Sunday School 8/14/22

I'm picking and choosing my guests today, starting with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) who talked with Andrea Mitchell in the Meet the Press classroom. Here's a recap of their conversations related to the FBI's Mar-a-Lago search.

Klobuchar said her first reaction to what occurred is "to stand with the men and women of the FBI who are simply doing their jobs," and cautioned even though we know many of the documents recovered were marked some level of classified, we don't know what's in them. She also described the process for senators to view this type of document: special room, no staff, no phone, not even a Fitbit, both because of the information in them, and because we don't want them to fall into enemy hands, in any way. And, she noted, that why they shouldn't be removed from secure spots

And Mar-a-Lago, where you can check out croquet sets and tennis rackets and golf clubs, that's not one of them.

Mitchell asked if maybe there was a different way to get the documents, and Klobuchar reminded her what AG Merrick Garland ("someone of just utmost credibility and integrity") that negotiating hadn't worked. 

But what really happened here was a judge looked at this and said, "Yeah, there's evidence, enough evidence to warrant a search warrant to go in there and retrieve those documents that are of high national security classification." These are the nation's secrets.

She wouldn't play the "should Trump be indicted?" game, other than to say that, in America, "the law is king. The president isn't king. And I would add to that, the former president isn't king. Everyone has to follow the laws." 

And finally, she didn't mince words on the rhetoric from Trump supporters, including elected officials.

...This is the kind of thing that result(s) when you've got a president that attacks law enforcement and attacks the law. I thought in the old days the Republican Party used to stand with law enforcement. And I hope some of them do today because this kind of rhetoric is very dangerous to our country... These are career men and women that are simply doing their job... this is beyond politics. 

Switching to Rounds who, according to Mitchell, "earlier this week" said the search "must be justified" and that he "had serious questions about the integrity of the Justice Department," she wondered if his questions have been answered, given what was found and why they went in. 

Uh, that's a no. He says there's more information to be released; certainly, releasing the affidavit used to get the signed search warrant would help.

At least that would confirm that there was justification for this raid. But remember, this is also a case of where we're going to have more questions as they continue to develop, as they look through the information, the material that they've garnered at Mar-a-Lago. Perhaps they will share some of what their concern was...

He seems to think the AG is not believable when he said they exhausted all other options, saying

... you know, this is a very historic attempt and a challenge really in, with regard to looking at a former president, and whether or not they want to bring any kind of charges against him. This is a change, and this is something that will go down in history, and it will be studied for years to come. 

After sharing pointed, partisan comments from three fellow GOP senators (Graham, Paul, and Tim Scott), Mitchell wondered if what was found justified the search, after "months and months" of trying to get cooperation. Again, Rounds said DOJ needs to prove they did everything they could - but also, he noted, there's "one constitutional issue that has not been talked about" - whether a "president can declassify or classify certain items."

And I think constitutionally back, I believe it was in 1988, there was a Supreme Court decision, U.S. Navy v. Egan, in which they actually talked about whether or not a president could classify and declassify. And it's never really been litigated. But it appears that a president can classify or perhaps declassify information. And if that's the case, then the question would be, and I think it will be litigated as this moves forward, whether or not that was completed while the president was in the White House at that time.

And, of course,  

...there's concern out there. And believe me, Republicans out there are questioning, "Why in the world are you going after a former president right now, but you didn't go after other individuals who clearly had classified documents or information that was sensitive and you did not do that in the previous administrations?"

Again, he raised the trust issue, saying if they (DOJ/Garland) can come forward and put all their cards on the table (even though this is an ongoing investigation), they should, and fast.

...they should do that as quickly as they can, and they should share that with the American people because this is a time in which -- with regard to the institutions in this country -- we want the American people to have faith in their institutions. We want them to see that they're not, that they're not political, and that they're not being politicized, particularly during an election year.

Of course, in the meantime, his fellow Republicans, and the former president himself, will continue sowing thousands of pounds of seeds of distrust with the American people in an election year, because they really don't want us having faith in our institutions. They've shown that, repeatedly, in the past seven years.

I trust I'll see you around campus. 

Sunday School 10/24/21

Perhaps I'm crazy, but I decided to spend my Sunday School time yesterday with Andrea Mitchell in the Meet the Press classroom. What a frustrating adventure that was. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-etiring at the End of This Term and Never Looking Back) of Missouri. 

Mitchell mentioned comments made by the Former Guy, which I won't repeat, and she asked if Election Day was an insurrection. Blunt's taken a bit of heat for the first sentence of his answer: "You know, I think the election was what it was." Here's the rest of his response.

There's a process you go through that determines whether or not the early reports were the right reports. And we went through that process. And I'm of the view that the best thing that president Trump could do to help us win majorities in 2022 is talk about the future. And he can be an important part of that, this '22 effort. But I think, better off to talk about the future than to focus on the past in every election. Every election should be about the future, and I think that's what this next one's going to be about.

Mitchell gave #TFG more free airtime, mentioning additional comments he made about Arizona and President Biden. And here's how the conversation evolved.

AM:  So he's still talking about the past. And a lot of Republicans, a lot of Republican leaders in the House, other members of the Senate are standing with him on this. Doesn't the party have to disavow the challenge to the election in order to, you know, go forward?

RB: You know, I think President Biden and the Democrats are giving us plenty of things to talk about. We don't need to keep focusing on the past --

AM: But Republicans are. Republicans keep talking about that --

RB: Well, I'm not. And I don't think --

AM: -- and incorrectly.

RB: I don't think many Republicans in the Senate are. I think we're talking about bad tax policies, bad environmental policies, bad national takeover of the election process. There are plenty of things for us to talk about, and I think we're talking about them. I'm there every day, and I hear Republicans concerned, as they should be, about this -- the process that the Democrats are going through right now --

AM: But they're also denying the reality of January 6th. Republicans refusing the commission, not joining the House Select Committee. Steve Bannon, only nine Republican House votes to punish him for violating a House subpoena.

