TGIF 9/18/20

Ready for some good week/bad week stuff?

If you're the island nation of Puerto Rico, a US territory that's "surrounded by water, big water, ocean water," and you've been waiting for the president of the United States to respond appropriately to a hurricane that happened three years ago, congratulations - this is your lucky day!

Yep -- it seems that, with a little more than 46 days before voting ends on November 3rd -- the president has found a way to send $13 billion dollars in aid to the island, with most of it designated for repairs and upgrades to the power grid.  And, in his typical modest way, Trump president downplayed his own role in things.

I have to say, in a very nice way, a very respectful way - I'm the best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico. Nobody even close.

He's right on one thing: nobody even close to the cad who threw paper towels to the crowd in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Maria, I have to say, in a very nice way, a very respectful way.

Who else, let's see... How about the CDC? If you've been exposed to coronavirus, but you don't have any symptoms, don't bother getting a test, unless of course you've been exposed to coronavirus but you don't have any symptoms, you better get yourself tested! 

I can't even imagine what it must be like to be a scientist or medical professional at the CDC these days, these months, putting up with the incessant drip drip drip of antagonism from the president, constantly sowing his seeds of doubt about your expertise, your experience, your job, your role in helping promote and preserve public health in the country, which is subservient to his role in tooting his own damn horn and promoting and preserving his chances for re-election. I can't even imagine.

The Big 10 will be playing football this year after all, although not a full slate, or even ten big games per team. And that the schools in the conference revisited a decision they said would not be revisited says something about them that is, well, less than ideal, according to this op-ed in USA Today.

And how are they doing it? With a mountain of daily antigen tests, special delivery for Big Ten football teams only. Rapid tests for football players, but apparently not for the elderly in Ann Arbor or Columbus or Evanston, or for school children and teachers in Bloomington or New Brunswick or Minneapolis, or for students paying for their education amid the outbreaks in East Lansing or Madison or College Park...

Or, there's this: 

Or, we could call it the Trumpeting of the Big Ten. It was just two weeks ago that Trump, desperate to win votes in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, told the conference to play football. Originally, the league stood its ground. Rutgers president Jonathan Holloway aptly called it “cheap politics.” But wouldn’t you know, the university presidents ended up following right along, giving Trump exactly what he wanted.

The presidents plural deny caving to Trump, who nonetheless took at least partial credit, tweeting how he helped make it happen.  

One thing that he probably helped make not happen? An effort by the US Postal Service to send 650 million masks through the mail in an effort to try and reach all Americans, which was nixed by the White House, it seems. 

"There was concern from some in the White House Domestic Policy Council and the office of the vice president that households receiving masks might create concern or panic,” one administration official said in response to the scrapped mask plan.

My guess? Similar to the whole thing with mail-in voting, mailing out masks could lead to rampant fraud, right? You know - people in Red states wearing masks and protecting themselves and others from the coronavirus.

And I also can't even imagine what the coming days will bring, as we learn tonight of the passing of the Notorious RBG, Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. May she rest peacefully. 

And let's remember these two words: Merrick Garland.

TGIF, everyone.

Sidebar: Email of the Week 9/17/20

Yesterday's snail mail winner of our coveted Email of the Week award was from Sarah Huckabee Sanders, one of the many communications folks who have taken the briefing room podium on behalf of the president.  

One of the key things recipients of the emails were asked to do was to fill out the STOP FAKE NEWS petition which was included. And, as I read through the survey, it occurred to me that, with just a minor tweak or two, it pretty much demanded that the media stop covering the president. 

Take a look. 

STOP FAKE NEWS _ A CITIZENS PETITION

To: The United States Senate

Whereas, media outlets in American enjoy freedom due to the First Amendment but with that freedom comes a responsibility on their part to not actively mislead the people or disseminate news stories they know to contain falsehoods;

Whereas, since president Trump took office, the American people have been inundated with stories attributed to unnamed "sources" and the vast majority of these stories have attempted to portray the president;

Whereas, during the past three years, countless media stories have been completely disproven and show to be riddled with verifiable lies;

Whereas, the American people elected president Trump to do a job, and we deserve media outlets that report fairly on his efforts to do that job, not an endless flow of attacks;

Therefore, I demand that all media outlets in America STOP airing/publishing the Fake News they've been churning out for the past three years, and I urge Republicans in Washington to seek new ways to enforce a sense of truth and fairness in media reporting.  

I'm not a Republican - heck, right now I'm not a registered anything, truth be told - but I've got to tell you, I'm practically giddy seeing Republicans all up in arms about the lies and the attacks (in which they've been complicit, as we all know - and they know, too).  

I mean, Trump has attacked them, and lied about them, and he's also attacked and lied about:

• their constituents;
• Democrats, Independents, and folks belonging to any other party;
• our allies; 
• urban people;
• suburban people; 
• immigrants and asylum seekers;
• protesters (which, as we all know, are not the same as rioters and looters);
• hurricane victims;
• wildfire victims;
• mask wearers;
• Catholics;
• Hispanics, blacks, and whites;
• LGBTQ and their allies;
• all those people from the shithole countries; 
• the poor;
• the middle-class; 
• women and children; 
• scientists; 
• first responders;
• elected officials;
• doctors;
• Asians and Asian-Americans;
• farmers;
• Americans who were born here; 
• Americans who chose to become citizens; 
• green card holders, DACA recipients, and those here with other special protections;
• public school children; 
• artists, musicians and actors who don't support him;
• reporters, photojournalists, and anchors; 
• folks who work in retail for companies that drop his darling Ivanka's clothing line; 
• folks who work for all the other companies he's asked people to boycott;
• Gold Star families; Angel families
• veterans (including the losers and suckers);
• people who want health insurance and actual health care (not the same thing, but I supposed that's being snitty);
• all the people he's driven out of public service;
• all the crooks who worked for him who haven't been pardoned yet; 
• organizations he screwed over through his, ahem, charitable activities;
• beauty pageant contestants;
• the women he's sexually harassed and/or abused;
• book publishers;
• all of the very good people who still work for us in the federal government;
• athletes;
• businessmen  and -women from all industries;
• small business owners who he said will lose their businesses because of COVID-19 but that's OK because something else will take there place;
• educators and educational facilities of all kinds that serve people of all ages;
• taxpayers who have had to foot the bill for his endless tourist visits to his own properties;
• the disabled;
• all the people he's declared himself smarter than; 
• voters and people who want to be voters;
• the USPS; 
• Native Americans; 
• the Constitution, our flag, the national anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the rule of law; 
• judges and justices, from village court up to and including the Supremes; and
• anyone else I might have left out of the long list of people about whom the president has lied, whom he has attacked personally and professionally, and whom he has threatened, in any way, shape or form. 

So, yes - let's  STOP FAKE NEWS  - let's' get the president off the airwaves. If I had a grand to spare, I'd be happy to send it along if we could just make him stop talking. 

