Schism

Just the Facts

I am not a Republican, so I don’t “ have a dog” in this fight.  In previous essays, I told Republicans to stay out of internal Democratic fights, so I shouldn’t be “kibitzing” into this one.  But as an historian and an observer of current affairs, the question is fascinating.  Are we seeing the schism of the Republican Party?

The fault lines are clear.   There are Republicans who are in favor of contesting the Presidential Election of 2020 in the Congress, and there are Republicans who are not.  On the “Trump” side, Republicans claim that the 2020 election was “rigged” and that the Democrats cheated to win.  They make this claim regardless of the facts – there is NO evidence that the Democrats really cheated.

Ron Johnson, Senator from Wisconsin, made the issue clear on Meet the Press yesterday.  “Millions of Americans have questions about the election results, and we need to stop the process and examine what really happened”. His logic is that the questions alone are enough to create the need to stop the election, even though he could not produce any evidence that fraud occurred. 

 NBC’s Chuck Todd called him out. Todd stated that the millions were only questioning because Johnson and his compatriots told them to question.  Johnson’s response was to deflect and accuse the Mainstream Media, “like you,” of covering up fraud.  But he couldn’t answer the question – because there is no evidence to back up the charges.

Started the Fire

Missouri Senator Josh Hawley claims that he only is exercising his Constitutional duty to investigate and represent the 72 million Americans who voted for Trump.  First, he overstates the numbers.  Polling shows that as many as 68% of those Trump voters think the election was rigged.  That’s 49 million.  But Senator Hawley, like Johnson, has been a leader in raising questions about the election, again, without evidence.  He is putting out a fire that he helped to start (WAPO).

Currently twelve Republican Senators will object to the results in the Congress on Wednesday.  Nineteen have stated that they accept the election outcome, and twenty have not made it clear where they stand.   And there will be as many as one hundred and forty Republican House of Representative members who will object to the count.  

Process and Procedure

But to stop the election of Joe Biden as President, it requires a majority of both the House and the Senate.  Democrats control the House, who of course will support Biden.  Republicans control the Senate by the narrowest of margins, 51 to 48, at least through Wednesday.  But unless all of those Republicans, including Sasse, Romney, Murkowski, and Toomey agree to vote against him, Biden will be President.  And those four Senators, and several more, have made it clear they will not vote against Biden.

Joe Biden will be inaugurated as President on January 20th.  So what is this all about?

Fault Lines

For five years, there has been a segment of the Republican Party who stood against Donald Trump.  Former Ohio Governor John Kasich was an early critic, refusing to withdraw from the 2016 Republican primaries.  But there were many others, including John McCain, former Republican Presidential nominee. And over Trump’s term others have emerged. Mitt Romney actually voted to remove Trump from office in the impeachment trial.  

A segment of the “political operatives” of the Party broke officially away from Trump.  Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele spoke out against him.  McCain Campaign Manager Steve Schmidt helped organize “The Lincoln Project” that was instrumental in campaigning against both Trump and his supporters in the 2020 election. 

And now the Electoral Vote certification process is forcing others to take a stand.  Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and seven former Republican Secretaries of Defense, including Vice President Dick Cheney, have come out against interfering with Biden’s election.  

Super Power

Donald Trump dominates the Republican Party through the power of his influence.  It is the “Sanford Effect”.  With a single tweet, Donald Trump caused the defeat of South Carolina Congressman Mark Sanford in the Republican primary.  Trump voters dominate Republican primaries, and as South Carolina showed, Trump can alter the results with a “word”.  

This “super power” has led former Trump opponents like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio to become sycophants.  But no one has reversed course harder than Lindsey Graham, who now hugs Trump as tightly as he can.  And the “Sanford Effect” has reached even farther, silencing Republicans like Nikki Haley, Rob Portman, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

For many of the non-Trump Republicans, this fight is about what the Republican Party stands for.  They are “traditional” Republicans like Nebraska’s Ben Sasse, worrying about Constitutionalism and deficit spending.  But for others, this crisis is about raw politics.

2024 Begins

The Presidential election of 2024 is already on.  Here’s the scenario:  Joe Biden will be eighty-two, and may chose not to run for a second term. Vice President Kamala Harris will be his “heir apparent”.  Unlike Biden, it will be easy to paint Harris as a “radical liberal” (to use Kelly Loeffler’s phrase).  So potential Republican candidates are maneuvering for position.  Some see themselves as the inheritor of the “Trump core”.  Others think the Party will revert back to the Romney-McConnell-Ryan Party of 2012. 

But what if the GOP becomes both?  The “Lincoln Project” Republicans are never coming back to a Trump-like Party.  Will they continue to lead the “schism” into two political forces, Trumpism and old-school Republicanism?  And if that happens, how will that impact the electoral future of America?  Will the division of the Republican Party push the “moderate Republicans” (think Kasich, or Governors Hogan of Maryland and Baker of Massachusetts) into a physical split with the Trumpers? 

Democratic Choices 

Democrats are left with a couple of choices as well.  A split Republican Party could encourage a split in the Democratic Party.  The “Sanders” progressive wing of the Party could decide to branch out on their own, leaving the more moderate Biden wing behind.  The moderates might be tempted to move even more to the middle, to “poach” the “middling Republicans”, as they tried to do in the 2020 election.

Or the Democrats could unite to take advantage of a divided GOP.  But don’t bet on that. After all, we are Democrats, and that would be far too easy.

Patriot or Traitor

Budding Politician

I spent much of my late adolescence and earlier twenties around politicians.  I was one myself, stepping onto the first rungs of the ladder that led to a political career.  At fourteen I was helping to strategize a local judge election.  By eighteen I worked to orchestrate a Congressional “Get Out the Vote” operation.  At twenty, the Carter/Mondale Campaign “handed me the keys” to six counties in Southwestern Ohio, and gave me major responsibilities in Cincinnati as well.  I went from there to work “on the Hill” for a Congressman in Washington and then again back at home in Cincinnati.  Four years later I was managing a Cincinnati City Council Campaign.

So I was around politicians a lot.  And while all of them did what they had to do to win the next election, many were looking forward to “making things better” when they got the opportunity to govern.  Even the folks “on the other side” seemed to be serious about improving the lives for their constituents, though they might have very different ideas about how to do it.

Divisiveness

Politics could still be divisive.  I “cut my teeth” at the end of the Vietnam War era.  One mentor campaigned for Ed Muskie in New Hampshire of 1972, and another learned his job from the Humphrey general election campaign in 1968.  There was nothing so divisive as Vietnam and Civil Rights, and both of those issues were still part of the environment when I started.  

Surrounded by politics and those that practiced the art from both sides, I grew to believe that most (not all) were indeed patriots. Sure they wanted to win and would do almost anything to succeed.  But they also wanted to help “their people”.   That included the folks that voted for and against them.  They cared about our history and traditions, and knew which lines to cross and which ones to respect.  And they ultimately saw themselves in the tradition of the Founding Fathers:  trying to continue and improve the American Experiment.  

In today’s polarized world, that view sounds antiquated and naïve.  But I still cling desperately to it.

Denial

But the current actions of many of our Congressmen and Senators are challenging my view.  They are purposely furthering a world where facts are no longer important, only fanciful stories of their leader.  It’s been going on for five years.  Before we ever got to the 2020 election, we ignored Robert Mueller.  His report was convoluted and afraid to reach conclusions.  But a plain reading of the four hundred some pages lead to two undeniable conclusions:  the Russians were involved in the 2016 Trump campaign, and the President and his men engaged in a two year campaign to obstruct that fact.

Whether it was enough to “convict” or “impeach” might be arguable – but the facts Mueller presented were clear to read.

That those same “respected” and “old school” Republican politicians would echo the Trump theme of “Russian Hoax” was saddening.   And the same was true with the Impeachment.  Again, the facts were clear, we all knew exactly what the President wanted Ukraine to do, and how he was going to get them to do it.  Some of the Republican Senators at least acknowledged the plain truth of that and then simply said it wasn’t enough to remove the President.  But others fell in line with the Trump “perfect call” defense.

It’s Over

And now there’s the election of 2020.  In the United States, we measure our winners and losers in terms of Electoral votes.  We were reminded of that again in 2016.   Who wins the majority of popular votes really doesn’t matter:  ask Hillary Clinton or Al Gore.  But “them’s the rules that we play by”:  that’s what we were told in 2016 and 2000.  And Gore and Clinton swallowed hard and did the “American thing”.  They stood in front of the nation and acknowledged their loss.  Bothdid what the folks I grew up with would do.  They were “pros”; good politicians, even though it was the hardest thing they would ever do.

