Sidebar: VP Harris and Equity

In this week's Sunday School, remarks made by Vice President Kamala Harris were brought up by Florida's Sen. Rick Scott. 

When asked by Margaret Brennan to respond to comments made by former president Donald Trump, Scott replied that people need to come together, and then he added, 

I'd also say that what Vice President Harris said yesterday that, or the day before yesterday that, you know if you, if you have a different skin color, you're going to get relief.   

Brennan said that wasn't what Harris said; Scott argued with her. I promised I'd have some details on it, once I was able to figure out what was going on.

Let's start with how the NY Post covered it.

Vice President Harris came in for a torrent of criticism after telling an audience that “communities of color” would be first in line for relief in the  devastating aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

“We have to address this in a way that is about giving resources based on equity, understanding that we fight for equality, but we also need to fight for equity,” she said during a discussion with Priyanka Chopra at the Democratic National Committee’s Women’s Leadership Forum on Friday.

“If we want people to be in an equal place, sometimes we need to take into account those disparities and do that work,” she added.

And, of course the Post included all the nasty comments, including that Harris was being racist. That type of thing was rife on social media, and in certain media circles, and, I'd add, with Republican officials like Rick Scott who decided to carefully misinterpret and then 'correct' her remarks. 

No, no, no. Wait, wait, Margaret. Margaret, let's make sure. FEMA has to be colorblind. FEMA has to provide support to everybody.

So, what did Harris really say? Let's start with the question she was asked by Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who was invited by the DNC's Women's Leadership Forum to have a 'fireside chat' with the VP. 

Can you talk a little bit about the relief efforts, obviously, of Hurricane Ian and what the administration has been doing to address the climate crisis in the states? 

But — and just a little follow up, because this is important to me: We consider the global implications of emissions, right? The poorest countries are affected the most. They contributed the least and are affected the most. So how should voters in the U.S. feel about the administration’s long-term goals when it comes to being an international influencer on this topic?

And here, in full, is Harris's answer, from the White House transcript. For the TL/DR crowd, I've added emphasis to what she said about Hurricane Ian. 

So, first of all, again, thanks to the leadership in this room, which were part of the propelling force in the 2020 election so that we could actually be in office — because one of the requests — dare I say, “demands” — of this group was, “Do something about the climate crisis.”  And so, we were able to be elected. Thank you, everyone here. 

And then have the — (applause) — but — and have, then, $370 billion in the Inflation Reduction Act dedicated to address the climate crisis — not only because it is a crisis, as it evident — as evidenced, as you have mentioned by Ian, by the wildfires happening in California, the floods, the hurricanes, but also because of America’s leadership and what it should be globally on this issue. And so that has happened, and it will propel a lot of good work.  

The crisis is real, and the clock is ticking. And the urgency with which we must act is without any question. 

And the way that we think of it and the way I think of it is both in terms of the human toll and — I know we are all thinking about the families in Florida, in Puerto Rico with Fiona — and what we need to do to help them in terms of an immediate response and aid, but also what we need to do to help restore communities and build communities back up in a way that they can be resilient — not to mention, adapt — to these extreme weather conditions, which are part of the future.  

No talk about FEMA money going to black folks and not to white folks? Nope - no mention of FEMA at all, in fact. 

Now, here's what she had to say about disparities, in response to the part of the question about climate change.

On the point that you made about disparities: You know, when I was — back when I was District Attorney of San Francisco — I was elected in 2003 — I started one of the first environmental justice units of any DA’s office in the country focused on this issue. And in particular on the disparities, as you have described rightly, which is that it is our lowest income communities and our communities of color that are most impacted by these extreme conditions and impacted by issues that are not of their own making. And so, when — 

Chopra Jonas interrupted here to say "and women." 

Absolutely. And so, we have to address this in a way that is about giving resources based on equity, understanding that we fight for equality, but we also need to fight for equity; understanding that not everyone starts out at the same place. And if we want people to be in an equal place, sometimes we have to take into account those disparities and do that work. (Applause.) 

But also, I will say, as a former prosecutor, part of this issue also has to be about enforcement and, where appropriate, making sure that the bad actors pay a price for what they do that is directly harming communities in terms of their health and wellbeing. 

So, when we think about policy then, there are many aspects to it, including something that the President and our administration and I are very excited about, which is the opportunity that moving towards a clean energy environment and industry — what it will do in terms of job creation and building up our economy.  It’s tremendous. (Applause.) 

So, there are many benefits to this work. 

And to your point about the global piece: Among the leaders that I have been meeting and convening — just recently, in fact — and now this was, I think, the third time — I convened the presidents and prime ministers of the Caribbean countries; there’s an organization called CARICOM. And I convened them just a couple weeks ago. And the consistent discussion we are having is exactly your point, which is: We are one of the greatest emitters in the world and the Caribbean countries, for example, are paying the biggest price. They are some of the lowest emitters, yet the erosion that they are experiencing to their island nations is profound. 

And when you combine that with the fact that nations like that — their biggest source for their GDP is tourism, and what the climate crisis and extreme weather conditions do in terms of then plummeting their incoming resources, not to mention what we are expecting all good nations to do to contribute to mitigation and adaptation.

So, there is still a lot of work to be done to recognize the equities. And I will say, for us, as the United States, to own responsibility for what we rightly — (applause) — should do to recognize these disparities and contribute in a way that is fair with the goal of equitable priorities.

Is Harris the only one who's been victimized by a soundbite? Of course not; it would be silly to think so. She won't be the last either. Heck, she probably won't be the last one this week.

The thing that's so frustrating? No one will be pushing back on folks like Rick Scott, or the NY Post, or anyone else for saying something that wasn't true - but there'll be more than enough people willing to 'report' on the fact that they said it. 

Sunday School 10/2/22: Extra Credit

In your Sunday School, we heard from Rick Scott, one of Florida's two Republican senators. Today, we hear from Marco Rubio, the other one, and from FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. Both made multiple appearances. 

