Sunday School 2/14/21: Extra Credit

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the new CDC Director, was in several classrooms Sunday, including the one down the hall on the right, Fox News Sunday, where she chatted with Chris Wallace, and on the left, CNN's SOTU, where Jake Tapper was asking the questions.  I'll look at those interviews and our chances of reopening schools, starting with her conversation with Tapper.

In red zones, CDC advocates for a hybrid model for elementary school, because K-5 kids transmit the virus less, and it's "really essential" to have them in the classroom. For older kids, virtual learning - or if social distancing is possible, a hybrid model - is preferred.

When specifically asked for the science on why kids can't return to in-person learning "tomorrow," if schools are following the guidelines, she offered none. Instead, she talked about how we "really need to do the hard work," including universal masking, strict distancing, restricting disease transmission (e.g., "cohorting or podding"), etc.

Tapper reminded her of the impacts on kids when they're not in school, and that all the experts have been saying we have to get schools open, and yet, "we're taking the safety steps, and we're not opening schools." Her response? In the studies that have shown masking, distancing, and de-densification work, 92% of students wore masks - and we're at around 60% who do so reliably. 

But the real point is to make sure that the science is consistent with our guidance, which is consistent to say, until we can ensure that we have all those measures happening, that there was -- schools wouldn't be safe.

I would have asked how kids are supposed to learn to reliably mask when they never leave their homes. Tapper, though, was more professional.

...I'm just really confused. It seems to me like you're saying, the schools are safe to open as long as everybody takes these steps, but not everybody is taking these steps; therefore, we're not going to open the schools? Do I have that right?

It took 181 words to not say the one word that would have answered the question: yes. 

Regarding vaccinating teachers, she noted they're in priority group 1B, and said for the 1.5 million who are high-risk, as well as for high-risk students, CDC recommends virtual activities. She's a "strong advocate" for them being vaccinated but it's not a reopening prerequisite.

I had to agree with Tapper when he said he felt "a little dispirited" by the conversation.

... I had high hopes that schools would be able to resume in person learning, because so many scientists and health officials, including you and Dr. Fauci and others, had been talking about the science supports opening the schools as much as possible.

He mentioned teachers being concerned, and their unions "pushing back on this," but asking for 100% compliance seems unachievable.

And that makes me feel like, boy, I don't know if the schools are ever going to open until everybody's vaccinated.

Walensky repeated that when over 90% of people mask, you can open schools safely, adding that "this is directly related to how much disease is in the community," and that it was up to all of us to get the rates down so schools can reopen.

I'll treat her conversation with Chris Wallace as a 'speed round,' hitting on three questions answered and three not answered. 

• The new CDC guidance allow even schools in areas of high community spread to open, under certain circumstances.
• Some mitigation measures "are hard to do," such as diagnostic testing and contact tracing being done within 48 hours of a contact, leading to schools not opening.
• Maybe not having the science, data, and guidance to open schools safely contributed to schools being closed to in-person instruction for extended periods of time.

Walensky didn't answer a few key questions, in my opinion.

• Whether she's ever speaking in "her personal capacity" when she's speaking as CDC director, something that press secretary Jen Psaki suggested after Walensky said that schools could reopen without vaccinating all teachers; 
• the implication that the administration's trying to lessen their burden on getting schools opened for in-person instruction within the first 100 days, by saying "at least one day a week" was considered 'open.' Wallace said nearly 65% of kids are in schools meeting that very low threshold now; and
• whether we really need another $130B for schools, given that only $4B of the previously allocated $68B has been spent.

I looked at her chats on MTP and Face the Nation, and I didn't end up feeling any better. I go back to how Tapper set the stage for his interview, quoting Walensky's statement that "schools should be the last thing to close and the first thing to open." I can't imagine being a parent watching any of her interviews and coming away with a sense of confidence that things will be back to normal any time soon.

See you around campus.

Sunday School 2/14/21

For your Sunday School today, I sat in as four of the House Impeachment managers made classroom visits.

Let's start with Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI), who talked with Jake Tapper on CNN's State of the Union.

Plaskett called the 57-43 vote "heartbreaking" for everyone involved, including the American people; at the same time, she was thankful that it was the most bipartisan vote to convict we've ever had.

About the decision not to call Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler (D-WA) or to subpoena her notes, Plaskett said

I know that people are feeling a lot of angst and believe that maybe, if we had this, the senators would have done what we wanted. But, listen, we didn't need more witnesses. We needed more senators with spines.

Tapper wondered if Senate Dems pressured them about calling witnesses. She didn't agree with that.

I think the idea was, we had sufficient evidence to prove that the president did what we said he did, which was incite an insurrection to overthrow our government, to retain power for himself. And there was overwhelming evidence of that... And the nonsense that the defense put out did not dispute that. 

Plaskett didn't offer an opinion on whether the Biden administration should pursue criminal charges, but did say "...God bless the attorney general of Georgia, New York, district attorney's office here in D.C. as well."

Next up? Lead Manager, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD); he visited Chuck Todd on Meet the Press. 

Todd had three questions. First, should they have investigated more, since they couldn't start the trial before Trump left office? Raskin said they used their extra two weeks (the trial started later than it was supposed to) and noted no one said they didn't make their case.

Next, witnesses. Raskin said they brought that topic up when the rules allowed, and that Herrera Beutler's official statement was just issued the night before. As to other people, they didn't know what anyone (Kevin McCarthy, for example) was going to say if they were deposed.

Last, would dereliction of duty have been a better charge? He said no matter which way they had done it, the Rs would have looked for and found a reason to fault the decision, as they did with the insurrection charge.

