Chaos in Washington

 

 

The president rolled out some of his long-expected pardons this week which included more than 25 individuals. These were unlike any previous presidential pardons.  A pardon is usually given to right an overly zealous prosecution, an unfair sentence or for issues of ill health.  Often the person has indicated contrition over a misdeed and appreciated the relief from the sentence. Sometimes convictions are over turned after evidence of good citizenship.  Occasionally there are revocations or commutations after release from previous convictions. The Department of Justice has a process through which pardon applications are received formally by petition and reviewed by a petition attorney. The claim is reviewed and, if found to be of merit, it is passed on to the executive for decision. Pardons are often granted at the end of a year or the final term of a president. Well, this year the president has not followed the set process and seems to be intent on reversing the convictions which came about as a result of the Mueller Investigations. He has reversed the convictions of Flynn, Manafort, Stone, Papadopoulos and van der Zwaan from that investigation, even though several had pled guilty. He also reversed the convictions of several Congressmen who had been convicted of criminal activity and his daughter Ivanka’s father-in-law who had been prosecuted for criminal acts years before by Chris Christie. 

The commonality for each of these pardons was that the individuals had been loyal to and supportive of the president. The administration did not go through the Justice Department and it appears that Justice was not even consulted. He has also risked an international incident by pardoning 4 Blackwater security guards who were convicted of wantonly firing into a crowd of civilians in Baghdad and killing women and children. The US government promised Iraq that these men would be convicted. Education Secretary DeVos’ brother Erik Prince owned the Blackwater company at that time. Once again, this president has gone around established precedent, something he appears to relish. This power is permitted by the Constitution, but these actions appear to be an over-reach and not what the founders intended.  There is now discussion in Congress about how restraints can be placed on this power within constitutional guidelines. I guess time will tell if it can be constrained. As is often seen here, it is not what one did but who one knows and the convicted person does not even have to try to appear remorseful about their errant deeds. Once again, the specter of autocracy rears its head. 

The president has finally signed the massive 900-Billion-dollar COVID relief bill (part of a much larger total financing bill) even though, as he stated, the $600 relief checks amounts are too little and should be $2000.  His Treasury Secretary – Steven Mnuchin – has been negotiating with Congress since last Spring and supposedly with decisions made with the president’s knowledge. His earlier threat to not sign this bill has had Washington in turmoil since the middle of last week as so many important measures, including continued funding for the government, continued unemployment benefits and aid to states for COVID vaccination programs were in this bill. A Federal shutdown was to start this week if the bill was not passed into law. Some programs (such as unemployment benefits) have, in fact, ended as they were set to cease on Saturday, so even though this was finally signed, they will lose a week of benefits. The President also vetoed the Defense Authorization Bill which funds the military; a Congressional vote on the necessary override is scheduled for Monday.

The lame duck president is now demanding new laws be passed concerning portions of the COVID relief bill which he did not like.  There is some confusion about just what his understanding of the process is; he appeared to be trying to get line-item vetoes of certain provisions along with demanding the $2000 amount. This cannot be done without re-writing and passing the bill all over again. Now, it appears that he has asked for a study of voter fraud, increasing the distribution to checks of $2000 instead of the $600 stimulus checks in the relief bill and some restriction of internet businesses since he did not like Twitter labeling his tweets as false. (This follows the long-voiced concerns of conservatives that their posts are more severely monitored – which has not been proven by independent researchers.) If you were a renter fearing eviction or a worker who has lost their job and their insurance, I am certain that you would have little time for such executive tantrums.

What does all of this mean in the long run?  Democrats started out in the Spring with the Heroes Act - a 3 trillion-dollar plus bill which provided relief for states, extended cash payments and unemployment benefits which was passed in the House in May, but despite many sessions of negotiations, it was never brought up in the Senate by Speaker Mitch McConnell. Republicans claimed it was too expensive and was just being done to bolster Democrat chances in the upcoming fall election. This just passed bill was supported as a way to assist the two Georgia Republican Senatorial candidates who are facing running off elections after not meeting a 50% threshold in the general election. The compromise was a result of actions by a bi-partisan group of legislators called the Problem-Solvers conference who worked out the details of the 900-billion-dollar deal with leaders of both houses and Secretary Mnuchin. This was quite a bit less that the 3 trillion-dollar deal originally passed by the House but more than the 500 million dollars that Leader McConnell had held out for months as his limit. It is still not yet clear how much this will assist the many small businesses and restaurants which have gone out of business due to restrictions on public gatherings, although there are some provisions for small businesses.  

Many of the limitations in the original relief bill allowed money to go to large corporations but quite often small businesses could not meet these parameters due to such things as a low number of employees or their payroll did not meet levels. Direct money for states was carved out as a stand-alone and has not been passed as that was another sticking point for Republicans who preferred to have states declare bankruptcy. There were some large corporations who applied for and received millions of dollars but were shamed into returning the money received under the paycheck protection plan.  Some have claimed that since all of the money in the original relief bill was not spent, that the funds should be returned to the Treasury as unnecessary. 

The problem of support for small businesses is not easily solved.  McKinsey reports that many businesses in the European Union (EU) think that they will no longer be in business after another year under the pandemic. Many of them have received some supports from their governments.  However, many of the European countries shut down earlier and government money was provided earlier. Generally, the economy in both the EU and the US is not recovering. The US economy is better now than 6 months ago, but we still have an overall unemployment rate of 6.7%, down from 14.7% in the spring with 10.7 million officially unemployed people, although the long-term number is probably around 20 million people. This does not count all of the people who have dropped out of the workforce, such as mothers who stopped working in order to care for children who are being schooled in virtual classrooms. Black unemployment was 10.3% in November while the rate for Hispanics was 8.4%. According to Bloomberg, 110,000 restaurants either have already closed or are expected to fail this year and most will not return. These businesses were a great source of income for students or part-timers and now this option will no longer be available.

To get control of the economy, we must first get control of the pandemic.  If we had adhered to a strong national shut-down in the early days of the pandemic we might not be where we are now with the huge numbers of deaths, afflicted people and the economy in free fall. Unfortunately, it appears that the COVID numbers will get worse for a while before we can turn a corner even though we now have vaccines. Experts are expecting that holiday travel will be responsible for a new uptick in cases soon.  We currently are close to 20 million cases in the US. Currently the US is averaging a death every 30 seconds from COVID and it has become the leading cause of death for 2020.