RB: Well, you know, I think a lot of this discussion is obviously driven by the media, just like this is here today. We could be talking about Senate rules. We could be talking about tax policy.

AM: Well, if Republicans were --

RB: We could be talking about --

AM: -- accepting the reality --

RB: -- these new entitlement policies.

AM: It's not the media that's, you know, going against the reality of what happened on January 6th. It was the worst attack on our government, on our democracy since the Civil War.

RB: Oh, I agree with that. In fact, on January the 20th, I was at the podium at the Capitol chairing the inauguration. And that peaceful transition of power that we saw that day is one of the most important things we do. And I was able to chair the inauguration four years earlier. And four years later, it was the same important message we sent to the world. And I think we effectively did that.

AM: Well, to that point, if the former president keeps denying the reality of the election and of Joe Biden being the president, should that disqualify him from being a candidate, as he suggests he wants to be, in 2024?

RB: Well, you know, there are constitutional provisions about being a candidate. And having opinions that other people may not agree with is not one of those provisions. He can be a candidate if he wants to be. But, again, I think what President Trump could do that would be most helpful right now would be focus on the policies that aren't working. You know, his policies at the border were working. His regulatory policies were --

AM: But if he --

RB: -- were working. His tax policies were working. But we see that those policies for Democrats with these narrow majorities they have aren't working. I hope that's where he focuses. But, you know, I don't manage his time --

AM: I know. But if he doesn't --

RB:  -- or his comments.

AM: -- concede the election, would you support him in 2024?

RB: Well, the election for 2020 is over. I'm focused on 2022, and it's a long time between now and 2024.

There was more - focused on #TFG and Liz Cheney and voting rights - finally, a policy question! - and Joe Manchin (who wasn't in the classroom, but he was clearly in Mitchell's head) but really, it was pretty clear she didn't give a hoot about Blunt's answers, or if she did, it was a much smaller hoot than she gave to her own questions and endless interruptions. 

It's seriously time for Meet the Press to have a total reboot - and to boot both Chuck Todd and Mitchell and try something else. This - whatever it's supposed to be - is not working.

See you around campus.

2020's Top Ten

It's time to look back at the year that was. Here are the top 10 posts of the year, based on your pageviews. 

Coming in  at number ten? My recap of day four of the Republican National Convention. The Trumps and the RNC decided the best way to abuse us with pageantry and falderol was to hold the final day  at the White House, in violation of general principle and ethics rules. In addition to those violations, the speeches themselves violated my sensibility, but some of them sparked my sense of humor, for sure.  

For example, here's the current Senate Majority Leader and Chief Cunctationist, Kentucky's Mitch McConnell.

I’m immensely proud of the work the Republican Senate has done.  (We refused to allow witnesses in the impeachment and made sure the president stayed in office so we can sit around waiting for him to tell us what to do, or for more judges to die.)  Like President Trump, we won’t be bullied by a liberal media intent on destroying America’s institutions. (We will instead be bullied by the president, and ignore the wishes even of you Republicans out there, who elected nearly 200 members of our party to serve you in the House).We will stand our post on behalf of the millions of Americans whose stories aren’t told in today’s newspapers, whose struggles are just as real. (Well, really, we'll sit on your stories, and drag them out at times like this, when it suits us. Other than that, we're just an ineffective part of a co-equal branch of government. You know what? I think that makes us 'flyover country' too!) 

Number nine came from back in March, and I was Ranting and Raving about a column in the Washington Post that tried to convince readers that the impeachment hindered the president's response to the coronavirus pandemic. Here's a part of my response to the column, addressing the author's contention that Trump couldn't have done better early on, because 

...impeachment managers were regularly calling Trump a king or incipient dictator, a more forceful response against the virus in January or early February likely wouldn't have gone well.

That one made me laugh out loud. We're talking about Donald Trump, who blurts out whatever he feels like blurting, whether it's a policy change, a threat against a Republican who dares disagree with him, any number of insults at any number of Democrats or just random crap directed at random citizens. He doesn't shrink away from anything - he tells us that all the time. If you need an example, ask the McCain family.

A Trump in Transition post from May was the eighth most popular post. This one focused on a series of four tweets, sent within the same minute, the morning after the president was whisked to "tour" the White House Bunker. I included the tweets after my comments, which began thusly.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the president of the United States. 

Hear his voice as you read his tweets,

talking about 'frisky' protesters, 

vicious dogs, ominous weapons, and

changing front lines of young Secret Service agents

 ready to 'practice' on protesters outside America's house.

He is SO full of himself.

Himself is SO full of crap.

A Sunday School Extra Credit from June was number seven. It included comments from Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on how it would be helpful for some leadership out of Washington DC. In his conversation with John Dickerson on Face the Nation,he was not gentle when talking about president Trump or the veep.

On messaging: ...when I hear the vice president talk about how things are just hunky dory, it's just - it's just - it's just maddening. The situation is critical in many places...all the happy talk and wishful thinking in the world is not going to wash that away. 

On mask requirements: ...we put an order in effect, including businesses' obligation in this regard. And we sure could use some leadership from the president. It is so difficult. From day one, he has downplayed and distorted and disabled our ability to fight this war... So right now, we are in an urgent national mission - or should be - to mask up... Donald Trump is for masking up like George Wallace was for integration.

The sixth most popular was a Sunday School post from mid-April.  This is a post I went back to frequently, when talking about the vice president and his particular skill at not answering questions. He does it by saying a whole lotta words - hundreds, even, when he could literally answer that question in one note.  

In the interview, how long were Pence's generally non-specific and nonresponsive answers?  321, 219, 279, and 282 words. You'll understand why I'm not including excerpts, right? I encourage you to read them, though - they're pretty interesting.

Coming in at number five was another Trump in Transition post, from May. Whenever Trump talks about the pandemic, you can be sure he's going to follow Pence's lead and not answer the question. And while David Muir really tried to pin Trump down, he wasn't successful. 