I mean, you know, you can always come up with a lawyer's argument to get to where you want to go. And they did not honestly confront the reality of what happened to America, which was Donald Trump incited a violent mob to attack the Congress of the United States...we have no regrets at all. 

And, before he asked people to "hang tough for democracy," he said 

... you know, there's no reasoning with people who basically are acting like members of a religious cult and when they leave office should be selling flowers at Dulles Airport.

Hear, hear.

Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) was in the This Week classroom with George Stephanopoulos, who noticed that each of the managers got emotional at one point or another. Dean said it was a "solemn honor" tobe in the Senate, and

It felt like the gravity of the Constitution was resting on our shoulders. Many have said that the Constitution is a precious thing, that democracy a precious thing and it's fragile. So, what we did, and I think we did very well, was we put forward the strongest case based on the evidence and the law, and the responsibility of this president, that the president just absolutely abandoned his oath.

She also noted that, after watching each senator stand and vote, she thinks "history will remember" Mitch McConnell speaking out of both sides of his mouth. She said she'd rather stay in her lane and leave the conversation about criminal charges to the experts.

Dean said the president's lawyers "really struggled," adding

I think the world witnessed that. They struggled with their own credibility. They absolutely struggled with legal arguments. They struggled to understand or even recognize the gravity of the evidence. I thought their performance reflected really their client.

George asked if a 9/11-style commission should be pursued, and she was clear: 

Of course there must be a full commission, an impartial commission, not guided by politics but filled with people who would stand up to the courage of their conviction like Dr. Cassidy [one of the seven Rs who voted to convict.}

Finally, Colorado's Rep. Joe Neguse joined Margaret Brennan in the Face the Nation classroom. Brennan referenced part of his closing argument, when he said " extremist groups may be emboldened and the violence on the 6th may just be the beginning."  He said he was pointing to

a real fear that I think many Americans have after witnessing the terrible violence that happened on January 6th and the insurrection that took place on our nation's -- our nation's Capitol that without accountability, that many of these groups could very well become more emboldened and perhaps engage in-- in more violence.

And to her question about witnesses, he offered

...whether it was five more witnesses or five thousand witnesses, it is very clear that the senators who voted to acquit on a technicality, which was the jurisdictional argument... It would not have made a difference to those senators. 

He disagreed that Kevin McCarthy told the full story of his conversation with Trump, and it wasn't until Rep. Herrera Beutler's statement that they learned what really happened. Neguse also said that "witnesses that were not friendly to the prosecution were not going to comply voluntarily, which meant-- that we would be litigating subpoenas for months or potentially years."
 
The final question? Brennan noted that Neguse looked "right at Leader McConnell" during his closing remarks and asked if ever thought he'd be able to persuade McConnell to convict. He said he was hopeful.

You know, I-- look, I care a great deal about this country. As the son of immigrants and someone who's, you know, been given so many freedoms and opportunities here in the United States, I was hopeful that every senator would ultimately vote to do the right thing. And I'm glad-- I'm grateful that seven of them on the Republican side did that. Obviously, history will be the judge of the rest.

One can only hope that history will judge them, and harshly. 

See you around campus. Wear your mask. Wash your hands. You know the drill. 

EmpireVerse (v1): Chain of Diamonds

I've probably missed countless opportunities to offer up some EmpireVerse over the years. 

My Sonofa Gov, Andrew Cuomo, has long been willing to babble and pontificate and expound upon any and all topics, without a whole lot of restraint. 

There was the time he said there was no room in NY for extreme conservatives, and the time he told us he sleeps just fine because he knows he's going to do the right thing. 

And the time he famously said America was never that great... that was a good one, too.

Those opportunities are behind us, though, so I'm starting fresh with this one section of his 2021 State of the State address. Taken from his closing argument, if you will, it speaks to the pressures New York faced in 2020 and how we'll handle whatever 2021 has in store.

A Chain of Diamonds

But pressure also forges 

strength and that's

how diamonds are formed.

In 2020 when things 

were at their worst

we saw New Yorkers 

at their best.

The pressure was on and 

we all saw New Yorkers
under pressure
become diamonds.
And they worked 

together

they linked arms.
New Yorkers were

a magnificent chain 

of diamonds, 

different sizes,
different colors, 

different shapes,
different orientations, 

but the chain

connected all.

And the chain
is strong, my friends.
It will 

unite.
It will 

forge community. 

It will 

combine our strength.

We 

have 

done it
before 

and 
we will 

do it 

again.

In Case You Missed It (v73)

Here's your recap of last week's posts.

Sunday School brought us an MTP interview with California's Rep. Adam Schiff, the lead manager on Trump's first impeachment, talking about the managers for Trump's second impeachment, which ended yesterday, pretty much in the way we all knew it would. 

Schiff said that the managers for Trump II need to present all the facts, and not presume that everyone - including all senators - are familiar with the full breadth of what the former president did over the course of many months leading up to January 6th. He's confident they'll be able to tell the story.

Tell the story they did. - better than Schiff told his story when it was his turn, IMO.

For your Extra Credit, I highlighted Wyoming's Rep. Liz Cheney, she who won a vote of support from her caucus after issuing perhaps the most scathing Republican condemnation of the twice-impeached insurrection inciter. But, that's water over the damn, under the bridge and down the toilet.

Cheney talked with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, and said she's not resigning, as her state party requested when they censured her for "betraying the trust of Wyoming voters." 

The censure language indicated people still believe that BLM and Antifa were behind the Capitol insurrection. She said they've got a lot of work to do, and she blamed Trump and his lies for that.

We need to make sure that we as Republicans are the party of truth, that we are being honest about what really did happen in 2020 so we actually have a chance to win in 2022 and win the White House back in 2024.