We'll start with Criswell, who talked with Jon Karl in the This Week classroom. She described the situation in Florida using terms like "a lot of devastation," "significant damage," still homes under water," "active rescues," and "a long road to recovery."  She spent a day with Gov. Ron DeSantis, to hear his concerns, and the concerns of folks impacted by Hurricane Ian. And,

I committed to him that we would continue to bring in resources to meet the needs, not just for this response and the stabilization, but as we go into the recovery efforts... it was good to be able to see some of the damage and talk to the people directly while we were together so then he could let me know what kind of resources and assistance he might need.

Karl asked her about the death toll (NBC reported 87 deaths) and wondered if it had to do with the forecast being off, or because of delays in ordering evacuations. Criswell said the storm was "fairly unpredictable" in the days before landfall, adding 

Just 72 hours before landfall, the Fort Myers and Lee County area were not even in the cone of the hurricane. And as it continued to move south, the local officials immediately -- as soon as they knew that they were in that threat zone, made the decisions to evacuate and get people to safety.

There's some disagreement on that, as we learned from yesterday's conversations. She also said that FEMA had "pre-staged... search and rescue resources across the federal family" with state resources to mobilize immediately after the storm passed, and they're still working to account for everyone.

Efforts continue in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona. Criswell noted that 90% of customers now have power, and other agencies are also going in to the island to "make sure that we continue to move forward in supporting all of those people that have been impacted by that, to include individuals that have had a lot of damage to their homes -- a lot of water damage this time as compared to previous hurricanes." 

Rubio was next. He described Hurricane Ian as without comparison in Florida storms, noting Fort Myers Beach "no longer exists" and Sanibel Island is "basically flattened."  Even the buildings still standing

have been damaged by water, probably uninhabitable and have to be razed. So, this is a character-altering event. It will change the character and the nature of these communities. They’ll be rebuilt, but you can’t rebuild something that is slice of old Florida and bring it back. 

Regarding Sanibel, he said the priority now is to identify the people who stayed but will have to leave eventually,

because there's no way to continue their life there. There’s no way to restore the power. There’s no economy there. At some point, they'll have to be moved. And, you know, as I said, that bridge will be rebuilt. That will take a very long time, a couple of years at least. And, obviously, you know, life in Sanibel is going to change in the interim.

He praised the federal response, saying it's been very positive from day one. It's not just FEMA; it's the Army Corps, the Coast Guard, the SBA, and other agencies that will be helping individuals who need assistance. And, speaking of assistance, Karl asked about his history of voting against Superstorm Sandy relief, which Rubio said included pork and other non-disaster related funding. He asked if Rubio would insist on a clean emergency funding bill for his own state. 

Rubio said he's supported other emergency relief bills for folks all over the country, and he's supported them without pay-fors. 

What I won't support is things that are not emergency relief. What we're going to ask for Florida is what we supported for every other state in the country that’s been affected by -- by natural disasters, and that is emergency relief designed to be spent immediately to help the people affected now...

That wasn't the case with the Sandy aid bill, he said; it included things that may weren't directly related to urgent disaster relief. And when Karl asked if he'd take the same stand on aid for Florida if Congress did their thing and added a bunch of unrelated stuff. Rubio said "it won't come to that," because he and Rick Scott won't ask for anything unrelated.

I mean, why would somebody add something from another state that’s not impacted by the storm? So, it shouldn’t come to that and I’m not -- you know, it shouldn’t come to that pork in the road because it’s unnecessary thing. It's our request. 

Remind me, how long has he been in the Senate? Honestly, it'll be fun to watch this play out if push comes to shove. 

Karl's last question was on Ukraine, and whether i's application for NATO membership should be expedited. Rubio's a no on that, and says the bigger issue is what Vladimir Putin will do next.

Putin...could very well attack some NATO distribution point, because that's who he's blaming. He’s blaming NATO, the U.S., our allies for supplying Ukraine with weaponry that’s allowed Ukraine to be so effective. So, I think we need to start thinking through, what’s the response going to be...

The concern is if NATO forces are hurt or killed in such an attack; Rubio said it's a decision for the alliance that could come sooner rather than later.

The senator also spoke with Dana Bash in the CNN State of the Union classroom. Switching from Hurricane Ian to Hurricane Fiona, she asked if thought Puerto Rico should become a state, "so that it can be more resilient in having infrastructure" for disasters. 

He said he has "long believed" that Puerto Ricans should be able to vote on statehood - they "certainly have a right to have that vote." He also  said he thinks Puerto Ricans serve in the military more, on a per capita basis, than "just about any community in the country."  

Turning to Ukraine, Bash said the administration doesn't think there's any imminent threat of Putin using nuclear weapons, and she wondered if he sees things the same way. Rubio said he couldn't comment on what the administration folks are seeing, but

...I'm not saying the risk of him detonating a nuclear device as a demonstration is zero. I think, certainly, the risk is probably higher today than it was a month ago. 

And, did he think the Nord Stream pipeline leaks were sabotage?

I think logic and common sense will tell you that these things don't blow up on their own, especially in strategic and key points. Someone has to know where the vulnerabilities are. And someone has to have the capability to go down there and do it.

He doesn't think we have to look very far to find the likely suspects. 

And the only people in that region who have both the motive and the capability to have done it are Russian or Russian forces. So, I think, for me, it's not an intelligence matter at this point. It's a common sense matter.

And, finally, he thinks the recent deal with Venezuela to get seven Americans home was a bad deal. Rather, he said it encourages bad actors to "trump up some charges and arrest Americans..."

I think seven innocent American hostages in exchange for two convicted drug dealers who happen to be the nephews of Maduro is a huge win for Maduro and, unfortunately, puts Americans all over the world now in danger.

Feel free to chime in on any of this - you'll get extra Extra Credit for that!

See you around campus. 