That Donald Trump refused to do so isn’t a surprise to anyone.  And that he would create a false narrative of widespread fraud isn’t surprising either.  He set that fake scenario up from the beginnings of the 2020 campaign.  Americans, and politicians, should look at him and see him for what he is:  an amateur. 

Not Just Politics

What is incredibly concerning is that so many other Republican politicians have made the decision to go along with this rank amateur for one more time.  It’s not about being “true believers”. They aren’t all stupid (though Congressman Gohmert might be the exception).  Those Congressmen and Senators understand the facts, but they reached a political conclusion making their career more important than the course of the nation.  They are more afraid of losing their “seat”, than the fate of the American experiment. 

These “politicians” are the antithesis of patriots.  Their self-interest is more important than their country.  Instead of “leading” their followers, they are following them.  They have more in common with Benedict Arnold than George Washington (and yes, I just called them traitors).

And it’s not just in statement and tweets.  On Wednesday they will actually stand for something that they must know is false.  They will question the results of the American election – the core basis of our Constitutional system.   And they will do it in the full knowledge that they are lying.  

It won’t change the outcome – Joe Biden will be the next President.  But it will damage the fabric of our nation once again.  What else is a better definition of treason?

Operation Warp Speed

Star Trek

I was a Star Trek guy, a Trekkie, from the very beginning.  I watched the first airing of Star Trek as a ten year old in September 1966.  The memory is distinct, not so much for the show, but because a car hit our dog Louie in front of the house just as the credits were rolling.  Louie didn’t make it, but I still watched more Trek, all of the originals, most of the Next Generation, some of Deep Space Nine, a few Voyagers, and on and on.  

What I missed the first time around I caught on re-runs, from Captain Kirk’s first interracial kiss with Lieutenant Uhura (a bad Olympian God made him do it) to giving up the woman he loved for the universe in The City on the Edge of Forever.  I am a Trekkie – I’ve watched the movies, and I watched the new series, Star Trek Discovery, yesterday afternoon. 

The Original

But it was the original Trek that gave us most of the famous lines.  “More Power Mr. Scott”, “I’m a Doctor, not a bricklayer”, “Captain, the engines can’t take it any longer”, “Live Long and Prosper”, and the ubiquitous “Beam me up Scottie”.  It was the original authors who came up with the “magic” engine drive that pushed Starships across the Universe. Zefram Cochrane developed the “Warp Engine” out of the ashes of World War III. Cochrane was born in the not so distant future, sometime in the 2030’s.  His “Warp Drive” that could bend space, allowed vehicles to shortcut through “subspace” to a far location.  

How did Cochrane do it?  He discovered that some left over nuclear weapons could be used to make plasma to inject into a “Warp Drive Core”.  Later, they found that dilithium crystals could do the job more efficiently.  And one of the great dangers on the original Enterprise was degradation of the dilithium crystals:  no crystals, no Warp drive.

Appropriation

OK, enough about Star Trek.  But it’s not my fault.  I blame it on President Trump.

After all, he named the mission to create a vaccine for COVID-19 “Operation Warp Speed”.  There is no other “Warp Speed” but from Star Trek, so when Trump starting using Trekkie language, it’s “open season” on using Trek analogies.

And, credit where credit is due, the first half of “Operation Warp Speed” worked.  The historic long-term five to ten year process of vaccine development was condensed to less than ten months.  (It should be noted that scientists did get a “head start”, working with corona viruses, though not COVID-19, for years).  The Pfizer Company chose not to participate in the development phase of “Operation Warp Speed” and developed the vaccine themselves.  But others:  Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, Astra-Zeneca all did get funding and help from “Warp Speed”.   Two vaccines are up and running, two others are just weeks from approval. 

But having a vaccine doesn’t mean a thing if it doesn’t get in people’s arms.  There is a famous story about the early days of penicillin.  As World War II began, if both Churchill and Roosevelt needed the drug, there wasn’t enough available to save them both.  Making the drug is one thing, getting it out to the public is quite another.

Herd Immunity

And what does that mean?  In the United States there are near 330 million people. “Herd immunity” from COVID-19 is the point when most Americans won’t be at risk from the disease. It requires around eighty percent, or 264 million Americans to either be vaccinated, or have immunity because they contracted COVID.  Right now, more than 20 million Americans have been diagnosed with COVID, so we need 220 million Americans to get the vaccine.

“Operation Warp Speed” – the Trump plan, set a target of 20 million Americans vaccinated by January 1st.   Here on December 31st, about 2.5 million have actually received the first shot (of two).  We aren’t at “Warp Speed”; in Trekkie terms we are operating on “impulse power” only, or maybe just on “maneuvering thrusters”.  At the rate were going, we won’t get to “herd immunity” until 2030, about the time Zefram Cochrane is supposed to be born.

The Process

What is the problem?  The “model” that President Trump used to disseminate the vaccine, is the same one used throughout the COVID crisis.  His idea is that the Federal Government may supply the materials:  the tests, the protective gear, and suggestions on how to stop the spread.  But it’s up to the state and local governments to put all of those into effect.   

There are two reasons for this.  First, it places the responsibility for the hard decisions, like closing businesses and schools and locking down residents, on local authorities. And that works for the President politically.  He’s the big supplier without being the “bad guy”.  When it’s to his advantage, he attacked the state and local leaders required to make tough choices.  And second, it pushed a lot of the costs from the Federal Government onto the State and Local governments.  Trump didn’t get stuck with the bill.

So “Operation Warp Speed” is producing a lot of vaccine.  Those vials are getting on trucks, and headed out to the states. And that’s where they stop.  State and Local Departments of Health are already incredibly overburdened with testing and tracing. And those same agencies are being attacked both by politicians and civilians because of the health restrictions they recommend.  

Now add to that the need to prioritize, organize, and optimize vaccinations.  It’s no surprise that they are failing, like a dilithium crystal left in the warp core chamber far too long.   It’s like the Starship Enterprise with a cadet crew (isn’t that the theme of the movie, The Wrath of Khan?).  

Where No Vaccine Has Gone Before

What needs to happen?  We need the organizational structure of James T. Kirk, Captain, or maybe even the more sophisticated command of The Next Generation’s Jean Luc Picard.  We need the whole Federation, the Federal government of the United States, to step in and get the vaccine to the people.  We can’t depend on the Licking County Heath Department to take charge of this; they’re stretched beyond belief already.  We need the United Federation of Planets (or the United States of America) to take charge.  They’ve got the resources, the personnel, and the mandate to “go where no vaccine has gone before”.  Then we really can get to “warp speed”.   

“More power, Mr. Scott!!”

Thanks Newt

Tuesday’s Workout

Somewhere in the middle of Tuesday’s workout, I changed channels.  My standard MSNBC Morning Joe was doing a review of the year; and 2020 was bad enough the first time.  So I made a foray into the alternate universe of Fox and Friends. I used that to distract me from the “special high intensity training” of a stiff resistance elliptical machine setting. And Fox often gets me fired up to work even harder.  Yesterday was no exception:  former Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, was propounding on the state of politics today.

It didn’t hurt my motivation that one of Gingrich’s first statements was that there was no need for Congress to increase the $600 stimulus.  Millions of Americans “made money” on the pandemic he said, in fact, “…millions of government workers, particularly teachers, sat on their butts doing nothing and collecting their paychecks,” during the crisis.

I retired from public school teaching in 2014, but I did take a full-time substitute-teaching job on March 9th of 2020. A week later the pandemic closed the school, and I was one of those teachers who went home to prepare to teach “online”.  For the next two months, I learned all about developing video lectures and Zoom classes, Google classroom communication and online testing.  I am, in the teaching world, an “old dog” but I had to learn a whole lot of new tricks. It was the hardest teaching I did in a thirty-six year career.  Yes, I was at home, and yes, I was sitting on my “butt” in front of a computer.  But, like most teachers then and now, I was working that “butt” off to try to teach my kids.

So that got my through a mile of Tuesday’s workout.

A Revolution?

Watching Newt reminded me of the “Revolution of ‘94” he led.  This was before Trump and the Tea Party, but Gingrich was able to gain control of the House of Representatives in 1994 with his “Contract with America” program. It promised less government and more “freedom”.  The overall theme of Newt’s program:  

  • Congress is full of fraud, waste and abuse
  • Government must balance the national budget
  • Legislators should be termed limited
  • Social Security should be privatized 
  • Stricter punishments for criminals
  • Cut welfare programs
  • Reduce legal liability protection (tort reform)
  • Reduce government regulation of business.

