Wondering on Wednesday 9/23/20

Ready... Set... Wonder!

OH EM GEE -- Didja know that Hunter Biden worked for Ukrainian energy company Burisma, and didja know that it was stupid that he worked for Burisma when his father was the vice president?  If you didn't know those two things, I've no choice but to wonder where you were during the impeachment.  And, today, I have to wonder what the heck Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson thought he was going to accomplish by having a lengthy investigation to determine those two facts?  Well, let him tell you himself.

People need to take a look at this report very carefully and understand what the ramifications are for electing Joe Biden as president.

Well, no -- I mean, we knew all of that before, even if Johnson didn't. Heck, even Republicans have called his investigation nonsense, with Utah's Mitt Romney saying

It is not the legitimate role of government, for Congress or for taxpayer expense, to be used in an effort to damage political opponents. 

And from this article in the NY Times, we learn that Johnson

said he was simply conducting the type of oversight with which his committee was tasked, and suggested that the investigation had been thrust upon him because Mr. Biden had opted to challenge Mr. Trump. The senator said that he “never thought Joe Biden should run for president,” and hinted that the former vice president had cognitive problems, a baseless attack frequently hurled by Mr. Trump.

I don't know about you, but I wonder if the most important thing we'll learn from the report is that Ron Johnson is completely unfit for office - something he was hell-bent on proving about Biden.  

And speaking of people profiting from and benefiting from relationships with politicians, let's wonder about these items:

• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) gave more than $6 million in contracts since September 2018 to the firm where acting Secretary Chad Wolf’s wife serves as an executive.
• Since assuming the presidency, Donald Trump has racked up more than 3,000 conflicts of interest from his refusal to divest from his businesses, according to a report released today by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Trump averages more than two conflicts of interest per day, an astonishing rate of corruption... Highlights from CREW’s tracking include:  78 visits by members of Congress to Trump properties; 267 visits by the president to his own properties, each of which costs taxpayers money and makes Trump money; at least 30 visits by Cabinet members to events at Trump properties; 117 events hosted or sponsored by special interest groups at Trump properties, and nearly 80 more by political groups; 13 events held by entities with ties to foreign governments, and visits by at least 134 foreign officials, and of course, the 65 trademarks granted to Trump by foreign governments while he's been in office...
• Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross - "The Trump Official Who Keeps Watchdogs Up At Night" - has lied about divesting his vast financial holdings, and his "inaccuracies and omissions have also prompted serious questions about whether he took official actions that could affect his personal financial interests..."

There are so many more of this kind of thing in the Trump administration, either folks who are still there, or the many others who took their ethical challenges and went home. Are any of them fit for a government job, or fit for office, I wonder? Including Trump? 

What else is going on today?  Well, both the Republicans and the Democrats are actively engaged in sticking their noses in the election.  Let's take the Rs first: according to an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, 

The Republican National Committee is getting involved in an appeal over absentee ballot deadlines in Georgia, making it the 20th state where the Republican Party is fighting election lawsuits. 

From the Protect The Vote website, which is an arm of the Republican National Committee, 

Is it any wonder that the 20 states where the Rs are involved in lawsuits include Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia - are all swing states?  

And the Dems? I don't think we need to wonder why they're fighting to keep Syracuse's own Howie Hawkins, the Green Party's presidential candidate, off the ballot in swing states, including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin... After all, we know that any vote for a candidate other than Joe Biden is a vote for Trump, right? Particularly a vote for a more progressive candidate than Biden. 

A reporter today asked the president what he thought about Harry and Meghan doing a PSA about voting. I was sure it was going to be the reporter from OANN, but it was actually the Daily Mail UK reporter. Trump's answer was typical - rude and denigrating - so no wondering there. Nope - the wondering is why anyone would ask that question in the first place. And then I saw that reporters also asked Buckingham Palace about the former royals, so I guess maybe that's just the way the UK reporters are. 

And we'll close tonight's wondering with this piece of news about the president's second son, Eric. He's been asked to appear for a deposition in a case brought by NY AG Tish James, but wanted to wait until after the election. After all, his lawyer said, Eric is a "vital and integral part" of his father's campaign, and he's traveling way too much to appear. Alas,

Judge Arthur Engoron has ordered President Donald Trump's son to appear for a deposition by Oct. 7, denying Eric Trump's request to wait until after the election.

Engoron said the argument to delay providing testimony was "unpersuasive" because "neither the petitioner nor this court is bound by timelines of the national election." 

