...I will support and defend the Constitution...

I am watching the Trump Impeachment hearings with interest. I watched the events unveil on January 6, and concluded that day, because I had been paying attention for the last four years, that President Trump was obviously responsible for inciting the insurrection. He has spent his entire personal life courting conflict, and devoted his one-year campaign and four-year presidency to provoking, condoning and relishing in violence. Trump is not a difficult man to understand.

At the same time, the big question surrounding his impeachment seems to revolve around what Republicans will do. Actually, this isn’t the big question. The big question is why won’t Republicans do the right thing—and again, the answer appears obvious.

No attempt has been made to hide this fact that Republicans are expected to vote for acquittal because they fear political retaliation from Trump supporters, should they do the right thing and stand up to Trump by condemning the January 6 insurrection. This apparently outweighs the fear the rest of us have of the damage their dereliction to duty will do to our democracy should they give Trump a pass.

I think House managers are doing an excellent job—an effort, we are told, which is being missed by many Republican senators who are behaving childishly, as Trump has often been accused himself, by refusing to pay attention.

Overall, I think most senators are paying attention. As with Trump’s election in 2016, setting a low bar is oftentimes what we do best in this country.

One thing does bother me about the hearings, and I don’t know if changes will be made down the road. I hope so, but fearful they won’t.

Despite the fact that most Republicans appear to have made up their minds to acquit, House managers are proceeding as if they are dealing with impartial jurors, who will ultimately do the right thing.

The nation can count on fifty Democratic senators voting to convict, not because they are biased, un-American traitors as the ex-president suggests, but because they were at the Capitol on January 6, witnessed the violence, and don’t need to be told what an insurrection looks like, or who provoked it.

This impeachment is all about convincing 50 Republicans that what they saw really happened, and that they must do the right thing so that it never happens again. Republicans would have us believe that now is the time to come together and respect President Biden’s call for unity, and question whether Congress can work as a unified branch if Democrats insist on going forward with, not one, but now the second impeachment of Donald Trump.

Democrats, despite their desire to work with Republicans, know they are taking this unprecedented action because Donald Trump has not once, but twice, committed impeachable offences. Democrats are not the villains. Donald Trump is the villain.

Neither are Democrats the jurors everyone is questioning whether they will do their duty.  

House managers should stop addressing the Senate as a whole and start aiming their case directly at the Republicans. This cannot be another, “there were good people on both sides,” or “no harm, no foul.” When the argument is between right and wrong, justice can only be on one side.

There was real harm done on January 6, physical harm and psychological harm, and our democracy was threatened, and continues to be threatened.

Whether this crime is punished rests not with the Senate, but with Republican senators, and House managers need to stop ignoring the elephant—pun intended— in the room, and forcefully and unequivocally address their case to the only people in the room that matter.

It is not a question of, can we allow the president’s actions to go unpunished, but can you, Republican senators, allow the president’s actions to go unpunished.

It is not a question of, can we honor the oath we took and stand up for democracy, but rather, can you, Republican senators, stand up and protect democracy.

It is not a question of, can we muster the courage to stand up to Donald Trump and say no, no more, enough, but rather can you, Republican senators, stand up, finally, and say no, no more, enough.

No effort has been spared to point out that impeachment is not a trial. That is not to say a trial isn’t taking place. Make no mistake; the Republican Party is being put on trial—the trial of public opinion, which I would remind them is where election are won and lost.

There can be no doubt how history will look upon this impeachment effort, and at the behavior of Senate Republicans. History is full of accounts of heroic individuals standing up for what they believed to be right, as well as cowards who for political expediency did what they knew to be wrong.

The senators should be aware of this, but for those that aren’t, House managers should make the case, so that there can be no doubt, that this impeachment will not be decided by the Senate. The decision to convict will be determined by Republican senators, and history will hold them accountable, and the accountability in question might very well be, who was responsible for the fall of democracy in America.

  

Herd Immunity, Herd Mentality, Whatever

 

Leader of the Herd

 Trump has been all over the herd immunity   issue, for it, against it, understanding it, not   understanding it. He has behaved almost like   a herd of buffalo on the open range—all over   the place.

