Cruz Ain’t Cruisin’

 

Texas Senator Ted Cruz learned a bitter lesson and was criticized by colleagues this week: Even though you can take off for Cancun with your wife and children amid severe weather, power, and water outages, it is probably a bad idea to do so, especially when most of your constituents cannot leave.  Although he tried to pretend he just accommodated his daughters in their request to get away, that excuse did not fly. And returning with a photo-op of him loading bottles of water at a distribution center also did not provide cover as he was noted to be violating the CDC 10 day quarantine regulations after traveling to Mexico. President Biden has now declared several counties in Texas to be a major disaster center which allows Federal funds to be used for relief and recovery in the state.  What was that about not liking the Federal government, Governor Abbott?

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York raised nearly 5 million dollars for disaster relief, flew to Texas, and volunteered at a food distribution center, quietly showing the Senator how to best serve people. Texas is definitely in a difficult situation because the power grid was not ready to deal with extreme winter weather, despite having a similar problem several years ago and not following the advice at that time to weatherize their systems. Texas is the only state in the continental US to not be a part of the national power grid or be subject to Federal regulations. The lack of regulations of the several individual power companies, the absence of interrelated connectivity meant that each company had to stand alone in the face of unprecedented demand and concurrent failure from frozen feeder lines or system adjuncts. When homes remained unheated in below-freezing temperatures, water pipes started to freeze and burst, water supply systems were compromised and havoc resulted. Residents faced a lack of heat, power, and water with no way to provide food, drinking water, or flush toilets. Those who had power on a variable rate payment system suddenly found themselves with bills totaling thousands of dollars.

Although Texas Governor Abbott tried to blame the Green New Deal (which has not yet been passed as a law) for the power failure due to wind turbine shut down; that didn’t make it either as an excuse, since the turbines – which only account for ten percent of the total power source - also were not winterized. (Turbines in North Dakota work well throughout the extreme cold weather there due to proper insulation.)

So where do we go from here? The New York Times has an excellent article today which discusses the lack of readiness across the country to deal with continuing weather extremes prompted by global climate change. Increasing wild-fires, floods, droughts, and severe storms all are taxing the infrastructure which has not been maintained at even a minimum level for generations.  There was a joke during the previous administration about the ‘infrastructure week’ which somehow never got off the ground in four years. Well, this should not be a joke as shorelines are receding, bridges are crumbling and rivers are exceeding flood planes and levees.  Upkeep of power grids and nuclear plants has not been made a priority by the utilities which run them and regulatory authorities have not insisted on this. All of these upgrades and reinforcements cost money and may increase the costs of supplying these resources; is the American public ready to pay more for consistency of services? 

Even though the partisan Senate found excuses to not convict the former president of extreme crimes and misdemeanors, the FBI, according to the Guardian, has not let up in the hunt for the Capitol insurrectionists and has activated field offices across the country in these efforts. More than 250 insurgents have so far been charged according to NPR and more have been identified and are on search lists. It is alarming to note that at least 14 % of those arrested so far have ties to the military; this concern has caused the Pentagon and military officials to take a look at possible ties with former and active military by extreme groups. Some arrests have been made of police officers and legislators who participated. The number of organized groups attending and the arms they carry are also concerning to officials. Several members of the Capitol Hill police force are also under investigation for their actions during the event and six members have been suspended so far. We continue to learn more as the days go by; the extent and membership of these alt-right and anti-government groups seem to be wider than many knew.  When the FBI indicated that domestic terrorists from the right were one of our bigger threats, it faced push-back by the administration on these investigations; QAnon was one of the groups identified in this testimony.

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February is Black History month, so it is dismaying to learn that in this month Georgia is one of many states trying to restrict voter access as it is including proposals for legislation against permitting Sunday voting thus attacking the tradition from black churches for ‘Sunday Souls to the Polls’ in early voting.  The Brennan Center for Justice reports “that more than 33 states have introduced, pre-filed, or carried over 165 restrictive bills this session”. At the same time, 37 states have done the same to expand access to voting.  Some states, such as Mississippi, are extending more voting rights to felons, more than half of whom are black. Florida passed a constitutional amendment permitting felons to vote, but the legislature added a requirement to pay onerous court costs and fines for parolees before registration, making voting difficult. Former NY Mayor Bloomberg’s political organization worked last year to help pay off many of the fines which permitted many felons to vote in 2020.

Many hope that Congress will pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act (For the People Act – HR1/S1) which will restore many of the constitutional rights being lost by restrictive legislation.  The Brennan Center also notes that it is imperative for racial justice and our democracy that this bill is passed.  “Racial justice cannot be fully achieved without a system in which all Americans have the means to advocate for themselves and exercise political power.”

This legislation also provides for the modernization of voting and tabulation and restoration of the full provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. (The provisions in that act were devastated by the Supreme Court decision from Shelby County vs. Holder in 2013 and are detailed in the Atlantic Magazine article referenced here. By removing states known to have violated voter rights from the requirements for pre-clearance for voting restriction proposals, the Court gutted much of that law which had not been renewed by Congress.) Many hope that this bill will pass the Democratic Congress.  Its’ designation denotes its’ importance.