So, what's the wondering on that part? 

• Will he really appear as ordered in two weeks? 
• Will the president's campaign legal team join the case? 
• Or, even better, will Snitty Snitty Bill Barr's Justice Department join the case on behalf of the president, because being deprived of having his number two son on the campaign trail makes this a case about the president?

There's more, as usual, but that's enough for one night.

Sunday School 8/23/20

I'm only visiting two classrooms today -- Jake Tapper's CNN State of the Union, and Margaret Brennan's Face the Nation on CBS.

I'm trying to save some appetite for the Biden/Harris interview later tonight on ABC, which will be the subject of your Extra Credit this week.

Let's get started with Tapper and Chad Wolf, the perhaps not legally acting head of the Department of Homeland Security. Here are the highlights:

The president "absolutely has not" discussed deploying any DHS folks as part of the team of law enforcement officers he threatened to send to be poll watchers.

We have law enforcement authorities and law enforcement officers at the department. We have express authorities given to us by Congress. And this is not one of them.

Wolf has no intelligence that supports the presidents claim that other countries - Russia, China, Iran, North Korea among them - might forge ballots and send them in, or that they are "attacking election infrastructure."

And we want to make sure, at the end of the day, that voters, American voters, are deciding American elections. And we will continue to do that to make sure, again, that secretaries of state -- again, states run elections -- that they have all the information, that they have the intelligence, and they have a number of no-cost services that the department provides to them to make sure that their election systems are safe and secure.

On comments from Miles Taylor, former DHS Chief of Staff, Wolf said

...while Mr. Taylor was at the department, he was a fierce advocate for the policies that we pursued at DHS every day, left there 14 months ago, and decided 75, 80 days before an election to start speaking out. So, I think most reasonable Americans understand what that is. It's politics, and nothing more.

They batted around some of Taylor's comments, including that Trump told top DHS officials to "listen to Lou Dobbs" and "what Lou says is what I want to do."

... no, I have never been told to watch Lou Dobbs or any other news show, even yours, to get what we want to do at the Department of Homeland Security. 

And on Tapper's noting that Taylor is not the first former DHS person to question Trump's judgment and ability to lead the country? 

...All of the individuals that you just discussed were strong proponents of what the department's doing, and the president, while in office. A number of them have left, some on their own, some not on their own... So, again, I think people understand what this is about. This is about politics, first and foremost. And it's unfortunate.

Speed round stuff: 

• He believes the GAO used the wrong policy to come up with its assertion that he's not legally qualified to hold his position, and that DHS "vehemently disagree" with the finding.
• Yes, he did visit the part of the border wall built by the charity at the heart of the Bannon arrest;  he said then, and still, that "he welcomes all that want to be part of the solution," but was not an endorsement of 'We Build the Wall'  and statements to the contrary are false.
• He doesn't have "any reason to believe anything different from the FBI" on QAnon being a domestic terror threat - but it's not a significant threat. And, he absolutely condemns any illegal activity associated with the group.
• He believes that some local officials, a governor, and others are "fostering an environment in Portland, 90 days straight of violent clashes with law enforcement, assaults, arrests, and injuries. And it's got to stop."

TGIF 8/14/20

Last week's TGIF was all 'good week' stuff, but that's not the case this week. The pendulum swings, as they say. 

For example, here's a list of fun things from Fox News, recapping some headlines:

Trump Seeks to Starve Post Office to Limit Mail-in Voting (WaPo): “President Trump said Thursday that he does not want to fund the U.S. Postal Service because Democrats are seeking to expand mail-in voting during the coronavirus pandemic, making explicit the reason he has declined to approve $25 billion in emergency funding for the cash-strapped agency....

Trump tells Barr and prosecutor to bring Biden down quickly (TPM): “President Trump on Thursday issued an ultimatum to Attorney General Bill Barr over the months-long probe led by U.S. Attorney John Durham, whom Barr tapped last year to investigate the origins of the Russia probe... The President added that Barr is ‘great most of the time’ but that ‘he’ll be just another guy’ if he ‘wants to be politically correct.’ 

Personnel office clears Trump acceptance speech at White House (CBS News): “The U.S. Office of Special Counsel confirmed federal law does not preclude President Trump from delivering a speech at the White House to accept the GOP's presidential nomination during this month's Republican National Convention. The president and the vice president are not covered by any provisions of the Hatch Act,’ Erica Hamrick, deputy chief of the office's Hatch Act Unit, told Maloney in a letter Wednesday. ‘Accordingly, the Hatch Act does not prohibit President Trump from delivering his RNC acceptance speech on White House grounds.’”