For example, Muir asked (I'm paraphrasing here) if workers going back to their offices could get testing if the wanted it, or if they'd just have to trust their employer that everything's safe. Here's one take of Trump trying to answer.

Muir tried to get an answer to whether people going back to work should have access to testing or "do they have to go back to work, having faith in their leaders and you, Mr. president, that the workplace will be safe?" Trump talked about some new data on testing, noting among other things that "it's also, very importantly,  we have the best testing. We have the best testing."  Which wasn't an answer, so Muir tried again. Workers "should have no problem" getting tested, Trump said, adding,

 And as good as this is, we're even getting better. We came up - don't forget, the cupboard was bare. The other administration - the last administration left us nothing. We didn't have ventilators, we didn't have medical equipment, we didn't have testing. The tests were broken. You saw that. We had broken tests. They left us nothing. And we've taken it and we have built an incredible stockpile - a stockpile like we've never had before.

So, are people safe going back to work? Who knows, even now, several months later. The president surely didn't tell us then, and can't tell us now.

Number four on the list?  Me, sharing My Middle-aged White Lady Perspective, in response to a widely shared "You see Trump as x, I see Trump as y' letter to the editor. The author tried really hard to depict the president as a patriotic leader and not a politician, as pro-LGBTQ, as not being anti-immigration  "because he married an immigrant." Honestly, there wasn't much I of the column I found credible - especially the non-politician part.

You see Trump as an unpolished politician; I see Trump as a breath of fresh air. Donald Trump pretends to be unpolished, and not a politician. He is not a breath of fresh air, he and his lies and his bullying and his threatening comprise a toxic cloud that hangs over our country, and over our allies. And he is a classic, arm-twisting strongman pol, who threatens members of his own party who might disagree with him. Don't go along with me? No endorsement. A barrage of negative tweets. Attacks against you in your district. Support for your opponent. And you think he's not a politician? That's laughable.

Your number three was a Middle-aged White Lady Perspective post, about speech and law enforcement and Black Lives Matter and about outrage. It's a twisting tale of a rookie police officer gunned down in the line of duty, and people getting 'triggered' by things they see, hear or read, and how colleges handle speech. And the outrage part? 

I honestly share the outrage, expressed by my friend, a policeman's mom, over Corona's senseless death, and of the deaths of all the other officers killed in the line of duty. I hope that her son stays safe, on duty and off, and that other police officers do as well.

I honestly share the outrage, expressed by my friends - people of color and otherwise - over the senseless deaths of those who have been killed by police officers. I hope my friends' children, family members, and friends stay safe, and aren't caught up in what we know happens to people of color, particularly black men, in our country.

I just as honestly wish it was socially acceptable to be equally outraged by both circumstances - because honestly, I often feel like it's not.

And, I guess not surprisingly, we've got another Trump in Transition post filling the number two spot on our list. This series seemed to strike a chord, or a nerve, depending on which side of the Trump you were on. This one was me, channeling Trump after the upside-down Bible appearance during the protests this past summer, and saying what he wished he could get away with. Here's how it started.

Look at me! 

LOOK AT ME!

Did you see me on the news? Even the fake news, MSDNC and the rest of them, they had my picture, did you see it? 

I was holding a Bible!!

Someone asked if it was my Bible. Nah, it's 'a' Bible, not 'my' Bible - heck, I don't even know where they found it, probably in the nightstand in one of the rooms in my hotel or something, I don't know. It's a good book, they tell me. Very good, good words. Good words. I don't have time to read it, but I hear it's very good. I'll ask Mike. Is Mike here? Where's Mike?

Sadly, I bet he could have gotten away with saying what I said. His actions that day embodied everything I don't like about him. And that surely came out in the post. 

Those same feelings came out in the top post of the year, one of the top posts of all time on the blog. It was an Irony Board post, about Rev. Franklin Graham and his comments on the Democratic National Convention, including that God was missing from that event.

Graham also reminded us all of the Ten Commandments, as if Dems and leaning Dems and former Dems like me, heathens all, I guess, needed the reminder. I took offense to that.

• He places himself above all, before all, and bows before no one. He worships mere mention of his name, the almighty dollar, the almighty ratings, as if those three things are the measure of a man. Those things? They are the measure only of a megalomaniac. They are out of place in the heart, mind, and words of a person of faith.

• He  is the graven image upon which his eyes rest most comfortably: his name on a clothing label; on the side of a building, writ in gold; carved in stone on an embassy wall; emblazoned in countless gaudy hotels, his golden club, his golf carts, and more; his giant signature, held up to the cameras for all to see, to bow to, to venerate, no matter how nonreligious, how faithless, how merciless are the words above it.

To Rev. Graham, I had one question: Tell me again, where is God missing?

There you have it -- the top ten most viewed posts of 2020. I hope you stick around for next year!

Thoughts on Winning

I got a message from a friend today, offering up a way that our national post-election nightmare can end and America can win, Biden (the winner) can win, Mike Pence can win, and the president (the non-winner) can win. And how we can all be tired of all the winning because there'll just be so much of it, we don't be able to stand it anymore.

I have to say, initially I thought his idea was kind of whacky, but then, it started to grow on me. Like moss, on a stone that's not rolling, or something.  No, really, that's not fair - it's kind of an interesting idea. 

First and foremost, we know that the president hates to lose - at anything - and that his first thought - always, right before threatening or actually taking legal action - is to deny that he lost. 

We also know that he doesn't like anything President Obama did, and wants to beat President Obama no matter what. And we've seen, over the past several months, that President Obama doesn't seem to be interested in retiring from public life. And neither does AOC, it seems - and we know that the president doesn't like her and would love to beat her at something, almost as much as he wants to do stuff that Obama is not capable of doing. 