Now that Joe Biden is going to be the Forty-Sixth President of the United States, we are going to hear many of those same themes once again.  The “Contract with America” was a “repackaging” of the standard Republican line when they aren’t in power.  It’s already happening.  Republicans in the Senate are now worrying that the Government is spending too much money to combat the pandemic economic collapse.  This is after they have voted to give more than a trillion dollars in tax cuts in the past three years, mostly to those Americans with the top one percent of income. And this week they are ready to override a Presidential veto and spend $738 billion for the National Defense Authorization Act.  

Priorities

The difference between Republicans and Democrats really isn’t about how much money they are willing to spend.  It’s what they want to spend the money on.   Spend money on incredibly expensive aircraft that are ready to fight the Cold War of the 1960’s:  most Republican legislators think that’s great.  General Dynamics and Boeing and Raytheon all need the contracts.  Spend money to allow Americans to stay at home and stop the spread of COVID, like most other modern industrial nations – well, workers need to get off their “butts” and get to work.  Let’s call them “essential” so they feel important, but not provide the funds to safely get their jobs done.

I look at Newt Gingrich, now an author of historical novels and a paid commentator for Fox, and I see the beginnings of the ugly “alternative news” world we live in today.  He promised a “freedom” that benefited the wealthy, and that “freedom” made life even harder for everyone else.  It “remade” the Republican Party into one with a “populist” agenda, but that agenda still aimed to “free” the wealthy to keep gaining wealth.  

Sounds a lot like Mitch McConnell or Donald Trump today, doesn’t it?

Three miles done, uphill, both ways:  time to climb down from the elliptical and get on with the day.  

Thanks Newt!

Trump’s Last Stand

Precedent

“He who doesn’t know history is doomed to repeat it”.   That’s the quote we heard, particularly from our high school history teachers during some slow and arcane chapter in the study of the past.  But, like a lot of history, that’s not quite how the quote goes.  Philosopher George Santayana gets “the credit” for the idea.  He said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.  

In our legal processes “the past” is critical to what occurs today.  In the American process, we depend on written legislation, codified or statutory law, to determine what the “law” is.  But the basis of American law is English Common Law, developed from Law Courts of the medieval times.  And English Common Law is based wholly on precedent, on what judges determined in similar cases in the past.  Our current legal system is a hybrid:  statutory law is important, but how judges interpreted that statutory law is just as important in determining outcomes.  

Courts aren’t the only parts of our Government bound by precedent.  The United States Congress is highly cognizant of their two hundred and thirty two year history.  It should be little surprise that the second Vice President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson originally developed the Rules governing the House and Senate in 1801.  Those rules are still part of what governs their actions today. So when they look to procedure in the Congress, their first look is to the past.  

Alexander Hamilton 

Current Congressman Louie Gohmert is attempting to overturn the Presidential election of 2020.  The Texan is calling for a “revolution”; he’s trying to claim a Parliamentary power for the Vice President of the United States, acting as the Presiding Officer (the President) of the Senate.  And that is how we head down the “rabbit hole” of precedent.

Here’s where Thomas Jefferson, and Aaron Burr, come in.  The United States Constitution (Article II, § 1) established the method of using the Electoral College for choosing the President and Vice President.  The states chose Electors, and each Elector cast two votes for President.  The winner of the majority of votes became President and second place was Vice President.  That worked for George Washington who won and John Adams who got a few votes and became the first Vice President.  And it worked for Adams in 1796.  He defeated Jefferson and became the second President.  But four years later, when Jefferson ran against Adams, things hit a snag.

Jefferson’s Party, the Democratic-Republicans (now Democratic) ran Jefferson for President, and New Yorker Aaron Burr for Vice President.  Each elector cast their two votes for President, and Jefferson and Burr tied, with Adams taking third.  Since there was a tie, even though it was clear that Jefferson was the “head” of the Democratic-Republican ticket, the choice for President was thrown to the House of Representatives to decide.

The House voted by state to break a tie for President (still does).  In the House of 1801, by State the Federalist Party controlled.  That meant that the Federalists had to decide which Democratic-Republican candidate they wanted for President.  While Adams was the “head” of the Federalist Party, the real power still resided in the Party founder, Alexander Hamilton, Burr’s New York rival.  Hamilton threw his support to Jefferson, and Jefferson won.  We know how the rest of the Burr-Hamilton story goes.

12th Amendment

Recognizing the flaw in the system, the Congress and states passed the 12th Amendment to the Constitution in 1804.  That altered the process so that the Electors cast one vote for President, and one vote for Vice President.  There could still be a tie for President or Vice President, but it wouldn’t happen the same way as it did in 1800.  And that process worked, even when no candidate won a majority of the Electoral votes for President in 1824.  The House acted as the “tiebreaker”, choosing John Quincy Adams from the field of three.

So the process went along its merry way, through the four-way contested election of 1860, and even during the Civil War.  It wasn’t until 1876 that the system hit another “snag”.  In that election, the Republican Party nominated Ohio Governor Rutherford B. Hayes to run against Democrat New York Governor Samuel Tilden.  It was the first election after the Civil War when all of the former Confederate states were allowed to vote again, and, not surprisingly, there was controversy in some of them.  In South Carolina two sets of Electors were sent to Congress for President, a set for Tilden, and a set for Hayes.  Whichever set was allowed to “count” would determine who would become President.

It all turned into a political mess, tied to the removal of the Union Reconstruction troops from the South.  Ultimately, the Democrats gave up the Tilden Presidency in order to get the troops out, and Hayes was declared the winner.  But it was a near thing. The deal wasn’t made until March 2nd, only two days before the inauguration.  

US Code Title 3

After that close call of “who gets to be President”, Congress passed a law called “The Electoral Count Act of 1887”.  In 1948 that law was “codified” into the United States Code, Title 3, the law that governs how Congress determines the President and Vice President today.

US Code Title 3 established an elaborate calendar for the determination of “legal” electors.  It places the responsibility of determining electors on the states, and sets a “date certain” when the states decisions are considered final.  That date certain was December 14th of 2020 for this election, and every state met that standard.  Those Electors were then certified by the Governor of each state, and those certified “Electoral Votes” were transmitted to the “Archivist of the United States”, a guy named David Ferriero at the National Archives, in the proper time.  He’s got the votes, and they are all “legal”.

US Code Title 3 then establishes the date when the Congress will meet in joint session (House and Senate together in the House chamber) to actually count the votes.  Under the 12th Amendment and the Code, the Vice President of the United States presides over the joint session.  He will open and present the certificates of electoral votes to be counted, by state in alphabetical order.

As each certificate is read by the Vice President, “…he shall call for objections, if any”.  Under US Code 3 §15, for an objection to be made, it must be made “…clearly and concisely in writing,” and be signed by a least one member of the House and the Senate.  If an objection is submitted, the Senate withdraws back to their chamber, and both Houses have two hours to debate the issue.  After the debate, each House must by majority agree to the objection for it to be sustained.

Louie’s Folly

So let’s get down to it.  Congressman Gohmert can object to the Electoral votes certificate of any state.  And, if he can get a Senator to go along with him, the House and Senate can debate for two hours for each objection.  But in the end, the Democratic controlled House, and likely even the Republican controlled Senate, won’t agree.  So Donald Trump will not be President on January 20th, and Joe Biden will.

And if the Texas Congressman can get a Federal judge in Texas to order Vice President Pence to violate US Code 3 and recognize the non-certified “electors” from Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin and the other “contested” states, reversing the election, it doesn’t mean Pence will do it.  Even if he does, then 222 Democratic Congressmen and 48 Senators will rise up to object.  And while the Senate will still be Republican controlled at the time, it is more than unlikely that all 51 Republican Senators will vote to overturn the election results.  It would only take two “defections” for Biden to win. (Note: on January 6th the Georgia Senate runoff won’t be “certified”, and Kelly Loeffler will be the only Senator from Georgia).  

It would require Vice President Pence to break US Code 3 and read “non-certified” results.  And it would make for more “Congressional drama”, as if we haven’t had enough in the past four years.  We would get to find out once and for all if the power of the “Trump Tweet” is able to overcome 232 years of precedent.   But it would be the fitting place for “Trump’s Last Stand”.  

Splitting America

Building a Fire

When I was a “Tenderfoot” (rookie) Boy Scout, one of the first things we were taught was how to build a fire.  It was Scouting of the 1960’s.  Our Scoutmasters fought across Europe in World War II and they were tough.  We camped through everything, including sub-zero temperatures and tornados.  And while building a fire during a tornado wasn’t practicable, in the winter fire building was a necessary survival skill.