But on a more positive note, the Pew Research Center shows that this current Congress is the most diverse in history: 124 members or 23 % currently identify as a minority, – 59 African American, 46 Hispanic, 17 Asian American, and 6 Native American.  83 % of these members are Democrats, 17 % are Republicans.  Women now hold 26% of the seats in Congress: 143 women (135 Democrats and 38 Republicans), and of course, our Vice President Kamala Harris is a Black/South Asian woman!

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The Covid UK or British variant – (B-1.1.7) is spreading widely in the United States and is expected to be the dominant version by next month; the South African variant has also been identified in the US from community spread. Even though cases are currently trending down, we need to still protect against these variants by continuing to mask and social distance. The best way to contain these variants is to decrease the amount of virus in the community, so increasing the number of vaccinations is the most necessary step. Currently, reports indicate that over 67 million patients have been vaccinated; 48.6 have received the first dose and 18.9 have been fully vaccinated with the second dose.  The Biden Administration stated it has secured enough vaccines for more than 300 million Americans to be fully vaccinated by the end of the summer. The US is expected to count 500,000 deaths by the end of this day  - a terrible statistic that could have been lessened if we had addressed the pandemic properly.

COVID stats – NY Times as of Feb 20, 2021.

US total cases: 28,147,800. New Cases: 69,740.

Total US deaths: 498,650. New Deaths: 1,831.

Maryland Statistics: Maryland has now vaccinated at least 12% of its’ population with one dose. For the first time in months, MD had fewer than 1000 cases most days in the last week.

Total MD cases: 375,737. Total new cases: 763.

Total Deaths: 7,697. Total new deaths: 20.

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A personal note – as I watched the news tonight I saw one of my old friends - civil rights activist, WW ll Vet, and all-around good Democrat – 101-year-old Harvey Ziegler receive his Covid vaccination in Silver Spring.  Good for you, Harvey! Stay well!

No live panda cam today – but a really cute photo of Xiao Qi Ji eating some sweet potato.

“Til next week – peace!

 

 

 

 

Guilty as charged, BUT -

 

Washington has seen many rallies and protests over the years. It has never seen one as destructive as the insurrection incited by our former president on January 6^th 2021. As I have mentioned before, and as was clearly shown by the House impeachment team led so ably by my Congressman Jamie Raskin, the impetus for these events were many months in preparation. Seeds were sown even before he was elected, stoked with the parades in Charlottesville, and encouraged by the continuous campaigning of the last four years. Unfortunately, the partisan Senate turned a deaf ear to these forceful arguments and did not remedy the situation with the two-thirds vote of the Senate as needed. Seven Republican Senators did vote to convict and that is an encouraging sign.

After the hearing, both Majority Leader Schumer and Minority Leader McConnell made forceful speeches denouncing the former chief executive and finding him guilty as charged. McConnell, who would not entertain the Impeachment resolution from the House until the date of Biden’s inauguration, then claimed it was not relevant because the offender was no longer in office and was thus ineligible to be impeached.  (Even though the Senate voted to disallow this position in permitting the hearings to proceed, he persisted.) Some may appreciate this circular argument, but I do not and I believe that most Americans also do not agree with this hair-splitting.

Many TV commentators noted that some prominent Republican Senators studiously avoided paying attention to the stark video presentation from the House managers, even as others were visibly shocked by the scenes of violence against law enforcement officers. Gasps were noted as it became clear just how dangerous it was to be in the Capitol that day and how close the rioters came to VP Pence, Leader Schumer, and Senator Romney, among others. According to the New York Times, and as we all knew, getting to 67 was a big reach given the political divisions in this closely divided country. The editorial, “Trump is Guilty” stated: ‘that this abdication of duty by the Senate is heartbreaking for the nation….and is a tacit admission that the only constituents these Republican Senators consider worth representing are their most partisan supporters.’  The editorial also noted that holding him accountable is the only way that Republicans can move forward and failure to do so will mean that it can happen again.

I know we are told that Democrats should cheer those Republicans who stepped forward and voted for conviction, okay, but really? They need to also step up and lead their party to a better future and to break it away from its’ cult of personality. Local parties, controlled by MAGA mania in many cases, have moved swiftly to censure these politicians.  But as Senator Cassidy (R-LA) said today - he was just re-elected in 2020 - he has several years to convince his voters of the correctness of his vote and he could not support someone who touted false election landslides, spread lies, and used violence to oppose the peaceful transfer of power. That is what a leader should and must do if we, as a country, are to move forward from these disruptions.

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AL) indicated that Alaskans will understand that she needs to vote for what a president should stand for. “If I can’t say what I believe that our president should stand for, then why should I ask Alaskans to stand with me?” The other Republican Senators voting to convict (all 48 Democratic and 2 Independent Senators voted in favor of conviction) were:  Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Pat Toomey of PA, and Richard Barr of NC.  The last two are retiring and will not be running for re-election.  I do wish that some of the other retiring Senators – Portman and Shelby could also have stepped forward – it was a no-fault choice for them as well. Senators Grassley and Thune were also said to be considering retirement, but all voted to acquit.