Email of the Week 9/17/20

Taking a slightly different approach this week, and featuring an actual piece of mail my brother-in-law received from none other than former Trump press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Sanders, you'll recall, was no stranger to spilling falsehoods from the podium during her tenure as Trump's mouthpiece, and she's more than happy to volunteer to share people's thoughts with the president, if they would only respond to her survey and make a donation to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), of course. 

Here are some excerpts from her letter:

Dear Fellow Patriot,

Enclosed, please find your STOP FAKE NEWS petition, which is prepared specifically for your signature.

It is vital you return your STOP FAKE NEWS petition right away, because the DC/New York "reporters" are totally out of control;

X  The New York Times prints articles with quotes from unnamed "sources" all attacking president Trump.

X  MSNBC lets unhinged liars like Congressman Adam Schiff go on TV and smear the president with ridiculous falsehoods; and

X CNN has entire panels of "experts" who spend all night telling made up stories to the American people about presidential "wrongdoing" that simply does not exist. 

I for one, can't sit idly by any longer as the Democrats and their medial allies try to tear down our president, our Republican Party and our values with malicious smears and pervasive lies. Your name was forwarded to me as a strong pro-America patriot, so I am counting on you to join me. 

Trust me, I know that the best way to handle these people is to constantly call out their ridiculous lies, slander and abuse, which they constantly level at our Commander-in-Chief simply because they hate him and they want him out of office.

***So please sign and return your STOP FAKE NEWS petition, which I will show to president Trump as a sign that the American people have his back and do not believe the lies being spewed on TV, online, and in print every day by left-wing radicals in the media.***

The letter went on for another page, talking about how important it was for a donation to be included, and for the Rs to hold the Senate, and did I mention, for a donation to be included? 

Here's what my brother-in-law was supposed to have returned to Ms. Sanders:

I can assure you that his 'best contribution" is a whopping zero dollars - as mine would be, and as would the contributions of most people I know. 

I'm thinking I have to  subscribe to emails from the former Trump mouthpiece - it sounds like it might be fun. Until I on her mailing list, I'll be happy with just awarding Sanders the snail mail version of the coveted Email of the Week. 

Sidebar: Sunday School 9/13/20 Extra Credit

For the second time in less than a month, I'm offering you the closing thoughts of Jake Tapper, just before signing off from CNN's State of the Union.

Back on August 23rd, he spoke of the callousness of the president (and of his daughter-in-law), and of his support for a conspiracy-theory-supporting Islamophobe for Congress, and his complete lack of empathy. You know - the characteristics of a person who would pretty much do anything to get elected.

And this week? Take a look at was what was on his mind.

Perhaps like so many Americans you've been trying to find a way to spend some time with your family, your children, safely engaged in some form of recreation. Education in a time of pandemic can be really tough and nothing is more clear about our government's failure to protect us then the fact that for so many American kids it's considered unsafe to go into a classroom.

The virus has not been contained. The widespread quick testing needed remains elusive. It's a huge failure by president Trump on down.

So then maybe you seek this respite and you subscribe to Disney+, Disney's streaming service, and you turn on their new live action film Mulan, fun, nice, family-friendly. But maybe you stay for the credits. And you see Disney thank the propaganda authorities of the ruling Chinese Communist Party in Jinjiang.

That's right. Not only did Disney film this move, Mulan, in the epicenter of the part of China where the US State Department estimates the Chinese government has detained as many as 2 millionth ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in internment camps, places China claims are for re-education and job training, but the US government says they are subjecting Uighurs to torture and cruel and inhumane treatment.

But not only did they film Mulan there, Disney also thanks a local police department in their credits, a police department that was sanctioned by the U.S. government for its role in running these concentration camps.

Now, Disney's CFO says it's standard to, quote, acknowledge in the film's credits the national and local governments that allowed you to film there, unquote.

Really? How standard is it to film in an area where the local government has concentration camps and is being accused of genocide? I guess we should be happy no parts of Fantasia needed to be filmed in occupied Poland.

And, look, it's not just Disney. The star of the film went on Chinese social media and shared a Chinese state media image expressing support for the police in Hong Kong cracking down on pro-democracy protestors. Of course, that's just one person, a young actor. That's not the big problem. The big problem is Disney thanking people accused of committing genocide. Why? Money.

So, who cares about the concentration camps, right? It's an immoral position and one we've seen from the NBA, which was forced to cancel a training camp held in the same region of China. And, of course, sadly with president Trump who, John Bolton writes in his book, told Chinese President Xi Jinping that China should continue building these concentration camps for the mass detention of Uighur Muslims because President Trump thought that, quote, was exactly the right thing to do, unquote.

This summer two Uighur organizations lodged a complaint against the government of China at the International Criminal Court accusing the Chinese government of genocide, torture, and crimes against humanity.

This is the government to whom the NBA is bowing and president Trump is giving approval and Disney is openly thanking.

After a horrible genocide, the Holocaust, the world came together and pledged never again, never again. The NBA, president Trump, and the Walt Disney Company, they're making those words meaningless.

What's Tapper telling us? 

That we're better than this. That there's more to being a Great America than making money, or making movies. And sometimes, it's not worth it to get exactly what we want if we compromise what we believe in. And that the ends don't justify the means. 

Sadly, it seems these things have been forgotten recently. And, I think, it would do us well to remember them going forward. 

Sunday School 9/13/20: Extra Credit

For yesterday's Sunday School, I hung out in the MTP classroom. For your Extra Credit, I spent time with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday for his discussion with Steve Cortes, a senior advisor for the Trump campaign. If you have the stomach for it, you can check out Jake Tapper's discussion with Peter Navarro on CNN's State of the Union yourself. It's a doozy, as it usually is whenever Navarro walks into a classroom.

Wallace began his conversation with Cortes by talking about Joe Biden's lead over the president on key issues including the coronavirus, race, and even law and order, while the president leads on the economy, and he said that Trump "hasn't broken through." Cortes said the economy is the most important, and that "the ultimate driver of the electoral decision" for most of us is "who can create prosperity for me, for my family, and for this country going forward." We're going to see a Trump boom 2.0, he said. 

Cortes also said, referencing the coronavirus,

I think - here's the reality: I think unfortunately corporate media has been relatively successful at pushing out a myth that the president mishandled the virus. And I actually when I look at for instance these revelations from Woodward, I think if you look at them in the context of the totality of actions taken by this president, it actually reveals an exemplary record of crisis management.

He said what he means is that "it's very clear that the president, early on during the fog of biological war" (and I can't stop seeing an image of a guy with orange hair fighting off a fog of Agent Orange, or worse, a fog of sexually transmitted diseases - his own personal Vietnam, you'll recall), Trump decided to "reassure the American people. That he was going to be the kind of leader who convinces people that we can persevere through this epidemiological Pearl Harbor" and that meant he had to lie to us. (Cortes didn't actually say that last part, I did.) All of that added up to what he called "a record of superb management actually of the virus."