In Case You Missed It (v106)

Last week's posts kicked off with your Sunday School lesson. We were in ABC's 'This Week' classroom with Martha Raddatz, who spoke with Keisha Lance Bottoms, a senior advisor to President Biden.  

Most of the conversation was about Biden's Independence Hall address (which none of the broadcast networks carried live), and unity, and division. Here's a snippet of the interview.

Raddatz wondered "How has President Biden bridged the divide? What has he done really to unify this country?" She pointed to a Quinnipiac poll showing that 69% of Democrats and Republicans believe democracy is in danger of collapse, but the Republicans blame Joe Biden and the Democrats blame Donald Trump, and said, "Again, how has Joe Biden helped bridge that divide?"

I had some thoughts on that, as you might imagine; Bottoms gave hers, as well. 

Bottoms spoke of Biden's bipartisanship in passing gun legislation as one example, but reiterated the point of his remarks. 

But it’s also going to take for all of us to stand up to hatred and what the president again continues to say it’s this MAGA agenda. The president has not called out all Republicans. He’s been very specific about this MAGA agenda. And I’ll just remind you the words from Martin Luther King Jr., when he said that it’s not the words of our enemies that we will remember, it’s the silence of our friends. And what the president has said is that mainstream Republicans, Independents, Democrats can all come together. We’ve seen us come together to do what’s right on behalf of the American people. But if people are silent, then the very core of who we are as a country is in danger.

I didn't give Raddatz a whole lotta love for the interview, but 

One thing I will give Raddatz credit for was asking about Dems paying for ads in the primaries that work in favor of MAGA Republicans. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, head of the DCCC, defends it, and the Democratic Governors Association apparently does, too.

In my opinion, it's dumb, and they shouldn't do it. She did say "tens of millions of Democratic groups who have spent money" but I'm pretty sure the meant "Democratic groups which have spent tens of millions of dollars." Bottoms didn't have a good answer for that - maybe because there isn't one.  

It was an odd interview, so much so that I addressed part of it in a Sidebar post that also came out on Sunday. 

Raddatz mentioned an organization, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, when she asked Bottoms about an increase in online hate speech, with lots of comments about how Biden attacked all conservatives and all Republicans, which he specifically did not do, of course. 

I was surprised, though, when I checked the ISD website for the info Raddatz mentioned; there was a blurb about Raddatz saying ISD said there was a surge, but I didn't find anything else about it.

I did, however, find a great deal of information using 'Donald Trump' and 'MAGA' as search keywords.

The ISD has posted about 2020 election violence, and the Big Lie and how it's still a threat, and Dark MAGA and the concerns about the 2024 election. They've talked about how Trump fails to convince his followers  to stop their nonsense, and about QAnon, and Facebook, and more.  I included several links in the post for your reading pleasure.

The general theme of it all? Exactly what President Biden was talking about in his remarks - which make Raddatz's line of questioning even stranger - or even more calculated. 

For your Extra Credit, I listened in on the discussion in the State of the Union classroom, where Dana Bash talked with FEMA Director Deanne Criswell. 

Criswell's in a tough spot, and I felt her answers were mostly about not roiling the waters or stepping on anyone's toes.  About her visit to Jackson, the Mississippi state capital,

She said that FEMA was focused on supporting the state's Emergency Management Agency

...with bringing in safe drinking water, bottled water, supporting their operations, but, more importantly, bringing in our federal partners that can really understand what it's going to take to bring this plant back to full operational capacity.

There was more of that kind of bureaucratic speak,  about "assessments" and things happening "in phases" and the "longer-term and the midterm" and having "a lot more to learn..." 

Eventually, after all of the 'non-answers, Bash said what I've been thinking all along.

It's just I'm listening to you, and I'm sure our viewers are listening and thinking, this is 2022. This is a state capital in the United States of America...a city of more than 150,000 people, without running water for nearly a week. And now, as you're saying, not only are they without safe drinking water, you don't have a timeline for when they're going to have that restored. Americans are lining up for hours in the heat just to get the bottles of water you're talking about. Who's to blame for this?

I included some of the history on the water crisis in Jackson in the post. The one thing that's clear? We are long past the point where governmental gobbledygook is going to solve the problem. 

Your Wondering on Wednesday didn't drop until Thursday morning, due to technical difficulties reporting from my secure undisclosed location, but the wondering hasn't stopped. 

On a more serious note, I'm shaking my head at the thought of the WaPo story that "a document describing a foreign government's military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities" was found in the mess of government property found at Mar-a-Lago. And I can't help wondering what kind of damage this information is going to do to our relationships around the world, regardless of which of country's information it was. Research has shown that our standing in the world was diminished during the Trump administration, but it rebounded quickly after Biden's inauguration; who knows what this will do.

Other wondering was on politicians who run for office but are afraid to debate their opponents. It's both Rs and Ds who are backing away from the traditional face-to-face discussions with their opponents, and I think it's dumb. 

In the post, I talked about Georgia, and Arizona, and Pennsylvania, and yes, New York, noting that

I share the opinion of Phil Boas, who opined

Katie Hobbs should debate. 

She should stick to the issues. Leave the theatrics to her opponent. Paint her vision for Arizona. 

Otherwise, why is she here? 

This is a contest of ideas, and in elections, debate is one of the ways in which we compete. You don’t have to match glib witticisms with your opponent, you can stand as a foil to her erratic ideals and ravings.

Finally, since last week was the first week of school for much of the country, I shared a post on Presidents Speaking to Kids as a #tbt entry. Back when President Obama was in office, there was a lot of concern (from folks who are now, most likely, part of the extreme MAGA folks Biden spoke of) about Obama talking to schoolchildren, which is a presidential tradition. 

The concern? He'd indoctrinate them on black power, or Muslim power, or some other sin that Blacks with funny names would, of course, do to our beautiful little white children, or something like that. I share comments from past presidents, including Ronald Reagan, who chose indoctrination of the white, Christian variety. 

My approach to all of that?