I know we have a partisan Congress, but when the issue is the instigation of violence against you and your fellow legislators, your VP, your protectors, and since your president indicated that he did not care if any or all of you died, how could you vote to acquit him when he was so clearly guilty? What will happen if he feels now free to start this all over again? The previous acquittal gave him license to exercise more outlandish behavior and as Congressman Ted Lieu (D- CA-33) indicated he is fearful that he will repeat this incitement if given a chance to do so. A conviction would have led to a vote forbidding him to ever stand for office again – now that is an open issue.  He will try these tactics again because, to his way of thinking, they worked! He will continue to support the fringes who follow him such as Congresswoman Green of Georgia and Congressman Goetz of Florida. Goetz was one of the people who went to Wyoming to rally against Republican Representative Liz Cheney because she voted for impeachment in the House decision to impeach. Other Republicans who voted to impeach have been threatened with similar rallies and future primary opponents.

I must say something about the House Managers. I believe their presentations were factual, earnest, persuasive, and brought out the horrors of that day; a day that I never expected to experience.  If I was horrified from the safety of my living room, what about those who were there with their families to participate in a quadrennial celebration of the transfer of power? The managers also were emotional at times as they spoke about their feelings and the perceived and real dangers to people and to our democracy on that day.

So, to Impeachment leader Jamie Raskin (MD-8) and his fellow advocates, (in alpha order) – Joaquin Castro (TX), David Cicilline (RI), Madeleine Dean (PA) Diana DeGette (CO), Ted Lieu (CA), Joe Neguse (CO), Stacey Plaskett (USVI) and Eric Swalwell (CA) - Kudos to all for a job done well – it is not your fault that your audience refused to listen.  I must also point out a couple things, this group included two members who were children of immigrants, two were African American, one was Asian and one was Hispanic, three were women.  This small but effective group looked like America.  Also, I need to mention what Rep. Plaskett said in retort to the opposing team, that the videos they showed overwhelmingly used women and people of color in negative scenes while trying to make their point that others use the term ‘fight’ in political speech.  Good for her!  At one point I asked if they were running against Congresswoman Maxine Walters of California, as she was shown so many times in the opposition films. I am convinced that this film pleased their client and him only.

So where do we go from here?  I am convinced that until the Republican party can rid itself of its’ MAGA affliction that it cannot grow and govern adequately. I have heard that the more ‘moderate wing’ of the Party (I know – oxymoronic term – but - compared to the tea partiers or MAGA maniacs) such as the Bushes and their circles, along with the never-trumpers are considering forming a new Republican Party to move away from toxic influences as seen now. Do you think this change will happen?  I consider that continuing along the same tortured pathway to hold onto a shrinking number of far-right Republicans is a plan for the eventual demise of the party. But, when your elected officials have sold their souls and principles to a discredited leader, what else can be expected?

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COVID19 cases have decreased by 37% over the last two weeks as we move away from the holiday surge.  But experts warn that we are still exceeding the numbers experienced during the summer peaks seen in 2020. Vaccinations are increasing; the US reported that more than 2 million doses were given on Friday. The Biden Administration noted that they have secured a total of 600 million doses to be delivered by midsummer so that every American should be vaccinated by then if vaccination sites continue to increase in number. So far CDC reports that 52,884,356 vaccinations have been administered with more than 14 million second doses completed.

Maryland is currently ranked 42^nd among states in percentages of vaccines administered with just a bit over 745,000 doses given as of Friday 2/12/21.

COVID stats- NY Times 2-13-21:

Total US Cases: 27,682,700. New Cases: 84,727.

Total US deaths: 485,154. Total new deaths: 3,373.

Maryland total cases: 370,136.  New cases: 1,159.

Total deaths: 7,536. New deaths: 33.

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February 14^th is the third anniversary of the shooting at the Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida. Sadly, mass shootings, school shootings, and gun violence have not ended, despite all of those who spoke out and organized Marches for Our Lives.  Now maybe we can finally work to get background checks and restrictions on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines implemented through a divided but Democratic Congress. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to do something now. Studies have shown that urban violence affects black and brown populations disproportionately. Over the last year, gun purchases have increased across the country, background checks often take more than three days, which allows people to slip through and make a purchase without review as a result of less than timely checks.

So, in this Valentines’ Time – which should promote love, take time to save lives with advocacy for common-sense gun regulations.

‘Til next week – peace!

Anniversaries

 

Anniversaries are quite often celebrations:

•     The baby is now one-year-old        
•   The marriage has lasted fifty years
•    I have survived another trip around the sun!

Sometimes they commemorate or memorialize:

•  One hundred years since the Spanish flu
•  The attack at Pearl Harbor
•  The fall of the Twin Towers and attacks at other places on 9-11.

This weekend is the anniversary of the death of the first known American patient (Patricia Dowd of San Juan, California) to lose her life to the coronovirus and the death of the Chinese physician (Li Wenliang of Wuhan, China) who first raised the alarm about the virus. Li was censored and silenced by the Chinese authorities, even as they were locking down the city of Wuhan and restricting travel throughout the country.  The Washington Post on Sunday had a strong editorial chastising the Chinese for their lack of transparency about the viral outbreak and the work being done by the viral research labs located in Wuhan.

This past week was the anniversary of the Senate acquittal of the former president after his 2020 impeachment trial. These two events are intimately intertwined and, I believe, have set the stage for this last year and the horrific times we have all suffered through. By voting to not convict, the Senate enabled an already out-of-control president to continue not only his non-traditional presidency but also further expand his aberrant behaviors.

The ineptitude of his administration to control or contain the virus has now brought this country to the place where we are approaching 500,000 COVID deaths and over 27 million total cases. The refusal to listen to scientists, the sidelining of the CDC, the battle against closures, and mask-wearing are all administration failures. Fanciful therapies, Hydroxychloroquine, Lysol, and bleach joined a realm of quack cures along with herd immunity claims.