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New COVID numbers: (12/27/20) New York Times

Total US Cases:19,161,100.  Total new cases: 225,930.  Total deaths: 333,197 Total new deaths: 1,646.

Maryland total cases:265,440.  New cases: 2,280.  Total deaths: 5,680. Total new deaths: 21.

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Well, we are approaching the end of 2020.  It is a year that I wish we had not had to experience and one that I hope we never experience again in my lifetime or that of my grandchildren.  I do believe that if we had listened to the science, this pandemic would not have been as bad, but we cannot deal in hindsight.  I remind everyone that until we have widespread vaccinations that wearing masks, social distancing and washing hands are still in order.

Take a look at the Washington Post best editorial cartoons from 2020 here

Best wishes to everyone for a better 2021.  I am anticipating the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and a fresh outlook on governing for the people.

“Til next week – peace!

For Whom the Bell Tolls

 

The English poet, John Dunne, writing in 1624, spoke to death and fears of dying in this brief selection, which was part of a larger work. He noted that we are all connected in life and death. I thought of it this week when I heard that the Bells of the Washington National Cathedral were ringing out three hundred times: one peal for each 1000 deaths from the coronovirus. We passed 300,000 deaths earlier this week, while at the same time totaling more than one-quarter of a million cases (250,000) identified in a single day. My sympathies go out to each person affected by this cruel virus. I think the verse below speaks to each of us.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by John Donne

No man is an island, Entire of itself. Each is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thine own Or of thine friends were. Each man's death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee.

 

The Bells of time are also tolling for the president as the inauguration is only about 800 hours away as Joe Biden will become president at 12 noon on January 20^th, 2021.  Apparently, the president is also counting the days and is becoming more and more frantic in his efforts to claim victory and have them be believed. He has castigated Leader McConnell for accepting Biden as the president-elect after the Electoral College confirmation vote and is looking for Congressional members to lead a protest on January 6th, the date of Congress’ acceptance of the electoral College results.  Senator-elect Tuberville of Alabama (the football coach who defeated Doug Jones, but could not name the three branches of government) has said he will do this and is looking for others to join him.

As reported both in the New York Times and the Washington Post, the president met with disgraced – and now pardoned – retired General Michael Flynn, attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell and staff to discuss more lawsuits and other attempts to overturn the election. General Flynn is said to be promoting martial law with seizure of voting machines and a redo of the election, perhaps only in swing states, under military control. Powell, who has been described by some officials as “nuts” due to her Chavez voting machine claims and other wild statements, is also being suggested as a special prosecutor on election fraud; none of the lawsuits she promoted were supported by the courts. 

That scenario is truly scary to me and, I assume, to lots of other people as well.  I can only hope, that even with the recent firing of the head of DOD and replacement by a lackey and the upcoming departure of Attorney General Barr, that there must be some wiser heads somewhere in our government who could put a stop to these machinations, should they ever be deployed. The president denied that this was discussed and dismissed it as fake news, but he is known to float trial balloons and deny them when they are made public. Former National Security Advisor John Bolton called these discussions appalling and said it demonstrated the president’s ignorance of the Constitution and general incompetence. Bolton further called upon Congressional leaders to step in and lead on this issue. I have doubts that this will happen after the roll-over by members in the House on the Texas Attorney Generals’ inappropriate lawsuit – which was dismissed by the Supreme Court.

Other big news this week of course concerned the roll-out of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Pfizer has been out there for about a week and has been given mostly to hospital workers with few complications.  Moderna vaccines do not require such deep refrigeration as the Pfizer product and will be distributed more to facilities such as long-term care and assisted living centers.  CVS and Walgreens are planning to administer these doses. These first vaccines each require two doses a few weeks apart.  Future vaccines such as Johnson & Johnson and Astra Zeneca follow the more traditional vaccine development methods and will require only one dose.  Both are expected to be applying for approvals in January and will widen the options. At this time, we still do not have enough doses to cover the US population, although these are all promised to be in the pipeline soon. The CDC just advised that those over 75 and front-line essential workers be in the next group to receive vaccinations.

The other big news concerned the hacking into of IT centers for major companies and federal agencies by persons unknown, but thought to be the Russian spy services called SVR. Secretary of State Pompeo confirmed that the Russians were the offenders; the president disputed this conclusion a week later and blamed the Chinese. (He has mainly stayed away from the office and is tweeting mostly about the election still.) The software was used by most of the Fortune 500 companies and major telecommunication companies, although the provider indicated only about 18,000 of its 275,000 customers were identified. We are still learning just how many governmental agencies were hacked. The entry was made through an update to an administrative program (Solar Winds – Orion) and remained in place for several months before it was identified. 

According to Time Magazine the extent of the damage is not yet clear, but it is thought that critical data was not infiltrated this time. Regardless of the damage done or not done, it is clear that monitoring of these systems was not being done in an effective manner in order to detect malware or inappropriate outgoing data. The position of White House cyber-czar was cut during NSA secretary Bolton’s tenure and has not been reinstated. The expectations from the hacks are unclear, as are the amounts or types of data stolen; this may take several months to evaluate.  Apparently, there is no ongoing program to test and challenge software programs using Solar Winds and other comparable administrative software. For so many companies to all utilize the same software is itself considered a vulnerability which must be reconsidered by the incoming Biden administration. We are continuing to learn of areas that have not been given proper priority by this White House.

Earlier in the week it was learned that the administration decided during the summer to cease trying to stop the coronovirus spread and unofficially decided to just allow herd immunity to take precedence so that commerce could continue, and the economy would improve. There are emails from officials stating that and which were later reinforced by Scott Atlas, the radiologist, who became head of the virus task force at the White House.  The virus is out of control in many areas of the country with California being the hardest hit right now.  Singer Charley Pride at 86 years old was one of the more recent victims of COVID-19; he was the first major black singer in country music many years ago.

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The current COVID figures are below. 

On Wednesday last week, there were more than 3600 deaths and 245,000 new cases. We saw fewer deaths on 9/11 or on the airstrikes at Pearl Harbor. Why are we, as a nation, not in mourning?  Have these deaths become commonplace?