What most “Tenderfeet” wanted to do was lay some logs on top of some dry newspaper, and strike a match.  What we found was that the paper would burn, the logs smoke a little, and the fire never caught.  The older Scouts took some pleasure in watching us fail, and then showed us “the Boy Scout Way”.  We were sent off into the woods to gather twigs and sticks of various sizes.  They taught us to pick the wood from the trees, not off of the ground, where it was wet (or snow covered).  

When we returned with our bundles, we carefully sorted the wood into sized piles.  Then our elders would hand us a hand axe (Woo Hoo!!) to split the bigger logs into smaller chunks.  And finally, when we had an assortment of sizes from tiny to logs, we were allowed to actually build a fire (lean-to, tepee, log cabin to name a few). 

By the time we were done, we often were warm.  The process of building a fire itself got us heated.  So the first lesson was that work made you warm; standing around waiting was a good way to freeze.  The second was that only the hottest fires could burn whole logs.  To make a fire, you have to split logs into splinters.  They burned faster and hotter, and led to a big “log burning” fire, they kept everyone warm.

Trump Steals Christmas

Over the Christmas holiday, the President of the United States refused to sign the combined “omnibus spending bill” and “Covid Relief bill” just passed by Congress.  The giant legislation includes authorization for government spending for the next several months:  domestic spending, government spending, and foreign aid.  Without its passage the US Government loses the legal power to spend money, and therefore closes.  That happens on Monday night.

We’ve gone through Government “shutdowns” before.  It’s tough on millions of Federal employees, and also tough on various groups that depend on government spending for their livelihood.  But even in this Trump Administration we spent almost a month with the government “shutdown”, and ultimately we were OK.

But the Covid Relief Bill is the law that would extend benefits that many Americans got back in April to help survive the pandemic economic crisis.  It includes increased unemployment benefits and protection from eviction and foreclosures from not paying rent or mortgages.  And it includes a stimulus check of $600 for many Americans.

In the Room

The President himself was never at the negotiating table.  Instead, he sent his Secretary of Treasury, Mnuchin, to do the negotiating for him.  And Mnuchin sided with the Republican Senators who didn’t want ANY stimulus check at all.  But, in the tradition of legislative compromises, the Democrats gave up direct aid to state and local governments, and instead got the $600 stimulus.  The original Democratic proposal contained both government aid and a $2000 stimulus.  But the President’s man and the Republican Senators wouldn’t allow it, so the “Gang of Eleven” in the Senate put this compromise together.

The two bills, Omnibus and Covid, were combined because that created the necessary “pressure” to get the legislation through.  Closing the Government is always a big deal and something to be avoided, and the early Covid relief legislation ends in the last week of December.  It all worked together to get a deal done, before Christmas, and before more Americans had to suffer the economic consequences of shutting down and Covid.

Salty

The modern term for Donald Trump is “salty”.  He’s mad:  mad at the Republicans in Congress for not following his desire to overthrow the election, mad at Democrats for winning the election, and mad at the American people for making Donald Trump a loser.  And Trump is also looking forward to a vague and scary future.  Will he face civil and criminal charges, Federal and State?  Will he be able to pay the hundred of millions of dollars in bank loans that are coming due?  

Trump wants to be a “winner” again, a powerful man; not a “lame-duck” President left out of the process.  So he is exercising his remaining Presidential powers.  He’s pardoned his friends and supporters.  He pandered to his political base by pardoning Americans convicted of war crimes against Iraqi civilians.  And he pardoned his convicted campaign aides, and his son-in-law’s father.

The President has found a way to build a “hotter fire”.  He’s taking the combined bill in front of him, and “split” it apart, just like us Tenderfeet learned how to split logs.  Trump has determined that most of those getting help from Covid relief, the unemployed and those facing eviction, voted for Biden anyway.  Why should he help them?

And he knows that many Americans getting the “stimulus” check are likely to be his supporters.  He loved the fact that his signature was on the first stimulus check last May, and he wants that to be his late Christmas “present” to his supporters.  But a $600 check ($2400 for a family of four) really isn’t dramatic. However, what about a $2000 check ($8000)? Well that’s a real present from the President that people will remember.

Splitting Wood

He’s not holding up the process just because he’s “salty”.  Trump has made a political calculation.  If somehow the “strange bedfellows” of Trump, Schumer and Pelosi actually get a $2000 stimulus, Trump wins.  If that ultimately fails, then Trump was the one who wanted to “cut” government spending (the foreign aid) and still support “his people” (the stimulus).  So what if folks end up literally living “on the street” during a pandemic in the wintertime:  they probably voted for Biden anyway.  Trump is a winner!!

Donald Trump is looking to his future.  He wants “his base” to continue their support, with fanatical devotion to Trumpism, and checks pouring into “MAGA” funds.  He wants to keep the “fire” hot, and the only way he can do it is to split America until small enough pieces that they continue to burn.  For Donald Trump, as long as the fire is going, he wins.

The Chaos of Christmas

Shopping

It’s Christmas Eve.  In my younger years, this was the first (and last) day to get my Christmas shopping done.  Pressure is a remarkable thing: when you don’t have a lot of time, or a lot of choices Christmas shopping goes pretty quick.  Saving money wasn’t the objective; crossing off the list, and headed for home, was the plan.

Christmas Eve then was a day of pressure and solution.  Get done shopping, and get on with the celebration.  The “clock and the calendar” were ticking:  get the presents, get packed, and get home to Cincinnati.  In later years I learned to spread the shopping over a few days.  I would go to a mall where I was unlikely to see folks I knew, far across town, and get my presents done.  And even later, the Internet changed the process.  A lot of shopping went online.  But I miss my annual trip, pressing through the crowds at City Centre, or Tuttle Crossing, or Polaris.  

And, of course, COVID Christmas is completely different. The shopping was done weeks ago (except for some Dollar Store stocking stuff), and was all from the kitchen table.  Santa’s sleigh may be loaded, but FedEx and UPS and Amazon are the reindeer this year, delivering my gifts both here and across the country.  Merry Christmas – the folks in the delivery trucks are doing the job.

In the Room

And this is the fourth, and last, Christmas of the Presidency of Donald J. Trump.  He came in the New Year of 2017, in a flurry of Executive Orders, Alternative Facts, and outright lies.  So, to quote Lincoln, “…it is altogether fitting and proper…” that his Presidency end with just as much chaos, just as much disruption, and just as much concern about the fate of our Nation.

Just like buying all my presents on Christmas Eve, the United States Congress works best under pressure.  The “clock and calendar,” (Congressman Doug Collins’ best contribution to the public discourse) of deadlines sharpens the mind and gets work done.  The National Defense Act, the Omnibus Spending Bill, and the COVID relief Bill all popped out of the Congress the weekend before Christmas.  All through the House, and all through the Senate, the staff was stirring.  Over five thousand pages of legislation had to get to the White House, get the President’s signature and become the law. 

To quote Hamilton, the Musical, this is “… the art of the trade, how the sausage is made”.  And in the “room where it happened” weren’t just members of the House and the Senate.  The President’s men were in there too, led by the Secretary of the Treasury, Steve Mnuchin.  Everyone was “on board”, with the exception of some parts of the Defense Act.  

President Trump decided to veto the Defense Act.  His argument is that the United States shouldn’t rename bases that are currently named for Confederate Generals.  But, more importantly for Trump, he wants “Section 230”, a portion of law that protects Internet Social Media services removed.  What that’s got to do with the National Defense, no one is certain, but here it is.

Keeping the Spotlight

But Trump also is trying to renegotiate the COVID relief bill, which is part of the Omnibus Spending Bill, the bill that allows the US government to continue to spend money.  After all of the “sausage was made”, he wants to start over.  The passed bill calls for a $600/person check for Americans.  But now, after the process is done, Trump calls for it to be $2000.  That was the Democratic legislators’ position at the beginning of the negotiations, the Republican Senators whittled it down to $600.  

But the “whittling” was the way the deal was made.  And since Trump absented himself from the “room where it happened”, he cut himself out of the deal.  Now, with all of the balancing done, he’s upset the Omnibus apple cart.

Why now, why did he wait?   He is dribbling out pardons like candy canes at a Christmas parade.  Why are war criminals, tax cheats, and former Trump campaign aides all now free?  And after creating all of this disruption, this chaos, what did the President do?  He headed to Florida – it’s time for his last government sponsored vacation.

It’s Christmas Eve.  Don’t expect President Trump to be upstaged by Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, or even Santa Claus.  The Trump team – “On Jared, Ivanka, Eric and Don (and of course led by Rudy)” might get their “Get Out of Jail Free” card tonight.  And, of course, the real crazies are ready for the “insurrection”.  Today is the day for them.