The inability of the government to devise and implement a national COVID-19 policy, the dividing of the mask-wearing campaign into red states against blue states, the lack of any adequate health care stockpile, the absence of a national economic policy to address the significant loss of jobs all lie at the feet of the former president and vice-president. The reaching for quick and easy solutions, the denials (it will be gone by Spring), and false promises, i.e. churches can meet for Easter; all led to false hopes and deepened the spread. To their credit – they did manage to finance the development of several vaccines, some of which are effective and are now being implemented. But it has been a year of devastation to the economy, poverty for many in the working class, and the expansion of hunger across many classes. Oh sure, the stock market after an initial plunge has now reached new heights, but that mostly helps the few who own stocks, not the many who live paycheck to paycheck.

Many hoped that once the president and members of his family became afflicted that more attention would be paid to the scientists, but that did not happen and the White House itself became a super spreader site.  Many afflicted patients hoped that they, too, could receive the experimental therapy the president was treated with, but supplies were limited, so the public was mostly left out.  So, after a year, we have some therapies which help treat, but do not cure and vaccines that can immunize; the length of the immunization effectiveness is still uncertain.

President Biden has a national COVID policy and has hit the ground with an ambitious plan.  He has noted that the transition team had not been informed that there was no stockpile of vaccines, nor were there any coherent administration policies in place. He wanted 100 million vaccinations given within 100 days.  He asked for a national mask-wearing policy for the same 100 days and by executive order has required mask-wearing in all Federal buildings, in addition to social distancing.  He also instituted a mask policy for all transportation entities, buses, metros, planes, trains, and rideshares. Scientists have indicated that this short period of mask-wearing could save 80,000 lives.

The lack of mask-wearing at the insurrection at the Capitol has led to many members of local law enforcement testing positive for the coronovirus; the return of these domestic terrorists across the country to their home states has, undoubtedly, caused many more exposures. Several Democratic lawmakers have also tested positive, quite possibly from Republican members who refused to wear a mask when they were congregated in hiding. Biden cannot require states to follow his mask mandate, however, and Iowa’s Republican governor (Kim Reynolds) has just this week indicated that she will lift the limited mask requirements the state had in place. Health care providers, such as Dr. Fauci and others have worried about the Super Bowl being played in Florida this weekend as that activity brings many people to a state with few limits on gatherings and mask-wearing. The game itself did require mask-wearing and social distancing, but TV interviews demonstrated many fans partying without masks.  The aftergame partying in the streets sadly showed no social distancing and few masks being worn. (In case you hadn’t noticed, Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9.)

This week most national numbers are trending down and providers think we have passed the winter and post-holiday peaks. This is not the time to let one’s guard down as it is assumed, that by March, the UK variant will dominate the virus outbreaks in the US. Currently, the nation is now contending with two previously untracked variants, both of which are considered more easily transmitted, the UK variant and the South African variant.  The two RNA vaccinations are effective for these two but less so than the original configuration.  South Africa has determined that the Astra Zeneca vaccine is not adequate protection against their variant. One of the problems in the US is that there was no national genome sequencing program established to identify variants.  To date the US has sequenced only 0.3% of its cases; the UK has done 5%, Denmark has reviewed 12%, while Australia has examined over 60% of its cases. Most studies here are done by independent labs or academic centers that are not linked by data collections. An organization called SPHERES (SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing for Public Health Emergency Response, Epidemiology, and Surveillance) was launched in May by the CDC to track sequencing, but it was never nationally formally implemented into a vital collection database.

Vaccinations are proceeding at a faster pace and just this week mass vaccination centers are being set up across the country. Recently, the National Football league has offered its’ stadiums across the country as additional mass vaccination sites. The administration is also sending 1 million doses of vaccines to commercial pharmacies across the country to speed up vaccinations. Many states are reporting under vaccinations in communities of color and efforts are being made to overcome the clinic deficiencies in poor neighborhoods as well as vaccine resistance by this population. The incidence of Covid diseases in communities of black and brown supportive workers has been substantially higher than in comparable white workers. Additionally, it has been documented that many nursing home employees have refused the vaccines, even though they have seen high levels of deaths in their work environments.

Currently, approximately 30 million residents have been vaccinated in the US. Vaccination rates vary across the country. Since total vaccination requires 2 doses, only 2.5% of the necessary dosing has been given thus far. It is obvious that we need, as a country, to step up this pace. West Virginia ranks among the highest percentages with over 12% vaccinated, while Iowa is the lowest on the lists with only about 7.5% vaccinated.

Maryland currently is at 8.6%, which is too low. Vaccination registration has been confusing and implementation has been spotty as distribution rates are not yet stabilized. The state did open up two mass vaccination sites this week which should help increase the totals.

So much news, so little time to look at the upcoming Impeachment in the Senate, the troubled and divided Republicans in the House, or the antics of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia. No time to discuss other issues such as the necessary return to education in the classrooms, the 1.9 trillion dollars requested by the President to aid the economy, families, and COVID relief - and Black History Month.  Hopefully, next week!

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COVID stats – NY Times: 2/7/21

Total US cases: 27,041,000. Total new cases: 105,027.

Total deaths: 463,237.  Total new deaths: 2,613.

