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.