CDC Stats – NY Times:

Total US cases 12/20 – 17,876,300.  Total new cases 12/19: 193,922. 

Total US deaths: 317,788. New deaths: 2628.

Maryland stats: 12/19: Total cases:248,754. Total new cases: 2,201.  

Total deaths:5,412. New deaths: 54.

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Local news:  Since Governor Hogan is term limited, names are being considered for the next governor.  Comptroller Peter Franchot is putting his hat in the ring for governor and Baltimore City Delegate Brooke Lierman has announced her campaign for Comptroller. The race isn’t until 2022, so stay tuned, folks!

Breaking News – as they say – Congress has reached agreement on the COVID relief package and it is supposed to be passed on Monday.  Not as comprehensive as it should be, but it is a start and long overdue.

As I close, I wish Happy Holidays for all – stay safe out there.

Cannot leave without the panda cam – here he barks at his Mom, courtesy of WTOP.

Til next week – peace.

 

The President Who is Out in the Cold

 

John Le Carre, the honored British spy novelist, died today. His novel, “The Spy Wo Came in From the Cold”, was published in 1963 and was a tale of misdirection, deception and betrayal during the Cold War era. The main character was a long-term spy at the end of his career who did not want to come out of the field and take a desk job, so he accepted one last assignment, which was almost his undoing. The world of spies is expected to be an unsettled one in Le Carre’s fiction as he explored many facets from this era, even after the Soviet Union’s demise, yet he found time to probe the basic humanity in many of the characters he created and sometimes skewer the bureaucracies which partnered with them. His career spanned more than 50 years with his last novel published in 2019.

 

Why do I start with this report? Well, it seems to me that while we expect the world of spies to be duplicitous, we hope that is not the aim of our presidents. However, we are currently seeing and hearing from a president who uses misdirection, outright lies, threats and manipulation of our legal system in an attempt to overturn a lawfully held election. He refuses to concede defeat or accept the election of VP Biden. He is indeed, already “out in the cold”, but does not realize it. The president demands absolute loyalty, yet does not reciprocate and fires those who step out of line. Aside from the absurdity of more than 55 lawsuits, each of which have failed to find illegalities or fraud in any of the contested swing states and have been denied by the courts, the president has still vowed that he is not yet finished. The strange lawsuit which was originated in Texas by Attorney General Paxton and attempted to contest the results in four separate swing states was succinctly dismissed by the Supreme Court. The president had hoped that “his judges” would have supported his case.  He joined 18 Republican state Attorney Generals and more than 126 Republican Congressmen who supported Amicus briefs in favor of this suit, Party loyalists made it known that the president was taking names and keeping a list. Sadly, House Minority Leader Kevin Mc Carthy (R-CA) ignored the leadership role he should have embraced and joined the rest of his colleagues in their lemming-like trek to the virtual cliff at the side of their leader. Following the decision, few were eager to defend these actions. Republican leaders continue to refrain from speaking out against this president, perhaps in fear of his wrath.

 

Well, the system has held; our democracy is still in place, so should we just give a sigh of relief and relax? No, I think we cannot do this. The Electoral College votes on Monday in each of our states; protests are planned for many state Capitols. The state of Michigan has basically locked down the city of Lansing to protect the government buildings; they are not the only city to do so. The “Stop the Steal” folks and their friends, the Proud Boys, held a demonstration again in Washington DC this weekend which ended in violence. Some churches which posted Black Lives Matter signs had them pulled down and set afire. Jay Willis, writing in the Atlantic, described many of these protests and court actions as coup attempts, and noted that we should not yet celebrate since possibly a better case might have made it through this conservative court. He also warned:

“And although the Court may not have been willing to overturn an election that Trump lost by such wide margins, the groundwork is now in place for the justices to bless a new era of voter suppression.”

The Supreme Court has ruled that Electors must follow the results from the voters in their home states, so President-elect Joe Biden should have no trouble getting the validation for his 306 earned electoral votes. However, there is yet one more step in the electoral process – the Congress must accept and bless these electoral college results in a joint session on January 6^th; already several Republicans have indicated that they will work at that point to interfere with the final process of asserting that the election results are valid. The process requires that each protest be addressed separately if it is supported by a member from each house and each group shall address these petitions as presented one at a time. I remember the Congressional Black Caucus tried to protest the results in Bush vs. Gore in this manner in2001, but was unable to find a Senator to co-sponsor. (Gore did not support their efforts as he had long conceded the election to Bush.) So, what should be a pro-forma process, may once again become a battle. Nothing would surprise me this year.

 

Where do we go from here? What can we do to make our democracy more secure, especially with the reality we currently face where many voters in this country do not seem to care about the legalities and fairness built into the system? Large numbers of voters are more willing to follow the words and actions of a demagogue who would tear down our democratic system for his own gain; he continues to milk their wallets to provide for his narcissism (and build up a tax-free slush fund to support his fruitless quests). Have we allowed a cult of personality in four short years to overturn 244 years of governance since we declared independence from Great Britain, however imperfect it might be? Are we, as a country, content to continue forward, teetering on the edge of these disruptive forces? I am quite concerned that the actions on the part of the president and many elected Republican officials are creating a system which may well make it difficult for President-elect Biden to govern. How can he lead if almost a quarter of the country is convinced his leadership is invalid? I certainly hope that the Democrats can win those two seats in Georgia and make Mitch McConnell no longer the majority leader. I know it is a long shot, but I can dream.

 

Leader McConnell is solely responsible for the inability of the Congress to pass a relief bill for those ill and out of work from the COVID pandemic. I blame him for the miles long food lines and the food and housing insecurity we have in this country. Were I a small business owner, I would be bereft at my inability to grow my business or even keep it open over these last few months. Mc Connell has demonstrated that he so does not care about people and is insistent on immunity for plant owners whose work staff became ill from COVID at the workplace. He was just re-elected, so the only option any one has is to overpower him is with other sources of power, businesses and the voices of the people. I certainly hope that they start speaking out. Senator Manchin (D-WV) says that the bi partisan problem solvers conference will find an answer to get the aid bill passed; Senator Sanders (I VT) threatening to keep Congress in session until something is passed, so we will see what comes out. Sometimes the Congress cannot get anything done unless they are under some sort of a deadline.  Seems like a strange way to run a country, if you ask me.