Maryland Cases: 362,084. New cases:1,500. Total deaths: 7,329. New deaths: 42.

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“Til next week – peace.

Silence – Seduction – Sedition

 

Poison kills, that is its’ purpose.  Some poisons, such as potassium cyanide – a favorite of spy novels - kill rapidly.  Other substances kill gradually as they are stored in the body, such as with constant exposure to radiation as seen in uranium mine workers or with Marie Curie, the Nobel scientist.  She discovered radium, but was not wary of it and even carried a sample of it in her pocket.  She died of anemia caused by radiation poisoning. Her personal effects are still radio-active and are stored in lead containers as radium has a long half-life.

Poisons of the intellect are not so easily measured. I posit that American Democracy has just narrowly escaped succumbing to the effects of years of poisonous verbal excesses from our former president. Initially, as he rode the golden escalator and spoke out against Mexicans and other immigrants, he was covered by the media for entertainment value, rather than his political pronouncements.  People said, ‘oh, that is just Donald, he isn’t serious’.  They said the same words years earlier when he harassed President Obama about the birther issue. It was not seen by most as the racist issue it was. But in the wake of his kick-off, he was supported by corporate America because he promised to lower taxes. As he spoke on the campaign trail with racist and misogynistic remarks, the Republican Party appreciated his nod to conservatism and evangelicals applauded his claims to protect the unborn and said little. Each group was told what they wanted to hear, but the words were a slow emitting poison because the underlying basis was a cult of personality and not beliefs in moral philosophy.  Anne Appelbaum, writing in the Atlantic last summer, indicated the problem by this quote:

“If there is no such thing as moral and immoral, then everyone is implicitly released from the need to obey any rules.” 

The Democrats who derided the lack of a party platform in 2020 for Republicans missed this point – there was no need for a platform – the president was running on issues of division. He wanted to divide blacks against whites, red states against blue states, native-born Americans against immigrants, rural residents versus urban dwellers and suburban moms. 

But still, the Republicans remained silent as they had been, even throughout the impeachment, with only Senator Romney speaking up. The few voices of concern early on during the 2016 primary process were drowned out as this non-traditional candidate broke debate rules, personally attacked opponents, their families, and blew up party traditions.  We should have seen this coming when the release of the Hollywood tapes in 2016 caused a few ripples, but no tidal waves of dismay, about the moral failings of this candidate. When presented with the reality that these words and actions were not presidential, Republicans indicated that they believed that his behaviors would improve and measure up to the office, were he to be elected. As with stocks, perhaps they believed that past performances were no guarantee of future results?

American audiences had seen “the Donald” for years on the Apprentice and some appreciated his TV antics; he changed little on the campaign trails, not in 2016 nor 2020.  He sold his merchandise, touted his MAGA theme and red hats, and, early on, settled on the press as his main opponent. He played to the audience feelings of victimhood, spouting a populist theme, indicating that he was the real friend of everyman. (Interesting posturing from a billionaire, to my way of thinking, but it sold.) He created a “Them vs. Us” theme, voicing this as a deficiency that only he could fix. By confining the press to penned areas at his rallies he presented his audiences with an easy and visible target. He encouraged taunts against the press and violence against any protesters who might appear at his events. Right-wing media played his speeches frequently, without critical evaluations, thus giving his antics greater exposure. 

The seduction of his voters was non-stop; he appeared to care about little else as he assumed the role of the presidency. He filed for re-election shortly after his inauguration, so he could continue to campaign, and reinforce his messages. He spent little effort in actually governing, preferring to communicate by tweets instead of cabinet meetings and press conferences.  Seduction relies on the acceptance of the big lie. This started the day after he was inaugurated with claims about his inauguration crowds and was followed by Kelly-Anne Conway’s use of the phrase “alternative facts”. Continued false statements about 3 million illegal immigrants voting, and derision of Hillary Clinton’s plurality of 3 million votes as fraudulent added to the tallies of lies which never ceased. When he left office, the Washington Post fact-checker noted that he had made more than 30,000 false statements during his term. As Appelbaum pointed out in her article, continued reinforcement of the falsities is necessary to keep the followers on the team. Rallies became more erratic, profanity proliferated, his use of false claims increased and election warnings became stranger such as when he told voters to vote twice and see if their votes were counted.,

Elected officials who could see this happening did not object because they were cowed: “They are scared not of prison, the official said, but of being attacked by Trump on Twitter. They are scared he will make up a nickname for them. They are scared that they will be mocked or embarrassed [as} Mitt Romney has been. They are scared of losing their social circles, of being disinvited to parties.” Anne Appelbaum.

She continued that these actions (and the failure to convict at impeachment) led directly to the coronovirus fiasco and the subsequent claims against absentee voting; I would add also, the disruption of the post office and post-election violence. His Stop the Steal rallies promoted violence and encouraged supporters to protest at local vote counting centers.