Apparently, lots of people in her party don't believe that being the party of truth matters. Not only that, but far too many of them, including the ghastly GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, are willing to continue relying on Trump to help with their future goals. 

I wrapped up my Sonofa Gov's State of the State this week, not an easy task. In the first of three Meanwhile Back in Albany (MBIA) posts, I focused on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plan for moving forward in a pandemic and post-pandemic world.

Now it's time to start looking ahead with the same toughness, the same smarts, the same unity, the same discipline, and the same love that brought us through last year. 

2021 will be a year of continued challenges, transformation, and change. We will need to adjust to the new social and economic realities of the post-COVID world.

Expanding on his Day 1 message, he spoke of having to reopening New York "smartly and safely." It's not an either/or thing, it's a "a new model of balance" using science and technology to do things intelligently. 

As Tuesday rolled around, bringing us the opening of the impeachment trial, I dropped a Poll Watch.

The Senate will have a split vote on whether it's even constitutional to impeach him, with the Rs likely ignoring, for the second time in two weeks, that it was their own rules that made it impossible to impeach him before his term ended. 

We will go through the motions: the Rs will claim the impeachment is dividing the country, and Ds will say that Trump continues to pose a clear and present danger to everything that's good and wholesome, so he must be prevented from ever holding office again. Pundits will wear their best outfits, the networks will have their impeachment background music, and when it's over, everything is supposed to be OK. 

But will everything be OK? Here's some info from a recent Quinnipiac poll illustrating where we stand right now, on impeachment and some other measures of 'OK-ness.'

The results? We're afraid for our democracy, we're afraid of violence, and we're afraid we're stuck in a partisan nightmare. 

Moving on to the third day of Cuomo's SOTS, I dropped another MBIA; this one focused on the greening of New York. In his words, 

As is true in so many major issues of our time, the challenge is to close the societal and governmental gap between aspirations and accomplishment, between rhetoric and reality, between saying and doing. Offering hope of a tomorrow that never comes is one of the main causes of our social unrest and distrust in government. We are just not making enough actual progress. Why? Because change is hard.

Have no fear, though: "As the world economy resets, and as change is a necessity, there is an opportunity to raise our efforts to the next level - and New York should seize this moment." And, we can seize the rhetorical moment, too: Cuomo noted that "candles cannot power the future." 

We're going to stick a fork in fossil fuels, or something, via a four-pronged approach. 

And, finally, the fourth and last MBIA, in which the Sonofa Gov spoke of when we used to lead, and how he wants us to be leaders again.

It's a long-taught lesson, he said, but without focus on the "ancillary" benefits - a collective lifted spirit, a belief in the future, and how those inspire economic confidence and stimulus. FDR, Cuomo said, understood that, and the Sonofa Gov wants us to understand that, too. And, don't forget, FDR was a New Yorker, and New Yorkers understand big ideas, and build big things.

Our country has lost its ambition, he said. Other countries "developed around us," and built the cool stuff - the largest high-speed rail network (China), the longest tunnel (Europe) and even the Middle East is "turning barren desert into economic engines."

He's got monster plans for building, across all three parts of the state: NYC, Long Island, and the vast thing called 'upstate.' 

Turning back to impeachment, I was inspired by lead House Manager Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who did a better-than-admirable job with the task he had. I was inspired by his recollection of the Voltaire 'absurdities...atrocities' quote, and how Trump turned so many into believers, with the inevitable end promised by Voltaire. 

All the absurdities, every single one of them, was believed. He was convincing in the telling, in the repetition, in the challenge, in the call to action. He is nothing if not relentless, nothing if not convincing, and they were ready and willing to be convinced, to be led, to obey the call. He had them hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

He made them believe the absurdities, and when he asked, the atrocities followed. To the end, they were hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

Who are 'they,' you ask? Who are the believers? They're not just his MAGA people - they're in the House and the Senate, too. The Republicans own them, now - don't be a believer when they tell you otherwise. 

And finally, it was time for a slightly unconventional TGIF, in which I focused on the last evidentiary day of the impeachment, and Trump's lawyers and their defense, if you could call it that, of the former president.  

That the lawyers managed to complain about the fancy media company the House Managers used to create their slick video, and then turn around and do exactly the same thing, but even slicker and, if I heard it right, with music, and Madonna, and Johnny Depp, was indicative of how little defense they had, and how little defense they presented in their time today. 

Oh, there was lots of emphasis on Trump's one statement of asking for people to be peaceful, as if the continuum of his incitement began and ended on that phrase on January 6th. I thought Rudy Giuliani was a bad lawyer, but these guys are giving him a run for their money. 

I closed with post, and the week, with this: 

Soon, we'll know officially that the Republicans are still afraid of Trump, and what he can do to their careers, and there will be an acquittal. The only thing we don' t know is, how many Rs will vote to convict. I hope some of them find the courage to do so; maybe the ones who've already declared they're not running next time?

Good week? Bad week? You pick.

We now know the answer to my question: seven. Senators Richard Burr (NC), Bill Cassidy (LA), Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AL), Mitt Romney (UT), Ben Sasse (NE), and Pat Toomey (PA) voted to convict Trump of "the gravest violation of his oath of office by any president in the history of this country," to quote Rep. Cheney. Burr and Toomey have already announced they're not seeking re-election.

You're all caught up. See you later for Sunday School.

TGIF 2/12/21

Jiminy Cricket, it's Friday already?

I don't know about you, but I laughed when former president Trump's new favorite lawyer blurted out the name of a decades-old Disney character this afternoon. 

And it wasn't the only time that I laughed during the 'defense' of 45, which was primarily arguing about old court cases, showing a slick video of Democrats speaking people who were not armed insurrectionists, saying the word 'fight' over and over and over and over. I'd keep saying 'and over' as many times as were in the video but that'd be more than 200, I heard (yes, someone counted them).