That last one, though? I mean, the president has multiple properties where he could host his own party - heck, he held an official press conference with hooting and hollering from members of his golf club in the back of the room.

To the delight of club members in pastel-colored polo shirts and golf cleats who, at times, sounded like a sitcom laugh track for the president’s jabs at Democrats and the press, the president put on back-to-back shows in the ballroom of his property.

How about the new birther attacks, suggesting that Kamala Harris is not eligible to be Joe Biden's VP because, you know, she was born in the USA.  Does that sound familiar to anyone, maybe from a few years ago? And now, maybe trying to keep another person of color out of the White House? This is a tried and true tactic of the Trump squad; you can hear Tamara Keith's reporting that it's playing out in living color - again from tonight's All Things Considered.

And speaking of things being considered, it seems that the president's propensity to surround himself with 'acting' officials (he likes them a LOT) may have finally bitten him in the proverbial behind.  Chad Wolf and Ken Cuccinelli, the top two guys at DHS, are "serving unlawfully in their roles," according to the Government Accountability Office.

According to the GAO, Trump’s installation of Wolf and Cuccinelli violated the law because of the sequence of events following the resignation of DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in April 2019. The official who assumed the title of acting secretary at that time, Kevin McAleenan, had not been designated in the order of succession, the GAO said. 

Subsequent personnel moves were also therefore illegitimate, and Wolf and Cuccinelli are serving under “an invalid order of succession,” the agency found. The GAO said that it was referring the matter to the DHS inspector general for review and that any further actions would be up to Congress and the IG’s office.

Now, we can almost predict what'll happen next, right? The DHS IG will get the report soon, and then the IG will be demoted and reassigned to working the night shift at some East Podunkian outpost or something, or will be stonewalled by the DHS and or the AG or the Oval, and then Mitch McConnell will suddenly bring these applicable committee back to approve the appointments and blahdittyblahblahblah and no one will pay attention to just another footnote in the annals of the unethical, unprofessional acts that have occurred in the Trump era.

But wouldn't it be nice if these two had to step aside and the rules actually were followed?  A girl can dream, can't she?

Speaking of ethics and golf and Trump, he's said to be visiting his brother in a NYC hospital before heading to his Bedminster property once again. Bedminster, in New Jersey, is where he'll receive the endorsement of the NYC Police Union.

This weekend’s trip to Trump National Bedminster is the president’s 23rd since taking office, and will increase his golf-related taxpayer tab to $142 million in travel and security expenses. Each trip to Bedminster costs taxpayers about $1.1 million, compared to $3.4 million per trip for his visits to Mar-a-Lago, of which there have been 30. Trump has also visited his golf courses in Los Angeles, Scotland, Ireland and Doral, Florida, beside the Miami airport, all on the taxpayer dime.

Trump frequently criticized his predecessor, Barack Obama, for playing too much golf, and promised during his campaign that he would be too busy to take any time off. “I just want to stay in the White House and work my ass off,” he said at a February 2016 rally.

I think it's safe to say that he's totally missed the mark on that last statement.

TGIF, everyone.

Shots Fired: Systemic Racism? Here?

Shots fired.

Shots, in the form of voices talking about systemic racism, echoing around the interwebs. I hope they continue to do so, until the echoes ring in everyone's ears, creating a deafening sound that simply cannot be ignored.

We need that; we do.

Well, I don't believe in systemic racism. I think the American system is the best system ever devised for mankind, for history. We are liberty, we are equality, we are fairness, we have come a long way in this country...Here's a thought: President Obama, the first black president was elected twice, and he got 79 million white votes - 79 million in two elections. Now therefore, I find it hard to understand something called 'systemic racism. ~ Larry Kudlow, White House economic advisor, June 2020.

