Archives for December 2019

Day 1185 Christmas Eve and My Special Gift

Tuesday December 24, 2019

320 Days until the 2020 election and 401 days until the Inauguration

If I have any special talent it seems to be the ability to see patterns in very disparate pieces of information. A shortcoming I may have, if I have any, is that I forget, or don’t think, to explain to others what it is that I see that seems obvious to me, but not to them. I mean I don’t want to insult someone’s intelligence (well, okay, sometimes I slip) by explaining the obvious. So if this seems obvious to you – my apologies, but just in case:

The Fall of the Roman Empire,

The Fall of Constantinople,

The decline of NASA,

The end of Perkin-Elmer,

Alexis De Tocqueville and his thoughts on America,

Isaac Asimov and his thoughts on America,

Niel Degrasse Tyson and his thoughts on science,

the measles outbreak in the U.S. & Samoa,

and whoever that guy was on the 4pm show yesterday and his plea.

Let’s begin at the bottom of the list. On the 4pm show one of the commentators made a plea for science and education. Period. full stop.

Then there’s the measles outbreaks that have been occurring. Why? People aren’t getting vaccinated.  Why? Well, they don’t “believe.” Let me ask those nonbelievers, “do you think measles cares?” The answer is no. It’s gonna get you if you aren’t vaccinated and exposed to it. 

Tyson and others have said, in various ways, science is the study of reality. If you choose to accept some other way of looking at the world that’s up to you, but the chances of understanding and success are better with science and the study of reality than with any other system – like religion (that last part is mine).

Issac Asimov, I was told, said that America is anti-intellectual and that will be its downfall. I think he’s right and I hope he’s wrong about America.

De Tocqueville said a lot of interesting things about America after his visit. Look him up for extra quotes. But the one I like was quoted by James Burke at the end of his fabulous series “Connections*.”

*”An interdisciplinary approach to the history of science and invention.”

In that last part Burke quoted De Tocqueville as saying America is in a competition between its greatness and its decadence. (I forget the exact words.)

It seems decadence is winning right now. Call it stupidity, or hyper-paritsanship, or ignorance, or anti-science, or right wing conservatism or Christianity but whatever it is it ain’t good for the overall good of us.

Now let me talk briefly about the end of my father’s company that he worked for over 35 years Perkin-Elmer and the fall of NASA and “the king has no clothes.” “Pride Cometh Before the Fall” is one of those catchy little phrases, or as I like to think of it – once you start believing your own PR reports you’re in trouble. I think that happened to NASA and to PE. NASA is surviving; Perkin-Elmer did not. (Well, there’s a company by that name, but it’s not the old PE. They sold off the name and the underlying business.) What happened? It’s hard to put your finger on it exactly but I think I can sum it up when I asked my dad about the Hubble telescope. Perkin Elmer ground the lens for the Hubble. When it got up in space they realized that it was out of focus. That means the lens was mis-ground. It was my Dad’s old group that had done that job. My dad was so distraught that he called Gladys Perkin, the founder’s widow and apologized to her. My dad had bee retired for 20-30 years, but he felt that strongly. I asked my dad what he would have done differently. He said simply, “I would have taken the roof off the building (where the telescope was housed for a year and a half waiting for launch) and looked at a star.” One astronomer, one star, and one end-to-end test and they wouldn’t have launched without correcting the lens. It seems incredible that no one looked through that telescope before launch but that’s what happened.

After the Challenger blew up. I listened to the proceedings live on CNN. I was in Hawaii and caught the afternoon hearings as I was getting up. I still remember the Morton Thiokol engineer testifying. He was the one in charge of the engines. He said, “I told them not to launch.” Senator Sam Rayburn was in charge of the hearing. He had big bushy eyebrows. When the engineer said that Sam’s eyebrows twitched like crazy. Senator Rayburn in his polite slow Southern drawl said, “Excuse me (son), what did you say?”

“I told them not to launch.”

Sam’s eyebrows went crazy – again.

The engineer went on to explain that he didn’t have data to back up his statement because they had taken away his funding to do the tests, but he knew as he put it that the colder it got “the more you moved away from goodness.” They launched, the Challenger blew up. It was NASA’s first big defeat. 