That the lawyers managed to complain about the fancy media company the House Managers used to create their slick video, and then turn around and do exactly the same thing, but even slicker and, if I heard it right, with music, and Madonna, and Johnny Depp, was indicative of how little defense they had, and how little defense they presented in their time today. 

Oh, there was lots of emphasis on Trump's one statement of asking for people to be peaceful, as if the continuum of his incitement began and ended on that phrase on January 6th. I thought Rudy Giuliani was a bad lawyer, but these guys are giving him a run for their money. 

That said, Trump has to LOVE how they did today, after being taken out behind the woodshed by Ted "your wife is ugly and your father killed JFK" Cruz and Lindsey "I'm Trump's Chump" Graham and Mike "Yeah, that was my phone, but I wasn't holding it and didn't listen" Lee and a couple others, too. The collusion between those who swore to do impartial justice and the lawyers who, I'm convinced, have never spoken to their client in person, is both comical and embarrassing. 

They were indignant and blustery, turning to Michael van der Veen, he of the Jiminy Cricket comment to kick things off. David Schoen spent his time accusing the House Managers of withholding evidence and selectively editing tweets and videos, and he did the same thing he accused them of doing. If that's not straight out of the Trump playbook, I don't know what is. 

The comment about withholding evidence appears to be false, according to multiple reports, but that didn't seem to matter to them. And Bruce Castor just sort of repeated everything the other two said, adding more showings of the fight club video, and dropped some of the Right's favorite catch phrases, talking about 'cancel culture' and 'law and order' and the Dems are afraid of Trump, and so on.

Question time was a mixed bag; other than Rep. Raskin, the House Managers talked too much and missed their opportunities to answer questions directly. It was unfortunate that they blew it on those. On the Trump side, there was more indignation and bluster and a couple of bonehead moves, including van der Veen talking about "his worst experience in Washington," a foolish statement which Raskin easily deflected, apologizing for the lawyer's bad day and suggesting that van der Veen should have been there on the 6th of January.

Soon, we'll know officially that the Republicans are still afraid of Trump, and what he can do to their careers, and there will be an acquittal. The only thing we don' t know is, how many Rs will vote to convict. I hope some of them find the courage to do so; maybe the ones who've already declared they're not running next time?

Good week? Bad week? You pick.

TGIF, everyone.

He Made Them Believe His Absurdities

All his absurdities, no matter how absurd, were believed by people who felt only he understood them, only he understood what was wrong, and only he could fix it. 

Those were among the first of the absurdities to surface, to be believed, and nowhere near the last, that had people hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

The violence, the hate, the racism, the sexism, the five-mile-wide mean streak. The attacks - the relentless attacks, years of attacks - had people hanging on his every word, hanging on to him. 

He's like us, they said. He talks like we do. He's not politically correct, and he doesn't take any crap from anyone. He is just like us, the 'everyman' billionaire, and he had people hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

He hated losing, he refused to lose, it was not possible for him to lose. He promised winning, so much winning we'd be tired of it, and yet, they never tired, even when the winning was clearly losing, even when the winning was a lie. He had them hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

Look at me, he said, look at the crowds at my rallies, look at my social media accounts - everybody loves Trump, he said, and I love you, he told them. He basked in their love, they basked in his. Very good people, he called them, the people hanging on his every word, hanging on to him. 

The media is evil, they are enemies of the people, they are fake news, even when there was proof of him saying what he said, doing what he did, telling the lies, the tens of thousands of lies, saying the people who proved he lied were the liars, and he had people hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

He assailed people of faith, attacked peoples' families, mocked peoples' looks, sneered at their beliefs, made fun of their heritage. He made a mockery of every tradition, every practice, he didn't even bother going through the motions half the time. He said everything he ever did was perfect, everyone said so, it's all been looked at, he has no need to apologize, it was all perfect, so perfect, and he had people hanging on his every word, hanging on to him. 

Nothing was too absurd to be believed. No one could ever get more votes than he got, it was not possible. He got more votes than any other president. He could not lose unless the election was rigged. And it will be rigged, he said, because he knew he would lose when Joe Biden became the nominee. Had it been anyone else, he would have won, but it was Joe Biden, and he knew he couldn't beat him. He needed a story, he made one up, and he told it, over and over and over. And he had people hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

The Big Lie - the election was rigged - was the absurdity to beat all absurdities. How is it possible that only his line on the ballot was rigged? How is it possible that all those Republican election officials rigged the election against the man they wanted to win? It is, truly, impossible to believe. And still, he had people hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

They were the patriots, they were the real Americans, they were the ones he was fighting for, he deserved to have them fighting for him. He deserved them and they deserved him. They were eager to fight for him, because he was fighting for them. He had them hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

All the absurdities, every single one of them, was believed. He was convincing in the telling, in the repetition, in the challenge, in the call to action. He is nothing if not relentless, nothing if not convincing, and they were ready and willing to be convinced, to be led, to obey the call. He had them hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

He made them believe the absurdities, and when he asked, the atrocities followed. To the end, they were hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

Meanwhile Back in Albany (v41)

Nathaniel Brooks/NY Times

We've finally come to the end of Andrew Cuomo's 2021 State of the State address, a four-day extravaganza (you can read Days One, Two and Three if you missed them). The last day focused on building a "new New York."  Here's the premise he put forth.

History teaches us that, when the private economy is lagging, the public sector can spur activity; when unemployment is high, the public sector can create jobs; and when interest rates are low, the public sector should invest; that only the public sector can build the common economic platform for growth, the foundation that all businesses rely on to prosper: our transportation system, our infrastructure, our broadband and our education.

