime or a minor traffic violation is killed by an officer of the state.  There is an anguished outcry from the black community and a litany of excuses from many in the white community.  The officers responsible are never charged, or if charged, not convicted.  The murdered person’s name becomes a hashtag and is added to the long roster of names of black people whose lives were snatched prematurely and are fated never to receive justice. Rinse and repeat.  When asked whether Trump had a role to play in interrupting the pattern of deadly police violence against black Americans, White House spokesperson, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it was a “local matter.” Continue reading “Freedom isn’t free”

Share the stage

March 27, 2018

Consider the paradox of Black women.  At once hyper-visible and invisible, we labor under the burden of toxic stereotypes.  On an individual level, we are ubiquitous avatars of beauty and culture, like Beyonce and Rihanna, but as a group, we are alternatively derided or ignored; our political clout and contributions minimized.  Society views far too many of us through a distorted lense that is literally killing us (Source:  “Nothing Protects Black Women From Dying in Pregnancy and Childbirth.  Not Education.  Not Income. Not even being an expert on racial disparities in healthcare,” by Nina Martin and Renee Montagne, Propublica.org., 12/7/17).   Continue reading “Share the stage”

March for our lives

March 24, 2018

Today, in Washington, D.C. and 800 cities around the globe, teenagers will spearhead the March for Our Lives, demanding a radical course correction in our American culture of death. The 16 and 17 year old leaders from Parkland, Florida have been inspirational in every way. They have turned their pain into power, consistently calling out the nihilism of the NRA and the craven opportunism of those who take their money. The Parkland kids use their privilege to highlight the young Black activists that the media ignores who have been protesting gun violence for years. Continue reading “March for our lives”

“Beloved community?”

March 20 2018

While we watch Trump lash out, flailing and descending further into chaos as Mueller seemingly closes in, we experience a weariness borne of familiarity. The playbook is the same —baseless attacks, boneheaded policy moves likely to tank our economy (Chinese tariffs anyone?), the addition of TV pundits/conspiracy theorists to the White House staff, and most consistently, a default to vindictive cruelty. In a speech in New Hampshire on Monday, Trump suggested that a solution to the opioid crisis was to execute drug dealers! He has justified the proposal to scrap Obama era rules designed to lessen the racial disparity in School discipline with the claim that it would prevent school shootings, despite the fact that the majority of mass shooters are white men. Trump’s solution for every problem plaguing this country is to punish as many people of color as possible. Continue reading ““Beloved community?””

Clear and present danger, Part 2

March 17, 2018

Last night, retired four star General, Barry McCaffrey tweeted, “Reluctantly I have concluded that President Trump is a serious threat to U.S. national security. He is refusing to protect vital U.S. interests from active Russian attacks. It is apparent that he is for some unknown reason under the sway of Mr. Putin.” (@mccaffrey3, Twitter.com, 3/16/18). Continue reading “Clear and present danger, Part 2”