Since Cortes opened the door, Wallace honed in the Woodward tapes, noting Trump told Woodward that the coronavirus was deadly and much worse than the flu. But he told us we'd be down to zero cases and it's not worse than the flu - so "why not level with the American people, Steve?" 

Steve put on his gas mask and went back to "the fog of war, of biological war..." but Wallace wasn't having it, saying "I'm going to interrupt you right there, because it wasn't the fog of war."

In fact, Wallace went on to explain, just days before the Woodward phone call, both the national security advisor (this is the biggest challenge you're going to face in your entire presidency, he said to Trump) and the deputy national security advisor (immediately comparing it to the Spanish flu) had made it clear "this was a deadly pandemic. There was no fog here."

Cortes played his card again, saying there was "tremendous fog," and went on to talk about stuff Dr. Anthony Fauci was saying at the end of February. And to blame the Chinese Communist Party for lying to the world, leaving us "searching largely in the darkness" to figure out what the facts were. 

Shifting into his Captain Obvious role, Wallace said that Cortes was giving a different explanation than the president did. In the Cortes world, the president doesn't know, it was foggy, the science was foggy - but Trump himself said he did know the science, he just didn't want to "jump up and down" and create a panic.  Cortes insisted it was both.

Wallace said that "one of the reasons that there's a question about that is because of the fact that the president plays the panic card all the time, especially when he's talking about Joe Biden." And after playing a clip of Trump saying "if Biden wins, the mob wins. If Biden wins, the rioters, anarchists, arsonists and flag burners win," Wallace asked "Is that a president who is trying to keep the country calm?"

Cortes tried to explain the difference between the two Trumps.

When the president is talking about legitimate fear of what can happen in America if Joe Biden were to win, and if disrespect for the police were to continue to become the norm in this country, he's trying to exhort the American people to action, to say we can stop this, we can back the police, we can restore order, we can insist on the rule of law. That is sensible to recognize that there is a legitimate fear out there in the country.

What is not helpful is to tell the American people that this virus is out of control... The president's job in a time of crisis is partly to be reassuring to the American people, to convince them that we can and will persevere through this epidemiological Pearl Harbor.

Wallace could have said, at that point, that "the president could have tried to exhort the American people to action, to say 'we can stop this,' we can back the scientists, we can wear masks and practice social distancing, we can insist that everyone follow the guidance of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. That is sensible to recognize that there is a legitimate virus out there in the country." But he didn't. 

Instead, he said 

I got it -- I got your point. The argument would be that there's - it's a false choice you're making. He either plays the rosy scenario or he sets his hair on fire. There is something in the middle, which is just being honest with the American people. And there's a question, Steve, as to whether or not the president is still being honest with the American people...

Pointing to Trump's and Fauci's different messages on how long the virus will be sticking around: we're rounding the turn, per Trump, vs. the end of 2021, from Fauci. Cortes said that Trump has a "far more optimist view right now" than Fauci, and then he dragged in some other doctors who disagree with Fauci. And, Cortes thinks,

The president is now making I think very properly a really optimistic case that we are nearing the end of this, that the trends are going aggressively towards health...

And he added more comments from Fauci saying (on Fox, anyway) that there aren't any discrepancies between Trump and him. To which Wallace pointed out first that Fauci said something different on a different network, and second,

I find it interesting that sometimes you're citing him (Fauci) as an authority and sometimes you're saying he's wrong.

Which was a good call-out, because that's exactly what these folks do, for sure. And if you already knew that, which you should have, you can give yourself a couple of bonus points on top of your extra credit. 

Protect yourself - and others - from the fog of war. Wear a mask and practice social distancing, and I'll see you around the virtual campus.

Sunday School 9/13/20

For today's Sunday School, I bit the bullet and hung out with Chuck Todd in the Meet the Press classroom. 

Now, I know it's not like me to devote time to MTP two weeks in a row, but he's got Ronna McDaniel, the Republican Party Chair , and he's also got author (and former FBI guy) Peter Strzok, so I couldn't pass it up. 

Todd wasted no time with McDaniel, asking right off the bat whether we should view the president's comment about "not wanting to create a panic" through the lens of him not being "a president who shies away from trying to incite panic," and that he didn't want anyone to panic "because he's worried the virus hurts him politically."

McDaniel disagreed that he "took political calculations," a comment that's truly laughable, since every waking moment of his life is spent making political calculations. She referred to the China travel ban, and the Task Force (which we all watched Trump ignore or argue with on TV for weeks on end). She didn't mention him not letting the cruise ships dock, or his petty behavior towards blue state governors and the like, nor did she refer to his oft-repeated lies about the coronavirus being nothing, being a blip, going away, cases down to zero, harmless like the flu, and so on. But, she said,

... I think history will look back on him well as how he handled this pandemic. 

Excuse me, waiter, "I'll have what she's having." 

McDaniel said that 20/20 hindsight is perfect, and also pointed to changes in the science, and even that she "went and donated some masks to a local hospital, some N95 masks that I had at my home." And when Todd asked about the "direct correlation between the president not encouraging mask wearing and the fact that fewer Republicans wear masks than Independents or Democrats," she said

I don't think this is politically dividing at all. I wear masks. My kids wear masks. My husband wears a mask. This isn't a Republican or Democrat things, whether you wear a mask.

The fact that I can't find an image of her actually wearing one probably doesn't mean anything, right? And she insisted that the president is "willing to work with every governor, Democrat and Republican," except for when he said they weren't sucking up enough, or when he said he didn't want anyone talking to some of them (Washington's Jay Inslee comes to mind).  She also said we have so many cases because we do more testing, blah blah blah. And, she said,

the president has led us through uncertain times with a Democrat party who's politicizing a time of crisis when usually people come together.

Um, here's the president not politicizing the coronavirus: "Liberate Minnesota!" "Liberate Michigan!" "Liberate Virginia..." And, McDaniel said "I don't know anything about that" when Todd asked about reports of HHS manipulation CDC recommendations and reports, but "Nancy Pelosi has called it the Trump virus" and that's the same, or something. And, truly the pinnacle of hypocrisy in this interview, here's her final comment.

Let's show the best of America. The president's willing to work with everyone. Why aren't Democrats passing a fourth stimulus bill? Why aren't they helping small businesses. Why aren't they working with this president? 

I'm not sure how she missed that the president signed the fourth stimulus bill back in April or that the House passed the Heroes Act on May 15th. I can only surmised that must have been when she was busy donating those N95 masks she had lying around her house. 

In Case You Missed It (v53)

Can I tell you, remodeling your kitchen really cuts into writing time? 

There's the supervising, and the cleaning, and the demolition, and the decisions-on-the-fly, and the keeping the cats out of the way, and then there's the getting rid of the derbis (a Dad word), and the corresponding exhaustion...  