It's a long-taught lesson, he said, but without focus on the "ancillary" benefits - a collective lifted spirit, a belief in the future, and how those inspire economic confidence and stimulus. FDR, Cuomo said, understood that, and the Sonofa Gov wants us to understand that, too. And, don't forget, FDR was a New Yorker, and New Yorkers understand big ideas, and build big things.

Our country has lost its ambition, he said. Other countries "developed around us," and built the cool stuff - the largest high-speed rail network (China), the longest tunnel (Europe) and even the Middle East is "turning barren desert into economic engines."

Once a world leader, this country lost the vision and political willpower to build boldly and bravely. We lost sight of the connection between today's construction and the prosperity of a thousand tomorrows. We chose to kick the can down the road - a road that was crumbling before our eyes. 

Here, though, we've got projects out the wazoo: terminals at airports, train station in Buffalo, bridges, a fully-connected east-west and north-south trail across the state, new waterfront development, cashless tolling on the Thruway, and more. In all, it's "the largest infrastructure program in the nation" and we're not done yet.

We're working on multiple projects in and around NYC: improving or building new terminals for buses and trains, and adding mass transit tracks; adding convention and exhibit capacity; freeing up building sites for commercial and residential development; expanding public spaces; and more, worth tens of billions in investment and 196,000 jobs.

And it not just in NYC; the vast area called 'upstate' is also getting a facelift. - Rochester, Buffalo, Albany, the Mohawk Valley, the North Country, the Southern Tier, and Central New York will be getting (or losing) roads, bridges, parks, educational facilities, medical facilities, sports and recreational facilities, environmental projects, and transit projects.

Altogether, including the new airports and roads and bridges and parks and housing in every corner of the state, and the visionary new redevelopment of the West Side of Manhattan, we are expanding our infrastructure plan to invest $306 billion in the future of New York. That's not just the largest infrastructure plan in New York history. It's the largest, most ambitious plan of any state in the nation.

It's exhausting just thinking about it, I have to say - but it does give me a bunch of new places to visit around the state if everything gets completed.

In closing, Cuomo went back to FDR, quoting from a fireside chat.

There is an element in the readjustment of our financial system more important than currency, more important than gold, and that is the confidence of the people. Confidence and courage are the essentials of success in carrying out our plan. You people must have faith. Let us unite in banishing fear. We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system; it is up to you to support and make it work.

And then, he talked about New Yorkers, and how we respond when times ae tough. In the telling of our resilience, he recited the first entry in a new Poetry theme, EmpireVerse, which I'll share later.     

The message in all four days? We're going to be fine. We're going to spend a ton of money, and get others to spend a ton of money, and we'll be a healthier, working, brighter and shinier New York when - not if - all of the plans come to fruition.      

Make it so, Number One.                   

Meanwhile Back in Albany (v40)

Nathaniel Brooks/NY Times

How'd you do with Days One and Two of my Sonofa Gov's State of the State? And are you ready for more? 

Day Three focused on the greening of New York, what Gov. Andrew Cuomo called a "new economic engine that is future-oriented, that is essential to our survival, and that has the potential to benefit generations to come." But, he said,

As is true in so many major issues of our time, the challenge is to close the societal and governmental gap between aspirations and accomplishment, between rhetoric and reality, between saying and doing. Offering hope of a tomorrow that never comes is one of the main causes of our social unrest and distrust in government. We are just not making enough actual progress. Why? Because change is hard.

Have no fear, though: "As the world economy resets, and as change is a necessity, there is an opportunity to raise our efforts to the next level - and New York should seize this moment." And, we can seize the rhetorical moment, too: Cuomo noted that "candles cannot power the future." We're going to stick a fork in fossil fuels, or something, via a four-pronged approach: 

• identifying and building enough green projects to generate the clean energy needed to "reliably support" all our needs; 
• ending our reliance on other countries, by building our own green tech and equipment, and developing "a steady flow of projects to start up and sustain those new businesses;"  
• building up our transmission capacity to connect the dots between where energy is generated, and where it's consumed; and
• elevating our training and education programs, and building out our R&D capacity.

He announced a $26B public/private partnership to develop around 100 renewable projects across the state. 68 projects (52 solar, 13 on-shore wind, and three off-shore wind) are already underway, and he announced 24 more during his presentation. Cuomo expects 11,000 jobs in "upstate NY alone." (Upstate is defined here, in case you aren't sure exactly where to find it.) 

Among the new projects? Two new wind farms, invisible from the shore, off Long Island; turning a Capital-district brownfield into a state-of-the-art wind turbine tower facility, and adding a fifth offshore wind turbine hub to serve the entire east coast.

More big news? He announced a competitive bidding process for a new green transmission grid, starting with three projects all leading to NYC. Other projects across the state are designed to "break open congestion" and will start this year. And, we're going to have state-of-the-art battery storage capability, with construction already underway on a new facility in Franklin County

On the last tine of the fork, there's a new $20M Offshore Wind Training Institute, as well as training for heat pumps and geothermal heating technology, which will help us replace existing systems in some 130,000 buildings. All projects have must meet MWBE goals, and pay prevailing wage, so that workers and business owners of color are not left out.

He said the whole green program will create 12,400 megawatts of green power, enough for six million homes; directly create 50,000 jobs; and generate $29 billion in private investment. 

The message? "Go big, or go home," and he's got no intention of us sitting on the sidelines as others move forward. 

Poll Watch: Democracy, Extremism and More

And so, it begins (again). 

The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump begins today, with an almost certain outcome already known, as it was the first time he was impeached a year ago. 