When the engineer was pressed as to why he didn’t say more he responded, “I did everything in my power short of jumping up on the table and telling them not to launch.” 

What happened? The engineer got screwed. The guy in NASA who made the call to launch got reassigned. In other words, the idiots won.

This brings us to The Falls, of Rome and Constantinople. Both fell for different and disparate reasons, but similar. Constantinople fell for two reasons: one) a man came up with a cannon, two) none of it’s supporters outside the city believed it would fall to the Turks because it had never fallen before*. 

*That last bit of logic is why Notre Dame burned. They didn’t put in a fire suppression system because they had never needed one before.

Rome? It fell because of carelessness. Okay, that’s a joke a guy used to tell on Ed Sullivan. He was supposedly a school teacher and he said that was an answer on an exam. How can you mark that student wrong? He’d argue. 

There are a number of steps to the fall of Rome. Rome was a republic, until it wasn’t. No one at the time believed the republic would go away because “it had always been there.” Until, it wasn’t. What happened? A strongman took over and the system of government they had wasn’t functioning well, and it had become corrupted. The strongman, Julius Caesar, taking over didn’t change the situation. It was still corrupt and not functioning well.

This gets us back to De Tocqueville who said that the American Republic can stand until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.

Tomorrow, or the the next day, or whenever I write again. I’ll sum it all up as to what this portends for our nation now.

Until then. Merry Christmas to al the Jews, Muslims, and Chinese restaurant owners. (If they’d all just believe in Santa Clause we’d have no more problems in the world. Jesus, is that so hard to understand?)

320 Days until the 2020 election and 401 days until the Inauguration

PS Bryce Holliwell, Rick Kinnaird’s alter ego, man of action and adventure. Atop ancient Mayan pyramid. He had to hack his way through the jungle*, avoid the dreaded Fer-De-Lance snake**, and vendors selling jaguar whistles and made in China trinkets (“You look. Good price.”)

*He got off the bus and stepped on brush.

** I’m told they exist. Never seen one.

 

Day 1184 What I would do if I were Speaker of the House

Monday December 23, 2019

321 Days until the 2020 election and 402 days until the Inauguration

First of all I am not Speaker of the House. But if I were …

Or more specifically, if I were Nancy Pelosi …

(Wouldn’t you like to see her give a Master Class?)

Okay, what’s the situation? Well, Mitch McConnell has said that he’s going to do whatever he can to make the Senate trial a mockery. He’s not pretending to be fair. He’s working, by his own admission, with the White House on whatever he does. Forget the special oath, forget that he’s a co-equal part of government, forget that at a trial the prosecution should not be working with the defense – forget all that. Mitch has told us he’s Trump’s bitch. (Hum, “Mitch the Bitch” It has a nice ring don’t you think?)

So unless and until Mitch decides to play fair there is no reason for Nancy to send the two articles of impeachment over to the Senate. So what should she do? Well I know what I’d do! (And this will show you why I shouldn’t be Speaker.)

I’d start another impeachment inquiry. I mean you’ve got the ten Obstruction of Justice items laid out in the Mueller Report. I’d start there. I’d also hire actors to do their best “GoneWith The Wind” Scarlett and Butterfly McQueen voices. (FYI Butterfly McQueen* said the famous line, “I don’t know nuthin’ about birthin’ no babies” in GWTW.) *Her real name.

Picture if you will an actress dressed like Nancy Pelosi but speaking in a Scarlett O’Hara voice …

“Oh Mr. McConnell I’m sorry you think our product is shoddy. Why, I declare, I don’t know what I’m going to do! I know. I’ll start a new inquiry tomorrow! And it will be the best inquiry the Senate, and the nation have ever seen!

“Why, I’ll subpoena all those nasty witnesses you said I didn’t call before. Surly then they’ll come and testify! Why yes, it might take a long time. Right up until the election I suppose. And it will be in all the newspapers every day. More facts, more evidence, every day about the crimes of this president and his people. It will go on and on and on. I just don’t know what else to do? Because we want to be fair don’t we? I mean you do want to know the truth? Of course you do!