The killing of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter (BLM) marches led to his programs to promote Law and Order. The Brookings Institute wrote last summer about this disruption as reinforcing the alt-right/white supremacist's idea of “accelerationism” and as a preface to a wider spread of civil unrest. The Lafayette Square incident and the stormtroopers in Portland were definite expansions of perceived presidential license and the last steps toward the approval of domestic terrorists who eventually stormed the US Capitol. Presidential tweets favoring support of armed protesters in state Capitols which were locked down in the early days of the COVID infections continued his lack of leadership in this area. These moves started with the nod to the white power movement after Charlottesville and continued as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers started showing up at his rallies and some BLM marches. The eventually defeated candidates’ call out to ’stand down and stand by’ during the debates sent a message to the armed insurrectionists who eventually gathered in DC on January 6^th at his invitation and later led to the death of five people and injuries to many area police officers. His rally promoted physical prevention of the count of the electoral college ballots or sedition. Both he and Rudy Giuliani have been recorded calling members of the Senate in an attempt to further stall that vote.

According to the New York Times, The Department of Justice and Homeland Security focused on the rise of a shadowy Antifa as opposition forces, at the urging of Attorney General Barr, the president, and others, instead of the armed Alt-right and other militaristic forces which they knew to be problematic.

So where do we go from here?  Unfortunately, Congress is not ready to depart from Trumpism.  Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who a few days ago criticized the president for the mob actions, retreated from those remarks and flew down to Mar-A-Lago to make nice with the ex-president. The Senate, at the urging of Senator Rand Paul, counted 45 Republican Senators against conviction in the upcoming impeachment trial before any evidence has been heard. Nevertheless, the House has voted for Impeachment and presented the Article to the Senate in a ceremony this week. The former president has fired his first batch of defense attorneys and just hired another legal team. The trial is to start on February 9^th, even as some are arguing that the issue is moot.  However, Democrats want to prevent the ex-president from ever running for office again - which can happen if he is convicted and Congress approves. So, we will see what happens.

Silence, seduction, and sedition all are linked. Can we prevent these events from happening in the future?

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The latest concerns about COVID focus on aberrant variants that continue to be identified and appear to be less susceptible to the vaccines which we have. Case numbers are improving and hospitalizations are decreasing, both of which are good news.  However, we wait to see what will happen with the increasing numbers of variants as the South African variant has now been discovered in Maryland.

COVID stats – NY Times 1/30/21

Total US cases: 26,210,700. Total new cases: 113,914.

Total Deaths: 441,257.  Total new deaths: 2,641.

Maryland Stats: Total cases 352,726. Total new cases: 2,097.

Total deaths: 7,107.  New deaths: 31.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Sunday about 25.2 million people have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, including about 5.7 million people who have been fully vaccinated.

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That is about it for this week.  I will leave you with the panda cam which looks at the adult pandas playing in the snow

‘Til next week – peace.

Breathe in, Breathe Out!

 

 

Did you watch the inauguration or festivities this week? I did and thoroughly enjoyed seeing just how normal it all appeared. On Facebook, many of my friends were saying, “I can finally breathe again” or “I slept through the night last night!”. It seems that a good part of America had been figuratively holding its breath for most of the last five years. But the event showed pomp and circumstance with marching bands, singing entertainers, and an amazing young poet (read the poem here). Even though the ex-president broke the precedent and did not appear, the vice-president did show up to represent the former administration. The Capitol Building had been cleaned and polished up; flags and buntings still festooned its West Front, even as some broken windows had not yet been replaced. 

 

The new President spoke of unity and stopping this uncivil war in his remarks; he spoke out against racism and white supremacists and for democracy. He remarked that we have seen how fragile our democracy can be. He spoke of how important it is to repair the damages which have been done by the insurrectionists but also to move forward to solve some big problems, such as the coronovirus, the economy, and climate change. He noted also injustices and inequities which need to be corrected and the importance of working together as one nation. He stated that democracy did not die but will thrive and move forward on his watch and asked all to join him in repairing this nation. He pledged to be truthful and to leave this a better country for our children. It was a speech quite different from that of his predecessor.

 

The scars from the insurrection are still not healed as troops continue to stand in the streets of Washington DC and the FBI is still arresting and charging as many of the domestic terrorists as they can identify. They are working to clean up the ‘carnage’ which came about at the urging of the former president who had promised to do away with ‘carnage facing this nation while puzzling many in his audience. However, the miles and miles of seven foot fences with razor wire are coming down and traffic is again starting to flow on DC streets.

 

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is sending the Article of Impeachment to the Senate for a trial, now scheduled to start on February 8th. Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-8th) will lead the team from the House in the presentation of the issues in the article which deals primarily with the insurrection.

 

Additional causes for concern have been trickling out in the news this week. The New York Times and Washington Post both reported on an attempted coup at the Department of Justice (DOJ) by the former president after the failed call to the Georgia election officials mentioned in previous posts. An attorney in the civil division (Jeffrey Clarke), known to a Pennsylvania Congressman (Scott Perry – R- PA- 8th ), supported the “stop the steal” efforts and met with the president after the introduction by the Congressman. Together they came up with a letter intended to force the Georgia officials to reopen the election results with a possible impending DOJ investigation. When the acting Attorney General (Jeffrey Rosen) refused to agree and sign this letter, the president planned to fire him and replace him with Attorney Clarke. All of the senior attorneys in the Justice Department subsequently met on a conference call and agreed to resign if this coup succeeded. (Remember that this was all taking place right after the time the former Attorney General Barr had resigned.) In the end, both Clarke and Rosen met with the president and tried to sell their point of view, much like the Apprentice TV show, it was reported. Finally, the president backed down.  