The Senate will have a split vote on whether it's even constitutional to impeach him, with the Rs likely ignoring, for the second time in two weeks, that it was their own rules that made it impossible to impeach him before his term ended. 

We will go through the motions: the Rs will claim the impeachment is dividing the country, and Ds will say that Trump continues to pose a clear and present danger to everything that's good and wholesome, so he must be prevented from ever holding office again. Pundits will wear their best outfits, the networks will have their impeachment background music, and when it's over, everything is supposed to be OK. 

But will everything be OK? Here's some info from a recent Quinnipiac poll illustrating where we stand right now, on impeachment and some other measures of 'OK-ness.'

First, the small print: the survey was conducted by live interviewers calling both land lines and cell phones from 1/28 - 2/1/21. There were 1,057 participants, 35% of whom identified as independents, 31% Democrat and 23% Republican. The margin of error is +/- 3%.

Now, to the survey.

Only 22% of respondents believe that democracy is alive and well in the US, while 71% say it's under threat and 7% don't know.

• Republicans (85%) are more pessimistic than Dems (67%), Independents (70%), men (72%), women (71%), and people with (80%) and without (75%) four-year college degrees. 
• Younger adults - the 18-34 demographic - are the least pessimistic, with only 58% thinking democracy is under threat; the 65+ cohort is the most pessimistic (80%).

Fully 75% of respondents are concerned about continued violence in the US by extremist groups emboldened by the insurrection at the US Capitol, with 48% saying they are very concerned, and 27% somewhat concerned. Another 22% of respondents expressed less concern (9% not so concerned, 13% not concerned at all).

• Democrats (70%), women (54%), and four-year college grads (51%) lead the very concerned bucket; Republicans (21%), men (18%) and Independents and non-degree holders (16% each) lead the 'not concerned at all' groups. 
• Women are more concerned than men. 82% of white women are concerned, with 55% very concerned; 80% of non-white women are concerned, with 52% saying they're very concerned. The least concerned? White men, at 34% (21% not at all concerned).
• Just 50% of the 18-34 expressed any concern, while 84% of seniors did.

We're not optimistic on the partisan divide, either. 72% of respondents expect partisan divisions in the country to stay the same (33%) or get worse (39%), with only 20% thinking the divisions are going to decrease. Democrats are the most optimistic; nearly three quarters think it will stay the same (40%) or get better (34%). Not surprisingly, the least optimistic are the Rs; nearly 2/3 (63%) think it's going to get worse. 

• Women are twice as optimistic as men in thinking it'll get better (26% to 13%) and white women are more than twice as optimistic as white men (28% to 12%).
• Meanwhile, 50% of white men think it's going to get worse; they're the only demographic, other than Republicans, that reaches that mark.

And, finally, on the day's hot topic? Half of all respondents believe the Senate should convict former president Trump, while 45% disagree. Not surprisingly, there's a wide swath of disagreement between Ds and Rs - 86% of the latter say no, and 86% of the former say yes.

• At least half of each age bucket say yes: the 35-49 and 50-64 are right at 50%, with the 18-34 gang 1% higher and the 65+ cohort 2% higher. 
• The most conflicted groups? Independents (49% say convict, 45% say no, and 6% don't know or didn't answer) and the 50-64 age bucket (50%, 47%, and 3%).
• Trump's steadfast supporters - men, whites, and non-college educated folks - are supporting him on this. 53% of all men, 64% of white men, 53% of non-white men, and 60% of those without four-year degrees say he should not be convicted.

My overarching take on this? It seems the people who are most involved in the current spate of extremism, and in fomenting the divide, are the ones who are the least optimistic that things are going to get better. They're the same people - Republicans and white men in particular - who could start acting differently, and help push the needle in a positive direction.

Does that excuse the Dems? Good lord, no - of course not! I would never let them off the hook, believe me. But they are not the party of the cannibalistic deep state pedophiles. They are not the conspiracy theorists. They are not the group that sought to 'liberate' Michigan and other states. They are not the people who tried to cajole election officials to "find 11,780 votes" so that their candidate could win. They are not the people of the fearless leader who abandoned his most loyal supporter, leaving him to an unruly mob looking to hang him. 

The Dems have their own problems, and they are many. But the Rs have a bigly ownership stake in the state of things in the country right now, and to date most of them don't seem to understand that, or care enough to do anything about it. Oh sure, the few who have thrown in the towel and announced they're not running for office again are taking a stand, of sorts. But the rest of them are too busy censuring each other, trying to force each other to resign, and threatening to primary anyone who doesn't still and always support Donald Trump. 

We deserve better from all of them, for sure, but we mostly deserve much better from the Rs right now, and I'm not optimistic they're going to rise to the occasion. 

I'd be thrilled if they proved me wrong.  

Meanwhile Back in Albany (v39)

Nathaniel Brooks/NY Times

For the second day of his State of the State roadshow, NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo opened with a quote from James Baldwin: "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." From there, he went to General Ulysses S. Grant, and to the GI Bill and the Marshall Plan. And it's that kind of effort we need, he said.

Now it's time to start looking ahead with the same toughness, the same smarts, the same unity, the same discipline, and the same love that brought us through last year. 2021 will be a year of continued challenges, transformation, and change. We will need to adjust to the new social and economic realities of the post-COVID world.

Expanding on his Day 1 message, he spoke of having to reopening New York "smartly and safely." It's not an either/or thing, it's a "a new model of balance" using science and technology to do things intelligently. Here are the key initiatives he mentioned.