“I suppose one count of criminal misconduct like obstruction of justice could take one or maybe two weeks to investigate. Imagine how long ten will take. Why it might go right up to the election. Imagine that?

“I can hear it now on the nightly news. ‘The House today took up the last article of Obstruction of Justice. It is obvious to anyone that the Speaker of the House (That’s me!) is doing a thorough job and leaving no stone unturned…’

“I imagine as the election gets nearer why our plea to the courts to have those witnesses testify that have refused would be complete and they could then tell the American people exactly what happened! Wouldn’t that be swell? You did want those witnesses to testify didn’t you? As I recall that was one of your complaints about our ‘shoddy work product’?

“And regardless we’d all be reading that book by Mr. Bolton. You know the one? The one where he tells what happened, but won’t testify to us unless we subpoena him and the White House fights it in court and they try to run out the clock to the next election? 

“Why it will be a fine run up to the election don’t you think?

“And if you don’t like those ten articles of impeachment and promise to have – what do your friends in my House call it? Oh yes, ‘a sham.’ Why we can start another investigation. What would that one be about? How about Russian money laundering? Why it could include Deutsche Bank, Trump real estate deals, The Bank of Cyprus and that fine fellow of yours at Commerce, and we could include how the Russians try to influence politicians. You know like making an investment in really poor areas of our country like eastern Kentucky. You must be so proud to have them in your state. Too bad you didn’t think to help those folks out yourself…

“My my …”

321 Days until the 2020 election and 402 days until the Inauguration

PS Shelby with our Congresswoman, Abigail Spanberger. Two women who are truly making a difference in our lives. Abigail has introduced legislation to bring down the cost of prescription drugs. Shelby has for years been advocating for diabetes research and lowering the cost of life saving drugs like insulin. (Compare that to our former member of Congress who fought against The Affordable Care Act and anything that would have helped people afford health insurance and didn’t ever visit with regular folks.)

Day 1183 There is no case for impeachment. Oh really?

Sunday December 22, 2019

322 Days until the 2020 election and 403 days until the Inauguration

Andrew Card was on a news show the other day. He was W’s Chief of Staff. He’s a bit older and in my mind represents the old school Republican. He’s dignified, thoughtful, and well spoken. I was interested in what he had to say. Basically he said he didn’t like Trump’s character, the way Trump acted; but as to what he has done he, Trump, has done a lot. The economy is doing well, unemployment is way down and he’s just negotiated a trade deal with Canada and Mexico. So, even though he, Card, doesn’t personally like Trump’s behavior or character there is no denying that he’s done a good job as president. All of which I say, “Oh yeah?”

Card went on to say that he thought the case against Trump on impeachment was weak and that the Democrats hadn’t done a good job of making or presenting their case, and that he, Card, hadn’t seen anything that rose to a high crime or misdemeanor. To which I say, “Really?”

It seems Mr. Card is giving what I will call the Republican Classic explanation and defense. It sounds reasonable – on its face. However, the flaw comes in the comparison to reality. Yes, the stock market is doing well, but at what cost to our national debt? I mean if you give businesses lots of money via a huge tax cut and they don’t see anywhere to spend it because the average person can’t afford much (remember the statistic about most people are $400 away from financial catastrophe?) then what do businesses do? They either buy other businesses or they buy back their own stock and this keeps the price of stock high.

As to the vaunted low unemployment while true this begs the question as to whether people are better off now then they were before (before when? Take your pick.) There’s the recurring messaging about the person working two and three jobs and not being able to make ends meet, because the pay is so bad. There’s the stat that the average worker hasn’t gotten much if any raise in pay since 1980, so how good is the economy.

As to the trade deal, it’s been summarized as “We are where we would have been with NAFTA, but without the debt.”

Let’s also not forget that Trump has put us further in debt as a nation to the tune of one trillion dollars a year. While he’s done that he’s cut social programs wherever he can get away with it. Right now there is the prospect of 130 million people losing their right to affordable health care if they have a pre-existing condition. 