Before you know it, seven days have gone by with only three posts to show for it. Sigh. Here's your short and sweet review of the posts that did manage to make it out of my head last week.

Our Sunday School lesson was all about voting, and voting security, and it also included  couple of references to what folks in charge of elections in their states have to deal with. Here's Karen Brinson Bell, the State Board of Elections director in North Carolina, talking about the efforts she and her team are making.

Benson said there's been "near constant communication" with postmasters and postal leaders, trying to ensure "the system works, that citizens can receive their ballots and return them on time." The drop boxes are "a workaround" for folks who aren't comfortable mailing the ballots in, or who wait until the last minute. But, she said, 

we're now also facing a perception issue. That the changes in the postal service, if nothing else, have created confusion and chaos where none existed prior. And so, the voter education and the confidence-boosting we now have to do and will do to ensure voters feel confident that their vote is sent through the mail and will count is a key part of our work moving forward.

Part of that perception issue? Yeah, the drivel from the president who (among other things), suggested that voters in NC vote by mail and then vote again in person.  

For your Extra Credit, I looked for guests who were on to talk about the 'suckers and losers' comments allegedly (and probably) made by the president. Here's Chuck Hagel, a former senator and former Secretary of Defense offering his thoughts.

But let's go back to the words from Trump himself, coming out of his own mouth, starting in 2016 about - what he said about John McCain and what he continued to say about McCain. 

How he degraded the service of Generals Mattis and McMaster, and just recently, General Kelly, the history of this president over the last three, four years is pretty clear. The 2018 experience when he did not go to the American military cemetery in France, to recognize and honor the World War I Marines, every other leader went, every other leader drove, leaders of Germany, France, Canada. And you can go through a litany of past things that he said from his mouth, actions that he's taken, and it corroborates really the Goldberg article in "The Atlantic.”

But my favorite thing from the article was this comment from a voter in Colorado, speaking about the president:

It didn't surprise me. You can see what he said about Senator McCain from the very start. I think that (he's) someone who respects the military vote but that's not the same thing as respecting the military. 

Give yourself a pat on the back if you also realize they're not the same thing.  

Wondering on Wednesday was all about silliness coming out of the Administration, including this section on another whistle being blown.

• Is anyone wondering that another whistleblower is coming forward in this administration, or that the issue he's blown the whistle on is Trump's downgrading Russian interference and upgrading Ch-eye-na's and Eye-ran's instead? Because we know that fits the narrative that Trump likes. His minions have made no mistake about that in many appearances in the Sunday classrooms. The experts say Russia, the minions say the other two. The experts say Russia, Trump says the other two. The whistleblower says Russia, and says that Acting DHS Director Chad Wolf says the other two...  I can't help thinking I'm not the only one seeing a pattern here?

There was one segment in the piece about those random seeds from China and what Americans did with them that prove our unique American-ness, or our MAGAness, or something. I'll let you decide on that part. 

There was nothing noteworthy in my emails to warrant an Email of the Week feature, which usually hits on Thursday, and Friday was not the day to bitch about political stuff, so I stayed away from things for the most part. 

So, that's it -- three posts, a lot of work done on the kitchen, and now I'm ready to get back into the swing of things. Thanks for hanging out and sticking around. 

See you back here later for Sunday School.

Wondering on Wednesday (9/9/20)

Ready... Set... Wonder!

• Like many people, I'm wondering when the president will roll out his health care plan, which he promised us weeks ago. In fact, on July 19th he promised us "we're signing a health care plan within two weeks, a full and complete health-care plan." Time flies when you're having fun, I guess... Or, maybe, time flies when you're never delivering a health care plan...

• I wonder what it must have been like to work for PostWrecker General Louis Dejoy before he started 'fixing' the USPS? On the one hand, he really encouraged employees to donate to Republicans, which is typically not my cup of tea, but on the other hand, if you did, you got a nice bonus that not only covered but exceeded the amount of your donation, if what we're being told is true. So, should I sell my soul for a nice payout later, or do I stick to my guns and not fall for the bribe?  Hmm... Actually, there's no wondering on my decision.  I'll pass on the bonus, thanks.

• Is anyone wondering that another whistleblower is coming forward in this administration, or that the issue he's blown the whistle on is Trump's downgrading Russian interference and upgrading Ch-eye-na's and Eye-ran's instead? Because we know that fits the narrative that Trump likes. His minions have made no mistake about that in many appearances in the Sunday classrooms. The experts say Russia, the minions say the other two. The experts say Russia, Trump says the other two. The whistleblower says Russia, and says that Acting DHS Director Chad Wolf says the other two...  I can't help thinking I'm not the only one seeing a pattern here?

• Another thing I'm wondering about? What on earth possessed the president to talk 18 times with Bob Woodward?  Did he really think he'd be able to talk his way into a flattering portrayal this time out? Is he nuts? Is this what he considers "the art of the deal?" I mean, in addition to having to convince us he never said what he could quite believably have said about American veterans, he's also got to convince us that he lied to us about the coronavirus to protect us, and not to make his numbers look good?  What kind of crap is that? Does he think we're stupid, I wonder? Oh wait - silly me - of course he thinks we're stupid.

• Snitty Snitty Bill Barr is expanding the Justice Department's already huge role as Trump's personal law firm, by moving to take over his defense in E. Jean Carroll's defamation lawsuit.  Barr said it's fairly common for this to happen, and blames the political climate for the kerfuffle we're seeing. And, he said, the White House asked for the DOJ to intervene. I certainly don't wonder about that last part - Trump's more a fan of threatening to sue other people than he is paying lawyers to defend him, so having our tax dollars pay for it is a win-win for him, no doubt about that.

• And finally tonight, it's hard to remember all of the wacky things that have happened in this uniquely weird year, so you might have lost track of those mysterious seeds from Ch-eye-na that we were warned not to plant. Well, is it any wonder that we planted them? Or that we ate them?  

I do have to say, the opening line of the article on the seeds are truly words to live by: 

The same rules apply to a package of mysterious seeds found in your mail as do to a bag of fries discovered in a parking lot: As tempting as it is, don't open it, and most certainly do not eat what's inside.

What are you wondering about tonight?

Sunday School 9/6/20: Extra Credit

For this week's Extra Credit, I went looking for folks talking about the allegations that the president referred to US military veterans as "suckers" and "losers."

I hit the mother lode with the This Week with George Stephanopoulos classroom, where Martha Raddatz was hosting the conversations. She's been on a multi-state tour, and noted that shortly after she arrived in Denver, the article in the Atlantic about Trump's comment hit. She asked voters for their reactions; here are a few of them.

It broke my heart. 

We're not losers. We're not suckers. He's - the government sent us over there (Vietnam). We didn't say, 'send me, send me to war. The government sent us to go fight for this country.

My immediate reaction was what is this? This doesn't make a lot of sense. And each allegation was supported by anonymous sources.  (This man said he absolutely doesn't believe the article).