 

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) accepted, for emergency use, the Pfizer Vaccine this week, so it is now being shipped to distribution points in every state. (Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, was said to have threatened to fire the FDA chief if he did not issue a speedy approval – although this has been denied, if true, it was a dumb move.) Only a small fraction of the necessary doses are on hand so it will take several months to get everyone in the country who wishes to receive the vaccine, vaccinated. Other vaccines remain in the pipeline and should receive approval soon. According to CDC guidelines, the front-line health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities are the most vulnerable and should be vaccinated first. Why am I not surprised to read that the White House and its staff have “Jumped the Line”, so to speak, and will also be among the first to receive the vaccines? There are no words to describe this other than preposterous and outrageous!  The fact that those at the home of super spreader events, who continue to hold unmasked holiday parties, as does Secretary of State, Pompeo, will all be among the first in line for the vaccine should bother all of us.

 

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The pandemic surge is in full force right now as numbers continue to explode across the country. Many states are continuing to urge shut downs, mask wearing and staying at home whenever possible. We have topped 16 million cases this week and more than 3000 deaths on some days – we will be over 300,000 total US deaths by tomorrow. Total COVID hospitalized patients – more than 110,000 as hospitals are running low on necessary capacity for acute patients. If you are not horrified by these numbers, you certainly should be.

COVID Stats 12/12/20 NY Times:

Total US cases16,737,267. New cases: 207,444. Total deaths: 299,317. Total new deaths: 2259.

Maryland total cases: 232,009.  Total new cases: 3538. Total deaths: 5,100.  Total new deaths: 36.

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Timely Tidbit: Time magazine named as a Hero of 2020 - Rahul Dubey, the DC resident who took scores of protestors fleeing the tear gas barrage from the infamous photo op at Lafayette Square, into his home and helped them with eye washes, food and a place to stay until after the curfew ended. Thanks, Rahul, for being a great neighbor!

Til next week: Peace.

 

44 Days and Counting!

 

President-elect Biden continues to meet with groups of mayors, governors and others as he and VP-elect Harris work to set their agenda and name nominees for important administration positions. He has indicated that he will ask for a 100-day mask mandate across the country when he takes office. Yet, just a few days ago, they received their first intelligence security briefing while some officials in the Department of Defense have been prevented from sharing information with transition team members. Moves are underway to obfuscate necessary information and hide recent changes from public view in order to make the transition more difficult. Are you, like me, keeping your fingers crossed that we get though the interim without major mishaps?

It has been about one month since election day and the president has still not conceded. He continues to rail at the election results and insists that there is no way he could have lost.  Last week he called Georgia Governor, Brian Kemp and demanded that he recall all absentee ballots to compare signatures, even though signatures were compared when ballots were received and those envelopes were separated after validation. Georgia has had a hand recount and a second recount done which has not changed the outcome – Biden still won the state by more than 12,000 votes.  Last week he recorded a 46-minute video which he uploaded to Facebook (Facebook noted that these comments could not be verified and were in part untrue); this video included a rant about how he could not have lost a fair election. He went on to claim that early in the evening of election day, he was leading and then later as all of these ballots were “dumped” in from the cities that that started to change the results; as days went on and absentee ballots were counted, he fell further behind in swing states especially.  As more absentee ballots came in, he lost several states where initially he had led, which is another reason his campaign tried to deny counting of all ballots after election day. Most states had a window of 3-5 days for mailed in ballots which could still be counted if the postmark was on or before election day.

What should all of these actions mean to the country as a whole? It appears that the system worked: an election was held; results have been certified in most states and the transition to a new president is underway – albeit with grudging support from the administration.  However, I believe this year has sorely strained our electoral process and fault lines are increasing as the president continues to contest the results and file fruitless lawsuits. Republican elections guru Benjamin Ginsberg wrote an op ed in the Washington Post discussing the concerns he has about this election. He indicated that we got lucky this time and in a future election we may not be, as he noted that weaknesses in the system were revealed. Some way of handling absentee ballots for both security and validation needs to be established; he encouraged counting absentee ballots as soon as they are received to speed up the counting of results. He proposed a bi-partisan commission to look at our election procedures as we have individual states each determining their local responses to holding elections. Would some type of uniformity improve the system or make it more vulnerable to outside interference?  I do not know the answer, but Ginsberg included some advice which included these recommendations: “the reason the system held and Trump failed was that countless individuals honorably did their duty under those laws, even while sometimes under furious attack from the president and his allies.”

One election official who stood up, even as countless ones have not, was a Georgian, elections system manager Gabriel Sterling, who spoke out against the attacks which were being made on election officials.  Workers were being named in online accounts, threatened and attacked both online and with acts directed against them personally. He warned that politicians needed to tone down their rhetoric before someone was killed. He reminded everyone that these workers were doing their jobs and admonished other Republican who remained silent, even in the face of this violence.  Kudos for Mr. Sterling for speaking up! Boos to those other Republicans who remain silent. The Washington Post surveyed all elected Republicans in Congress to see how many had acknowledged that Joe Biden was President-elect and found that only 27 out of 249 members would publicly agree that Biden had won the election.  Two members insisted that the president had won. Eight members supported the campaigns continuing efforts to contest the results. Only 32 members indicated that they would support Joe Biden if he won a majority of the electoral College, while 2 members indicated they would not agree to support him; the remainder did not answer or did not answer clearly.   Following this report, the president demanded to know the names of those who agreed with the election results and would support Biden. The Post did identify members who had announced their positions, but noted that 70 percent of the Republicans did not respond. 

The reporting indicated that this demonstrated the fear that most Republicans have of going against the president and having him, in the future, supporting an opponent in their next election. Actions such as these will perpetuate divisions in the country, as few in his party are trying to dissuade the president from continuing to challenge the results. At the rally in Georgia on Saturday, the president nominally supported the two Senators who will run in the January Senatorial run-off elections, but spent most of his time discussing the lies about how the election was rigged and Biden had cheated in order to win.  He led supporters in chanting “Stop the Steal!” These continued actions can have no positive civic outcomes, but he and his political action committees have raised over 200 million dollars on these claims, so why should he stop?  The PAC is arranged so that most of the money flows to him with no restrictions.  Gee, wonder if he will evade taxes on this also?