• Testing is a big part of that, whether it's at large scale events, in commercial office/retail properties, or at individual businesses like restaurants.
• The New York Arts Revival, a public/private partnership that'll mount pop-up events across the state, outdoors mostly, with pilots for indoor performances to see what can be done safely. There's also a new Creative Rebuild Initiative to put artists back to work and support community arts organizations. 
• Tapping into the empty hotel and office space in the state, in ways that "benefit the community and make them commercially viable." Affordable housing, supportive housing, that kind of thing, can benefit communities and the state's going to offer flexibility to property owners for that type of re-use. 
• A Commission on the Future of the New York Economy, to draw up a roadmap for getting New Yorkers back to work in good paying jobs in long-lasting industries, and to examine what he called "the low tide American issues" - inequalities and structural racism - exposed by the pandemic. 
• A "jobs-of-the-future" program to include a Pathways Pledge from our largest employers to develop training and education programs for low-income workers. There's also an expansion of SUNY's online training programs to offer free training for high demand jobs.

In closing, Cuomo reached for his father, the late Gov. Mario Cuomo, and offered some hope for the future. Speaking of the light that shone through the darkness of 2020, he said

And this light illuminates a new path of possibility for our state. A path that says yes, we can care about each other, and we can help each other, and we can recognize our interconnection and relationship - that we are one community and one family. That our differences are second to our commonality. That we are strong, and we are competent, and we are capable. That we can build, we can achieve, we can take on great challenges and we can triumph. That we believe in ourselves and we believe in each other and we believe in this place called New York. This place of possibility, this place of welcome, this place of mutuality, this place of aspiration, this place of acceptance, and this place of cooperation. 

Are we that place, do you think?

Sunday School 2/7/21: Extra Credit

As I promised in my Sunday School post, I've got Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for you today, along with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-Trump), but well start with Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY). 

Cheney talked with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, and said she's not resigning, as her state party requested when they censured her for "betraying the trust of Wyoming voters." 

The censure language indicated people still believe that BLM and Antifa were behind the Capitol insurrection. She said they've got a lot of work to do, and she blamed Trump and his lies for that.

We need to make sure that we as Republicans are the party of truth, that we are being honest about what really did happen in 2020 so we actually have a chance to win in 2022 and win the White House back in 2024.

She also said the Dems had no business getting involved in which Rs sit on committees; the Rs should have dealt with that.

Wallace asked if she'd vote to convict Trump in the impeachment. She said she'd listen to the evidence, but added there's a "massive criminal investigation underway. There will be a massive criminal investigation of everything that happened on January 6th and in the days before."

People will want to know exactly what the president was doing. They want to know, for example, whether the tweet he sent out calling Vice President Pence a coward while the attack was underway, whether that tweet, for example, was a premeditated effort to provoke violence... there will be many, many criminal investigations looking at every aspect of this and everyone who was involved, as there should be.

She said "I obviously believe... that what we already know is enough" to impeach him, and that there's no looking past what happened, no pretending that it didn't happen, no trying to move on. "We've got to make sure this never happens again."  

So far, she's not a fan of the new administration. She described the first few days as being "heartbreaking in many ways," and called the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline "heartless." The Rs must "stand up and fight back against the kind of far-left governing" they've seen so far, she said.

Let's go down the hall to the This Week classroom for George Stephanopoulos' chat with Mr. Secretary, aka Mayor Pete. The conversation started with the COVID relief plan, which Buttigieg said was both important and something that Americans - including Republicans - strongly support. He downplayed the comments on the recovery plan made by Larry Summer, noting that other economists feel the plan is what we need to grow jobs. And, he wants to avoid what happened after the Great Recession.

And part of what was a real struggle the last time we faced a major economic challenge in 2009, was a sense that there needed to -- if there had been more political will in Washington to do more, the economy might have recovered more quickly. 

Paying for his infrastructure agenda could run into partisan arguments, but he said these investments can pay for themselves, with enormous payback for the American people. He said it's clear people are impatient with "the idea of 'infrastructure week' turning into a punch line" and that lots of ideas on how to pay for the programs surfaced during his confirmation hearings. Not only that, but

...we also have a historic moment on our hands where we’ve realized just how critical these needs are. We can't keep kicking the can down the road and while it's not going to be easy to come to terms on exactly how to sustainably fund it, we know once again, with the economic urgency, the interest rate environment and the gathering political will that we can actually make this happen. And I think it's a great example of bipartisan priority. And if we get it right, it might pull other things along too.

Let's close with Margaret Brennan and Graham on Face the Nation. Their conversation started with foreign policy, and Graham said he'd caution President Biden not to get rid of stuff just because it's a Trump policy. They need to review things to determine if they're working, and if yes, leave them alone.

He hasn't spoken with Biden, but he has spoken to Secretary of State Tony Blinken, and is happy with the approach on Afghanistan, including leaving troops there beyond Trump's May deadline. Graham says he hopes that the administration will look at a bill he and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) have proposed that will the Iranians as much nuclear power as they want, but they wouldn't be allowed to enrich it. 

On the hottest of hot topics, Graham said that what Trump did around the insurrection "is not a crime," and further, that "many people had already planned the - to attack the Capitol" before Trump ever spoke back in January, so impeaching him for incitement is wrong.

He said if people think Trump committed a crime, "he can be prosecuted like any other citizen." Impeachment is a political process, and "we've never impeached a president once they're out of office."

I think this is a very bad idea... It's not a question of how the trial ends. It's a question of when it ends... And the only question is... how long does the trial take? But the outcome is really not in doubt. That doesn't mean what happened on January the 6th was okay. It means his impeachment, in the eyes of most Republicans, is an unconstitutional exercise.

He seemed to suggest that Trump was impeached for the wrong thing. Brennan reminded Graham that he said that "the things (Mike Pence) was asked to do in the name of loyalty were over the top, unconstitutional, illegal, and would have been wrong for the country," which sounded like high crimes and misdemeanors to her. Graham's response?