It’s the last Donald Trump Christmas, and he’s going to be front and center. Right in the middle of the Chaos.  

Merry Christmas!!!!

The Christmas Story – Babs Dahlman

The Christmas Story

The magic of Christmas is a powerful magic indeed.  It transforms ordinary streets into fanciful avenues of multicolour lights, it inspires the tone-dead to join in merry carols, it can soften the heart of a Scrooge.  Christmas magic reunited the scattered families, causes perfect strangers to greet one another and fills up the churches – and the magic continues to work season after season.

Miracles happen to only those that believe in them – at Christmas time people believe in miracles.  The very atmosphere tingles with anticipation of wishes that might come true.  At Christmas time we recapture some of the light-hearted faith of childhood when it was easy to believe in Santa driving his reindeer across the skies, when it was even possible to hear, if one listened closely, the faint jingle of his sleigh bells in that endless night of wishing for Christmas Day to dawn.

This is a time of anticipation; excitement builds as each new sign of Christmas appears.  Store windows are decorated, spruce and fir trees make forests of parking lots, Salvation Army bands play carols on street corners, the community trees glow on the squares or on the village green.  Schools begin rehearsal for Nativity Plays.  In homes Christmas cards are addressed, parties planned, cookies decorated.  As Christmas Day draws near it seems that everyone is waiting for something – for the snow to fall – for the arrival of the exciting annual packages from relatives far away – for the thrill of bringing home the Christmas tree and rediscovering in the attic or basement ornaments from Christmas past.

Now is the time when children reveal their impossible dreams and desires.  Little girls are not afraid to wish for ponies and little boys dream of space ships that will really fly to the moon.  Even sensible adults are caught up in the spirit of what might be.  A vision of perfect family happiness is part of the season and they plunge willingly into all sorts of preparations and plans in order to give the priceless gift on Christmas Day.

The mystery and magic that surrounds Christmas Day is due in part of the many legends that have grown around his important celebration.  If animals could talk on Christmas Eve and cows kneel down in their stall them might not another miraculous event take place?

So the sense of excitement grows until Christmas morning dawns, at last making clear what all the preparations and waiting meant.  It is the birth of Christ which took place 2000 years ago but still happened in the hearts of men every Christmas of every year. 

The age of miracles past?  No, the age of miracles is forever here.  Faith in miracles is the true magic of Christmas.

And now I would reminisce a little about when I was a child.  Christmas in England began long before the 24th of December.  About the middle of December the schools would close and then everyone was home for the holidays.  It was always exciting preparing for the Big Day.  My parents would take us to the West End of London to see the shops with all of the decorations and toys.  We would pick out things we would like to have and make a wish list.  Then came the wonderful trip – to Harrods Tea Room with the pink table clothes and Christmas decorations and Rum Babas for tea (It is still the same – I was back there last month).  Every store tries to outdo the other in the Christmas Fairyland.  I can remember one store that turned their entire basement into a Venice and the gondolas would take us to see Father Christmas who would pat on gently on the head and promise to visit us on Christmas Eve.

We made many presents in those days and with the help of my sisters I would make what I thought were exquisite gifts for my family and friends.  About two weeks before Christmas we would help make the Christmas puddings.  All our friends and neighbours would come in and stir, and make a wish and drink a little ginger wine.

The Sunday before was always devoted to collecting holly and other evergreens to deck the house.  Then came Christmas Eve with every growing excitement in the air and the fat turkey was made ready for the oven the next day.

Although we longed to help decorate we were sent to bed early, and it was really more exciting knowing that in the morning the house would be transformed into Fairyland.  Every picture and ornament had its own holly, its own wreath.  Even the Drawing Room, entered only when on best behaviour and not too often, had a merry air as if it were celebrating Christmas.

Along the rail at the top of the stairs hung our stockings.  I always borrowed my brother’s, it was yellow wool and very large.  The stocking hung limp and lifeless but so soon changed into a treasure of good things.  We could hear soft talk from downstairs and the merriment of last preparations then a hush and footsteps and scurrying – it must be Father Christmas – we dived down under our sheets.

On our honour we left our stockings untouched until five in the morning and then one brother slipped out to collect our treasures.  The feel of a fat stocking—even today when I smell the oranges it brings back a nostalgic pang of a stocking swollen out of all reason by the contents.  My stocking always had the last rose of the garden coming out of the top (I was the baby). 

The smell – the indescribable smell of wool and orange.  Such inexpensive contests but such jewels – a box of crayons, paints, books, pencils, tin trumpet, chocolate animals, pink sugar mice, one larger toy and always modelling clay which amused me hour after hour.  So long ago, yet I can remember the complete happiness of those Christmas mornings as if it were yesterday.  And there sitting in the hall was the big parcel from Aunt Nellie.  She never failed us.

By this time breakfast would be ready and then off to Mass – the whole family – and the glow of Christmas in church with the Crib Scene, the choir singing, the altar boys swinging the incense:  the joyous celebration of Christmas.

 Back home we would all troop into the Drawing Room and there would be the tree draped in tinsel and beautiful ornaments and on the top the angel always for me (the youngest).  Garlands of greenery were strung from corner to corner decorating the room, almost like a garden.  Under the tree were stacks of gifts and toys were displayed with our names – dolls and trains and games – such excitement.  My Father would then go to the piano and play carols and then strum his banjo with me on his knee.  My mother and sisters would be preparing the feast which we ate around two o’clock:  the big fat turkey, the beautiful white damask table cloth and then the pudding (my father always slipped a three penny piece in my portion, it was for luck) and the mince pies with their delicate pastry crust.

Then we would have a quiet time until five when all our relatives would arrive.  More present changing including the opening of Aunti Nellie’s box.  She was a spinster but always had such wonderful surprises.  Then teatime came.  The tea table decked with gay pull-crackers, the huge iced cake in the centre, jellies, fruit salad and all the things dear to children.  Then the evening in the warm and cosy drawing room, which shed its solemn air:  like Fairyland itself.  We all had to perform – a poem, a recital on the piano, magic tricks: adults and children all did something.  Then the games we played.  How funny we thought the adults were.  We played charades; we played a card game named PIT; we stuffed ourselves with sweets, nuts, dates and Oh that wonderful Turkish delight – a jellied square covered in powdered sugar.

Finally I staggered up to bed clutching the angel from the treetop – the one that had been put there especially for me. Another Christmas Day was over:  never disappointing, always wonderful.

The next day was BOXING DAY – a day given to those who had served us through the year.  The butcher, the baker, the milkman, the grocer, all in their best clothes would come calling.  We waited upon them and gave them their Christmas boxes.  It was an open house.

The week after Christmas was full of excitement still with pantomimes and circus and many Christmas parties.  Every day was busy with family and friends.

 I’ve tried with much tradition to carry on Christmas in the same way:  more sophistication – the presents more expensive – the stereo playing instead of the piano.  The stockings are opened together on our bed but there is still the same expectancy – the same wonder and the same glow.  I can’t wait to see the wide-eyed look on our five-year-old grandchildren’s faces on Christmas morning.  The pink sugar mice won’t be in the stockings but all the funny little things I collect all year will be there and the stockings will be swollen and heavy.  Oranges will be in the toes and my eyes will be misty with memories of my Christmas childhood but thrilled with the tradition continuing of the peace, love and happiness of the Christmas miracle.

The New Senate

2020

There is one thing that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, is agreed upon.  This year 2020 has been the most difficult one in our memories.  From New Year’s and the impeachment trial, to the pandemic, forest fires, and the longest Presidential election in history:  2020 lasted at least a decade.  

And it’s not over.  The final act of 2020 won’t be the “Ball Drop” in New York’s Times Square (with “hundreds” socially distanced throughout the city?).  We can count down to zero and welcome in 2021, but 2020 will not have concluded.  It will take another five days (and probably a couple more) to finish that business so we can move onto the New Year. 

On January 5th Georgia will complete the 2020 election season with a “runoff” election for two seats in the US Senate.  Georgia is one of two states that require a 50% majority to “win”, so that most general elections (that have more than two candidates) require a “runoff” of the two finalists.  And since Georgia has two open Senate seats and neither was determined in November, January 5th will determine both Senators.

117th Senate

The makeup of the 2021 United States Senate currently has fifty Republicans, forty-six Democrats and two Independents who organize with the Democrats (King of Maine and Sanders of Vermont).  So the math is simple.  If Republicans win one or both seats in Georgia, they will have a very slim one or two vote majority.  If Democrats win both seats in Georgia, the Senate will be a fifty-fifty tie.  Since the Vice President of the United States is the “President of the Senate” and given a vote only to break ties, then a fifty-fifty Senate makes Vice President Kamala Harris the tiebreaker.  As she is a Democrat, if would give the Democratic Party “control” of the US Senate.