We also know the president is a student of history. I mean, he's told us over and over that he's the best ever at so many things - fighting terrorism, producing jobs, building, attracting crowds, not being racist, developing resorts, owning clubs,  making fragrances, writing 140-character sentences, and more. And he's definitely up there on the list of best presidents ever, maybe even the best president ever, certainly the best president since Abraham Lincoln, he's determined that with certainty. 

Given his best-ness, and his better-than-Obama-ness, and the wanting us to get tired of all the winning - you remember that, right, back in 2016 at a speech in Iowa?

We're going to win so much that you're going to get sick and tired, you're going to say, "Please, please Mr. president, we're sick and tired of winning Please let us have at least one loss. It's no longer exciting to win" and I'm going to say, "No way, we're going to keep winning and I don't care if you like it or not." We have to win.

Well, here's how everyone wins, as we have to, as we are destined to.

First: the president retires, before the end of his term. He doesn't quit - that's what a loser would do. He retires, at the top of his game, as a winner: the guy who defeated ISIS and the caliphate, Antifa and monument-busting protesters, the coronavirus and Communist China; the man who put his slippery leather shoes in the DMZ between the Koreas; the man with ambiguously legitimate Israeli housing units named after him; the man who gave us covfefe and Happy Meal celebrations; the man who gave Rush Limbaugh the Medal of Freedom. 

Second: upon the president's retirement, Mike Pence becomes the President-lame duck, #46, who will guide us through the rest of the counting of the illegal Democratic votes and the ignoring of all the perfectly legitimate Republican votes on the same ballot as the illegal Democratic ones. He's got just the right temperament, and an uncanny ability to talk at length and never answer any questions. And, he's a horrible Tweeter, which will be good for us he tries to heal the nation, right up until January 5, 2021 when people run around all over the state of Georgia trying not to be members of a minority, and then again until 11:59AM on January 21, 2021, at which point no one will ever hear of him again.

Third: Before riding off into the sunset, Pence #46 can offer pardons to everyone: #45, Mrs. #45 (those Christmas decorations. That Rose Garden, (ahem) renovation. That green jacket. #BeBest...), the children of #45, the girlfriends and spouses of the children (after all, the best is yet to come), the swamp monsters, and more. He could even pardon Hunter Biden's laptops, which would go a long way towards the healing and winning we need. And, instead of releasing the Kraken (hey - he could pardon Rudy Giuliani, too!), he could release the transition funds, which would allow for the peaceful transition of power that's supposed to be happening. 

And, finally: At noon on January 20, 2021, Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. will become the oldest President ever. And then, shortly after that, Pamela Camela Carmella Kamala Harris will become the firstiest Vice President ever. The first woman, the first black, the first Indian American, the first Chucks-wearing, the first rain-dancing, and, probably, the coolest Vice President since Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. jogged around the White House with Barack Obama.

It's a perfect plan, right? It plays to everyone's strengths, and it lets us get back on track with having someone run the country, not ruin it on their way out. 

Teddy Ballgame hit a home run, and retired. Eli's brother, Peyton 'Omaha!' Manning, won a Super Bowl and retired. Donald Trump, just 'won' the election, so he, too, should retire at the top of his game.

Let us begin to get tired of the winning. We're ready.

My Middle-aged White Lady Perspective: Why Do I Vote?

I vote because it’s my responsibility, my obligation, to participate in our democratic process. 

I vote, in a reliably blue state, even though most times the outcome in national elections is a forgone conclusion. 

I vote for ideas and principles, not parties or personalities. 

If I have to, I vote against bad people, even if some of their ideas are good – because the ends don’t always justify the means. 

I vote for love. 

I vote because people before me fought so I have the right to. 

I vote because what happens in our country matters to me.  

I vote because people around the world hold up their purple thumbs and remind us how much voting matters. 

I vote because I don’t want to let people who don’t vote make decisions for me. 

I vote because I love our country. 

I vote because apathy sucks. 

I vote because my Dad is watching. 

I vote even in non-presidential years. 

I vote to remind politicians who they work for.

I vote for equality. 

I vote for American ideals. 

I vote because people are trying to take away my right to. 

I vote because I'm a middle-aged white lady, and that's what we do.

I vote because I am a patriotic American. 

I vote because people tell me to shut up.

I vote.

Wondering on Wednesday (v220)

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Well, no more wondering on who will be Papa Joe Biden's running mate: it's California Senator Kamala Harris. I think she was the most logical choice, and I'm glad we're no longer "hanging here, glued to the floor," like a defensive player in a college basketball game, waiting for the announcement. And if you're wondering, I'm not the originator of the hanging/glued image; rather, that's one of the classic lines from the late Joel Mareiniss, a sportscaster in my neck of the woods back in the day. 

Anyway - on the Harris decision, one of the big wonderings, which I've seen repeatedly over the past few hours, is the question of how the Trump team will attack: do they go the misogynist route, or the racist route? Now, I know for most people that wouldn't be a hard choice at all - it would be neither - but we're not dealing with "most people" here, are we? 

Here's a cautionary note that folks working for the president might want to consider, from an article from Reuters, which suggested Harris may be an "elusive target" for the Trumpeters.  

More concerning for Trump: Attacks that could appear sexist or racist against the first Black woman on a major party ticket in U.S. history could complicate his campaign’s effort to shore up his standing among suburban women, a critical voting bloc he must win back in order to get re-elected, strategists on both sides say.

According to this article from Vanity Fair Hive, others thing that Mrs. Suburban Housewife might succumb to Trump tactics, particularly if he attacks Harris well.

Other Trumpworld insiders are thrilled at the opportunity to define Harris as a radical leftist, a portrayal echoed Tuesday night on Fox News. “She’s going to help with the base, and that’s where it ends,” a Trump adviser predicted. “She’ll scare the shit out of suburban women. How great is this?” Trump has taken to stoking fears that a Biden victory will fuel unrest in “Democrat-run cities,” a barely disguised racist appeal that he picked up again on Wednesday morning following the Harris announcement. “The ‘suburban housewife’ will be voting for me,” he tweeted. The adviser added that Biden would soon regret choosing a high-wattage running mate. “This is not Mike Pence to Donald Trump or Joe Biden to Obama. Kamala is going to be the candidate. She’ll be constantly overshadowing him. In three to four weeks, Biden is going to realize he made a dumb move.” 