So much for indoctrination. Here's a quiz. The statements below came from either President George Herbert Walker Bush or President Barack Obama. Can you tell which comments belong to which President?

I offered five pairs of comments; can you tell which president made each of them? Give it a try and let me know how you did!

On tap later? What's-his-name's interview with VP Kamala Harris, and cleaning up my drafts folder (again).

Sunday School 9/4/22: Extra Credit

For your Extra Credit, we're turning to CNN's State of the Union classroom, where Dana Bash talked with FEMA Director Deanne Criswell, who was on to talk about the muddy waters in Jackson, MS. She had just returned from a trip to Jackson with Mitch Landrieu, the White House infrastructure director.

She said that FEMA was focused on supporting the state's Emergency Management Agency

...with bringing in safe drinking water, bottled water, supporting their operations, but, more importantly, bringing in our federal partners that can really understand what it's going to take to bring this plant back to full operational capacity.

Bash wondered when they'll have clean drinking water, and Criswell said it was "still too early to tell." EPA was there, and the Army Corps of Engineers; there'll be assessments done and what not, and work is "going to happen in phases." In the near term, in addition to getting bottled water out to folks, 

we're providing temporary measures to help increase the water pressure, so people can at least flush their toilets and use the faucets. The longer term and the midterm about how long it's going to take to actually make it safe to drink, I think that we have a lot more to learn about what it's going to take to get that plant up and running.

Bash said what I've been thinking all along.

It's just I'm listening to you, and I'm sure our viewers are listening and thinking, this is 2022. This is a state capital in the United States of America...a city of more than 150,000 people, without running water for nearly a week. And now, as you're saying, not only are they without safe drinking water, you don't have a timeline for when they're going to have that restored. Americans are lining up for hours in the heat just to get the bottles of water you're talking about. Who's to blame for this?

How does this happen, in America? 

Bash didn't mention, and Criswell didn't talk about all the longstanding water problems - and, if you ask residents, the racism that exacerbates them - in Jackson, which are getting national attention as a result of the current crisis. Here are a few articles touching on those.

From NPR: 

The rituals of boiling water, and the luxury of a bath 

Lifelong resident Halima Olufemi, 45, remembers her great-grandmother and grandmother boiling water. "So much so that we would buy extra jugs and they would always pour the water in," she says. "It was a way of life." 

She's now an activist with the People's Advocacy Institute and has been helping distribute water in this emergency.

So has Danyelle Holmes, with the Mississippi Poor People's Campaign. Thirty years ago, she moved here from Greenwood in the Mississippi Delta to go to college and was told not to drink the water. 

"I've never drank tap water since I've been here in the city of Jackson," Holmes says. "Never."

The city's aging water lines can leak, leading to low pressure and contamination. There have also been broken water and sewage lines. And in 2016 the state's health department warned that it had found lead in the water supply.

And there's this, from the international organization Human Rights Watch:

Some reporting has focused on how extreme flooding, exacerbated by the climate crisis, has overwhelmed Jackson’s water system. While climate emergencies will certainly intensify in years to come, Jackson’s  crisis is a human rights failure decades in the making. State officials warned last week: “The consistent delays in timely maintenance have hampered [the water facility’s] ability to properly respond to the demands placed upon it.” But resource constraints have plagued the city and its water and wastewater system, which had a weeks-long service disruption in 2021 and multiple US Environmental Protection Agency citations for dumping millions of gallons of raw sewage into source water. The water and wastewater system requires more money to repair and operate than the city can fund. 

One organizer told Human Rights Watch: “The conservative white power structure in Mississippi has deliberately disinvested in the capitol city of Jackson.” It’s understandable that they would feel that way. Mississippi state has not only failed to fund infrastructure assistance to Jackson, but recently enacted a $524 million income-tax break that has constrained the state budget, including for infrastructure funds. Mississippi is already dependent on federal funds for many government functions and is likely to require much more. Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba estimates the cost to repair the systems is nearly $2 billion, while new federal infrastructure dollars to the state total $75 million.

 From the Washington Post: 

Robert Luckett, a Jackson State university history professor, noted that the contrast was stark this past week in places like County Line Road, which separates Jackson from neighboring Ridgeland. One side of the street had water while on the other, homes, hotels and other businesses made do without, setting up portable bathrooms outside. 

“It’s crazy how you can go one block and you go from a town that has none of the issues we have to a town with no water,” Luckett said. 

“This is all rooted in a politics that is based around racial attitudes and a racist history that continues to impact the city and a White leadership of the state who benefits from their suffering,” he said. “They didn’t think it was fair for the city of Jackson to get these resources when their own constituents didn’t have access to the same pot of money.” 

Roger Wicker, one of the state's two Republican US Senators, has been in office since 2007. A search of his press releases shows he's long been a supporter, and often a leader, in getting funding for rural and small community water systems, as well as for bills dealing with fisheries and commercial fishing, Mississippi River dredging and water management, flood control, and trade and commerce-related water infrastructure. I didn't find anything specific to issues with Jackson's sewage spills or lead in the water.

Wicker discussed the current situation in Jackson in a September 1st interview with another CNN anchor, Jim Sciutto. Here's a statement from his press release, 

“This is an emergency. And the American people are seeing this, they’re being very responsive, and we’re going to need additional federal help to salvage the lives, homes, and futures of our major city,” Wicker said. “I have six grandchildren that live inside the city limits in Jackson. This is personal to me, and it’s my capital city.” 

It's personal to everyone, it seems; hopefully, personal enough for something to be done to address all the issues that have plagued Jackson for decades. And if it isn't personal enough,, there's a multi-billion-dollar federal lawsuit over the lead issue to up the interest. 

See you around campus.