Organizational control is important.  Whichever Party controls the Senate, even by a tiebreaking vote, gets a majority on every committee in the Senate.  That Party gets the chairmanship of each committee.  And perhaps most important, the controlling Party can determine when legislation comes “to the floor” for debate and vote.  

 So don’t think that Georgia doesn’t matter.  A Senate organized by Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer would be much easier for President Joe Biden.  A Senate run by Republican Leader Mitch McConnell will make it more difficult for Biden to implement his plans.  And if McConnell determines that the strategy he followed with President Obama – absolute obstruction – is the future for Biden, we can look forward to two years of gridlock.

Of the Center

But no matter how Georgia goes, the Leader of the new Senate is going to have to contend with a new “center” coalition. With the departure of Donald Trump, Republican “moderates” are finding new voice.  Look at the COVID relief compromise bill that just passed both Houses.

This bill was not a proposal by either the Republican leadership, nor was it the bill passed by the Democrat controlled House of Representatives in October.  It was generated completely by a “gang of eleven” group of “center” Senators from both Parties. They are: Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Mark Warner of Virginia, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Dick Durbin of Illinois; Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah and Rob Portman of Ohio; and Independent Senator Angus King of Maine.

Using the term “moderate” is a relative term in today’s US Senate.  In other years, Romney, Murkowski, Cassidy and Portman would have been considered “conservatives”.  And from the Progressive (read liberal) wing of the Democratic Party, Joe Manchin doesn’t seem particularly moderate, more of a “Blue Dog” conservative Democrat of old.  But in today’s ultra-polarized world, this “gang” represents the “middle”, and therefore are “moderates”. 

Empowered Republicans 

The Trumpian “Power of Tweet” will no longer have the cudgel strength that he wielded as President.  And Trump, perhaps fighting off lawsuits and criminal charges, may not care anyway.  So the incredible dampening effect Trump had on those “moderate” Republicans may be lifted.  Romney already has shown his independence, voting for an Article of Impeachment.  Murkowski has demonstrated her political courage as well, standing against the Kavanaugh Supreme Court appointment. 

Should one or both Republicans win in Georgia, those Republican “moderates” are still going to be the balance of power in the Senate.  This might force Mitch McConnell to take more action than he did in the “obstruct Obama” years from 2012 to 2016.  Romney has already made it clear that he would give “great latitude” to Biden’s cabinet appointments, and don’t be surprised to see Collins, Murkowski, and even Portman follow suit.

Middle of the Middle

But even if Ossoff and Warnock win in Georgia, and the Senate is Democratic controlled, don’t think of Vice President Harris as the pivotal vote.  The tiebreaker won’t be Harris; it will be West Virginia’s Senator Joe Manchin, the most “conservative” Democrat in the Senate.

Joe Manchin is the “last Democrat standing” in West Virginia, perhaps the “reddest” state in the nation.  For “Progressive” Democrats looking to put forward their agenda, Manchin will be the ultimate stumbling block.  Keeping Manchin in the Democratic fold is critical to maintain Senate control, but he represents a coal mining state that Donald Trump won by 68.6%.  And for those Republican voters who bought the “Radical Socialist Democrat Agenda” that a Democratic Senate might pursue, don’t worry about Joe Manchin waving a Red Flag and standing with AOC!

So even with the Georgia duo and Chuck Schumer as Majority Leader, the “middle” will control the US Senate.  And the man in the “middle of the middle” is Senator Joe Manchin.  

Seven Days in December

The Scene

The scene was on Friday, December 18th, 2020 in the Oval Office in the West Wing of the White House, Washington, DC.   Snow was on the ground outside the ballistic windows, and Christmas lights on the trees beyond the fencing.  The faint echo of a madrigal choir, singing in the main lobby of the West Wing in front of the massive Christmas tree could be heard.

The President was behind the large oaken desk. Made from the timbers of the British Ship HMS Resolute, it was a gift to President Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria. Armless straight-backed chairs, accentuating the lesser status of those sitting in them were arranged around the desk. The President himself was hunched uncomfortably in his $5000 Gunlocke-Washington chair. He sat behind the imposing desk, not interested in the Christmas activities or much of anything else. He was angry, depressed, and desperate.

General Flynn

Three subordinates sat in those straight-backed chairs .  The first, retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn.  Flynn was one of the first “high profile” supporters of the President six years ago.  He had a storied career: rising to prominence in the Army, and becoming Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency under a previous Administration.  But Flynn’s unwillingness to adhere to policy led to charges of insubordination; he was fired from his post and after thirty-three years forcibly retired from the Army he loved.

He then went on a quest for fortune, working as an intelligence consultant for several corporations.  But the real money was in advising foreign nations about US strategy, and ultimately lobbying for them with the US government.  Flynn had multiple links to the Russian government earning hundred of thousands of dollars.  But the biggest money came from Turkey. They used Flynn’s skills and classified knowledge to attack Turkish government opponents in the US.

With the success of Donald Trump’s candidacy for President, Flynn latched on as a senior foreign policy advisor.  What he didn’t advice Trump was about his personal links to Russia and Turkey.  And when Trump surprisingly won the election of 2016, Flynn became National Security Advisor, despite several warnings to Trump from the Obama Administration.

Flynn’s Lie

Prior to Trump’s inauguration, Flynn had conversations with the Russian Ambassador, encouraging him to ignore Obama Administration actions. FBI agents interviewed him about the multiple phone conversations. Flynn lied to them, despite knowing that the agents already had direct transcripts of the calls. Why did Flynn lie?

Perhaps it was simply hubris: thinking that the FBI would never charge a serving National Security Advisor. Or, perhaps it was the misguided view that the FBI “was on his side”, and would overlook the felony.

Flynn also lied to the Vice President and other senior White House officials.  He was forced to resign, and ultimately charged with lying to Federal agents.  He twice pled guilty to the charges, and made a deal with prosecutors to help with further investigations of the Trump campaign.  But Flynn ultimately reneged on the deal, and after years of legal maneuvering, was pardoned by President Trump.

The Lawyers

Also in the straight-backed chairs were two attorneys. The first, Sidney Powell, was Flynn’s current legal counsel. She is a conspiracy theorist; recently fired from Trump’s post-election legal team for claiming that long-dead Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez rigged the 2020 election. She also told Georgia voters not to show up for the January 5th Senate election, since she believed the entire election system was corrupt. Powell was the reason for Flynn’s change of heart with Federal Prosecutors. Rumor had it that she was so sure of a Presidential pardon that she persuaded Flynn to remain silent about other Administration and campaign actions. She was right.

The other attorney was former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.  He represents the President in ongoing legal actions to invalidate the 2020 election results, claiming widespread election fraud. But he met with a long series of court defeats, accompanied by public relations disasters.  This included Giuliani holding a press conference in the parking lot of a sex shop, bringing a seemingly drunk witness to a hearing, and hair dye streaking down the side of his face while speaking to the press. You couldn’t make it up.

Change the Votes

Their conversation was simple:  how to overturn the legal results of the 2020 election.  While Biden won by over six million votes in the popular election, the margin in the Electoral College was much narrower.  A change of a mere 45,050 votes over three key states; Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin, would reverse the Electoral College and result in a tie.  That tie would put the decision to the House of Representatives, where voting by one vote per state, they would re-elect the President.  

The Trump campaign already challenged the vote count in each of those states. Georgia recounted their votes three times, including a literal hand count of each ballot. In Wisconsin, the Trump campaign paid three million dollars to recount votes in two key Democratic counties. And in Arizona, where Republicans controlled all of the election counting mechanisms, re-counts and political pressure didn’t change the outcome. The votes of November elected Joe Biden.

And of the over fifty court actions filed, none were successful in changing that outcome. All were appealed, and a few reached the US Supreme Court. But the Supreme Court denied each. Even Trump’s own appointees on the Court refused to hear them. There seemed to be no way forward.

Trump’s Card

But Trump still had one last card to play.  74 million voters chose Trump in the 2020 election, the second most votes ever earned.  And of those 74 million, a majority believes that Trump’s election defeat was as a result of corruption.  That means that almost 40 million Americans believe that the 2020 election was stolen, and many are waiting for Trump’s word to take action.

Flynn had a plan to delay the Electoral College results.   He advised the President to declare an insurrection due to election fraud in the three critical states, and use the military to seize the voting machines.  Then there could be a “do-over”, where the only form of voting would be through the machines.  The mail-in vote, which overwhelmingly went to Biden, would be wiped out, ostensibly in the name of “election security”.  The outcome would be different.  If only election day polling is allowed Trump will win the margins needed to take the Electoral College.