 Herd immunity in the face of a pandemic is a   good thing in the same sense that winning a   war is a good thing. It is not so much a time of joy as it is a moment of relief. A long nightmare—and that is what all wars are, even ones we win—is over. It is the point a nation arrives at only after a period of suffering, destruction and unnecessary loss of life.

There have been leaders in the past who were victorious because they were willing to sacrifice wave after wave of their own citizens against the enemy. Good leaders seek victories that come with minimal casualties. Winning at all costs is not a goal, only a last resort. Reaching herd immunity is gaining victory through attrition because all else has failed.

Yes, herd immunity in a pandemic is a good thing when a nation arrives at that point, but it comes at a high price. It’s a victory not attained through smarter, less destructive means, but rather by senseless inaction.  

Trump has been promising since day one that the coronavirus will go away—first in a few days, then by Easter, and most recently when we reach a state of herd immunity.

Actually, what he said was, "And you'll develop, you'll develop herd—like a herd mentality. It's going to be—it's going to be herd developed—and that's going to happen. That will all happen," Trump said.

I can’t imagine what Trump would say if Biden explained herd immunity this way.

Maybe it will happen, but there are things we can do, more pro-active measures that make more sense than waiting around for herd immunity.

Wearing a mask and social distancing might push the moment of herd immunity further into the future, but it would save lives until a possible vaccine provided a victimless herd immunity.

In my book, Trump Dismantles Washington, there is a chapter where I describe Trump as the laziest man in America. His need for slogans, nicknames, easy solutions to complicated problems point to Trump, at his core, being a very simple man too lazy to rise to any occasion. For him, an insult is always preferable to an idea.  

Waiting around for herd immunity, while at the same time ridiculing mask wearing and social distancing is probably the laziest thing a leader can do. It takes no courage, no strategy, and no particular skill. Someone who, when talking about the pandemic says, “It is what it is,” will also conclude herd immunity is our only way out. He’ll wave his hands around, as if he were holding a wand and say, “It will go away like magic.”

What do we say to a man so lazy, so ignorant, so out of touch?

We could say, “You’re fired.”

We tried that a month before coronavirus landed on our shores. In fact, we were told at the time that if we didn’t get rid of him, things would only get worse. That was way back in the good old days of January.

We couldn’t fire him then because the Republican Party was suffering from herd mentality and Trump was leading the herd.

Wear a mask, social distance, be safe. Don’t wait for 250-million Americans to become infected to take a victory lap.

 

This just in...

Regarding Federal Reserve decision to raise interest rates:“They’re making a mistake because I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me.”

Regarding scientific findings on climate change: “One of the problems that a lot of people like myself, we have very high levels of intelligence, but we’re not necessarily such believers. 

You look at our air and our water, 

and it’s right now at a record clean.”

This just in from the House Intelligence Oversight Committee:

We know for the past two or three years, or possibly the last 20 or 30 years, people—some people—but definitely real people, have been asking to see Donald Trump’s tax returns. We would all like to know where and whom he’s gotten his money from, how he’s managed to survive so many bankruptcies, and how many women he has paid off to keep his affairs out of the news. We’d like to know whether he is a billionaire or billowing cauldron of hot air.

We’d certainly like to know these things.

However, after listening to him talk for a year on the campaign trail, being exposed to two years of non-coherent rambling coming out of the Oval Office, and being subjected to nonsensical tweets that appear to be written by someone taking an ESL course, our committee has decided there is something more important for Americans to know.

For this reason, we, on the House Intelligence Oversight Committee, have contacted Kew-Forest Elementary and New York Military Academy and subpoenaed Trump’s I.Q. tests results.

He should not be allowed to talk to one more foreign leaders—either publically or privately, or enact one more questionable policy decision snatched out of thin air after fermenting in that vat he calls his brain, albeit for 30 years or 30 seconds, until Americans know if their president possesses the basic intelligence needed to make high level decisions.