Wondering on Wednesday 4/7/21

 

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Former Vice President Mike Pence has signed a multi-million-dollar deal to write not one but two books. I'm wondering when the second book begins; maybe it's after all 50 states certified the election, and the guy who occupies The Office of the45th President started trying to rally the troops for the insurrection? I'm also wondering if Trump will offer some kind words for the book jacket? You know, something along the lines of 

Mike? Where's Mike? I heard he wrote a book, probably not as good as my books, and it won't sell as many copies, but he was a nice guy, for the most part. But he could have solved all the problems if he had just done his job and overturned the election. I hope he writes about that part - the worst decision he ever made, and me too.

Rudy "Gee, Your Hair Dye Looks Terrific" Giuliani's son Andrew, has announced he's going to run for governor of New York. And after I stopped laughing - seriously, he has zero qualifications, other than a resemblance to a younger Eric Trump, and a "job" as a "special assistant" to Former Guy - I had to wonder what he's smoking, or what kind of mirror he looks into in the morning that gives him this level of confidence. 

Outside of anybody named Trump, I think I have the best chance to win and take the state back, and I think there's an opportunity in 2022 with a wounded Democratic candidate, whether it's going to be Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo, whether it's going to be a radical [Attorney General] Letitia James, whether it's going to be a no-name lieutenant governor, I think there's a very, very real chance to win. I believe I can win the race. I think I'm the right candidate, and this is the right time to help change New York State, and we've got a playbook that works.

I wonder, will the NYS GOP disavow Junior G-man's candidacy, right now? Do they have the cannolis to do it, I wonder?

Matt Gaetz? Yeah, I wonder about him. And I wonder about Women for America First, a pro-Former Guy group, who will have Gaetz as a speaker at an event held, of course, at a Trump-owned property. Gaetz, you'll recall, is under federal investigation for alleged child sex trafficking - an investigation started under Snitty Snitty Bill Barr's term as Attorney General. And not for nothing, the women know he's under investigation, but it doesn't matter. And you know what else? The woman behind the group hosting Gaetz this week was behind the rally at the Capitol on January 6th. 

I also wonder about Mitch McConnell, who on Monday told CEOs to stay out of politics, and accused companies of acting like a "woke alternative government" and yes, he threatened them, he did. 

Corporations will invite serious consequences if they become a vehicle for far-left mobs to hijack our country from outside the constitutional order. 

The wondering part was, has he lost his mind? But it's OK - we subsequently learned that he didn't really mean that, he didn't. He thinks corporations should be involved and CEOs should continue donating millions of dollars to Republicans, but he doesn't want them getting involved in, you know, acting like good citizens and stuff. That's woke, and woke is bad. Because the more woke they are, they less money they'll donate to people like Mitch McConnell - and we surely can't have that, can we?

I also wonder about FEMA and its plan to provide up to $9,000 towards funeral expenses to folks who lost a loved one to COVID. I sort of understand wanting to help, but I just wonder if there is a limit to our collective generosity here. And, of course, there are already scammers trying to get in front of this - and that's before applications even get submitted. 

Finally, and I'll take the hit if you think this is premature, since the Derek Chauvin trial is still going on, but I wonder this: would George Floyd have died on that street, next to that patrol car, on that day last May, had Chauvin not had held him down? The answer is no. 

What are you wondering about?

Sunday School Extra Credit 3/22/20

Time for some Extra Credit for all you Sunday Schoolers and Monday morning quarterbacks. 

Let's pick up with the gang at This Week with George Stephanopoulos, with Martha Raddatz sitting in for George. Among her guests? FEMA Director Peter Gaynor, and she wasted no time getting to the issues. 

FEMA's mission, she said, is to "prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disaster." And how does that jive with "healthcare workers desperate for critical supplies?" Gaynor tried to tap dance, saying 

It's a -- it's a great question, Martha. And, you know, my role today is -- is about today; it's about tomorrow; and it's about where we are in two weeks. My job is to bring together whole of government, whole of nation, to include our business partners to make sure that we can navigate our way out of this. And that's what we're doing every day. So when it comes to things like supplies, we are shipping supplies -- we shipped yesterday; we shipped today; we're going to ship tomorrow. We're going to try to meet every need in the nation. But a word of caution. The supplies that governors are looking for are the same supplies that every other country in the world is looking for. So this is a global problem. It's a national problem. And, again, we're working hard every day here to meet those demands.

Raddatz acknowledged his hard work, but wondered, as everyone else has been, when they would be in the hands of people that need them, and she used a clip of Gaynor himself saying "they're out there now." So, she asked, how many of them and when will they be distributed.

They have been distributed. They've been distributed over the past couple weeks. They're shipping today. They'll ship tomorrow. We find more and more masks to ship because we have -- developing great partnerships with the commercial sector out there, through donations, ramping up production. So, again, they have been shipping. We are trying to focus those shipments on the most critical hot spots in the country, places like New York City, Washington state, California. That is our priorities.

And, Raddatz wondered, will they get where they're needed in time, before the system is overwhelmed? When Gaynor repeated that "they" are being shipped, she tried to pin him down.

Well, I mean, there's hundreds of thousands of -- millions of things that we're shipping from the stockpile. I mean, I can't give you the details about what every single state or what every single city's doing. But -- but I'm telling you that we are shipping from our national stockpile. We're shipping from vendors. We're shipping from donations. It is happening. The demand is great. The demand from the governors is great. The demand around the world is great. And I -- I have the best experts here. I have a two-star general from the Joint Staff here, logistics, that is helping me solve these problems, plus many other from government. We are in this 100 percent.

She continued to push him on the supplies, particularly on the strategic stockpile and why all of those haven't been distributed, if they haven't. 

Again, there are still supplies in the stockpile. We are shipping all those supplies to all the demands, all the asks from all the governors every day. We are -- we're prepared to go to zero in the stockpile to meet demand. Again, this is a whole of government effort. And if could -- if I could just, you know, and this is shared responsibility. I know the president, Dr. Fauci talked about testing. You know, if you don't need a test, if you don't have symptoms, please don't get a test. Because the demand for PPE on unnecessary testing is -- is something that's working against us. So we're all in it together. Every American has a role to play. And we ask you, if you need to get a test and you have symptoms, go get it. If you just want to test to make yourself feel better, please don't do that.