Posse Comitatus

And there was precedent for Flynn’s action. Federal troops were stationed in the former Confederate states During the Reconstruction Era. Those troops guaranteed the 15th Amendment right of the freed slaves to vote, as well as preventing unrepentant Confederates from participating in the process. For the ten years after the Civil War, Federal troops in blue patrolled the electoral process. It was only the political deal to end Reconstruction in 1877 that removed the troops and allowed those states to regain control of the voting process. As part of the deal, Federal troops were forbidden to go back into any states again under the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878.

 So under “Posse Comitatus” how could Flynn propose to send in troops?  An even older law, the Insurrection Act of 1807, allows the President to proclaim an “insurrection”, and then send in Federal troops to control it.  The Federal troops would be “authorized” to both seize the election machinery, and hold a “substitute” election.  And who would lead these troops into the electoral “battle space”?  The recently retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn; recalled to active duty.

Post Script

Is this a movie plot, or a proposed series for Netflix? 

It’s reported that an actual conversation took place in the Oval Office with those participants. Sources report that the general conversation of declaring “insurrection” occurred, and that others joined the discussion, including White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Those same sources state the meeting degenerated into shouting and yelling, as Cipollone and Meadows pushed back against the plan.

And we know that at that same meeting, Mr. Trump considered appointing Ms. Powell as a Special White House Counsel to investigate Election fraud. He wanted to give her special security clearances.

Today is Tuesday – and while reporting indicates that the “cooler heads” of Cipollone and Meadows prevailed – we don’t really know.  Internet conspiracy rumors put the day of the “insurrection” declaration as December 24th, two days from today.

The Vice President is scheduled to leave the country on January 6th, hours after the Congress officially declares the Electoral College winner. 

It’s not over, until noon on January 20th.  Only when Joe Biden takes the official oath of office, can we be sure that Donald Trump won’t try to overturn the results of the election, and with it, our Democracy.

T’Was the Christmas of COVID

T’was the Sunday before Christmas, and the dogs could explain.  It’s the Season of COVID, few visitors to complain.

No caroling, no shopping, no sharing of grog. We’re stuck in the house, hanging out with the dogs.

Our home it is decorated, but not like before. It’s just Jenn and I now, and then canines – now FOUR!

I’m making the cookies, it seemed like the thing. But with only two eating, I’ll need bigger bling.

The outside is lovely there’s snow on the ground. And the neighborhood’s all lighted, for Christmas they’ve found.

But COVID Santa is different, no jolly old elf. It’s the guy in the delivery van, all alone by himself.

The poor guy is tired, he’s wearing gray, blue or brown. His sleigh is his vehicle, no chimney to go down.

And our tree is so little, the presents won’t stay. But they’re Amazon packages, so we’ll open them anyway.

No family can gather, come from near, far or wide. But we see them in color, with Zoom at our side.

Christmas Eve will be different, but we’ll still make a feast. Jenn, Joey and Marty, we’ll be eating like BEASTS!

The traditions die hard: there’s beef and there’s ham. Oh Shrimp! Oh Potatoes! Oh Green Beans and Yams!

But who’ll eat all those fixin’s, I guess you could say. We’re set until New Year’s and beyond for some days.

So what was 2020, that left us aghast. Let’s pause for a moment, and remember the past.

It seems like forever, but Trump we tried to fire. For making deals with Ukraine, their aid would expire.

The Senate they failed us, though they all knew the facts. But a Tweet would’ve hurt them, and so they failed to act.

It took the election, we voted in plague. The people made their will known, their decision was made. 

Now the nation is restless, there’s change in the air. Sure, Biden’s the winner, but Trumpers don’t care.

They donate their money to the Donald throughout. It’s a Trump Merry Christmas; make sure you pay out.

And the world they took notice, of our nation’s disarray.  The Russians weren’t afraid to hack into our displays.

We’re still fighting in Georgia for change from the past. It’s Ossoff and Warnock, their win would be a blast.

‘Cause the 2020 Grinch, McConnell is his name. And if Georgia goes Dem, it’s the end of his fame.

And how bad is it, this COVID you say? In Britain it’s awful; Christmas might go away.

Our hospitals are packed, there’s no room at their inn. And the staff is still struggling, the COVID battle to win.

It’s been 2020, a year for the book. Come New Year’s we’ll end it, close it up without a look.

It’s the Christmas of COVID, and the best gift is hope. The vaccine it is flowing, good reason not to mope.

So, have Christmas like FAUCI, Zoom out or dine small. We want to stay healthy; stay clean ‘til the fall.

For next year’s Christmas is the goal for our existence.   When we can be family, without masks or social distance!!!!

Please give up this moment, and plan for THAT day. When we can be family, and charades we will play!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!!  Stay Safe!!!!

God Bless the Child

God Bless the Child – Blood Sweat and Tears, 1968

Blood, Sweat and Tears

I’m pretty sure I went to my first rock concert during ninth grade year in high school.  We lived in Dayton and my older sister Terry and her husband Ed took me to Dayton’s Hara Arena to see Blood Sweat and Tears, a fantastic mix of rock and jazz.  They were amazing, and so was the opening act, a guy named Don McLean.  It was almost fifty years ago, but there was one song most people would remember today from that concert. It was a ballad in the opener with a chorus that we all sang by the end of the extended song:  “Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie…”.

Blood Sweat and Tears were the “headliners” though.  They covered a lot of other artists as well as their own work, with Laura Nyro’s And When I Die and Barry Gordy’s You’ve Made Me So Very Happy.  But the most haunting song of the night was Billie Holliday’s song to injustice:  God Bless the Child.

The lyrics ring true today, just as much as they did when Holliday wrote then in 1939.

Them that’s got, shall get

Them that’s not, shall lose

So the Bible said and it still is news.

Mama may have, Papa may have

But God bless the child that’s got his own, that’s got his own.

By the Numbers

Today’s essay isn’t about Trump or Biden.  It’s about “them that’s got, and them that’s not” in 2020.  Here is the first jarring statistic to think about.  Yesterday it was announced that 885,000 folks filed for unemployment insurance last week.  More than 20.6 million have filed in the last month.  Total employment for the United States is near 160 million. Just simple math:  13% of Americans who are in the work force are filing unemployment.  That is in spite of the “official” 6.7% unemployment rate announced by the Department of Labor.  

Second jarring statistic:  the measurement of the “temperature” of the American economy, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is at record highs.  Yesterday the Dow closed at 30,300, just 3 points short of the all time high.  The Dow Jones Average is definitely slanted towards the biggest corporations.  The big winners yesterday have familiar names:  Dow Chemical, Proctor and Gamble, Boeing, Disney, Wal-Mart, Merck, Coca-Cola and Johnson and Johnson.

If you have money linked to the Dow Jones Average, and had the patience to “ride out” the COVID crash last March, you are doing better than ever before.  And if you happened to “buy in” at the lowest of the crash, your “nest egg” has grown by 30% in the past six months.

Them That’s Got

.

So here’s the question:  how can a nation that has demonstrably been the worst at handling the COVID crisis, with more than double the deaths of any other country in the world, have the best financial year on record?

Thank the Federal Reserve Bank.  They pumped $3 Trillion into the market between February and July.  Thank the US Government.  They pumped close to $4 Trillion into the economy in the early days of the COVID crisis, though funding has been notably absent since then.  To put those numbers into some perspective, the yearly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the United States (in 2019) was $21.44 Trillion.  The $7 Trillion pumped in this year amounts to almost a third.

We are still in a “trickle down” mode. The theory is if we can support the market and businesses, then that will eventually result in greater employment, and more money available for “them that’s not”.  But by the numbers, that ain’t happening.  What is happening is that folks are required to make a choice in our COVID world.  To protect themselves and their vulnerable family members, the best thing they can do is to “lay low” and stay at home.  But the huge amounts of government aid money isn’t directed to help them do that. 

Them That’s Not

Instead, they are forced to go out “into the COVID world” and work so they can make ends meet.  But then there’s the next problem – many of the jobs where they can meet “those ends” are gone.  And since they are “out in the world” the COVID infection rates are climbing.  Increased infections means increased hospitalizations, and ultimately increased deaths. 

And what also is happening is that “them that’s got” are finding ways to “squirrel” that Government money away.  Like squirrels they are storing away for the “winter” when the Federal Reserve money runs out, and the reality of Great Depression levels of unemployment kicks in.  But they aren’t spending the money, they aren’t generating jobs, and they aren’t “spreading the wealth”.  They are taking care of themselves.