Yeah, well, he wasn't charged with that.

Ultimately, he thinks history will be the judge, and he's in obvious disagreement with Rep. Cheney on the 'moving on' thing.

I'm ready to get on with trying to solve the nation's problems. And as to Donald Trump, he is the most popular figure in the Republican Party. He had a consequential presidency. January the 6th was a very bad day for America, and he'll get his share of blame in history. But I do believe that in 2022, the Republican Party is going to come roaring back...

He thinks Trump's policies have served the country well, and that he "has to rehabilitate himself as a politician." No word on whether he sees himself in need of rehabilitation, after spending the last four years doing the bidding of a "race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot." 

See you around campus - bonus points for anyone wearing a Super Bowl Champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers mask. 

Sunday School 2/7/21

Are you ready for some football? Political football, I mean, of course. Let's dive in to the classrooms, shall we?

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who led the team of House managers on Trump's first impeachment chatted with Chuck Todd on Meet the Press. Schiff said that the managers for Trump II need to present all the facts, and not presume that everyone - including all senators - are familiar with the full breadth of what the former president did over the course of many months leading up to January 6th. He's confident they'll be able to tell the story.

Schiff also said that he thinks some senators would complain about the process no matter how slowly the House moved, but he said there was "a real sense of urgency" this time, given what happened. 

And we felt in the House, as well as ten of the Republicans, that every day he remained in office he was a danger to the country and we simply couldn’t -- you know, we couldn't, you know, sit still, and wait for weeks or months while this man posed a danger to the country. So, we did act with alacrity.

The president will have "every opportunity" to defend himself, even though he's already rejected testifying, and Schiff is encouraged by some senators who have said they're keeping an open mind. And yes, when he led the managers, they did believe that they had a chance - "it was very uphill" - and that, had they been allowed witnesses, they might have been able to change people's minds.

He said everyone needs to let the managers put on their case; he said lead manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) is "an extraordinarily capable, brilliant Constitutional scholar " and will be among the folks making the call on whether or not to ask for witnesses.

But in a very real way, Chuck, we have the unusual circumstance where, on the very first day of the trial, when those managers walk on the floor of the Senate, there will already be over 100 witnesses present. And those will be the House and Senate members.

Finally, Chuck shared this comment from GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, directed at Democrats after the vote to strip Marjorie Taylor Greene of her assignments.

If people are held to what they have said prior to even being in this House, if majority party gets to decide who sits on what other committees, I hope you keep that standard because we have a long list you can work within your own.

He asked if Schiff if he was worried about the precedent. Schiff said

Kevin McCarthy stands for nothing except the perpetuation of his own position. He has no values. And in my view, cares about little except for hoping to be speaker one day, God forbid.

He said that members - of either party - who threaten violence against other members, who cast doubt on 9/11 and school shootings, who heckle shooting victims, who suggest that a religious group is shooting laser beams to start forest fires, 

they should be expelled from their committees, whatever party they are in. They shouldn't, frankly, even be in the Congress.

The bottom line for Schiff? If everyone is held to the same standard, there's nothing to worry about.

And, speaking of worrying about things, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen joined Jake Tapper in the State of the Union classroom. She was asked to respond to comments from Larry Summers, a former Treasury Secretary himself, who said that "the proposed Biden stimulus is three times as large as the projected shortfall" and that it could lead to rising inflation. Yellen said that,

as Treasury secretary, I have to worry about all of the risks to the economy. And the most important risk is that we leave workers and communities scarred by the pandemic and the economic toll that it -- that it's taken, that we don't do enough to address the pandemic and the public health issues, that we don't get our kids back to school.

She listed other impacts, including millions out of work and out of the work force, children falling behind because schools aren't open, too many small businesses closing, police and firemen losing their jobs, and more. She said "we need a package that's big enough to address this full range of needs. And I believe that the American Rescue Plan is up to the job."

Regarding the risk of inflation, which she has "spent many years studying,, she said there are tools to deal with that if needed. And, she said, if we do nothing, "we would have a long, slow recovery" like we did after the Great Recession, according to the CBO. But, according to folks at Moody's and the Brookings Institution, this plan will put people back to work much sooner. Not only that, but she said if the package is passed, she expects that "we would get back to full employment next year."

Yellen said Biden is willing to work with folks in Congress to "define what's fair" and that he wouldn't want to see families making over $300K getting a stimulus payment, but that middle class families do need to get support. She didn't get any more specific than that, other than to reiterate that going big is important.

She said the SEC is working on a report giving all the facts of what went on with the GameStop trading and after that, folks can decide if new regs are needed. They'll review to "make sure the markets function efficiently, that investors are protected, and also that they understand the risks that they face when they engage in trading."

Regarding her own financial history with Wall Street types, including one of the hedge funds that was short-selling GameStop, she pointed to her ethics agreement and said she'd "religiously adhere to" that, and "will certainly abide by my ethics obligations."

Tapper dug up some old tape of Yellen saying, back in '98, "On average, women now earn about 75 percent of what men earn." And now, with women earning 81% of what men do, Tapper wondered what she wanted it to look like when her tenure as Treasury Secretary is over. 

Well, I would like there to be equal pay for equal work. And I would like to see the barriers that remain that impede the progress of women in the labor force addressed. Once upon a time, labor force participation of women in the United States exceeded that of most European countries.

The opposite is true now of Europe and other developed countries. And big differences are the availability of child care and paid family and medical leave. And these are things I think we need to work on in order to make it easier for women to work and to combine work with family life.

That would be fun, right?

I'll have Mayor Pete, er, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, in your Extra Credit. 

See you around campus - masks on, of course. And Go, Bucs in the Super Bowl!