He tweets a lot, he says a lot and gets all about going after (a) certain voting bloc. It's not what he really feels. And so, when you take it back to national security, I'm really worried that he's going to put men and women needlessly in harm's way.

It didn't surprise me. You can see what he said about Senator McCain from the very start. I think that (he's) someone who respects the military vote but that's not the same thing as respecting the military. 

And, she talked with former Secretary of Defense (and former Republican Senator) Chuck Hagel, asking him for his reaction.

...if these comments are real (and I'll address that in a second) but if they're real, it's beneath the dignity of any commander in chief, truly they're despicable. Now, one of the points that one of the veterans made which was a good point, these are anonymous sources. But let's go back to the words from Trump himself, coming out of his own mouth, starting in 2016 about - what he said about John McCain and what he continued to say about McCain. 

How he degraded the service of Generals Mattis and McMaster, and just recently, General Kelly, the history of this president over the last three, four years is pretty clear. The 2018 experience when he did not go to the American military cemetery in France, to recognize and honor the World War I Marines, every other leader went, every other leader drove, leaders of Germany, France, Canada. And you can go through a litany of past things that he said from his mouth, actions that he's taken, and it corroborates really the Goldberg article in "The Atlantic”.

Hagel also said he thinks this will resonate with servicemen and women,

because what I’ve just said, he's on the record with saying things himself over the past few years. And that -- that makes the credibility of this article and those anonymous comments more and more credible. Now, I said before, if you want to make an anonymous comment and if you feel so strongly about that that you make that comment to an established, well-respected reporter and a magazine, then you ought to have the courage to go out and use your name, too. I’ve always believed that. I think it’s important now. If these guys who said it or allegedly said it, think it’s that important for the future of this country, then they should show some courage and step forward as well.

Interestingly, Raddatz asked one of the doubting veterans she talked to about this if he'd believe it if "someone appeared who had provided information in that article and said it on the record in front of a camera" and the gentleman was still unsure about believing it. Hagel noted that some folks will never believe it, "no matter what is said, no matter who says it," noting

...and that's just the reality of politics and freedom of expression, and we have a great country where you can believe what you want to believe. But facts are facts, Martha. And the reality of those facts (is) pretty clear. I think it's a pretty clear indictment of this president's attitude towards our veterans.

He'll use them. Of course, he’s used them in the last three and a half years as props in his actions, in his statements. No president has ever done that -- use your veterans, use your active military as props. I mean, couple of months ago, he sends an airborne division into Washington, camps them outside of Washington, the mayor didn’t ask for that. The police chief didn't ask for that in Washington, D.C. But it's a continuation of the same actions and words we have seen from this president the last three and a half years.

I have to agree with Hagel. It IS believable that Trump could have said this, given what he's said about and said to veterans, members of a Gold Star family, and his penchant for grasping for the military to get involved in his pet projects (the Wall), the DC stuff that Hagel mentioned, and his repeated claims that he'll "send in the National Guard"- something that's not even his responsibility, for Pete's sake.

The comment by the one veteran, the one who said Trump loves the military voter, not the military? Solid gold.

Also on the show fielding questions on this issue? Ohio's Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who served in the Senate with both Chuck Hagel and John McCain. His reaction?

Well, Martha, I -- I read the article. But, you know, any time I've been with the president, there's ever been any discussion about the military, he has been extremely respectful, what you would expect of the president. So, you know, that's -- that's been my personal experience.

Raddatz talked about the fact that even Fox News had confirmed parts of the article (other news agencies have done the same).  But DeWine agreed with Hagel that "people should come forward, adding that

...you know, anonymous sources are -- are interesting, but, you know, it's never going to have the credibility, I think, for the general public unless someone -- you know, people actually come forward and are willing to do that.

He said that he doesn't agree with Trump's comments about McCain, whom DeWine called "a dear, dear personal friend."

Raddatz wondered about the over 19 million veterans in the country, who accounted for 13% of 2016 voters (per exit polling). Then, 60% of them voted for Trump, 34% for Hillary Clinton, and asked if DeWine thought this could make a difference in this year's election. He said he really didn't know.

...you know, we're into the campaign. You know, a lot of things come out in a campaign. And I think sometimes people, when -- when they only come out during a campaign, you know, people are somewhat skeptical about them. This is -- you know, we're into the 60 days. And so I don't know what, you know, impact that's going to have. I think, you know, what the president has done in regard to the economy before we hit the -- the virus, you know, I think people in Ohio generally very happy with that. You know, the president made commitments in regard to the Supreme Court and -- and federal courts. We're very happy with what he's done there. So, you know, it's going to -- look, it's going to be a close race in Ohio. I think the president will win Ohio. But Ohio's always going to be a -- a battleground state. And, you know, no -- neither side can ever take Ohio for granted.

You know? On that last part, he's right: neither side can ever take Ohio for granted. And he's right on the part before that, too, I suspect: there are probably lots of single-issue voters, like the ones who focus on Supreme Court justices. Those people cannot be discounted, in this or any election.

See you around the virtual campus. And if you're not wearing your mask, you're doing it wrong.

Sunday School 9/6/20

So, what was cooking in the classrooms today?  Let's wander around the halls.

Because of the focus on the upcoming election, or rather on voting in the upcoming election, I spent my time with Chuck Todd on Meet the Press.

Here's how he set the stage:  According to a new NBC News/Survey Monkey poll, 52% of Americans plan on voting early (33% by mail, 19% in person) but 54% of those who lean Republican say they'll vote in person on election day, while 71% of those leaning D plan on voting by mail or by voting in person during the early voting window. The consequences of that are our worst nightmare: Trump leads on election day because the Rs who vote in person have their votes counted right away, while the Biden camp picks up speed only as the mail-in votes get counted.  Who know what will happen under those circumstances, given the incumbent, and given the US Post Office has already told states things could be kind of scary come November, and then there's all the lawyers waiting to get involved, and so on...

Guests on the show included Republican Frank LaRose, Ohio's Secretary of State; Democrat Jocelyn Benson, who holds that same position in Michigan, and Karen Brinson Bell, the State Board of Elections director in North Carolina. Here are some highlights.

• Brinson Bell said they've "been optimistic the entire time" in NC, and that it's not her state's first rodeo with the process. She did say they're trying to get out more ballots than usual, but they had their primary (pre-COVID), they had a small election in June, and they're ready for November.
• LaRose said Ohio had an all-mail ballot primary, and they learned a lot from that, including that "our boards of elections are incredibly well positioned" to handle the absentee ballots. And, he mentioned recruiting poll workers (they need 35,000) and "getting accurate information out to voters."
• Benson said in Michigan, voters have lots of options, including voting by mail, using drop box for their ballot, voting early in person, and voting in person on election day, when all precincts will be open. She also noted that in every election this year, "turnout has doubled, putting (them) on track to have Michigan's November election be the highest turnout ever" in the state's history.