We don’t need a psychiatrist’s report to know if he’s crazy. We don’t need a quack doctor telling us he’s the healthiest president ever. We certainly know those around him lie as much as he does. We don’t need close friends or associates telling us he’s really a funny guy who’s simply getting a bad rap. We know for a fact that any rap he gets is a rap well deserved.

We do have to know, once and for all and beyond any reason of doubt, whether the president is an idiot, because we know what damage idiot leaders have done in the past.

Furthermore, it comes down to more than agreeing he acts like an idiot. Behaving like an idiot is every man’s right in a free country that guarantees the right to happiness, just as being able to vote for a man who behaves like an idiot is also a guaranteed right.

Maybe our founding fathers were too generous.

Nevertheless, behaving like an idiot and being an idiot are two different things.

A person who is not an idiot, but merely behaving like one, can shape up. He can wake up one morning, shake the cobwebs out of his head, and declare, enough is enough. I’m going to stop acting like a jerk. For a person who is not an idiot, this is a reasonable expectation. People turn their lives around all the time.

Let’s be honest. This is what we have all been hoping for. It doesn’t happen often, but it can happen, but it usually doesn’t.

Kids do it as part of the natural maturing process. They stop the name-calling, constant fighting, pushing and shoving. They become more responsible and less erratic. In short, they grow up. They can do this because they are not idiots.

Idiots don’t grow up. Their intelligence limitations keep them frozen in time—forever young, but unfortunately forever incapable of functioning in a grown-up world.

We don’t know what the case is with Trump. He could be someone simply pretending to be an idiot—and it would take a super smart person to explain why anyone would do this, or he could be an idiot. No one knows, but anyone who is not an idiot should want to know.

Trump often points to his brain and tells us what a smart man he is. This isn’t something we absolutely cannot take his word for.

We don’t believe him when he tells us how rich he and what a smart businessman he is because we know about the bankruptcies, business failures, and inability to get a loan from anyone other than Russian oligarchs.

We don’t believe him when he tells us he’s not a racist because he continues to spout racist comments, enact racist policies, and—to his great chagrin—racists seem to love him.

We don’t believe him when he tells us he’s not a misogynist because we have heard him so many times bragging about being a misogynist.

We can’t go on believing what he tells us about his “great brain” when we have seen so much that tells us just the opposite. We don’t know if he is really an idiot or whether it is all an act to make him more appealing—and someone, someday will have to explain to me how that works.

We don’t need to talk to him. That would tell us nothing because we know listening to him for the last forty years has told us nothing.

We need to see those I.Q. test scores.

After that, we can look at his financial records.

After that, there might be a lot of his own associates questioning their own intelligence.

One final point. We all have guts and we all have brains. Wise men, using their brains, understand that guts should only be used to digest their food. Trump is right about one thing. Nobody else's brain can ever tell him anything.

Sack of Potatoes startin' to look good—again



Potatoes doing what they do—nothing. Ya gotta love them.

I wrote a novel a while back entitled, Postal Service, which detailed the daily working of the USPS. Much of the novel centered on the relationship between management and the work force.

At one point, I suggested to a fellow carrier that we would be better off with a sack of potatoes as a supervisor. Naturally, when this got back to my supervisor—as these things always do—she jumped to the conclusion that I had accused her of being as dumb as a sack of potatoes.

I explained to her that anyone smarter than a sack of potatoes would know that wasn’t my intention. I told her she was an instigator, a trouble maker, someone constantly looking for a fight. I added that a sack of potatoes sitting at her desk, while unable to accomplish anything good, would nevertheless be incapable of creating so much havoc as she did on a daily basis.

Because of climate change, we are not even beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but it’s beginning to look like a sack of potatoes in the Oval Office wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

What if on November 8, 2016, Republicans who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Hillary Clinton, instead wrote in the name, Sacko Potato? What if American voters put a sack of potatoes in the Oval Office instead of Donald Trump?

To be sure, nothing would have been accomplished in the last year, meaning we would still have a vacancy on the Supreme Court. Also, we wouldn’t have had...well, actually that’s the only thing we wouldn’t have. Nothing else has been done.

So what else might a sack of potatoes not done?

For starters, it wouldn’t have named a foreign agent as head of the National Security Agency.