The president has demonstrated that he cares little about democracy, in fact, I think that he has teetered on the edge of creating an autocracy with fascist tendencies, as well as a cult like following, so we are quite lucky that he has not been re-elected.  Are his comments about running again in 2024 real or just to promote himself – who knows?  His campaign painted Democrats as Communists or Socialists, but I believe he understands little about either. But he has damaged our transition process and tried to convince about half of this country that he is the legitimate winner, thus undermining the legitimacy of the Biden presidency. He has even announced that he might do his 2024 kick-off on Inauguration Day – thus seeming to indicate he will not attend the ceremony – and of course, staying in the news. With luck, he will spend the next four years in various courts trying to explain all of his wheeling, dealing and illegal activities.

Are you as dismayed about this as I am? This country needs to heal form the events of the last four years, and President Biden needs to do this uniting.  I am hopeful that this can happen and soon.

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COVID Stats – NY Times: (12/5/20)

·      Tonight, it was announced that presidential attorney Rudolf Giuliani has been hospitalized with COVID-19, but is said to be doing well.  This brings to more than 50 members of the presidents’ close contacts who have been afflicted. Yet, he is continuing to hold holiday gatherings at the White House, which are mostly unmasked. One good piece of news – Dr. Scott Atlas - bearer of bad viral advice -has been termed out of his appointment with the COVID task force.

·        Moderna and Pfizer have both applied for Emergency Use authorizations for their COVID vaccines; Astra Zenica and Johnson and Johnson are said to be close behind, so it appears that vaccines are on our horizons. However, the amounts of the first deliveries are only about 10% of the expected amounts for the first immunizations, the distribution systems are fragmented and not yet in place in most areas as states have not received funds to support these efforts. Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require two shots. Each vaccine dose will be free to US residents.

·       The CDC has indicated that health providers such as nurses and nursing home staff and residents will be among the first to get the vaccines. (There are more than 20 million nurses in the US and more than 15,600 nursing homes with more than 1.5 million residents.)

·        COVID stats are climbing – winter is a bad time for viruses and cases have increased more than 12% over the last two weeks; the Thanksgiving travel data has not yet kicked in, so prepare for the numbers to worsen.

Total US cases: 14,513,700. Total new cases: 205,513. Total deaths:282,200. Total new deaths: 2190.

Maryland Cases:212,384. Total new cases:3,193.  Total deaths: 4820. Total new deaths: 30.

The long-term President of the District 14 Democratic Club in Montgomery County– Jerry Samet – died this week of COVID.  He will be missed.

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There is so much happening – but more will have to wait. I will leave you a tweet from Dan Rather: “The White House is very polite these days- everyone is going around saying “pardon me”!”

‘Til next week – peace

 

Not with a Bang but a Whimper!

 

The actions of the “Whiner in Chief” this last week brought to mind a poem by T.S. Eliot called The Hollow Men which describes various journeys taken by men, sightless and devoid of life as they meet their end. This poem ends with the words: “And this is the way the world will end – (repeated three times)- Not with a bang but a whimper”. As described in the narrative, the hollow men never really stood for anything, so they cannot die and they remain in suspension, neither alive nor dead. (There is much more to the symbolism in this poem – religion, death and despair, but I have focused only on a portion of the narrative.) The poem was allegorical for the time right after World War l when it was written and much of Europe was devastated and populated by damaged men living in impoverished countries.

This is the way the presidency seems at this time. The president is thrashing about, aimless and unmoored. The president, although sightful, is devoid of understanding and according to reporting, cannot believe that he lost the election without the occurrence of widespread fraud or conspiracy. He did not run on a set of principles, his party never even bothered to write a platform that he would stand behind; he ran on maintaining the status quo. That status, as I understand it, was one of white supremacy, law and order which disregarded basic civil rights and the Rule of Law; it valued wealth and corporate power – Wall Street over Main Street – and promoted class and race divisions as campaign tactics.

What is astonishing to me is that he came so close.  What does this say about our country, that 73,923,495 voters selected him as their candidate? That is a topic for another day. Fortunately, VP Joe Biden received 80,117,578 votes to seal the victory and have an unbeatable margin of 6,194,083 and enough electoral college votes, to allow him to become our 46th President. However, the president is speaking out against anyone who does not support his rhetoric, such as the governor and secretary of state in Georgia, the few senators and Chris Christie who have congratulated Mr. Biden. Judges whom he appointed, have dismissed his campaign pleadings in court claiming that they have no merit.  He insists that the so-called hearing in Gettysburg PA run by Mr. Giuliani and Ms. Ellis last week, which had no sworn statements and presented hearsay testimony was real evidence – which was untrue.  The latest responses from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court were scathing as the case was dismissed with prejudice. More than 30 attempts in court have now been denied.  A partial recount in Wisconsin has increased the number of votes given to the president-elect. Sunday evening on ABC news, the president was berating the courts again as he had hoped to take his claims to the Supreme Court but was being discouraged from doing so.  Many attorneys are doubtful, that the court will agree to hear his appeals. I surely hope it does not.

In other news, the president announced last week that he is pardoning General Michael Flynn – who pled guilty to lying to the FBI and was convicted of this crime, but then retracted his guilty plea.  His sentencing was delayed due to his agreement to co-operate with the investigations into other events related to Russian involvement with the 2016 election campaign. One might remember that under Attorney General Barr the Justice Department attempted to drop these charges, leading to prosecutors stepping down in protest and the judge appointing another justice as an impartial reviewer to rule on the validity of these actions. The Washington Post hoped, in the editorial mentioned above, that this would be the only parting pardon, but few think that will be the case.  The president, in the opinion of many, including myself, has abused his pardon power throughout his term in office. Some are suggesting that campaign members, Manafort, Gates and Papadopoulos might also receive pardons.

Other actions, such as major environmental roll backs on emissions, and mining and oil drilling permits are also underway in order to make it more difficult for the Biden administration to affect the safe environmental, clean air and clear water promises he ran on. Many political appointees are being switched over to civil services classifications and ‘embedded’ in agencies so that they can be in place to oppose policy changes or make them harder to enact. Employees at the Office of the Management and Budget (OMB) are being switched to the non-civil service scale, so that they can be fired at will. The president has long opposed employees at this agency as they were the ones who made public his plan to hold up Congressionally approved money in several instances, such as Pentagon spending (he diverted funds for his border wall – the one that Mexico was supposed to pay for) and the leveraging of support for Ukraine with arms and funds- which led to his impeachment.