We'll take a moment to note that VP Mike Pence is just one person who had an unnecessary test. 

While the White House doctor has indicated that he has no reason to believe I was exposed and no need to get tested, given the unique position that I have as vice president, and as the leader of the White House coronavirus task force, both I and my wife will be tested for the coronavirus.

The conversation on masks continued in the same vein. and then Raddatz asked why FEMA had just been brought on to the task force, and wondered if his agency's involvement should have "ramped up sooner" and why it didn't.  

Well, you know, I'm not going to look back at, you know, what should have been done, what wasn't done. And we can do that at a later time. Again, my focus as the lead for coordinating federal operations is on -- is on today. We can look back at another date. My -- my eyes are focused today, tomorrow, the next day, in order to beat this coronavirus.

She then asked about the "ominous classified warnings beginning in January" from the intelligence community about the "global dangers" of the virus, while the administration (and the president personally) were downplaying things. Quoting an article in the Washington Post which said "Donald Trump may not have been expecting this, but a lot of other people in the government were. They just couldn't get him to do anything about it. The system was blinking red." she asked if Gaynor knew about the warnings, "and if not, why not?" 

You know, when it comes to public health emergencies, you know, HHS has been the lead for that. They kind of own that mission. I -- I was not part of any of those discussions, whether they're purported or factual.

Raddatz was incredulous.

I want to go back to your mission again. It's to lead America and to prepare for it. You had no indication? The worldwide threat assessment of 2019 said “we assess that the United States will remain vulnerable to the next flu pandemic or large-scale outbreak of a contagious disease that could lead to massive rates of death and disability, severely affect the world economy, and strain international resources…” So is it really fair to say you had no warning about this, really?

And Gaynor? He was, well, he was exactly what we would expect him to be after listening to the rest of the interview.  

Again, you know, the public health medical mission, statutory lies with HHS. My mission, FEMA, prior to this, natural disasters and those catastrophic events that happen. Now it's a different world. Now HHS and FEMA are locked arm in arm, plus many other agencies from around government to include our private partners. And today I'm trying to focus on today and tomorrow and where we want to be in a couple weeks. That is my mission.

And what'll things be like in a couple of weeks, will we see a big change, Raddatz asked.

Well, again, I think every American has a role to play. I think the 15 days -- do what you can do to help yourself, help your family, help your neighborhood, help your business. You know, do those things that are simple. Stay indoors if you're sick. Don't go to work. You know, wash your hands. Don't touch surfaces. All those things make a difference. This is every American playing their role to make sure that we can beat the coronavirus. That -- that's as simple as I can make it.

I can't be the only one with "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job" ricocheting around inside my head, can I? 

Keep your distance - wash your hands - don't touch things.  See you around the virtual campus. 

Sunday School 3/22/20

I visited three classrooms for you today; we'll see how much fits here and anything that doesn't, I'll move to an Extra Credit post for all of you distance learners.

Let's start with Dr. Anthony Fauci, who chatted with Margaret Brennan of CBS on Face the Nation.  

Brennan asked if we were on the same trajectory as Italy, which has had more deaths than China. Fauci said not necessarily. He suggested their situation might be because they were not as quick to shut down travel from China as we were, adding

...I don't know why this is happening there to such an extent, but it is conceivable that once you get so many of these spreads out, they spread exponentially and you can never keep up with this tsunami, and I think that's what unfortunately our colleagues and our dear friends in Italy are facing. They are very competent. It isn't that they don't know what they're doing. 

He went on to say that he hopes we won't be in the same situation, but reiterate that "we're going to get hit. There's no doubt about it." 

Brennan wondered if the virus was mutating or changing; Fauci said that, as an RNA virus, it will change but it's not changing the way it's actin, which is something they're watching. She also wondered about the high numbers of young people being affected in Europe and here, where 20% of those hospitalized were in the 20-44 age bracket. 

Fauci said "it looks like there's a big difference" between what we saw in China and what we're seeing in Europe. It's possible the people have underlying conditions, but

if they don't... that will be something we have to really examine as to why we're seeing it here, but we didn't see it in China. So we're going to look at that very closely.

She also questioned the whole issue of whether Trump has actually invoked the Defense Production Act, (he's said both that he had, and that he will if needed). Fauci said they're coming forward on their own and stepping up to make "not only masks, but PPEs and now ventilators." Brennan pushed back, quoting NYC's Bill De Blasio saying his city will run out of equipment in as little as two weeks. Fauci tried to clarify things, noting that

...obviously, New York is the most hard hit. So not only is New York trying to get resources themselves, but we're going to be pouring it in from the federal government. So it would be a combination of local and federal...

On the new drug combos, Brennan wondered who Trump was listening to, if not Fauci, and if there was a concern about those drugs being used for COVID-19 cases, potentially causing a shortage for people who need the drugs to treat other illnesses now. In reference to the anecdotal reports that get mentioned, he said

So I was taking a purely medical, scientific standpoint and the president was trying to bring hope to the people. I think there's this issue of trying to separate the two of us. There isn't fundamentally a difference there. He's coming from it from a hopeful layperson standpoint. I'm coming from it from a scientific standpoint. 

I don't mind a hopeful layperson, but I do mind an argumentative deep-stater acting as a wartime president.

Brennan mentioned NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio; he was on Meet the Press with Chuck Todd and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan this morning. Todd asked the mayor how things stood this morning in the city.  De Blasio pulled no punches. 

Chuck, the truth is -- and New Yorkers and all Americans deserve the blunt truth, it's only getting worse. And in fact, April and May are going to be a lot worse. Right now, we are a third of the cases in the country. That's going to get worse. We're about two thirds or more of the cases in New York State. That's going to get worse.

And, he said, he's not getting any help from the president, who is a New Yorker himself.