It wouldn’t have named Cabinet Secretaries to departments they want to destroy.

It wouldn’t have pulled out of the Paris Accords, which now essentially include everyone except us.

It wouldn’t have insulted virtually every leader in the world who isn’t a dictator.

It wouldn’t have waged a year-long war-of-words with a thin-skinned, arrogant, ego-driven boy-man—in short, his mirror-image.

It wouldn’t have gotten into spats with every significant member of Congress—Democrat or Republican.

It wouldn’t have gotten into public feuds with the NFL or the NBA or athletes in general.

It’s safe to say it probably wouldn’t have received the support of white supremacists, who are very particular who they hang around with.

It wouldn’t have turned on the free press while, at the same time, embrace conspiracy theorists.

It wouldn’t have insulted American Indians, Americans living in Puerto Rico, Americans who didn’t vote for him, Americans it happens to disagree with, or any American with a basic understanding of history or a working knowledge of the English language.

It wouldn’t have put its self-interest ahead of the country’s best interest.

It wouldn’t have turned the White House into a pre-school playground.

On almost any day, you can hear the news coming out of this administration or read a tweet coming off the president’s phone and say, “No sir. A sack of potatoes wouldn’t have done that.”

In the end, there is a lot that a sack of potatoes cannot do and will never be able to do, but thank God, for all the things that a sack of potatoes cannot do and will never do. That’s the sack half full/sack half empty look at potatoes.

It’s why sometimes I wish there were a sack of potatoes sitting in the Oval Office right now, stinking up the place instead of the stinker we have.  

I'm writing this because I can—and that's a good thing

I’ve been reading a book, Free Press, Free People: The Best Cause by John Hohenberg. The author explains the role of the press, its shortcomings, highlights, and most importantly, its impact on society and the many attempts to suppress and oppress it.      

In 1862, Prussian premier Otto von Bismarck’s goal wasn’t to destroy the already weak press so much as to bend it to his will. He bribed, threatened and saturated Prussian newspapers with false and misleading news articles favorable to him and his government. The press bowed to his demands so willingly that he referred to them as the “reptile press” crawling on its belly. 

The most powerful man in Europe at the time even admitted that “Decent people don’t write for me.”

What was he afraid of?

A half century earlier, Napoleon—another powerful yet insecure leader bragged, “They [the press] say only what I wish.” He was stating a fact because those that didn’t wound up in prison.

What was he afraid of?

Winning at all cost can cost a pretty penny

Donald Trump is the single most unqualified individual to ever come this close to winning the presidency. This is scary, but the scariest reality by far is that some Republicans, while agreeing he is unqualified are nevertheless admitting that they will vote for him.

Why?

Because they cannot possibly, under any circumstances, bring themselves to vote for Hillary Clinton. Hillary is a politician in a year when no one is hated more than politicians.

In fact, she is not hated within the Democratic Party as much as she is hated within the Republican Party who have hated the Clintons even before hating the Clintons was cool. In her favor, she is not hated within the Democratic Party as much as Trump is hated with the Republican Party.

It would seem that the Republican Party has cornered the hate market. I could be wrong. If so, tell me.

Who do they love?

The Republican Party has worked harder than anyone in the past eight years to foster a hatred of government, threatening to shut it down regularly and shutting it down on one occasion.

Then, in the height of arrogance, they have run on a platform that government isn’t working.

Winning is so important to Republicans—and losing, so distasteful—that they are willing to put the country at risk if it means salvaging a win.

To be sure, many Republicans cannot bring themselves to vote for Trump and will actually vote for Hillary because they realize what the stakes are.

Unfortunately, there are far more who while they cannot vote for him, will not vote for her. If this results in Trump winning the election, so be it. That’s the price, they will tell you, for living in a democracy.

Then, there are those who support Trump one hundred percent. They are behind him come hell or high water—and it will come because it always comes when you leave the gates open.

These folks like him because—

He is not politically correct.

He talks like them, says what they want to hear.

He is as angry as they are, even though like him, they don’t have that much to be angry about—upset with, maybe, but angry? Come on.

