Greetings for 2023!

Have you made your New Year's resolutions yet?

Numbers guru Harry Enten, speaking on CNN this week, noted that about 40% of Americans will make resolutions for a new year; about 18% will keep them in an ongoing manner. Changing the year brings to mind a time for renewal, a restarting, bringing up a clean slate. Unfortunately, there are still many issues that remain from the old year that require addressing. There are also resolutions that I would love to see some people in public life make for themselves. Certainly, I would like to see a resolution where truth-tellers are rewarded by society for doing the hard things.

The January 6^th Committee has released its report and included transcripts of interviews from many witnesses who gave testimony not presented in the televised hearings. These ranged from the former president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a former presidential advisor, who according to staff, demonstrated a remarkable lack of memory for events at the White House, to other associates who claimed the fifth to avoid giving testimony. Some of these reticent speakers included Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, John Eastman, Roger Clark, and former Secret Service agent, and later presidential aide, Tony Ornato. Ornato's testimony was contradicted, according to committee records by multiple White House staff, including Cassidy Hutchinson. Ornato did not validate the testimony from others about early warnings of potential armed members of the crowd. Ornato, who also appeared to have a selective recall, did not remember the discussions about the reported altercation in the presidential motorcade, despite testimony from others to the contrary. Before his last testimony, he retired from the Secret Service.

The transcripts also described the pressure levied against many staffers as they prepared to give testimony before the committee. Some attorneys counseled the personnel to say 'I don't recall' or 'I can't remember' when questioned about events that might put the administration in a bad light. Cassidy Hutchinson and others mentioned calls from their former bosses to remain loyal to the team. Hutchinson had a lawyer from the MAGA team who told her that DJT was reading the transcripts and would know who was loyal. The attorney, who has since stepped down from his current law firm, claims that he did nothing illegal in his advice to her. These actions certainly sound like witness intimidation and intentional obfuscation to me.

To me, some of the saddest remarks also came as 26-year-old Cassidy Hutchinson reported that she, who was out of work after the administration turned over, scrambled around trying to find an attorney on her own and was quoted a retainer of $130,000 by one firm. She tried to borrow money from her friends and relatives unsuccessfully because she dreaded being represented by the MAGA world. In her testimony, the attorney who presented himself to her never said who was paying him, and hinted that being loyal would help her find a job. When she finally felt he was preventing her from being truthful and she started looking for another attorney, the job offers disappeared. She is currently being represented by an attorney who is offering his services without a fee. Isn't it somehow wrong that testimony before a committee can place the person trying to do their civic duty in financial jeopardy?

Some Republicans chastised the January 6th Committee for using TV producers to create the videos and scripts used during the Hearings. These were not the staid hearings where House members pontificate for four of their allotted five minutes and then ask a self-serving question that does not illuminate the topic at hand. No, they tightly scripted these hearings, with each committee member having a discrete responsibility; the Committee Chair Bennie Thompson opened and closed meetings and the Vice-chair Liz Cheney, a Republican, also had opening and closing remarks. Each session had a specific focus and particular representatives that covered this topic. They all presented their remarks by reading from teleprompters, and members had practice sessions on how to use the technology. In short, it was a must-see, made for TV viewing, and not at all boring. TV audiences during the first evening were over 20 million, with more streaming viewers. The testimony and videos were presented so that the average viewer could easily understand the topics and the testimony. By design, most of the witnesses were Republicans. One of the major exceptions was the two Black election workers, a mother and daughter, from Georgia, possibly slandered by Robert Giuliani, who claimed they were using a thumb drive to change election results. They described the subsequent harassment that drove them from their homes and required FBI protection.

Robert Draper and Luke Broadwater did in-depth reporting about these details in an article in the New York Times Magazine. They report that despite all the egos involved; the committee managed to pull together, work through issues and end up with a report that most could agree with completely. Decisions, such as sending subpoenas or referrals to the Justice Department, were made unanimously.

There is more work to be done in this investigation. Some committee members wished that there had been enough time to focus on the militia movement and white supremacist groups. There is some talk that the Senate may take up this area of investigation. The committee was time limited as the creation linked it to this Congressional term. If the Democrats had kept control of the House, then possibly, the investigations could have continued. With the Republicans taking over and threatening to investigate the committee itself, there is no chance.

Sure wish I could compel the Republicans to govern rather than just posture. Wouldn't that be a great resolution for them? To resolve to have a Congress that works for the people?

In my opinion, these last two years have created some major legislation that works for all Americans. President Biden tried to compromise and find unity but was stonewalled in many attempts. Still, he had several significant legislative achievements. According to the New York Times, these were: "a major bipartisan infrastructure deal, a technology bill, a veterans' health bill, a gun safety bill, and a package of new investments in climate and health care."

The electoral count act reform was part of the Omnibus Bill that had just passed. The legislators should have abolished the Electoral College, but that battle will not be easy. Small states like their over-rated power. I wish that voting rights reform and better gun control legislation had passed. I do not expect that either of these will be addressed again until Democrats can control the House, the Senate, and the White House. Doing so is difficult.

CNN also recounted several executive orders that Biden has signed, many of which reversed policies put in place by his predecessor. 

"In his first hours after he was inaugurated, Biden halted funding for the construction of Trump's border wall, reversed his travel ban targeting largely Muslim countries, and embraced progressive policies on the environment and diversity that Trump spent four years blocking. Biden also reversed several of Trump's attempts to withdraw from international agreements, beginning the process of rejoining the Paris climate accord and halting the United States' departure from the World Health Organization. And he imposed a mask mandate in federal buildings, a symbolic break with Trump's handling of the pandemic."

President Biden also should be commended for his handling of the war in Ukraine. His warnings to the Russians, although ignored, gave notice to the world of the Russian intent. He pulled together nations in the UN, the European Union, and NATO to present a unified force against the Russian invasion, impose sanctions, and send arms and other support to keep Ukraine strong.

I hope that Americans, as a country, continue in this resolve supporting aid and weapons as necessary to Ukraine. Perhaps a resolution to stand against tyranny and authoritarianism would be good for us all.

Our recent election showed that Americans still believe protecting democracy is important.

As we get ready to see the swearing-in of the new Congress, controversy ranges over the lies and misrepresented resume of a newly elected Republican Congressman from New York City. Apparently, little that he claimed in his bio is actually true. He did not graduate from the college claimed nor did he work for Goldman Sachs; he did not attend a named HS; he is not Jewish, but is Catholic, despite claiming to have had Jewish relatives who perished in the Holocaust. His campaign received hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal loans, despite a vague employment history. Despite these lies, he will be seated because Kevin McCarthy needs every vote he can find. There are still rumors that he does not have enough votes to get a majority and alternates may yet pop up. We shall see.

Maybe a resolution for the next Speaker could be to use Nancy Pelosi as a guide on how to run the House. Her successes have been legion over the many years she served. She kept her caucus in step most of the time; Kevin could learn from this and might not have to give in to the crazies on his side of the aisle so often. If he is not elected, who knows what the leadership might be like?

I did not have time to look at DJT's tax return info; that can wait for another day as we have already waited years for them, and there is no urgency.

“Til next week-Peace!