Benson said there's been "near constant communication" with postmasters and postal leaders, trying to ensure "the system works, that citizens can receive their ballots and return them on time." The drop boxes are "a workaround" for folks who aren't comfortable mailing the ballots in, or who wait until the last minute. But, she said, 

we're now also facing a perception issue. That the changes in the postal service, if nothing else, have created confusion and chaos where none existed prior. And so, the voter education and the confidence-boosting we now have to do and will do to ensure voters feel confident that their vote is sent through the mail and will count is a key part of our work moving forward.

In Ohio, La Rose said that the drop boxes are under 24-hour surveillance, and are emptied daily by a bipartisan team from the county Boards of Elections. Also, "whether they mail in their absentee ballot or whether they use the secure drop box at the Board of Elections," ballots can be tracked online the same way you can track a package. 

North Carolina's Brinson Bell said ballots started going out last Friday to nearly 600,000 voters who requested one, and that they can process absentee ballots before November 3rd, and that they count their early voting ballots, which could be 50% of the total cast. All in all, "even by the close of polls on Election Night, we may be reporting as much as 80 percent of our voter turnout and how they've chosen... at the time that the polls close."

Michigan can't do the same, Benson said - they don't start processing until Election day, but she seemed to think that Todd's question about Thanksgiving and the Michigan results to be coming together was silly. 

No, but we should be prepared for this to be closer to an Election Week, as opposed to an Election Day. I mean, the bottom line is we are not going to have the full results and a counting of all of our ballots on Election Night. We already know that. We've asked the legislature to make changes to the law to give us more ability to be prepared and count those ballots more efficiently. They have not acted for reasons that I don't fully, completely understand.

They're making changes to "more efficiently and securely count those ballots," and she said she's "laser-focused on accuracy."

And if it takes a few extra days to ensure we have a full and accurate counting of the results of every race, that's what it's going to take. And we're going to be transparent throughout that whole process to make sure every citizen knows exactly where we are in the counting process and how many more ballots we have to get through.

And in response to Todd's question about concerns "people may take the delay in getting all the results in Michigan to declare a phony winner?" she said she had concerns, 

But to me, that's just going to be another example of the type of misinformation and disinformation that we're seeing multiple ways from multiple platforms and voices in this election cycle. So, we're going to counter that misinformation with truth and accuracy.

Being "that source of trusted information," of facts and data, is going to be important for all of the folks in charge of elections this year, 

as we seek to cut through lots of different rhetoric that's going to only be increasing in the weeks coming up to Election Day and beyond.

Frank LaRose was asked about a bill submitted by Florida's Sen. Marco Rubio that would change the date electors meet, pushing it out a few weeks to January 2nd, because "states may need more time. They may need more time to certify and don’t -- it's an artificial date, the December 14th. It’s not in the Con -- you can shift that around." 

La Rose said Ohio's electors are planning on meeting on December 14th, and that they count ballots on Election Night, and report an "unofficial tabulation." They'll count everything that was legally cast, they'll count everything "over the next 10 days" after Election Day.

We're even changing the way that our Election Night reporting is done on our website to make it clear that there still may be tens or hundreds of thousands of outstanding absentee ballots. We expect those to come back in. Whether it's one of my former military teammates who's serving overseas, or maybe an Ohioan that just procrastinated and waited till the last minute, as long as those ballots are legally cast, they deserve to be counted. And so again, Election Night, yeah, we'll give a snapshot of those results. But the final tabulation is what really matters.

I don't always agree with Chuck Todd, but today I did, when he said

I appreciate all of you. Good luck. We're all counting on all three of you doing an outstanding job. This is one case where, regardless of party, everybody wants all three of you to succeed. 

Indeed we are - them, and all of their counterparts, regardless of their redness or blueness.  

See you around the virtual campus, masks on as always.

In Case You Missed It (v52)

Only five posts for you last week - took a couple of days off (one on purpose, one due to technology issues).  Here's your week in review.

Sunday School brought us a conversation with Trump's Wisconsin Senator, Ron Johnson, who apparently can't bring himself to say anything even remotely honest about his boss. And Dana Bash, on CNN's SOTU, pushed him pretty hard to do so, particularly on his tweets about Kenosha, which she said were "agitating and actively encouraging his supporters." She wondered if that's what Johnson wanted to see from the president.

But, Dana, there are people -- there are people agitating all over the place. And what we need to do is get control of the situation.

He kept talking about Wisconsin officials; she kept asking about the president, finally asking him ..."would you prefer that the president not tweet agitating comments and agitating ideas on his Twitter feed?"

Well, that's how you -- that's how you are typifying it. What we need to do is, we need to encourage an end to the violence and the rioting.

It's a cult - I swear it's a cult. And the penalty for speaking ill of the Grand Poo-bah or whatever they call him must be of the utmost severity. Also in a classroom? Kate Bedingfield, who's a key person on the Biden/Harris campaign. She, too, had a hard time answering a direct question. 

For your Extra Credit this week, we sat in on conversations with athlete/activists Etan Thomas and Sue Bird (with Chuck on MTP) and Nneka Ogwumike (with Dana Bash). Those conversations centered on how current and former professional athletes are getting involved with social justice issues. 

Both Bird and Ogwumike, who are WNBA players and leaders in the player's association, talked about how much support they have from the league, and that the players have been leaders in speaking out on issues. Here's how Ogwumike sees how they're able to leverage their fame for good.

And the platforms that we have, just as the politicians do, need to be used to effect change in our communities. And, as athletes, we would be discrediting our essence if we didn't use that platform for good and for change. Quite frankly, too, a lot of what we speak about, it shouldn't be political, but, unfortunately, the way that our country has kind of evolved, certain issues, certain human issues have become political.

Thomas gave a great illustration of the difference being supportive and enabling, something that the Poo-bah could benefit from hearing.

So, for instance, I love my baby Sierra. You know, that's my girl. But if baby Sierra came to me and said, "Daddy, I want to have chocolate chips for dinner," I wouldn't be supporting her by telling her that she can go have chocolate chips for dinner, you know what I mean? That's not supporting her.

And Trump and the right believe that you have to allow the police to do anything that they want to do and then that equals supporting them... Applauding someone and saying, "Everything that you do is wonderful" is not supporting them. It's actually enabling them. And, you know, so I would say Trump is actually acting more anti-police than what he's claiming to be.

Too bad this will have fallen on deaf ears, right?

I tossed a Knock Knock post out there this week, wondering about Dems and their purity tests (never a perceived sexual predator or sexually indiscreet person shall you be) and their whole 'are we progressives or are we traditionalists' conflict.  On the latter, the answer is yes, we are progressives AND we are traditionalists, as least this cycle, at least in Massachusetts.

