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.