...he will not lift a finger to help his hometown. And I don't get it. I don't get it. Right now, I have asked repeatedly for the military to be mobilized, for the Defense Production Act to be used to its fullest to get us things like ventilators so people can live who would die otherwise. Chuck, I can't be blunt enough. If the president doesn't act, people will die who could have lived otherwise. Senior citizens, folks who are members of families. And we can't get action from the president of the United States.

And what could the military do for him?

...All military personnel who are medically trained should be sent to places where this crisis is deep, like New York, right now. The military is the best logistical organization in the nation. If there are ventilators being produced anywhere in the country, we need to get them to New York. Not weeks from now or months from now, in the next ten days. And the only force in America that could do that is the military. Why are they at their bases? Why are they not being allowed to serve? I guarantee you they're ready to serve. But the president has to give the order.

And on how he'll enforce his 'shelter in place' order? 

Chuck, people really do get it. I've been around my city the last few days. They're getting the message more and more. Also, we will use the NYPD and other agencies to go out and remind people. Educate them, break up groups of people if they're congregating. It'll take a while for people to truly get it.

And one last time, aiming a shot at Washington.

...I'll tell you one thing, everyday New Yorkers, everyday Americans, are much farther ahead of the curve in terms of understanding this crisis than anything we're seeing from the White House. And that's troubling, to think the people that have the power are not using it, when everyday people get right now, shelter in place is necessary to protect our families.

Turning to Gov. Hogan (who's an R, by the way), Todd brought up the absence of social distancing in DC and Virginia, where either people aren't paying attention or restrictions haven't been issued, and wondered if Hogan was hoping that everyone would get on the same page. Hogan said that he's been meeting with the others, "taking actions an trying to work together." And, he added

But yeah, the social distancing is not being enforced. And it's a little crazy to see the kind of crowds at the cherry blossoms. I mean, people have to listen...

He said they're cracking down in his state, 

...limiting people to groups of ten. We were chastising all these spring breakers that came back from partying in Florida. And we told them they need to self-quarantine for 14 days, otherwise they're risking the lives of their parents and their grandparents and their friends because this no longer is just about older people. People of all ages... We had a ten month old, a five year old who have gotten this disease. So people are kidding themselves if they think that they should just go on spring break or enjoy being out there just as business as normal. We've got to get people off the streets and out of these crowds. It's absolutely essential.

Turning back to De Blasio, Todd wondered about folks who are doing what they've been told, who are home and watching numbers get worse and worse, and he wondered what progress would look like. 

Real, consistent social distancing being enforced, people living with it. And hospitals that can function. People seeing that their health care system is actually holding because we have the supplies and the personnel. And I think that's going to be a national reality, Chuck. Medical personnel are going to have to be taken from one part of the country to another as this crisis deepens.The supplies, the equipment have to go where the needed is greatest. If people see the system holding, that will be progress...

Hogan was asked the same question, what would progress be.

...progress is going to be if we can somehow bend this curve down, wherein we can start to stop that spike that's going so we don't overload the health care system. You know, people are just going to -- look, it's very disconcerting. People's lives are disrupted. It's scary. And I understand people out there are concerned about when is it going to look better... What it takes is every one of our citizens is a part of this. And we can't stop it without them cooperating -- but it's going to be a while. We don't know how long or how long it's going to be. But it's going to continue until we can get it stopped. And we're just going to keep fighting 24 hours a day until we could get it done.

That's all we've got room for tonight. We'll look at the rest of it tomorrow.

See you around the virtual campus, and remember - social distancing and hand washing save lives. 

TGIF 9/6/19

Time for our weekly look at the good week/bad week ledger.

Let's start with Debra Messing, who had a bad week, if you ask me. Aside from her retweeting a racist post, something she clearly should have known better than to do, there was the whole kerfuffle about political donors.

Messing suggested (with others piling on in agreement) that the list of donors to the president's upcoming Hollywood fundraiser should be made public. But here's the thing: when she called for a list of Trump's donors, she didn't simultaneously release a list of the political contributions that she's made, nor did she demand that Democratic donors are similarly publicized. Shame on her - let's be all about transparency and equality and publish all of them. Or conversely.

Moving on to the great state of Alabama, rarely have so many been talking about a state - people who have about as much intention of visiting Alabama as, well, as Dorian did. I'd guess that more folks can now find Alabama on a map than at any other time in recent memory, maybe no.

The president is making a bad week worse by doubling down, having his Cabinet members double down, and literally making an ass of himself. He's acting like the proverbial four-year-old who picks up his toys and goes home when he doesn't get his way.  On the plus side, though, his Sharpie-doctored map has spawned a whole lot of creativity in the Twitterverse, with loads of drawings of all kinds of Trump-related stuff being hilariously marked up. Search the #SharpiePresident hash tag for some fun. FYI, there's some NSFW content there, so be careful.

We also learned which projects the Pentagon was going to ignore, instead misappropriating the money for Trump's Mexican-funded border wall, leading all of us to try once again to understand exactly how Mexico is paying for the darn thing. We're paying for it, of course - the military, and FEMA, so far, are having a bad week as money is pulled to help make sure that Trump gets 500 miles of wall built by the 2020 election. Because a political promise is more important than our three branches of government, dontcha know. Mexico is having a good week, I think.

James Comey had a mixed week. On the one hand, he's not being charged with any crimes, but on the other, he violated FBI policies in a couple of ways, we were told, including sharing his memos with a friend who shared them with the press. Rabid Trump fans are demanding he be jailed for life or longer, maybe jailed for life AND stoned in the public square and stuff, as if any company would to that to an employee. Heck, in some circles, he'd be considered a protected whistle blower.

