Sleight of Hand?

  

Do you remember that scene in the Wizard of Oz when the “Wizard” is exposed as an ordinary man with a megaphone? He attempts to recover by shouting out - “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain…”. It seems to me that the Republican Party is pretty much like the man behind the curtain, with lots of shouting going on without any substance. The constant repetitions of the Big Lie that Biden was not elected President is ringing hollow for the grownups in the country, as most Americans have moved on from that issue. The hollow MAGA man in Florida is not winning any prizes for his antics either. Many Americans would like him to pay a price for inciting the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6^th; they do not wish to have Black Lives Matter and Antifa brought into any Congressional hearings no matter what Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy says as they were not there–though white supremacists and militia groups were.

But current actions by the Republicans indicate that they wish for Americans to move on from their support of those efforts to overturn a valid election; the efforts that left six people dead, hundreds of law enforcement officers injured, and caused destruction at our Capitol building. More than 400 rioters have now been arrested and investigations continue. The former disgraced president is now encouraging “recounts” in states he lost such as Arizona. Election officials are concerned that this might become the norm in future elections if it is not stopped. The circus that is going on there needs to be stopped now. The election has been certified, a new president is in office, and little can be done to change that no matter how they monkey around with the ballots. I certainly hope that the Department of Justice will step in soon and stop this charade before this group of QAnon supporters and other misfits bring these efforts on to other states.

The Washington Post reports that the former president is out for revenge against any elected officials who voted for impeachment, spoke out against his lying remarks or accepted Biden as President. Those criteria create a pretty big universe and include many Republicans. Some pundits have said that the Republican Party of Bush and Reagan no longer exists. Certainly, the GOP members who were “Never Trumpers” no longer have a home there. Apparently, Congresswoman Liz Cheney will no longer be tolerated as she voted for impeachment and has opposed the election lies. She is seemingly trying to return to the party of her father’s days when Republicans were Hawks, fiscal and social conservatives, and not tied to a cult of personality. She may be positioning herself as a survivor when the party self-destructs. She has chosen to fight this battle out in public for a reason; so we shall see what develops.

I do applaud her for speaking the truth about the election here, but I do not give her more credit than that. I still remember when she tried to fake long-term Wyoming residency to get a fishing license and threw her gay sister to the social conservative wolves on the issue of gay marriage during her first losing Senate campaign. Once elected to the House, however, she rose rapidly in leadership, becoming third behind McCarthy, and remains one of the few women in that party who has any position of authority. She is, however, a staunch conservative, unlike many of the MAGA followers.

Because of that symbolic fact, they are now promoting an obscure Republican congressional representative from New York to take her place. That woman, (Elise Stefanik) pledged her loyalty to the Big Lie on Steve Bannon’s radio show in a try to get selected, which is a total turnaround from her previous positions. The Club for Growth, long a conservative outlet, decried her politics, claiming that she is not a conservative.

The leadership of the GOP has shown that it has no backbone and has totally caved to the MAGA Maniacs. Two whackos – Representatives Matt Gaetz-FL (allegedly under investigation for sex trafficking) and Marjorie Taylor Greene-GA (oddball & QAnon fan) were at a rally in the Florida retirement conclave of The Villages last week pumping up the cheering crowd with election lies and claiming that the former president was legally elected again. As a senior citizen myself, I always thought that we gray-haired folks were smarter than that!! There is no elder statesman of the party that is respected enough to come out and speak the truth; Senator Romney, a former Presidential candidate, was booed by members of his own state party for supporting impeachment and truth-telling. Senate Minority Leader McConnell has retrieved his mantra from the Obama years and indicated that his primary focus now remains the defeat of all of President Bidens’ proposed programs and is saying little about the election. However, since he spoke out against the former president following the impeachment hearings, he is also on the revenge list.

Some are saying – just let the Republicans self-destruct it will be better for the Democrats if they do.  I tend to disagree. I believe that we need two strong political parties who believe in our Constitution, our electoral system, and who respect the Rule of Law. Liz Cheney has recently made that argument in a Washington Post op-ed but had few supporters, so I guess I would agree with her on that as well. What we do not need is a politician, another man behind the curtain, who is trying to destroy the public’s faith in free and fair elections. Even the Georgian officials, so maligned after the 2020 election, agreed that the system worked.

Now we see Republican-dominated states creating a mockery of the term free and fair elections with odd rules, restrictions on drop boxes, absentee ballots, and polling places.  Other practices being changed would limit voter participation with fewer early voting days, increased numbers of poll watchers, and fewer hours to vote in person. Democrats are pushing hard for Federal laws to require some universal practices, but until and if the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act are signed into law, voting rights are endangered across much of the country as over 360 laws have been proposed to curtail options for voting. The Brennan Center is following this closely and has a map that shows restrictive laws are proposed in almost every state. The Texas legislature passed sweeping “election reforms” and the bill is expected to be signed by the Governor. In Florida, Governor DeSantis signed his states’ restrictive Bill live in a Fox News exclusive. Other Republican Governors are expected to follow suit. The ACLU and The Democratic Party are challenging all of these schemes. I can only hope that all will be pended because of these court challenges.

Recent polling listed on 538 shows approval for President Biden - and presumably his proposals – in a positive range of between 55 and 60% in most polls. The site also indicated that the former president left office with a 38.6% approval rating and a 57.9% disapproval rating in January 2021. Quinnipiac listed him at 34% approval when he left office. These numbers, of course, were in the immediate aftermath of the Insurrection that the Republicans are trying to dismiss, forget, hide under the rug, or whatever to get it away from conscious thought. According to a March 2021 report from the Pew Research Center, although an assessment of the last president is viewed in quite partisan terms, 53% of all Americans say he was a poor (12%) or terrible (41%) president. Among Republicans, approval is 73% with 37% saying he was a great president and 36% saying he was a good president.  Democrats are more skewed with 72% saying that he was a terrible president and 17% saying he was a poor president. As a Democrat, I agree with the opinion that he was pretty terrible. Still, he seems positioned to be the dominant figure in that party for the foreseeable future and is said to be getting ready to again hold rallies of the faithful – and, to raise money, of course. 

Fortunately, his termination for at least another six months from Facebook will diminish some of his fund-raising and public face. In my opinion, this should be permanent; Facebook is a private company and does not have to give free forums to despots here or elsewhere.

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In the United States, vaccination rates have slowed down and are not yet at the necessary immunity levels.  34% of the US population has been fully vaccinated and 46% have received at least one dose. India continues to have horrendous increases in cases and suffers a lack of facilities and therapies to care for them. Currently, the total reported cases are 22.9 million with over 240,000 deaths and over 300,000 cases being reported daily. The continent of South America accounts for 35% of the worlds’ total number of cases alone, and the vaccination rates are minuscule. So, while the US is doing better with new daily totals under 50,000 for the first time in months, the world still suffers in many places.  Sending raw ingredients for vaccines and disregarding patents is not an easy choice as there remain issues with quality control, safety, and liability in unregulated labs.

COVID stats NY Times:

US Totals:   Total Cases: 32,713,675. New Cases: 42,097.  Total Deaths: 581,056.  New Deaths: 675.

Maryland Totals: Total Cases:  452,691. New Cases:      656.   Total Deaths:    8,843.  New Deaths: 10.

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Sorry to hear that the Obamas’ dog Bo has died of cancer. He always seemed to be a cheerful dog in photos. Condolences to the Obama family; it is always hard to lose a much-loved pet.

On Mother’s Day – best wishes to all mothers and daughters especially. So, this is a good time to show some Panda photos with the mother panda and her son here.

“Til next week – Peace!