Let’s do a quick walk down economic memory lane. Nixon, who was the last Republican president to really help the average person and protect the nations resources, was fighting off inflation. When he left office Gerald Ford took up the fight. Remember “WIN”? Whip Inflation Now? Yeah. Well, Gerry couldn’t do it and Carter won. Carte kept Paul Volker* as Fed Chair. and Paul was tough, but he got the job done. It cost Carter the Presidency. Reagan came in and started spending money and cutting social programs, and attacking the unions and cut a deal with the Pope to stop the zero growth initiative.

*Paul died this week.

Remember Trickle Down? People are still waiting for the rich to piss on them. Hasn’t happened. 

Meanwhile Grover Norquist was running around DC getting Republicans to swear to not raise taxes and to cut spending on social programs. Defense? Oh that was sacrosanct. Now, I’m not going to go into a lot about Econ 101, but suffice it to say that any basic econ course (except perhaps one taught by Dave Brat) will tell you that the worst place for a government to put money if you want to stimulate your economy is to put it in the military. (The best? Look it up, because if you’re Republican it will freak you out.)

At the same time Norquist was getting Republicans to swear to no new taxes (yet spending was kind of ignored) there was another group of economic numb-nuts that had the idea that we should spend so much money that we’d have no choice but to cut the government down to the size of a pea. This seemed to go hand in hand with the far Christian right idea of the coming apocalypse where Jesus was going to come down and raise us all up. (Hence, the idea of moving the Israeli capital to Jerusalem.)

Papa Bush (aka Nixon’s bag man) came in and he had no idea what he wanted to do. He continued to stumble forward with Reagan’s econ plans and was amazed by barcodes. He lost to Bill Clinton who actually cut spending and left W with a surplus. At the time everyone was worried about Medicare and/or Social Security running out of money. That money could have gone into either program and put them on a really secure economic footing. W gave the money away. Then a few years later was shocked when the economy imploded and left a huge financial mess for Obama.

Obama spent money to save the banks and the car industry. He spent a lot of money, but it worked. However, he thought the banks would in turn lend money to the average Joe and revive the economy. Silly rabbit. The bankers took the money, shuffled it around, gave themselves big bonuses and parties, and said they didn’t know where it was when asked. (Similar to what they did in 1932 when they caused the Great Recession. Yeah – no, it wasn’t Black Friday in 1929, that caused the stock market crash but it was the lack of liquidity in the financial markets that really spiked the economy.)

Obama put in place financial reforms that slowly pulled us out of the debacle left by W and the Republicans. Then Trump came in and managed to not screw it up for over a year. Then came his massive tax cut to corporation and the wealthy, which we are still waiting for the average Joe to see any benefit from but we certainly are seeing the debt pile up. (Look for people like Jim Jordan to be concerned about that debt as soon as a Dem is in the White House. Just sayin’)

Okay, then we get to Card’s second point that he’s seen nothing that rises to the level of impeachment. That’s a real Wow for me. I mean here we have a sitting president who it has been reported by multiple sources has committed crimes. The crimes have been documented and he has admitted to doing them. Yet, Card is saying he’s seen no evidence that rises to the level of impeachment. Yet, this was the crew that thought six blowjobs did?

322 Days until the 2020 election and 403 days until the Inauguration

PS By the Numbers, this presidency.

Day 1181 Clinton vs Trump Impeachment – There is a Difference

Friday December 20, 2019

324 Days until the 2020 election and 405 days until the Inauguration

The president has been impeached for “High Crimes and Misdemeanors.” 

Only three presidents have ever been impeached. One in the past few decades and I think it’s worth taking a look at what Clinton was impeached for and how it came about, because many of the same players that were involved in that impeachment are involved in this impeachment. However, their high minded rhetoric of years past has been replaced with fawning obsequiousness toward the current occupant of the White House.

Donald Trump has that ability. The ability to make people grovel and get down in the dirt and the muck to do his bidding. It’s not hard to understand. It’s the classic behavior of those around a schoolyard bully. By sucking up to him they are hoping to not be picked on. It’s like the closet gay who denounces gay people hoping someone won’t notice. I get it. When it comes to Profiles in Courage there ain’t a Republican in Congress who merits consideration. Maybe, that will change. We can hope, but let’s not be naive. 