On the foreign policy front, there is speculation that the recent killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist, even though no country has claimed credit, this was said to have been carried out by the Israelis with American knowledge - although this has been officially denied. Many think this was an attempt to derail any hope that Mr. Biden might have of having the US re-enter the multi-national Iranian nuclear treaty agreement. The European Union denounced the actions as criminal and the Iranian government vowed retaliation. Netanyahu has denounced this scientist and was unhappy with President-Elect Biden’s intent to reach out to Iran, so the thought that he had a hand in this is not unrealistic.  According to the New York Times, the president would love to have an excuse to attack Iran before he leaves office, which he might do if Iran retaliates.  Some say that Iran is trying to dial this back with the hope for diplomacy once Biden takes office, but also fears losing face if it does nothing. Whatever happens, this was a destabilizing action.

The Office of the President-Elect finally was permitted to begin the transition process as the General Services Administrator was allowed to release to funds and office space.  Several nominees of the new administration have been announced: Tony Blinken for Secretary of State, Jake Sullivan for National Security Advisor, Avril Haines as Director of National Intelligence, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a career diplomat, was selected for Ambassador to the United Nations, Alejandro Mayorkas was chosen for Director of Homeland Security. Former Secretary of State John Kerry was named an envoy for the environment in a new cabinet level position and Janet Yellen was said to be under consideration for Treasury Secretary. Neera Tanden is said to be under consideration for Director of OMB; she currently heads the Center for American Progress. Several people noted above were in the Obama administration and some have been criticized for consulting work they did in the interim; Republicans have already indicated they will zero in on their contracts and clients in confirmation hearings.  

Not all of these positions require Senate confirmation although several do; if the Georgia Senate race produces two Democratic Senators – thus tying the Senate 50-50, hearings about these nominations might be different than if the two Republican candidates were elected. Susan Rice, a talented diplomat, was not chosen for Secretary of State by Obama, simply because, after statements were made about Benghazi, it was doubted that she would be confirmed.  Who can forget the 11-hour hearing about this topic with Secretary Clinton, years after the event? So, many think that Biden will not want to take office and have major battles about his nominees. There is much speculation about Sally Yates being selected as Attorney General, although some say Deval Patrick is also under consideration.  Congresswoman Deb Haaland is thought to be in the running for Secretary of the Interior and would be the first Native American in that position. Many are encouraged by the numbers of women already chosen and the fact that the group has diversity. There are many more names and positions being bandied about, but I think I will stop here for now and not speculate further. Watch this space, as Rachel Maddow would say.

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The CDC and others admonished Americans against traveling or visiting with friends and family this week for the Thanksgiving holiday, but these warnings were disregarded by millions who took to the air or traveled by car to celebrate. Expect to see additional spikes in cases within a couple of weeks – these numbers are already dismal and nothing is being done by the government at this time.  Three companies have announced that they have vaccines ready for emergency approvals, but exact details are not yet forthcoming. Many scientists wish to see the formal data in scientific papers, rather than press releases and would prefer a standard approval rather than a rushed one. I guess we will soon find out. Thirteen million US cases, folks!

COVID stats- New York Times:  11/28/20

Total US cases:13,444,300. Total new cases: 151,247. Total Number of deaths: 266,732. New Deaths: 1192.

Maryland: Total cases: 194,448.  New cases: 1590.  Total deaths: 4602. New deaths: 33. As of 11/27/20.

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I am holding my breath figuratively for the next several weeks worrying about what other damage might be done before the president leaves office.  Although some have speculated that he will not leave, he has said that he will accept the decision of the Electors of the Electoral College when they meet to vote in December (however sometimes he lies - he is also trying to replace the electors in some states and overturn their status, so who knows?)

Panda time – he has a name now – “Little Miracle” – Xiao Qi ji.

“Til next week – mask up and stay safe. Peace.

Time to Give Thanks

 

It may seem odd in the midst of a pandemic to think about giving thanks, but this week I thought I would try to find a few positives to highlight.

As a supporter of President-elect Joe Biden, I know that we Democrats have to thank the voters of Georgia, particularly the African-American women voters there for the votes which turned Georgia blue for the first time in a generation. And one cannot mention Georgia without thanking Stacey Abrams for her outstanding efforts with Fair Fight to get out the vote. As the article in Newsweek indicated, a great deal of the credit for this change in Georgia is due to her efforts in getting voters registered and then getting them to show up at the polls. When she ran for Governor in Georgia a few years ago -and came very close to winning - Abrams had to contend with purging of the voter rolls by her opponent who was the Secretary of State at that time and would not recuse himself.  But I applaud her for turning a past electoral defeat into a win for us all.

Now that there is a Senatorial run off in which the Democratic candidates are quite competitive against two incumbent Republican candidates, Georgians have to do it all over again and show up to elect two Democratic Senators.  So – this time – I thank them in advance!  Doing so, would make the Senate even between Democrats and Republicans and VP Kamala Harris would be available to cast the deciding vote in case of a tie. This would also keep current Majority Leader Mitch McConnell from prohibiting Joe Biden’s agenda being addressed and keep him from doing to him what he did to President Obama with suppressing most of his initiatives. There also could be a question as to who will be Majority Leader. The last time such a split occurred, the two party leaders worked out a power sharing agreement for bills and committee assignments.  However, the partisanship was not quite as stark as it is now.  I guess we will wait to see.  But first, the Democrats have to win both of those Senate seats.

Next, I want to thank the voters of America who turned out in record numbers, braved all kinds of weather, stood in long lines, mastered changed election procedures, found new polling places and cast their ballots. A total of 153,628,636 votes were cast for the two major candidates with VP Biden receiving 79,836,191 and the president garnering 73,792,443.  I want to applaud their tenacity which, for me, reinforces the importance of voting in this country.  For those who might say that “my vote” doesn’t matter, we can point to close tallies in several states and in several races down ballot.  Winning swing states may mean more in some instances due to the Electoral College tallies, but as can be seen, the margins in some of those states were close and there were few of the projected landslides for either candidate.