Boris Johnson had a bad week, suffering embarrassing losses in his first couple of votes as the UK's Prime Minister. Worse than that, though, the 'British Donald Trump' lost the confidence of his little brother Jo, who resigned as a member of parliament and as a minister in his brother's government. In a tweet, he pointed to an "unresolvable tension" between loyalty to the family and the national interest.  Which leads me to declare that Ivanka Trump also had a bad week. Now that she knows it can be done, she can stop being complicit in her father's nonsense, and the longer it takes for her to do it, the worse her weeks become.

And finally, on a sadder note, the number of people suffering from serious lung illnesses stemming, it seems, from their vaping habits continues to grow, as does the number of deaths, with five reported. Some are calling for Ned Sharpless, the acting head of the FDA, to do something or resign.

I'm not sure there's anything he can do - or should do - to solve this problem, other than offer thoughts and prayers. You know, like we do with mass shootings. Good for the goose, and all.

TGIF 1/11/19

Well, happy Friday, everyone! How's your week going?

NY's junior senator Kirsten Gillibrand seems to be having a good week - she's hired some new folks and rented some new office space, and she's also traveling to Iowa, we've heard. Based on all of  this, it seems the senator is staring at 2020 on her calendar. Even though, we remember, she made it clear during her 2018 campaign that she had no designs on a presidential race. "I will serve my six year term." she said.

But if she's planning on serving her full Senate term, maybe all of her work now is really just to get her better name recognition for 2024? Of course, at that point, she might be joined in the race by our Sonofa Gov Andrew Cuomo - he's also not running in 2020, he's assured us, but he sure sounds like he's running sometime soon.

Staying in New York,  I really can't tell if Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is having a good week or a bad week. She seems just fine being in the public eye for, well, for being in the public eye. Giving as good as she gets when people say something about her, whether it's an attack from the right or a nudge from the left; whether it's a response to an interview, an attack on her college dancing, even pictures of naked legs (that aren't hers) or just someone deciding to talk about all of the attention she's getting. Which generates more attention, which generates more responses, which generates more attention, and so on.

I'm going to get yelled at for this, I'm sure, but I'd love for her to be getting attention for her work in Congress, not because she is in Congress. And yes, I know it's early, and I know this new class of Dems is the loudest bunch of folks the media has seen since, well, that orange cur rode the escalator, but the proof is not in the press, it's in the pudding.

Sunday School 9/16/18

FEMA administrator Brock Long made the rounds today, hitting three of our classrooms: Face the Nation, Meet the Press and Fox News Sunday  We'll look at each of those appearances in reverse order.

Before we get into the interviews, here's a quick refresher on the current investigation into Long's potential abuse of official cars.

The IG is investigating whether Long misused government resources and personnel on trips back home to Hickory, NC, on the weekends, said two of the officials. The IG's interest was drawn after one of the vehicles - a black Suburban - was involved in an accident, according to one of the officials. 

There's also noise that Kirstjen Nielsen was concerned about Long's frequent trips home and extensive time out of the office, and that she had talked to him about that - and about resigning.

Chris Wallace didn't mention the investigation, and instead spent the bulk of the interview focused on Hurricane Florence, with only a little bit of time on Puerto Rico and Hurricane Maria. On the former, Long expressed confidence that FEMA was well positioned and cooperating effectively with state and local officials in the Carolinas. On the latter, Wallace asked a "simple factual question" whether Long disputed the 3,000 hurricane-related deaths. The response was, well, less than simple. Here's part of it:

Well, there are several different studies that are all over the place when it comes to death; in the official stance of FEMA is we don't count deaths. You know, the only thing that would come remotely close to data that we would have is the funeral benefits that we push forward... And there is a difference between direct deaths and indirect deaths. One study could have studied the entire year that's gone by about a number of indirect deaths over time or whatever, versus a six-month study in George Washington. 

So, that's -- you know, there's a lot of issues with numbers being all over the place. It's hard to tell what's accurate and what's not, but we have got to come together as a country to focus on the rebuilding of Puerto Rico and building a resilient infrastructure... 

Frustrated, indeed - by the numbers that were made up to make him look bad.

Let's look at Long's answer to Chuck Todd's question about that 'make president look bad' thing:

Well I mean there's, I don't think the studies, I don't know why the studies were done. I mean, I think what we're trying to do, in my opinion, what we've got to do is figure out why people die, from direct deaths, which is the wind, the water and the waves, you know, building collapsing, which is probably where the 65 number came from. And then there's indirect deaths. So, the George Washington study looked at what happened six months after the fact.

And you know, what happens is -- and even in this event, you might see more deaths indirectly occur as time goes on because people have heart attacks due to stress. They fall off their house trying to fix their roof. They die in car crashes because they, they went through an intersection where stoplights weren't working/ You know the other thing that goes on, there's all kinds of studies on this that we take a look at. Spousal abuse goes through the roof. You can't blame spousal abuse, you know, after a disaster on anybody.

Stop right there and re-read that italicized sentence again, maybe a couple of times. Because I'm pretty darn sure that you can always blame spousal abuse on the spouse, hurricane or no.  That's a shocking comment for Long - or anyone - to have made. I can't wait for the president to retweet this one.

On CBS, John Dickerson talked about interrupted medical care, which accounted for a large percentage of  Katrina deaths, and Maria deaths as well; he also specifically asked who at FEMA contributed to the George Washington University report. This answer, too, is shocking, but for a different reason.

Yeah, I don't know who they interviewed within the agency. They may have looked at funeral benefits to help, you know, calculate whatever number. And that's a number, you know, that's the only number we would really be able to contribute to any study going forward...

So, multiple times today, Long had the chance to clarify what FEMA knows about the death toll from Hurricane Maria, by simply offering up the funeral benefits figure he cited as facts FEMA could provide. And he didn't do it.  That none of the interviewers asked for death figures shows a lack of curiosity on their part as well.

Long also has zero curiosity about his own agency, to the point that since the GW study came out at the end of August, he hasn't even found out who at FEMA provided information or what information was provided.  How is that even possible? If he knows there was no 'interview' per se but just a data capture, he should have said that, too.

See you around campus.