One thing upon which no wondering will be spent? How "nasty" this is going to get. It's already getting that way. I'll just say that the fact-checkers at Facebook and Twitter and Instagram better load up on covfefe and hydroxy and hamberders and whatever else suits their fancy, because I sense there'll be a whole bigly lot of blocking going on, going on.

What else do we have to wonder about? Football. Will there be college football this fall, or not until the spring, or not at all? Will the NFL get their season underway, as planned? And what about the kneeling - if someone kneels during the national anthem, will there be presidential hell to pay? Will we be called upon to boycott pro teams and their sponsors? And what on earth will happen the remaining Power 5 Conferences decide to follow the Big 10 and the Pac 12 and punt, as it were? As of now, it's still a go for the others, but who knows where things'll stand later.

Moving on to QAnon - something I honestly NEVER anticipated typing - it seems we'll have an honest to goodness supporter of the conspiracy theorists in the House come January. As noted in this NPR story,

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a construction executive, won 57% of the vote in Georgia's heavily-Republican 14th Congressional District, handily defeating neurosurgeon John Cowan, who had pitched himself as, "All of the conservative, none of the embarrassment."

Nice pitch there, by Cowan - too bad it apparently was way too far out of the strike zone for voters in the district. I wonder, do the rest of the Republicans agree with him on that? Well, it seems even House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy does; according to his spox, he found Greene's views "appalling."  But, on the other hand,

President Trump congratulated Greene on Wednesday morning, calling her a "future Republican Star" who is "strong on everything."

Like, you know, conspiracy theories and hate and stuff. And speaking of conspiracy theorists and hate and stuff, here's Alex Jones harassing people working at a park in Austin. You can wonder on your own about him. And wonder what that coveted suburban woman demographic thinks of him attacking their children...

One more crazy thing? It appears that Kanye West, the Birthday Party candidate for president, met recently with Jared Kushner, the president's daughter's husband. I wonder, do you think they were talking about cake? I mean, Ivanka's got a birthday coming up in a few months...

And finally, I'll leave you with a prediction - because everyone's predicting Trump/Pence will win (or Biden/Harris will), or that the polls are right (or wrong), or that it will rain (or not) or that something else will happen (or it won't). A friend, who's not a fan of either Trump or Biden, asked me last night whether Harris would still get to be the VP when Biden gets the hook at the Democratic National Convention. When I asked for clarification, here's what he said, in part.

It's 2020 - something crazy's going to happen last minute to completely change everything... 

And you know what I'm wondering?  What. If. He's. Right?

The pandemic... bubonic plague... murder hornets... Megxit and Brexit... A nearly 3,000 point drop in the Dow...  Cancelled Olympics... 20,000,000 million Americans unemployed... UFO videos... SpaceX Dragon... lots more weird stuff this year, already, as well.

So, what if he's right?  We'll find out next week.

What are you wondering about?

Wondering on Wednesday (v198)

Ready... Set... Wonder!

So, how's everyone doing today? Getting ready for the debate with five moderators and six candidates? I really hope NBC comes up with another person so every candidate can be matched with an individual questioner... and if they don't add one, I'll really have to wonder about their sense of adventure.

I'm going to be watching - and celebrating National Wine Day at the same time, even though I'm a day late on the latter. But no point wasting a good drinking game night, right? Here are some of my keywords for tonight: delegates; family values; Super Tuesday; South Carolina; people of color; Nevada Culinary Union; pardons; stop and frisk; media bias; raise your hand; front-runner; Elizabeth Warren (since she's been inexplicably missing from recent polls); and farmers. My bonus word? Equal Rights Amendment, or ERA.

Now, we won't have a 'debate' or anything close to that -- what we'll likely have, as we usually do, is a group interview, with a little bit - or maybe even a lot - of sniping at each other, particularly the designated front-runners: That Guy from Vermont, who is tied with a former mayor in delegates, and the other former mayor, the billionaire Mike Bloomberg, who hasn't been on the ballot anywhere, so has zero delegates and zero votes.

And speaking of billionaires, let's take a moment to wonder about the other billionaire in the race, Tom Steyer, the one who's actually on the ballot in Nevada, but who didn't make the debate stage.

That other billionaire, the impeached president, is still out there, not spending a dime of his own money, but continuing to make money off everything political. That's right: according to this Forbes article, 

Billionaire Donald Trump still has not donated a cent to his 2020 campaign, opting to fund the effort with money from supporters around the country. At the same time, Trump’s private companies are continuing to charge the campaign for expenses like rent and consulting, according to the latest federal filings. That means that since January 20, 2017, the day Trump officially declared his intent to run for re-election, his campaign has put $1.9 million of donor money into the president’s private business.

So, where's the money going?

• $1.3 million to Trump Tower Commercial LLC, in which the president has a 100% interest from his re-election team, with additional money coming from the RNC;
• $259,000 to the Trump Corporation, in which the president has a 100% interest, for legal and IT consulting;
• $126,000 to the Trump International Hotel;
• $60,000 to the Trump Hotel Collection, a management company also called Trump International Hotels Management LLC, solely owned by the president;
• $84,000 to Trump Plaza LLC, owned outright by the president; and
• $3,000 monthly payments to Trump Restaurants LLC, in which the president has a 100% interest.

Now, the assumption is that this is all legal and above board, as long as the campaign is paying market rates and all, which of course they said it does. However, the article also notes that

Even if a campaign were breaking rules by paying exorbitant rates, there’s not a lot anyone could do about it right now. The FEC, which examines such things, cannot take any official commission action unless at least four of its six commissioners vote to do so. Since Trump took office, three of the FEC’s commissioners have left their posts. Their seats—which demand presidential appointments and senate confirmations—have yet to be filled.