Thanks also go to the elected officials across the country who, for the most part, ran elections which were COVID safe for voters and workers, and were safe from outside interference.  Despite some instances of voter intimidation or suppression, the majority of states held good elections.  For this I also thank Chris Krebs of CISA who worked with Homeland Security, the FBI, NSA and DNI to produce a hacker free election day and monitored a rumor control website. Because he made a statement that the election was one of the most secure in US History, and the rumor control site debunked or disagreed with the president’s claim of dead voters and widespread election fraud, Chris Krebs was fired this week by the president.  Thanks to Chris for a job well done!

In my opinion, the president has harmed our democracy with his false claims far more than any Russian bots could have managed.

Since the election was declared once VP Biden was determined to have earned 270 electoral votes, the General Services Administration was supposed to start the ball rolling for the transition team to have staff and office space.  The current administrator, a political appointee, stated that until she is told by the president that Biden is the winner, she will not release the transition funds even though the law states that this should happen, when the apparent winner is determined. Until then, the FBI cannot start the background and security checks on potential cabinet members, the security forces cannot begin giving the daily security briefings to the president-elect and the corona virus task force cannot get information on what work is in progress. Though no thanks to GSA, I do thank the transition staff and President-elect Biden and VP-elect Harris for their continued dignity, staying above the fray, holding meetings and making efforts to work around these road blocks.

Thanks also to the press and media outlets who mostly have determined it is their job to get the results of the election out to the public and break down the Republican claims that the totals are still uncertain or questionable. It is unprecedented to not have a president concede in the face of an obvious loss, but this one is contesting results in multiple states. More than 20 lawsuits filed by the campaign and the party have already been denied or dismissed. No thanks to those who are continuing to promote rumors and conspiracy theories such as Rudy Giuliani, Senator Ted Cruz and Minority Leader McCarthy. The Republican party chair (Ronna McDaniel - who was just supported by the president for another term) continues to echo these claims, when she should know better, although some party members are peeling off at the local levels, despite lobbying by the president.

Thanks also to Black voters across the country who voted in overwhelming numbers for Biden/Harris. According to Statistica, the racial breakdown for the electorate was:

White DJT –: 57%   JRB - 42%       Hispanic/Latina   DJT - 32%     JRB – 66%   Other – DJT- 40%   JRB – 58%

Black:  DJT –12%   JRB - 87%        Asian                        DJT - 31%    JRB – 63%

Thanks go to women voters generally as NBC news indicated that women and black women, particularly (91%), went strongly for Biden who won 57% of women and 45% of men overall. The issue of racial justice was a strong one for Biden voters, as was the choice of Kamala Harris and issues related to the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Republican women supporters were noted to be more often without college degrees and more likely to be evangelical. They also gained more Hispanic voters by labeling the Democrats socialists or communistic and for male voters by emphasizing strength and painting Biden as weak, even as the law and order message to suburban women did not seem to resonate.

Some pre-election polls had indicated a landslide for Biden, but the margin was actually much closer, about 4%. Many wonder why the polls were so far off, especially in the swing states.  Pollsters have agreed that they need to do some self-review.  In an interview on PBS Newshour some pollster suggestions were noted, there was the possibility that the presidents’ supporters were reluctant to identify themselves for fear of ridicule, but others disputed that theory; others questioned whether they were asking the correct questions or had identified the correct cohort. Some wondered whether phone interviews have lost their draw as many with caller ID phones will not pick up the call. So, it appears that time will tell as reviews of results continue.

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COVID Stats (NY Times) 11/22/20

Total US COVID cases:12,307,100.  Total new cases – 171,98

Total deaths: 256,500. Total new deaths: 1,428.

Maryland Total cases: 182,139. Total new cases: 2316. 

Total Deaths:4,434. Total new deaths: 19.

The national numbers of cases have increased 59% since last week as more than 1.9 million new cases were identified in statistics, which went up in 49 of our 50 states. Yet, still the president refuses to allow the task force staff to communicate with the Biden transition team, even as people continue to die in record numbers. Shameful!  Two vaccines are moving closer to applications for approvals from the FDA. That is something new to be thankful for! However, it will probably be several months before logistics are worked out and they are widely available. So, folks, hang tight, don’t travel for the holidays and wear your mask!

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Timely tidbit – Governor Hogan finally admitted this week that the well-publicized COVID tests he purchased for several million dollars from Korea were faulty and he had to purchase additional supplies later. Now he tells us!

So, enough thanks for today – I am certain that you can add more.  Do tell me your suggestions.  By the way, if you read and like these weekly postings, please share with others.

·         Here is the latest from the Pandacam.  There was a contest this week to name the cub (it is closed now) – here are the selections: (I voted for #3.) so the results should be announced soon.  I think it is tradition to name the pandas when they are 100 days old.

·         Fu Zai (fu-tzai) – Mandarin Chinese for “prosperous boy”

·         Xiao Qi ji (shiau-chi-ji) – Mandarin Chinses for “little miracle”

·         Xing Fu (shing-fu) – Mandarin Chinese for “happy and prosperous”

·         Zai (tzai-tzai) – Mandarin Chinese nickname for boy.

 

So do stay safe and have an enjoyable Thanksgiving, even if it is not your usual gathering.  Next year should be better.

“Til next week, peace.

 

 

 

 

 

And the Counts go on!

 

As of this date, there are still votes being counted, Georgia is undergoing an audit and several lawsuits have been filed about vote counts by the Republican Party and dismissed. No final total was really close although Wisconsin and Arizona had closer margins than some other states and might have qualified for a recount. That count would have been moot as VP Biden has exceeded the required 270 electoral votes by 36 points. More than 154 million votes were cast, the highest tally ever in a presidential election. (The 2016 totals were approximately 129 million.) Former VP Joe Biden is firmly in the position of President-elect, regardless of what the president, his minions and the Republican party have declared.

Vote totals thus far: Biden: 50.8% - 78,675,847 votes - 306 Electoral College Votes

                      The president:  47.2% - 73,115,212 votes - 232 Electoral Votes

The electoral college totals are the same as the president received in 2016 when he lost the popular vote; he has been touting his totals since then as a landslide.