He is a smart businessman who has made billions.

Apparently, they also like him when they learn he is a businessman who has lost billions but smart enough to channel that loss into avoiding taxes for a couple of decades.

They like him because we’ve become a country that caters too much to the have-nots that he disparages at every opportunity he gets. It’s time, his supporters will tell you, that we start paying attention to them—many of them also have-nots, but have-nots in a good way, the American way.

I don’t blame Trump for his political success. I find much of his business success questionable and possibly abhorrent and don’t understand why more people don’t feel this way, but I never really understood the appeal of The Apprentice, so maybe I’m not the best person to judge.

He’s not the first person with an obnoxiously high opinion of himself.

I do blame those who support him despite never hearing a single proposal that made sense and a lot of stuff that makes no sense.

He wants to increase government spending, lower taxes and balance the budget. This alone should make Republicans want to look around and scream, “Next?”

The words out of his mouth are divisive, insulting, abrasive innuendos, easily disproven lies, and worst of all for a man who wants to be our spokesman to the world—incoherent.

I do not understand how winning could be so important to people that they would be willing to accept a Trump presidency. They have looked at all his negatives and decided he is better than someone who has worked for American citizens all her adult life, served honorably as a United States Senator, created a successful charitable foundation with her husband, served as Secretary of State during a difficult time that offered no easy solutions but plenty of opportunity for partisan criticism. In short, they are choosing a nincompoop over a politician because now, being a nincompoop seems more attractive than being a politician.

If Trump were to win, succeed in shaking the government up and it turns out badly, I think the consolation for many of his supporters would be, well, at least we won the election.

A not-so-famous man once said, “Winning isn’t everything. It is the only thing.” A famous man is credited with saying it but fact-checking, like politicians, are passé this year.

The point is, it wasn’t true then and it isn’t true now.  

Trump supporters had better come to their senses, because the matter rests largely in their hands. The next autopsy might be for the country and not just the Republican Party.

The Apprentice

The question on everybody's lips is how did we get to this point where nothing seems to make sense anymore. The answer can be found in this unseen segment of The Apprentice 

Donald Trump sits at his desk looking very managerial, very dignified. On the other side are three tycoon wannabes, finalists who have come to present their case for why they should be the next apprentice. They are two men, Tom and Dick, and one woman, Mary. All three are young, attractive, well-dressed and appear confident. We don’t know if they are intelligent but assume they are or else they wouldn’t have gotten this far.

Their project, which they have been working on for several weeks, is to breathe life into a once great, but now failing company. The moment of truth has arrived.

“So Tom, what are you prepared to do to restore this company to greatness?”

“More than these two jerks. I can tell you that.”

Trump looks taken aback but tilts his head ever so slightly. “Well, why don’t you tell me how?”

“This company is obviously being run by people who don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground. They don’t understand who their customers are and don’t seem to want to know. They have to go, they have to be gone if this company stands a chance of going anywhere.”

“And who would you replace them with?”

“Better people, obviously. People who aren’t jerks. People with get up and go. The current CEO has to go, be gone, outta here. Replacing him with me will be my first priority.”

Mary wasn’t waiting for an invite.

“Tom’s half right. The idiot running the company now is running it into the ground. He’s stupid and he is surrounded by stupid people, but I don’t see how putting another stupid person in charge is going to help. Make no mistake. This company can be great again—even better than great if that’s possible and I don’t see why it wouldn’t be with great leadership, which it doesn’t have now and don’t look like it’s gonna have any time soon if Tom or Dick get the job.”

“You bitch.”

“Shut up, Dick. I’ve got this.”

“You bitch.”

Mary saw this coming. Actually, she saw both of them coming. In fact, she was waiting for them.

“Ooooh. Big tough guys. I’ll tell you what this company doesn’t need is some macho man coming in and turning everything upside down.”

“So they need a macho woman?” Asked Dick, still trying to get a word in edgewise.

“Maybe you’re not as stupid as I thought, Dick, but I gotta tell you, I thought you were pretty stupid.”

“So Mary, what is your plan?” Asked a clearly flabbergasted Trump.