Speaking of hope and change I heard that Stephen Miller is engaged. I hope that the possibility that he might get laid will moderate his racist misogynistic views. The lady looks of Asian extraction. She might be an immigrant! I hope he doesn’t have to lock her up in a cage and deport her. Just sayin’. (Ha ha, funny right? No? Oh sorry.) Well, if she is an immigrant it’s another case of immigrants willing to do a job no ‘Merican would do. God bless her.

Back to the comparison. Clinton was impeached – finally, after Ken Starr wandered around for years calling everyone he could think of to testify about a land deal that was clearly not a problem from the get go – for having six blowjobs from an intern, only three of which were successfully concluded. Clinton initially lied about it because he was embarrassed, then came clean. Sort of. One thing that I think drove the Republicans crazy was Bill was way smarter than they were and they could never quite nail him, but boy did they try! Lots of high minded talk, but in the end the Starr Report mentioned – mentioned – Whitewater six or nine times, and that was what they were supposed to be investigating. Then came Monica and the news and everyone else went ape-shit. Why not? It was easy, everyone knew the players so it made it easy to do thirty second sound bites. Of course, the reason this 21 year old intern was able to get close to the President in the first place was the Republicans had shut down the government. If they had done their jobs, instead of that goofy shutdown, none of this would have happened.

Let’s also not forget that Clinton kept doing his job as President. He had a 67% approval rating when he was impeached. The Republicans had control of Congress and were pushing all sorts of mean spirited ideas. Clinton did a masterful job of brunting their assaults. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” while condemned today, we forget that this was done to stop the Republican idea of having a Constitutional anti-gay amendment. “Stop and Frisk” now decried as racist was also done to stop more callous legislation. Clinton didn’t have a lot to work with, little support, but he worked with what he had and he did a lot.

Trump? What has Trump done? He’s pulled us out of multiple deals, enraged our allies, run up our debt, ignored and insulted just about every department in our government, and committed multiple crimes and violations of ethics and morality, all of which are ongoing! 

He and his Republican sycophants are repeating Russian disinformation and talking points as his defense. We know that Putin himself told Trump many of these things. I don’t know exactly where his buddies are getting their Russian talking points, but one of the Republican Congressmen was shocked – shocked – when he was called out on the House floor for repeating them there. Oh the outrage! And these same people were concerned when Obama wore a brown suit, or didn’t have a American flag lapel pin.

But Seth reminded us of Trump’s many crimes and moral failures – both past and ongoing in his Closer Look of yesterday:

https://youtu.be/puzLliaqBkY 

Now there is an interesting civics lesson coming up. Turns out the House doesn’t have to deliver the articles of impeachment to the Senate. They can sit on them. Right now that is what they are doing. Why? Turns out the leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell has promised to not call any witnesses or gather any evidence, that he is working hand in hand with the defense to rig the outcome – not exactly the high minded rhetoric when Clinton was impeached. Lindsey Graham likewise has promised not to convict the president, nor does he need to hear any evidence or listen to any witnesses because his mind is already made up. 

What happened to fairness? To the rule of law? To giving a person their day in court?

That has all gone out the window.

There is so much weirdness here. The Republican talking points, by and large don’t make sense. I’m not talking logic here, I’m talking grammar. They don’t even attempt full sentences, but like the president, shout words and phrases disconnected from one another. It’s very weird.

Comparisons to the Salem Witch Trial, to the trial of Jesus, to “the clock and the calendar” (whatever that means), but through it all not one Republican has said Trump is a good man, that he never could have done the things he is accused of – not one. Why is that? Maybe, it’s because the evidence is plain to see. 

While Gordon Sondland was testifying under oath and saying there was a quid pro quod, Fox News was running the headline at the bottom of their screen “Sonderland Says No Quid Pro Quo.”

While Jim Jordan and others say, “The president said there was no quid pro quo.”

The president’s Chief of Staff said there was a quid pro quo. That it’s done all the time and “get over it.”

Then there’s the “perfect phone call.” The one that the White House released the partial transcript that shows not only a quid pro quo, but attempts at bribery and extortion. Get over it, they say. Nothing to see here. There is no case. 

Except for reality.

PS Last minuter Christmas gift idea – A Star Wars CPO-3PO popcorn popper. Sure to be a collector’s item!