I live through the crisis and the systemic racism every single day, but I say, 'Maybe George Floyd is different.' We need to do whatever we can and commit every resource that we have...to combat this 400 years of systemic racism across every one of the important areas: education, economics, criminal injustice, and health care. ~black executive Ray McGuire, vice chairman of Citigroup, June 2020

We tried to deal with our original sin of slavery by fighting a Civil War, by passing landmark civil rights legislation, electing an African American president. I don't think we should be trying to figure out how to compensate for it. First of all, it would be hard to figure out whom to compensate. ~Kentucky's Senator Mitch McConnell, on the topic of reparations, June 2019

It remains a shocking failure that many African Americans, especially young African American men, are harassed and threatened in their own country. It is a strength when protesters, protected by responsible law enforcement, march for a better future. This tragedy - in a long series of similar tragedies - raises a long overdue question: How do we end systemic racism in our society? The only way to see ourselves in a true light is to listen to the voices of so many who are hurting and grieving. Those who set out to silence those voices do not understand the meaning of America - or how it becomes a better place. ~George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States, May 2020

I do not think that we have a system racism problem with law enforcement officers across this country. Do I acknowledge that there are some law enforcement officers that abuse their job? Yes. And again, we need to hold those accountable. And I would say that there are individuals in every profession across this country that probably abuse their authority and their power. And we need to hold them accountable. Can we do better? Can we continue to do more in the law enforcement arena? Outreach to our communities? Particularly those that feel slighted or -- absolutely. And so, I think there's always that - things that we can do more. But, again, I think painting law enforcement with a broad brush of systemic racism is really a disservice to the men and women who put on the badge, the uniform every day, risk their lives every day to protect the American people, to protect them so that they can go to school, they can have a business and come home safe to their families. So, I think we need to keep that in mind as well. ~Chad Wolfe, Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, June 2020

These events are yet another reminder that many of our fellow citizens endure the burden of unjust, exploitative, and abusive treatment by institutions in this country. Over the course of American history, the examples of such institutionalized racism are many, and include slavery, federal law (consider the Three-Fifths Compromise our founding fathers established to determine federal representation), sanctioned intimidation during Reconstruction, Jim Crow laws in southern states, redlining by bankers and brokers, segregation, voter suppression, and racial profiling in policing. These institutions hurt not only the African Americans they've targeted, but the systemic racism they've codified also hurt, and continues to hurt, America and its economy. By limiting economic and educational opportunities for a large number of Americans, institutionalized racism constrains this country's economic potential. The economic contributions of these Americans, in the form of work product and innovation, will be less than they otherwise could have been. Systemic racism is a yoke that drags on the American economy. This country has both a moral and economic imperative to end these unjust and destructive practices. ~Raphael Bostic, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, June 2020

I think there's racism in the United States still but I don't think that the law enforcement system is systematically racist. I understand the - the distrust, however, of the African American community given the history in this country. I think we have to recognize that for most of our history, our institutions were explicitly racist. Since the 1960s, I think we've been in a phase of reforming our institutions and making sure that they're in sync with our laws and aren't fighting a rearguard action to impose inequities. ~William Barr, US Attorney General, June 2020

The truth of our nation is that too often, the color of your skin alone can endanger your life, and for far too long, systemic racism has oppressed communities of color in the United States. Black and brown communities must no longer be the only ones to bear the weight of pushing for change. No one can stay silent. No one can ignore injustice. It's long past time for our nation to deal with systemic racism, including its contributions to growing economic inequality. We must seize this moment of opportunity to address all the issues that have denied the promise of this nation to so many for long. Let's use this moment or urgency to finally find the path forward. ~former Vice President Joe Biden

Systemic racism is manifesting itself in the public lynchings of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, as well as the state violence against Breonna Taylor. Black folks are also dying at startling numbers to COVID-19 due to systemic racism. One virus (systemic racism), two manifestations. ~Bakari Sellers, attorney, author, former state representative in South Carolina

Not all of the folks here necessarily have the same opinions they've always had; some have evolved, as is part of human nature. Others may not have.  But if the thinking is that it's enough to say that there is (or is not) systemic racism in law enforcement, that thinking is missing the boat.

Systemic racism in law enforcement can lead to a very violent death, a 'public lynching' as described by Bakari Sellers, but perhaps the more insidious systemic racism - the kind that can bring about a long, slow, death - is the kind talked about by Ray McGuire, by Raphael Bostic, and by Sellers, too.

The kind that kills not one individual at a time, but entire communities of people who are not allowed the chance to succeed. The ones with bad water, and lead paint, and permanent code violations and redlined zip codes. The ones with poor transportation options; the food deserts; the medical deserts; the ones without polling places; the ones with 'labels' that last for generations, whether deserved once, now, or never.  The communities where 'those people' live.

How do we end systemic racism in America? Maybe we can start by admitting it exists...

Shots fired.