 

Also coming to light is the sudden resignation of the US Attorney in Atlanta - again right after the Georgia phone call. Byung “B-Jay” Pak resigned without comment, but it has been reported that he refused to call for an investigation into the Georgia results as urged by the White House. It appears that there were no limits which the president would not explore in an attempt to change the Georgia results. 

 

But I still do not understand why – since even if he succeeded in overturning the Georgia results, he would still not have enough Electoral College votes to get to the critical number of 270. Perhaps he thought that if he could turn one state, others would follow; perhaps he was trying the same elsewhere, it is still not clear. It seems to me to be an insane effort for little gain. Maybe this is why he incited the insurrection; it is as if he truly thought that he could interrupt what everyone else thinks of as an inevitable and pro forma vote.

 

Meanwhile, Democrats in Pennsylvania are now calling for the Freedom Caucus member Scott Perry, just re-elected in November, to resign for his participation with the attempted coup. Perry has a military background and served in the National Guard in Iraq and carries the rank of Brigadier General, (ret.). Perry had previously voted against a resolution in Congress that condemned QAnon as a terrorist group. The FBI has labeled the group potential domestic terrorists, but the former president accepted their support, claiming that they liked him, although he said he knew little about them. QAnon members were active in the insurrection against the Capitol.

 

Meanwhile, back at the White House, President Biden is signing Executive Orders undoing several of the previous administration policies. He has canceled the Keystone pipeline, re-joined the Paris Climate Accords, and again became a nation-member in the World Health Organization. He has canceled the Moslem nation travel bans and started a query for the missing separated immigrant children, among other issues. He has also mandated the wearing of masks in all Federal buildings and on all transportation venues. The White House Pressroom is again having briefings and taking press questions. Administration officials are meeting with the press and Dr. Fauci is no longer banned from appearing on certain Television shows. He seemed happy and liberated when he appeared in the briefing room on Thursday to discuss the efforts against Covid by the new administration.

 

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I was moved that the incoming President held a memorial service on the evening before his inauguration for the more than 400,000 people who have succumbed to this virus. Finally, a national mourning to recognize the sacrifice of so many and the sorrow which has spread across the country! The Service was held at the Lincoln Memorial and marked by short speeches from President-elect Biden and VP-elect Harris, inspirational songs, and the illumination of 400 lights along the reflecting pool. At the same time, the National Cathedral Bell tolled 400 times – one peal for every 1000 deaths. Case numbers passed the 25 million figure, even as the virus was said to be showing a slight plateau. Hospitals, which lag those numbers, are still being overcome with admissions for COVID. Long time ‘King of Talk’ – Larry King, was said to have died of Covid this week at the age of 87. This week marks one year since the city of Wuhan, China was locked done due to the Coronovirus.  What a year we have now experienced!

 

COVID stats – New York Times 1/24/21

Total US cases: 25,166,500. New cases: 167,954.  

Total deaths: 419,077. New deaths: 3,322.

Maryland total cases: 339,307. New cases: 2,392. Total deaths: 6,837. New deaths: 45.

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According to several reports, Congressional members are being met with death threats when they are out and about and continue to be harassed at times. Security has been arranged for many members. The National Guard troops stay in DC has been extended into March as there are some expectations of disruptions during the Senate impeachment trial. However, MD Congressman Andy Harris (R- MD- 1st ) was stopped by the metal detectors recently installed at the House entries, when he tried to bring a gun onto the House floor last week. Harris, who voted against certification, almost came to blows with an opposing Congressman during the certification vote. Just the person who should not be carrying, it seems to me! Other members who wished to carry guns, were also seen trying to avoid the detectors recently. The detectors have been strengthened and fines will be instituted for avoiding the sensors in the future, so stay tuned, as they say.

 

Finally – in conclusion – just in case you did not get a chance to see the fireworks and hear Katy Perry sing on Inauguration evening– here is your chance. Enjoy!

 

‘Til next week – peace.

Will the Senate Convict?

 

In 1861, President-elect Lincoln set about on a month-long journey to Washington DC for his inauguration. He left Springfield, Illinois, and traveled on a meandering path through Ohio, New York state and Pennsylvania before coming to Maryland for the last leg of his journey.  As history tells us, there were plots to kill this president by many from the South so the Pinkerton detectives were called in to counter this.  Eventually, the schemers were foiled, the announced routes were changed and Lincoln arrived disguised as a routine traveler.

President Eisenhower was the last president to travel regularly by train, although some campaigns have used short train trips after conventions. (I remember many years ago, when I was an elementary school student - going to the nearby train tracks with my classmates to wave at President Eisenhower as he traveled through my Massachusetts suburb.) President-elect Joe Biden, known for his daily Amtrak travel when he was a Senator with young children at home, also planned to travel to DC for his inauguration; this now has been canceled due to safety concerns that were not detailed.

What has brought our country to this dangerous intersection of reality with truth versus lying demagoguery?  How have many years of seeing those in power just pushing aside the lies and anti-democracy moves by this president brought us to this point?  I think it began with the birtherism movement which was started by the president against then-President Barack Obama, continued by the right-wing commentators and news organizations and not decried by elected Republicans who knew the falsity of these claims. Years of these lies have deafened the general public to actual truth-telling.