“To make this company great again.”

“I know. But how?”

Mary smiled, or thought she was smiling. No one else was seeing it. Nevertheless, she was happy to have the floor.

“Other companies are taking advantage of this company left and right.”

“Left and Right? What does that mean?”

“How many times do I have to tell you to shut up, Dick?”

“It doesn’t matter, Tom, because no one is listening to you. You know, and this isn’t just me talking, but I’ve heard others...I’m not saying who because some of them are nice people but some of them...many of them don’t...okay, all of them have told me they don’t know how you made it this far. You’re lazy and conceited and don’t have the demeanor to be a leader. You’re a nice guy and I respect you but you’re a jerk. Those aren’t my words. I heard Mary call you a jerk outside in the hall before we came in. I didn’t say it, she did, but she’s right. She’s right because she’s a jerk too and it takes one to know one.”

Trump had seen enough.

“All right. All of you be quiet. I’ve heard enough. More than enough. I don’t know what you guys are thinking, but the business world doesn’t conduct itself this way. Our decisions are based on hard, indisputable facts, not innuendo.

“And we treat each other with respect. My god, the American economy is the greatest economy in the world, so we must be doing something right. Yes, this company needs help but I really haven’t heard any of you say how you were going to help it. Denigrating its leaders isn’t going to make the company great again. It doesn’t work like that. At least it’s not the way it’s supposed to work.

“A successful businessman needs to deal with other businessmen. He needs to deal with his employees. He needs to know his customers and understand their needs. All these people aren’t suckers. They aren’t going to buy into a scam just because you dressed it up to make it sound appealing.

They can recognize a fraud when he’s standing right in front of them. This is the real world, by god, and problems in the real world need real solutions. Not the rudeness, bluster and bullyism I’ve been hearing from you three. They want to hear ideas and that is what I had hoped to hear.

“I don’t know what made any of you think that this foolishness would convince me to give you a job. You’ll be lucky if I provide you with cab fare home. What I’ve heard today will never garner success in the business world. In fact, I don’t know where this sort of behavior would be rewarded.”

As he spoke those last words, his eyes seemed to open up and a snarky smile seemed to take over his pouty lips. This has happened to him before and whenever it did, he knew something good was about to happen.

“Okay, the three of you. Out. Right now. Come on, get your shit together...all your notebooks and all that other crap. We’re done here.”

“Who gets the job? You promised one of us a job.”

“Sue me. It won’t be the first time. Now get out. I have an announcement to make.”

He got the press and network news on the line. He never liked going through channels...especially not for something this important. A briefing was hastily scheduled and within the hour, a crowd had swarmed around him.

“Thank you all for coming. As you now, I am a very successful businessman...probably one of the most successful businessman to have ever lived. I’ve always enjoyed being a businessman...making deals...turning run down property into great property. It’s what I do. Well, it’s what I used to do.

“I’m announcing today that I am entering a new field. I don’t know how I will do but I think I will do well because I think I have the talent to do well. I’ve enjoyed being a businessman and I have done a great job as a businessman, but the time has come to do something different. I’m tired of the politically correct business world where everyone has to be sooo nice because they don’t want to offend someone and maybe lose a deal. That’s what you have to do in the business world but you don’t have to do it in every world. You don’t have to be politically correct in the world of politics. In fact, in politics, being politically incorrect is actually a plus. So today, I am proud to announce I’m running for president. It’s time now to make our country great again. It’s a big job but not too big for me.

“Now I’m not a politician...at least I wasn’t a politician before, but I am going to be one. I am going to be a great politician because I can do what being a great politician need to do. I will tell people what they want to hear the way they want to hear it. I will be great and I will make America great again. America doesn’t need any more stupid leaders. It certainly doesn’t need a nice leader. It needs a great leader. God bless all of you, God bless America and God bless me. Thank you.”

He turned and walked away from a thunderous crowd that obviously heard what it wanted to hear. As he did so, he turned to an aide and whispered in his ear.

“Those three idiots we just sent home...get them back. Get them back immediately. While you’re at it, see if there are any more where they came from. We’re going to need staff and plenty of them.”