I don't know about you, but I have to wonder a couple of things: first of all, is there NO non-Trump-enriching space available? And second, is there any wondering why the FEC isn't up to full strength?

And one more - do the folks who are spending all of their money on Trump properties (the same as they did back in 2015 an 2016) do this on their own, or because they know if they didn't, they'd be out of a job?

What else is going on?  Let's see...  Virginia failed to pass an assault weapons ban this week, when

Four Democrats on Virginia's Senate Judiciary Committee broke ranks with their party handing the Republican minority a victory in tabling the bill for the remainder of the year. It also sent the measure to the state's Crime Commission for further review. 

The bill would have banned the sale or transfer of certain assault-style weapons in Virginia. It also would have made it illegal to possess silencers and magazine holding more than 12 rounds. 

Lots of people are wondering what happened to everyone's courage, after the Dems took control and turned Virginia into single-party government; this was a shock to many, it seems.

Reports say that Snitty Snitty Bill Barr considered resigning because of Trump's meddling and tweeting and impossible-job-making interference.  I have to say, part of me thinks that's a load of hooey - if he wanted to resign, he could have, and still can. I also wonder if it had anything to do with the couple thousand former DOJ employees calling on him to resign?

And finally, a couple of noteworthy bankruptcy filings making the news: the Boy Scouts of America and the Diocese of Harrisburg, PA have both filed, for the same reason - abuse of young people. There's not a lot left to wonder about in either case, I think for either, I think - other than, have we heard the last of it?

That's where we'll leave it for now. Enjoy the debate, if that's the correct word for it. And don't overdo the drinking game...

Sunday School 2/16/20

I love when there's lots of activity in the classrooms, and today was no exception. Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar, Tom Steyer and Pete Buttigieg were making the rounds this morning, with Klobuchar hitting four classrooms and Steyer two.  

I narrowed it down to one per show, so we've got Biden with Chuck Todd on NBC's Meet the Press, Klobuchar with Martha Raddatz on ABC's This Week, Steyer with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation (CBS) and Buttigieg with Dana Bash on CNN's State of the Union. That's the order we'll take them in.

Here are some excerpts from the Joe Biden interview. He was circumspect on Trump's attacks, saying that he "realized that whomever was likely to be, whoever he most feared, was going to be the victim of his affection" and also noting that he's tried not to show too much frustration because the election is not about him, it's about pulling the country together.  He admitted that "it had crossed his mind" that Trump's attacks might have actually made a difference in Iowa and New Hampshire.

On his campaign and whether he's got the urgency, the fire that people want to see, he said maybe being so polite and positive wasn't the best approach after all, but he supported his moderate proposals by saying if he gets elected he'll be "one of the most progressive administrations" in the country's history. And, regarding That Guy from Vermont and his policies,  

...what you're up against is things that are almost fanciful. Like, you know, Medicare for All. Thirty-five, thirty, forty trillion dollars. Even Bernie's now saying, "Well, how much is it going to cost?" "Well, who knows. We'll find out." I think that's the phrase he used -- or "we don't know." I mean, part of being president is not just the idea you have. Can you get it done? Have you ever done anything big? Have you ever been able to put together coalitions that bring along Republicans and all the Democrats to get things done? And the idea, I mean it's almost fanciful sometimes.

On Sanders and people always knowing where he stands on things.  

And he's never gotten anything done... he's a decent guy...he's been talking about health care, Medicare for All, universal health care, for 35 years. Nothing's happened. I helped get Obamacare. I helped move it forward. I got the votes. I'm in a position where I take something that I promise you, I'll get done. We take Obamacare. We allow people -- like out here in Nevada, what's going on? Bernie requires, and Elizabeth's plan requires you to give up all private insurance. These folks have broken their necks, the culinary union and others, to get the most comprehensive health care that's out there. And they've given up wages for it... 

I mean come on. This is -- I mean, I think people are so tired of the lack of straightforwardness out there. Now, if I'm wrong, I'm going to be dead wrong, but I really believe that you have to lay out why you're doing what you're doing and how you're going to get it done.

On Bloomberg buying his African-American support, cutting into Biden's support by around half, Chuck Todd said. 

... Anyway, the point is that $60 billion can buy you a lot of advertising, but it can't erase your record. There's a lot to talk about with Michael Bloomberg. You all are going to start focusing on him like you have on me, which I'm not complaining, like you have on me the last six months. You're going to focus on him. His position on issues relating to the African American community, from stop-and-frisk to the way he talked about Obama, to, I mean –

On two of his biggest rivals, one not a Dem and the other a former Republican, and what that says about the Democratic party,

Well, I think what it says is money, billions of dollars, can take you a long, long way. And it says that it's going to be awful hard to go out and win those -- the base support of the Democratic party, the African Americans, Latinos and working-class white folks, and put that coalition together. That's how you win an election. You put that coalition together.

On the need for winning South Carolina, and whether he can "do well" without winning there, 

Well, I think so. But look... look, right after that, within -- on March the 4th we end up with -- going into all the states, which the polling data is now showing me doing incredibly well. Whether it's North Carolina or Georgia or Texas or any of these other places. So look, it's not an apt comparison, but Bill Clinton lost his first eight, ten, 12 primaries and caucuses before he won one. I don't plan on taking that long. But we're just getting to the meat of getting to the number of delegates you need to be able to win this election. And I'm confident we're going to be in good shape.

And from Sen. Amy Klobuchar, starting with her positioning in Nevada, her just starting ad buys, and so on, including only being at 2% in the Las Vegas Weekly poll. 

Well, actually the Las Vegas Review Journal that came out after New Hampshire yesterday had me at 10 points. And that's even a day before our ads even started. So, we're pretty excited about that. I think that came out of all the work we did in New Hampshire. We've had huge crowds, including over 1,000 people in Reno. And I think the newspaper endorsement of The Sun is also very helpful. So, we see ourselves on an upward path.