A Kennedy lost a statewide race for the first time ever, even though Joe Kennedy III is young, and progressive. Those two things, and his family name, were not enough to allow him to unseat 70-something progressive Ed Markey, who had the support of AOC.  In the other race, the one with the perceived sexually indiscreet young progressive, the battle went to the 70-something traditional Rep. Richard Neal, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee.  Fickle Dems? Principled Dems? Not sure.

Thursday's Email of the Week was from a politician, former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who through his massive charity is going to be donating millions - 100 of them, actually - to historically black medical schools over the next four years.

This funding will allow the schools to provide scholarships up to $100,000 to nearly every medical student currently enrolled and receiving financial aid.

These four schools tend to have higher graduation rates of Black students than medical schools overall -- in part because increasing diversity in medicine and offering medical services for communities most in need are ingrained in their mission, so they provide more support to help students overcome obstacles and graduate.

Good stuff - the kind of thing real billionaires do with their money - and what real billionaires do with their charities (you get the drift, I'm sure.)

And, back to normal for our TGIF post after spending the last two weeks publishing the acceptance speeches of Biden-Harris and Trump-Pence, I shared coverage of the very different visits to Kenosha made by Trump the Agitator and Biden the Listener, and the president's bizarre tale about a plane full of looters and rioters and vandals, dressed in black, and six people who were generally like a seventh who told the story... confused yet?  There's more confusion to that one I can assure you. 

And I couldn't resist talking about Trump's bizarre claim about Joe Biden "abandoning" Scranton PA... it's a big deal for the president, it is -- he mentions it frequently, as shown in the example below of the president getting all of this straightened out for Pennsylvanians.

He keeps talking about, ‘I was born in Scranton. I lived in Scranton.’ Yeah, for a few years, and then he left for another state. You know the state. But this Scranton stuff. That’s why I figured I’d come here and explain to you one thing. But I think you people know it better than I do. He left! He abandoned Pennsylvania. He abandoned Scranton.

Yep -- he sure as heck did. When he was 10. And his family moved to Delaware. Because all 10-year-0lds have the power to keep their families from moving, right? And didn't the president just abandon his home town, his state, too? Hypocrisy much, Donny?

After the conventions, it was kind of nice to slow down for a bit, but I'm expecting this week to take off again. Hope you stick around for the ride.

I'll be back later with today's Sunday School.

TGIF 9/4/20

Because of the Blue and Red conventions, the schedule here at veritable pastiche has been a little off, but I'm doing what I can to get us back on track. Let's dive into this week's roundup of random good and bad weeks.

Right off the bat, let's update on the primaries I mentioned in Tuesday's Knock Knock post. Remarkably, a Kennedy lost a state-wide race in Massachusetts for the first time ever.  Joe Kennedy III gave up his congressional seat to run for the Senate against Sen. Ed Markey, but fell short. In the other race, which was the focus of the post, incumbent Rep. Richard Neal, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee fended off his opponent, Alex Morse.

So, did the results tell us anything about the fickle Dems, that they kept a 70-something progressive in the Senate and kept a 70-something traditional Dem in the House?  Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. But we do know that the professor who apologized 'in case he made anyone feel uncomfortable' will not be going to Washington, and in the end that's probably a good thing. 

Moving on to national stuff, no surprise that the president's trip to Kenosha caused some stir, right?  It seems that our fearless leader wanted the owner of a burned-out business to appear on TV with him, and so he found one. Trouble is, the guy who appeared with Trump was the former owner of the business, according to the man who bought it from him several years ago. There might be a semantics issue here - property owner vs. business owner - but honestly, did anyone not expect something like this to happen?

Trump's visit was followed by Joe Biden's, which was described by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, as being "worlds apart - in substance and style - from" the president's.

Biden wore a mask when he spoke. Trump did not.  Biden spoke by phone with Jacob Blake, the Black man who was shot seven times by a white Kenosha police officer, and met with Blake's family. Trump did not. Law enforcement was a central presence and theme of Trump's visit, but not Biden's. Trump spent a lot of time decrying violent unrest and rioting and looting. Biden spent a lot of time discussing inequality and racism and poverty and heard impassioned pleas from Black residents about the way African Americans are treated by the criminal justice system.

Worlds apart, indeed. In polling done after the end of the RNC, Biden held onto his lead in Wisconsin; we'll have to see if anything changes after these two visits. 

Speaking of Biden and Trump, I've got a question for you:  How long did you live in your childhood home? And if your family moved from your childhood home, did you have any input in that decision?  I'm asking because I actually crack up every time Trump tries to sell the tale that Biden "abandoned Scranton" for Delaware. It's comical, it really is. And ridiculous, as this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer points out. Here's an example of Trump's 'abandonment' claim, from remarks he made in Old Forge, PA.

He keeps talking about, ‘I was born in Scranton. I lived in Scranton.’ Yeah, for a few years, and then he left for another state. You know the state. But this Scranton stuff. That’s why I figured I’d come here and explain to you one thing. But I think you people know it better than I do. He left! He abandoned Pennsylvania. He abandoned Scranton.

The claim is insane - Biden's family moved to Delaware, and they took 10-year-old Joe with them when they moved. Should he have stayed behind? Fended for himself like a feral cat on the streets?  And that the comment is coming from the man who actually just abandoned New York to move to Florida, giving (perhaps not-quite-legally) Mar-a-Lago as his permanent residence. Seriously, is there anything Trump won't say, won't lie about?

Well, here's one that we're kind of thinking might be totally made up: the rioters and looter and vandals dressed in black on a plane that is either leaving DC heading out to the great city of Wherever, or it's coming to DC for the convention. I'm not sure which direction the plane was flying, because he's told the story with it going in both directions., And, of course,  I can't determine how fast the train was going in the opposite direction after leaving he station some moments later than the plane took off, because of course we don't even think the plane existed. Well, it probably did because "a person" as on board and it's all being investigated (by Scully and Mulder? By Snitty Snitty Bill Bar? Who actually knows?)

What else? Oh -- 

• Nancy Pelosi's hair appointment. 
• A congressman being shut up by Facebook for purposefully misinterpreting CDC data on coronavirus deaths.
• Peter Navarro's lousy coronavirus deals.
• More concerns about the census - from inside the Census Bureau.

Hope that's enough for you. There was more, of course - there's always more.

TGIF, everyone.

Email of the Week (v22)

Somehow, I managed to get unsubscribed from all of the Biden-Harris team emails - no more Team Joe, Joe Biden, Joseph R. Biden, Biden 2020, Kamala Harris, Biden-Harris 2020, and so on. 

I suspect it was due to neglect - I admit I haven't been all that responsive to the emails - but with nothing new for the past several days, it's been pretty quiet in my politics inbox.

I did get an email from Papa Joe's camp touting my popularity. In case you didn't know, I was a hot commodity for a minute there, and here's who let me know that: Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, Khizr Khan, Carole King, Symone Sanders, Jill Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Tammy Duckworth, and Biden himself.