Despite these numbers, the results in several states were challenged with allegations of “voter fraud, dead people voting, votes counted after election day” (which is perfectly legal if they were postmarked properly) and other improprieties.  As those lawsuits failed, then rumors were floated that votes for the president were being discarded and that the election was being stolen. Calls went out for protestors to appear at counting centers and were answered in several states. It has been reported that the president has not accepted that he could have lost the election if the votes were fairly counted. At other times he discussed running again in 2024, which seemed to indicate that he knew it was over. Despite this, few Republicans have congratulated the President-elect; Secretary of State Pompeo indicated that he would be attending the presidents’ second inaugural. The Department of State has declined to forward to Biden congratulatory messages sent in from heads of state from other countries. All of this seems unnecessarily petty, but as the president keeps tweeting, he has left no doubts that he is taking names of those who stray from the expected path of pretending that he has won.

The right-wing media has also jumped on the “Stop the Steal” election fraud bandwagons and encouraged the MAGA followers who rallied on DC street this weekend. While last week saw cheers and joy by masked and diverse celebrants, this week saw a mostly white and unmasked crowd waving alternative flags who came to demonstrate in support of a flawed election, many disputing the final tallies. I sometimes wonder if we are living in two different worlds. There were a few confrontations with Biden supporters, but no major violence, although some of the MAGA fraud protestors were arrested on gun-carry violations.

The president has made only minimal public appearances since VP Biden was declared the winner: he held a bizarre press conference where his remarks primarily contained false and unproven claims about the election, he laid a wreath at the Arlington Cemetery Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where he appeared unmasked, and he made remarks about the Pfizer vaccine in the Rose Garden, where he took no questions. He has ben said to be ignoring the duties of his office, is holding no meetings, is attending no briefings and has basically abdicated the responsibilities of his office. He is said to be spending hours on the phone and twitter while watching television continuously.  He is spending many hours on the golf course – how sad is this? More than 60 days still will pass before the date of the Inauguration on January 20, 2021; who is running this country?

The president has managed to fire people in several departments across the government as he lops off those whom he considers insufficiently loyal. The first and most prominent to go was Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who had been on the hit list ever since he opposed the president’s request for armed troops to police American city streets (He was fired by a tweet). A low-level person in the office of counter terrorism, Christopher Miller, was appointed to take his place as acting secretary, an act which alarmed many defense professionals. Three other senior officials were also fired abruptly – the deputy administrator of USAID, Bonnie Glick, Lisa Gordon-Hagerty of the National Nuclear Security Administration, and Neil Chatterjee, Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. As described by NPR, “these positions cover the nuclear weapons stockpile, electricity and natural gas regulation and overseas aid”. Temporary replacements do not require Senate consent. One replacement as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy - was retired General Anthony Tata who had previously called President Obama a terrorist and a Muslim in a controversial tweet, which he now says he regrets. The Senate had refused to confirm him and his hearings were cancelled earlier in the year.

Other officials said to be on the chopping block are Gina Haspel, CIA director, who has refused the request to declassify materials which the president felt would be a defense for him regarding Russian meddling and FBI Director Christopher Wray who has declined to go after supposed foes of the president.  Wray is supposed to have a ten-year appointment which should secure him from political machinations, but this president does not follow the rules, as we know. How many more important positions will be vacated and filled by unprepared yes men before the president leaves office in January? What is this doing to our safety as a country, and our security regarding national defense? What signals does this send to countries who do not wish us well?

Finally, what has this lack of attention to national needs done to our country as we face an unprecedented eruption across the country of the COVID pandemic? Drs Brix and Fauci state that they are not consulting with the White House COVID task force any longer, although VP Pence is said to be holding some meetings. The White House held another super spreader event on election night as the guests watched the returns. HUD secretary Ben Carson, advisors Corey Lewandowski, Mark Meadows and several others are all now infected from the mostly mask-free evening. The virus, however, has not listened to the press releases sent out by the White House, indicating that they are so over this, the virus will just go away, even as daily numbers continue to astonish and frighten most observers.

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Comparison of totals from last week and this week show an astonishing jump in totals number in the US and in Maryland.  I have copied the numbers from last week to compare them:

Total US COVID cases as of 11/14/20: 11,108,600. (There has been an increase of over one million cases this week!)  Total new cases: 159,121 (Friday – the total was 184,00)

Total US COVID cases: 10,051,300.  Total new cases 11/7 – 126,156.  

Total deaths: 246,013 Total new deaths: 1210.

Total deaths:  238,023.  Total new deaths: 1013. 

Total Maryland cases 11/14/20 – 164,090. Total new cases: 2321

Maryland Totals as of 11/7/20.  Total cases: 152,915. Total new cases: 1410. 

Total Deaths:4,293 Total new deaths: 20.

Total deaths: 4,201. Total new deaths: 7. 

Maryland has shown an increase of over 12 thousand cases since last week.  The Governor and most County Executives have rolled back some of the restaurant permissions which had been opened; mandatory mask wearing is in place indoors and outdoors and gatherings are being restricted across the state.  Travel is discouraged and quarantining is in place in several areas.  The same increases are being seen across all states with some at a critical stage. Chicago has imposed a lockdown for 30 days. Maryland has indicated that lockdowns are not being considered.

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With a lack of Federal response or leadership, states are attempting to contain the virus on their own with varied success. The president has denied President-elect Biden access to the normal transition processes and daily security briefings, so he does not have up to date information on what steps have been taken. However, despite these obstacles, he has still put in place a COVID task force consisting of professionals, physicians, public health experts and scientists who will hit the ground running once the new president is in place. Unfortunately, this still endangers the safety of all Americans as we must wait until these experts can address the problems and get a Federal response up and running. In the meantime, thousands of Americans are suffering and dying.

That is about all I have to say this week. It is sad that we lost Jeopardy host Alex Trebek to pancreatic cancer this week. This is the same condition which took the lives of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Congressman John Lewis this year. Perhaps, someday, we will have a treatment for this condition. It is being reported that cancer patients are afraid to visit hospitals for fear of catching the virus, I do wonder how many other health conditions are being neglected.

So much more to discuss – the demographic voter breakdowns and the failure of the polls – maybe next week if time permits.

“Til next week – peace.