She said she's in every Super Tuesday state with teams on the ground, she's raised $12M in the past week, and she's feeling good. Raddatz pointed out that no major party nominee finished worse than 2nd in either Iowa or New Hampshire.

Obviously, the next month is critical for us, but I think I’m just approaching this in a different way. And we really shocked the pundits in New Hampshire, and it was all hard work, the endorsements of the papers, the endorsement of The New York Times that I share with my friend Elizabeth, and the kind of momentum that you see. It’s a different year.

On building support with people of color,  

Well, that’s going to be on me. I need people to get to know me. I’ve always gotten high support in all of my elections with the Hispanic and African-American communities in my state -- that is a start... my name identification in states outside of the early few states was not that high, simply because I didn’t have the money like Bloomberg to run more ads during your show than I am on being interviewed on your show. I get that. That’s what happens...That is a big difference.

People don’t know me. And then I’m going to emphasize my record of equal opportunity. The work that I have done in leading so many voting rights bills, including automatically registering kids to vote when they turn 18, getting rid of gerrymandering, getting rid of voting purges. I have a strong record when it comes to voting rights as well as equal opportunity --

As have others, Raddatz talked to her about new evidence in a case where she was the initial prosecutor. The defendant was found guilty but the verdict was overturned and he was retried and convicted by a new prosecutor after Klobuchar became a senator. Now, with new evidence, Klobuchar is saying whole case should be reviewed, old evidence and new. 

Martha, as a prosecutor... our job is to convict the guilty and protect the innocent...all of these cases, when anything new comes in that puts into doubt any conviction, no matter when it is, must be reviewed.  

When I was county attorney, I undertook a major review of all of our serious cases involving DNA... I also pioneered a new way of doing eyewitness identification with The Innocence Project. I went around the country and debated other DAs about having interrogations videotaped because I believe so strongly they should be videotaped. So when you look at my record, the 12 percent decrease in African American incarceration rates when I was there, you see a number of things where I was focused on protecting the innocent.

And my response to this case is this, it must be reviewed immediately and brought to court.

And from Tom Steyer, starting with Margaret Brennan's question on what would constitute success for him in Nevada.

Look, I want to come in first or second. I've spent more time in Nevada than any other candidate. We have a great team on the ground here. I've gone out of my way to try and make sure that I see as many people face to face. And I believe we're putting together the kind of coalition in Nevada and in South Carolina that a Democrat is going to have to put together to win in November of 2020.

On being serious about Nevada and about South Carolina, too, where he has the largest state operation of any candidate (and his wife might have moved there, Brennan said).

Both of these states are diverse states. Both of these states reflect the kind of diversity that is America and that is the Democratic Party. And I think whoever is going to be the candidate has got to be able to show that he or she can pull together that diverse big tent that is the Democratic Party. And I think that's what we're trying to do here in Nevada. And I know that's what we're trying to do in South Carolina... I really think it's about grassroots. I'm a grassroots person. I built one of the biggest grassroots organizations in the United States, next-gen America. And I really believe in people being on the ground, the candidate being on the ground and seeing people face to face.

On the problem of labor force participation (which, I must say, is a very specific question to ask a candidate), the Fed Chair has said is due to the opioid crisis and educational issues. What does he think?

What the Federal Reserve chairman is talking about in terms of opioids and education is how you actually develop long term prosperity and justice. And that is by investing in young people through education, specifically including universal pre-kindergarten, and by dealing with issues of health around the country, including the opioid crisis, including mental health... (president Trump is) avoiding the actual long term prosperity of Americans that is done by investing in the American people, by making us productive over time. And that means education, health care for every American, a living wage.  The wages of Americans-- are outrageously low. 

And on reparations - he's said he's the only one in the race saying he's for them - he admitted that he doesn't have a specific mechanism for them yet, but

...the way to figure out the correct solution in this case is I would have a formal commission on race the first day- starting the first day of my presidency to retell the story of the more than 400 years that African-Americans have been here in America, to tell the story not just of legalized injustice and cruelty, but also of the contributions that the African-American community have made--to the building of America--  what I'm saying is this: in order to come up with solutions, you have to go through together and tell the story, because out of the narrative comes the policy changes. 

He also said he'd put $125B - that's right, $125 billion - into HBCUs, which he said have lost over 40% of their funding in a decade, as just one example of what he's thinking. 

Finally, let's turn to Mayor Pete and Dana Bash, starting with what's going on in Nevada with the Culinary Union, which has come out against That Guy from Vermont and his Medicare for All plan because it would wipe out their hard-fought benefits - and union members are now getting attacked by Sanders supporters.

You know, it's really disturbing to see the Culinary Union attacked, when these are workers who have stood up and fought for, among other things, good health care plans. They're not interested in Washington taking away their choice... 

No one should go after working people for wanting to defend and grow what they have earned. And it's a key point of difference at the policy level between me and Senator Sanders, and, also, I think, very important that supporters of any candidate do this with respect. We have a crisis of respect and decency, obviously, in the White House right now. And it's natural that there's going to be the heat of competition on our side...

On whether Buttigieg thinks TGFV is doing enough to keep his supporters in line, that's a question for him, not for Pete.

What I will tell you is that I'm focused on making sure that my own supporters and our campaign conduct this competition, even when it's heated, with a level of respect for where people are coming from, because we're talking about workers standing up for their own care.

On his health insurance plan differing from M4A, and that union workers would be able to keep their private plans if he was elected, he said that's the absolutely the case. Whereas Sanders' plan abolishes private plans, his does not. 

Now... if my plan is the very best insurance plan in America -- and I think it just might be -- then, eventually, everybody will cross over to it. But I want them to be able to decide. And in the event that it's not, if some plans out there are better, why would we want to kick anybody off of it? This is a commonsense position that most Americans support. It still amounts to the most progressive, major reform to health care that we have had in 50 years. But it is doable. It makes sense. It's the right policy. And it has the advantage of being something that Americans could actually unite around.