They wanted my money, of course - although, according to an email I got today from Ballotpedia, the Biden-Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee together raised a whopping $365,000,000 in August - far exceeding the previous record of $193,000,000 raised in September 2008 by the Obama/DNC combo.

I did get an email that I thought was interesting, and while it came from a former presidential candidate, it had nothing to do with the campaign.  Take a look.

Friend,

 

Racial disparities within our communities are a matter of life and death, and COVID-19, which has had a disproportionate and devastating impact on Black people across the country, is a stark example -- and a call to action.

The effects of inequity were present well before the pandemic, and they show up across a range of health outcomes for Black Americans, from higher infant mortality to higher death rates from cancer and heart disease. And these health inequalities contribute to wealth inequalities -- and vice-versa. It is a debilitating cycle that we must confront head-on.

Today, I joined the Presidents and Deans of four Historically Black Medical Schools to announce an initiative to take on these connected challenges. Bloomberg Philanthropies is committing $100 million over the next four years to America's four Historically Black Medical Schools -- Meharry Medical College, Howard University College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. This funding will allow the schools to provide scholarships up to $100,000 to nearly every medical student currently enrolled and receiving financial aid.

These four schools tend to have higher graduation rates of Black students than medical schools overall -- in part because increasing diversity in medicine and offering medical services for communities most in need are ingrained in their mission, so they provide more support to help students overcome obstacles and graduate.

Research has shown that Black patients have better health outcomes with Black doctors. More Black doctors will mean more Black lives saved, and a reduction in the health issues that can limit economic opportunity in Black communities. That won't cure the disease of disparities within our health care and economic systems, but it is an essential part of the treatment.

During my presidential campaign, I announced The Greenwood Initiative, which was aimed at closing the racial wealth gap and securing economic justice for Black Americans. That work continues through the partnership we're announcing today -- with more to come in the future.

Read about our effort to support more Black doctors, and the lives it can save -- and please share the op-ed with your family and friends to raise awareness about these urgent challenges.

Have you figured out which former presidential candidate is behind this initiative? If you guessed Michael Bloomberg, you guessed correctly. 

And, for investing his own money in something worthwhile, instead of asking for my money to run an ad in a swing state or something, he gets the coveted Email of the Week award. 

Knock Knock. Who's There? Fickle Democrats

Fickle Democrats who?

Fickle Democrats who sometimes forget what they stand for, when it's convenient for them to do so. And no, this has nothing to do with Joe Biden or Kamala Harris, I'm talking about the race for Congressional seats.

It's hard to be in the majority in the House when your newest, youngest, most progressive members don't appear to appreciate the benefits of being the majority, and are hell-bent on pushing their agenda, which as we know was NOT the winning agenda in the party's presidential primary. But that's not stopping them, it sure isn't.

And, after the success of AOC and Ayanna Presley and Rashida Tlaib and others, there are now all sorts of young whippersnappers who are primarying the old-timers among the Ds, and are trying to knock them off one by one, and they don't seem to care how that might impact the House majority, or the ability to get the majority in the Senate, or to win the White House, all of which are hugely consequential for anything progressive getting accomplished in the next two to four years.

Yeah, it's hard to be a Dem alright; between the different wings of the party, each impatient with the other, and the purity tests, it's not an easy needle to thread. There's a race in the 1st District for Massachusetts that has caught some attention, from a whole host of perspectives, that illustrates this pretty well, I think.

• The seat is currently held by Rep. Richard Neal, who's chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. Neal has the endorsement of the big national unions, some state unions, the late Rep. John Lewis, the Human Rights Campaign, and more. 
• He's been in office since the year his challenger, Holyoke Mayor Alex B. Morse, was born. (Not that there's anything wrong with being in office for 31 years...ahem). Morse is backed by progressive Dems and progressive organizations, including Move On and Our Revolution, which is the Sanders movement, among others.
• In addition to being the mayor, Morse also served as a guest lecturer at UMass-Amherst.

Outside groups have been involved in this campaign, (no surprise there - we're bombarded with them here in my neck of the woods every election), including American Working Families, which has thrown its support behind Neal. The group ran an ad which attacked Morse's record as Holyoke's mayor, said he was being bankrolled by outside groups (that always makes me chuckle, when the accusation comes from an outside group), and "hit him over 'sexual relationships with college students,'" closing the ad with an onerous voice-over saying

Alex Morse. Terrible judgement and a terrible record. 

After the ad appeared, American Working Families issued an apology and asked that the ad not be aired again, stating that it never intended the ad to see the light of day, that it was "accidentally sent to stations instead of a corrected version," and that they regretted the error. I'm not sure what was in the corrected version, but I can guess. Meanwhile, it was aired, it was seen, and it probably hasn't been forgotten.

Here's the thing, though, about the ad: Morse "ultimately acknowledged having had consensual relationships with some students" and at least for a short period of time, considered ending his race. But, there's a twist:

...the allegations against Morse were muddled after The Intercept published messages from some of the students who had made the accusations in which they discussed potential ways to hurt Morse's primary campaign. One student described himself as a "Neal stan" and expressed a desire to get an internship with the Congressman.

The whole thing is ugly, full of intrigue and party politics, and alleged anti-gay harassment, and yes, some of the students who made the accusations had their personal information shared on Twitter, so they'd feel the pain they deserved for their actions. All-in-all, a classic David and Goliath battle, played out on Twitter and elsewhere.

Now, those purity tests I mentioned, that the Dems are famous for? Among them are the ones about all victims of sexual abuse or harassment are to be believed, and that any hint of sexual transgression is enough to get you booted, right?

And let's not forget the longstanding concept that a person cannot have a consensual sexual relationship with someone who has power over them, whether it's a director and an actress, a supervisor and an employee, a police officer and people he's arrested, or a famous comedian making shadow hands over - not actually touching -  a sleeping woman's breasts. That 'imbalance of power' standard exists in the criminal justice system, in pretty much every HR manual, in most company policies, and in the Democratic Party rules.

Most people - even progressives, I'd guess - certainly wouldn't think that a 30-something female college professor who had consensual relations with her male students would be House of Representatives material, would they? Or that a 30-something male college professor who had consensual relations with his female students would be?

Did I mention that Morse is gay? And does that, or should that, give him a pass on the professor/student relationships? He knows his behavior was wrong; he admitted it was, and he apologized, using the classic "if I made anyone uncomfortable" language we've grown accustomed to hearing.

Now, maybe Morse was set up by bad actors trying to encourage a relationship, but he admitted having them, which puts the ball back in his court.

And now, we'll see which fickle Dem purity test matters: the one that says that sexual indiscretions are bad, the one that says progressives are good, or the one that says depending on who you are, an apology is fine and we'll welcome you with open arms.

The primary is today.  FYI, another one to watch? 39-year old  Congressman Joe Kennedy III is challenging 74-year old Ed Markey for Senate. AOC is supporting Markey....