The New York Times Magazine today published an article by Timothy Snyder (author of On Tyranny) which explores how we got to this point and how insidious years of unchallenged lies and attacks on the press and media as ‘false news’ have helped get us to this place in time. These lines struck me as particularly telling:

“Post-truth is pre-fascism and Trump has been our post-truth president.  When we give up on truth, we concede power to those with the wealth and charisma to create spectacle in its place. Without agreement about some basic facts, citizens cannot form the basic society that would allow them to defend themselves.”

       As George Santayana said more than 100 years ago: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”   

          My question now is, will Americans remember history?  Will we look at recent events and shrug or we will learn from these past few months? Will we speak up in the future and call out mistruths and distortions of reality?  Will our elected officials have the courage to move away from a seriously flawed leader of either party? Few of us thought that this president would actually promote the carnage mentioned in his inaugural address! The insurrection he incited for months should have been foreseen, we are told.  But, for many Americans, these were actions never anticipated because they were too involved in trying to make their lives work to spend their days in the dark corners of the conspiratorial web. They went out to vote when it was time and accepted the election results because that is what Americans have always done until now.  They expected a smooth transition of power because that has been the American way of democracy – that is until now – until this president was defeated.  He then set out to break our democracy because he chose to disregard the election results and not concede his defeat.  He chose to try to break our democracy to stay in power. 

          Our democracy now appears more fragile than we ever thought, but it appears to be holding on, even though divided too much by partisanship. Washington DC is now closed down and thousands of National Guard troops are on patrol in the Federal zones.  Bridges from Virginia are closed down. The Capitol is enclosed by strategic fencing as are the Mall and White House. Still, authorities expect outsiders to try to cause problems on Inauguration Day.  News reports on Sunday indicate that the FBI is concerned about the loyalty of some of the Guard troops and commanders are attempting to vet the groups currently stationed in DC.  This is certainly unsettling.

         So where do we go from here?  Will we have a safe inauguration?  I surely hope so.  We need to move on from this administration and celebrate the arrival of a new President and Vice-President who can bring some clarity and transparency to governmental actions.  We need to hear their promises for governance that puts the American people first.  The coronovirus has necessarily reduced the public participation in the event which is mostly now scheduled to be virtual.  We will not have thousands on the Mall or watching a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue or Inaugural Balls across the city.  So, this is sad, as Americans do love occasional pomp and circumstance, but I think most can agree that we need safety, security, and sanity in these events.  President-elect Biden has announced an ambitious program for his first few days – I look forward to hearing more soon.

          On Wednesday the House of Representatives voted to impeach the president for the second time. The grounds were listed in a single article which identified the insurrection as the reason for this action.  All Democrats voted in support as did 10 Republicans, who did so despite possible recriminations. Now, the big question is, will the Senate convict?  Mitch McConnell will be the Senate leader until the new Senators from Georgia have been certified by their state and sworn in, so he holds sway for now and has indicated that he would not entertain the impeachment until Tuesday, the 19^th.  If convicted, the Senate could then vote to prohibit the president from ever running for office again.  This is one of the main reasons a conviction is a good option, but will it happen?  67 votes are needed to convict in the Senate, so 17 Republicans would have to step up.  While the leader has said he is undecided at this time, some Republicans have spoken in favor of conviction, so there is a possibility.  How remote is it?  Some are saying just get him gone and let it be.  Others are saying that there are 5 people dead as a result of his direct encouragement toward violence and that there must be some accountability and a price paid; he cannot and should not get off free from his responsibility. I certainly agree with this position.

I would guess it might depend upon how powerful the departing president is seen and how much the party is tied to his favors.  Recent polls have indicated his popularity as low as 29% and as high as 44%, so that is flexible.  538 reports that his current status is at 38.5% averaged. (Rasmussen is the outlier at 48%.)  Perhaps the public will weigh in and let their senators hear from them – it is said that 75 % of the public voices disapproval of the insurrection. So, what do you think – is there any way that the Senate will convict?  If McConnell supports, will others follow?

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The presence of the more easily transmissible coronovirus UK variant has been identified in the US, so the next few months are expected to show very dismal results. We are approaching 24 million cases. The White House task force has just announced that there is no reserve on hold as had been expected. Governors across the nation who were expecting to receive more supplies and doses as they opened up lists to wider age groups are now scrambling to meet these needs.  The incoming Biden administration hopes to have all of this in hand shortly, even as they presume that there will be 500,000 deaths by the end of February. Biden is asking for Americans to voluntarily wear masks for the next 100 days and is planning to mandate masks in all federal facilities.

COVID stats 1/17/21 New York Times

Total US Cases: 23,916,400. Total new cases: 201,732.

Total deaths: 397,566. Total new deaths: 3,353.

Maryland stats: Total cases: 324,031. New cases: 3,292. Total deaths: 6,541.  New deaths: 47.

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I would love to say:' sit back and watch the new president at his inauguration and things will look up.' However, I am a realist and I know that our country is facing many serious issues: the virus, the high unemployment, the poor economy, plus the divisiveness in our country both in politics and race relations. None of these will be resolved easily or quickly, so I hope that we all will give the new administration time to clean up the major messes they are facing. I also am hopeful that promised uprisings across the country will not happen and those bent on causing trouble will have second thoughts in light of widespread security forces. Meanwhile, as his term heads to a close, the president is said to be considering up to 100 more pardons.

On these dismal concerns, maybe it is best to look again at the panda cam: Safe and sound asleep! Recent photos have shown him clambering around his play area.

‘Til next week – peace.