On race (Buttigieg and Klobuchar face the same problem here, with low support among Blacks and Latinos), and a Quinnipiac poll showing him at 4% support there, "why aren't those voters coming to you?" he said he's continuing to have conversations with voters, and that the support he's gained in Iowa and New Hampshire should help. 

As we come to more racially diverse states, like here in Nevada and South Carolina, many of the voters of color that I'm talking to are focused in particularly on -- in particular on one thing, defeating Donald Trump. Look, nobody is experiencing the pain of living under this administration more than voters of color. And I'm talking to a lot of highly pragmatic voters who want to know, more than anything else, that you can put together the organization and the message that will decisively defeat this president. There is so much on the line right now, and we have got to get this right.

Bash wondered if he was confident he could convince them to look at him, and look at him differently than they have before.

Absolutely. I mean, I still have to go out there and earn it. This is a process of earning trust with voters who have every reason to be skeptical, who have often felt taken for granted by the Democratic Party, who are, again, very pragmatic right now too. And so I am not going to take any vote for granted, just as I'm not going to leave any vote on the table. We are campaigning hard here in Nevada, across -- across the country. We will be working hard in South Carolina too.

On whether it's "fair to say that what you're doing now is whatever it takes to beat Bernie Sanders and your other Democratic rivals in order to get to the point where you can go after Donald Trump?" even if that means having expensive fundraisers where other candidates might not be.

So, let's be very clear. My campaign is fueled by over two million contributions. I believe the average contribution is under 40 bucks. It is the lifeblood of our campaign...I am following the same fundraising practices that President Obama did and that our leaders have in order to make sure that we draw in all of the support that we need to win. And the campaign I'm building right now is not just for earning the nomination...

My campaign is about belonging. It is about inclusion. I don't define this campaign or define myself by whose help we reject. This is about making sure that everybody who shares these values, everybody prepared to defeat Donald Trump is on the same team pulling together. And we built this from the ground up.

Look, I'm not a millionaire. I haven't been in politics for years or decades. I don't have the advantages of having been a senator. We built this from scratch, and with the hundreds of thousands of individuals who have contributed to this campaign, people of all walks of life. I'm proud of what we have been able to do. And, yes, this is how we're going to defeat this president.

On the walking disgrace that is Medal of Freedom recipient Rush Limbaugh saying Buttigieg is a "37 year old gay guy, mayor of South Bend, who loves to kiss his husband on the debate stage," did he want to respond? 

Well, I love my husband. I'm faithful to my husband. On stage, we usually just go for a hug, but I love him very much. And I'm not going to take lectures on family values from the likes of Rush Limbaugh.

Busy, busy, busy - hope you have the chance to take it all in.

See you around campus.

Email of the Week (v10)

Thursday is 'Email of the Week' day, when I plow through a hundred or so emails from the handful of Democratic presidential candidates I'm following to see what's going on.

Out of the 167 emails received since last Thursday afternoon, I'd guess that around 150 of them were requests for money - crazy amounts of money. We need $2M in the blink of an eye, and then that turned into $4M. We need $7M in the next week. We need we need we need we need we need.  

All but one of Mike Bloomberg's emails were policy-specific, focusing on immigration, veterans, reproductive health, and reforming our broken tax code. The fifth? Tomorrow's his birthday, if you want to send him a greeting. 

Warren reminded us that it was three years ago that the "Nevertheless, she persisted" moment occurred, and reminded supporters that this is a marathon not a spring (but she needs money, lots of money, to stay in the race.)

TGFV  boasted of his big win in New Hampshire, but that wasn't enough to lift him to the top tier. Here's part of that message.

Let me be clear: Now that we've gained another victory in New Hampshire, the establishment and financial elite are going to throw everything at us except the kitchen sink, And I have a feeling that the kitchen sink is coming pretty soon as well. 

So, if it wasn't him, who had the emails that made it to the top of the list?  Mayor Pete came close with 'This Is Our Moment,' which said, in part,

A fresh outlook is what makes new beginnings possible. It’s how we galvanize the majority that’s ready to act. And election after election has shown us that putting forward a new perspective is how Democrats win the White House. The stakes are monumental. We cannot afford to miss the mark or miss this moment. We must get this right. We must be clear-eyed about the challenge before us. And we must be equally clear about the choice ahead.

But the winner of the coveted email of the week is Andrew Yang, who - like Michael Bennet and Deval Patrick - suspended his campaign this week. It was a long email, so I'm including only some key excerpts.

We have accomplished so much together. We have brought a message of Humanity First and a vision of an economy and society that works for us and our families to millions of our fellow Americans...

One of the things I’m most proud of -- we gave $1,000 a month for a year to 13 families across the country.

We highlighted the real problems in our communities as our economy is being transformed before our eyes by technology and automation... Our signature proposal, Universal Basic Income, has become part of the mainstream conversation... We have touched and improved millions of lives and moved this country we love so much in the right direction.

And while there is great work left to be done, I am the MATH guy. And it is clear tonight from the numbers that we are not going to win this race. I am not someone who wants to accept donations and support in a race that we will not win. This is not an easy decision... But I have been convinced that the message of this campaign will not be strengthened by my staying in this race any longer.

My goal when I first started was always to solve the problems that got Donald Trump elected. And I know in order to do that, I will support whoever is the Democratic nominee. That said, I hope this campaign can be a message, and word of caution, to all of my Democratic colleagues.

Donald Trump is not the cause of all of our problems. He is a symptom. We must cure the disease that got him elected, and in order to do that we must address the real problems that affect our people and offer solutions to actually solve them. Those solutions are bold, and many think they are crazy. But I hope my campaign has made it a little less crazy to think we can lead our country to eradicate poverty...

This is the beginning. This movement is the future of American politics. This movement is the future of the Democratic party...

I can't wait to see who brings their A-game next week.