God Bless

If COVID is the problem, then vaccine is the cure.  The United States, no matter how badly we’ve botched the COVID response so far, is looking at a “short term” problem.  Assuming the vaccine works as well as advertised, by July we will be in President Trump’s “herd mentality” (immunity) world.  Once the risk of infection is over, then the economy will begin to rebuild naturally, instead of needing the “steroid-like” government cash infusions artificially holding it up.

And we can mitigate the suffering of the next seven months.  Fewer people can die.  More folks can be supported in staying home and protecting their families.  The next round of government aid can be directed away from Wall Street to Main Street, supporting small businesses trying to survive the crisis.  

We can be a kinder, gentler nation, helping everyone through COVID rather than just “them that’s got”. 

Eulogy for Mom

My Mom passed away at Christ Hospital, Cincinnati in October of 2011. She was 93, and for all but the last couple of years, had a healthy life that she lived to the fullest. Even at the end, when she was struggling to breath, she was still “all there”. We got our “orders”, and all of us got to say goodbye. Here’s what I said at her funeral that Saturday.

We have heard great words of praise for our mom.  We all know her courage, her loyalty, her tremendous personality.  Terry, Pat and I were privileged to have her as our mother.  What did we learn from her?

We learned to be involved with the world.  Mom was from London, she and dad fought in the second great war, they traveled the world and they changed the world by helping to bring the great events of our time to everyone’s family room through television.  Mom and Dad gave us a unique perspective of involvement in what happens,  and a desire to help make the world better. 

We took this into our lives:

Terry through surgery and caring, Pat through her canvas and her political action, I do it one kid at a time at school.  But we all got that drive from Mom and Dad; they cared and they taught us to care.

We learned to care about individuals.  In this church, all of you were touched by Mom, by her compassion, her desire to help, her willingness to give that most important gift…. time…., to her friends.

We learned about grace, the ability to make people feel good in the most difficult times.  Even at the last, when it was time for Mom to go, she was still thanking the nurses, the doctors, and apologizing for causing us to grieve.  

As Dick Neergaard would say, Mom was the queen, with the grace of the queen and the style of the queen, even at 93 years old, even at the end.

We learned to have fun, and value friends.  As we mourn today, don’t forget there was nothing Mom liked more than a party!!!  Even towards the end, no matter how bad the day had been, Mom “turned it on” when it came to  seeing people.  She loved it, she loved them, and she would love what we are doing now.  It is what she wanted.

And most importantly of all, we learned the great gift of love.  There is no greater love story than that of Mom and Dad:  born in the bombing of London, nurtured through the trials and turmoil of the great American television boom; raising kids in the 60’s,  enjoying the life of travel that the 80’s and 90’s brought.  They were inseparable, they were one, they were the epitome of what commitment to each other meant.  ‘”Til death do us part” was only a part of their commitment, “to live life as one” is the greatest gift Mom and Dad had to teach us all.

My Eulogy to Dad

My father, Don Dahlman, passed away in Cleveland, Ohio on July 22, 2016. It was two days before his 98th birthday. We buried him back home in Cincinnati a week later. Here’s what I said.

Last Friday, after Dad passed away in his room at the Menorah Park, we were waiting for him to go on his final trip back to Cincinnati.   I was surprised to find the staff of the nursing home, lining up outside his door, tentatively knocking, then asking to come in.  There were lots of tears and tender caresses for “Mr. Don”.  Even though by the end Dad had lost most of his memory, and even finally the capacity to finish his sentences – you would never know that Dad didn’t know who you were.  He made you feel special:  everyone felt his humor, felt his gratitude, felt his love.   The staff wanted to say a final goodbye.

Dad was always showing us how to live. 

 He worked harder then anyone I knew.  He went to work at 8, he came home at 8; as a kid I always thought that was a normal workday.  Family was part of the work:  whether we were getting ready for a legendary party, interviewing prospective salesmen, or drinking too much aquavit in Sweden (I was older then) trying to sell Donahue to government television – he made us part of his efforts, and showed us to put our hearts into whatever we did.

Dad was up for a challenge – and he made sure we were too.  When we were kids we went to Hilton Beach in Canada.  There it was the morning “bath”:  getting into Lake Huron with a bar of Ivory soap (of course a P and G product) to start the day.  I don’t think any of us thought there was an “option” of skipping the morning freeze, it’s just how he wanted the day to start.

Dad always pushed us to make the most out of what were doing.  We played tennis together since I was five.  It took until I was 18 to get a set from him, and even much later when I wanted to back down and let him win, he would have none of it.  We were playing doubles in the “walking wounded” tennis group in Florida, and the opponent who kept coming to the net had just had open heart surgery.  I kept soft balling the ball back to him – Dad pulled me aside in between points.  “What are you doing” he asked, and I said I didn’t want to hit him hard – to which Dad said forehand drive him off the net – Dahlman’s rules – if you go to the net you better be ready to hit or duck.  Winning was winning, even in the walking wounded.

Dad made sacrifices for us that we didn’t even realize.  His career would have been even greater if he’d moved to the center of the broadcast universe, New York.  But he wasn’t willing to raise a family in a place where he’d have to spend hours on a train missing out on them, and he wasn’t going to raise us in the city.  We stayed here in Cincinnati, a city Dad loved and a city that, even as we all moved away, we still think of as home.

Dad was crazy proud of his kids:  the neurosurgeon, the artist, the teacher.  But he was even prouder of Mom.  They showed us kids how to love, not just by loving us, but by showing us how two can be madly in love for 67 years.  As Mom got sicker, Dad took on wheelchairs, bathing and oxygen machines.  He did it for the woman he loved.

So Dad always taught us how to live by showing us, even in the end.  With everything else stripped away, Dad still taught us how to exit the stage:  with dignity, and with love.  

Babs Dahlman – My Story – Sylvia Beach

A Phone Call

Here’s another mission of interest.  I was sitting in my lovely little bedroom in my parents’ home in Carshalton Surrey, ten miles outside of London, reading some poems by Rupert Brooke.  In university I did a lengthy paper on him and I loved his works with a passion.  The telephone rang and broke the silence.  I heard my mother’s voice answering, “Wallington 4545”, that was our number.  “Babs” she called, “the call is for you”.  I ran downstairs and sat on the old monk’s bench – yes the same one where I kept my Wellington boots, and I picked up the telephone.  I was summoned to Whitehall.

I quickly changed into a Harris Tweed suit – blue heather tweed I think it was.  I popped my rosary in my purse, gave my wonderful mother, who I adored, a bear hug and a sloppy kiss, and with a last remark, “I’m on night duty for a couple of nights,” I was out the door.  At the gate, I stopped and ran back to hug my Labrador Retriever, Danny.

London

The walk to the railway station was about a mile and a very pleasant walk, although there were many times when it was not so pleasant.  My sister Dorry and I had to shuffle through the shrapnel from the fighter planes overhead during the blackout.  Not so pleasant then!  This morning, however, it was clear and bright and the neighbors greeted me as I walked past.  I stopped at W.H. Smith to get a copy of the Daily Telegraph newspaper – it was for the crossword puzzle rather than the news.

The train came in and I settled in the corner—always the same carriage, always the same seat, and had it been a couple of hours earlier, always the same people.  During the air raids, having been up all night, we would all sleep on each other’s shoulders – never saying a world, but all feeling the warmth of each other’s bodies, and how grateful we were to be alive.  But this day I was alone and not having too much success with the puzzle.  Twenty-eight minutes later, the train drew into Platform 11 at Victoria Station and I alighted.

A brisk walk post the Royal Stables and then the Palace and up through St. James Park – beautiful St. James Park with the lake, the ducks and trees.  Nothing ever changed there.  I crossed the road to St. Charles Place and the War Rooms.  The general public in those days didn’t know the location of the War Rooms.  Our group – SOE (Special Operations Executive) had some rooms there too, and this is where I was headed.  If you’ve been to London and visited the War Rooms as a tourist, you know they are fairly simple and not at all what you see on TV.  There was also a big network of underground tunnels connecting all of the other ministries – the Air Ministry, the War Office, the Admiralty, etc., as well as offices, sleeping quarters – a complete underground world.

War Rooms

The girl at the front desk’s name was Gladys and she was always ready with a quick story about the Yank she was out with the last night, or the stunning British Naval Officer who led her astray.  She was a bit of “flotsam and jetsam”, but I know how intelligent, loyal, and courageous she really was.

I sat myself down in one of the offices while I waited for Colonel Richardson to meet me.  I watched the hustle and bustle of Air Force officers and Naval officers, mostly high ranking, go back and forth.  Even Churchill sallied forth in his purple siren suit, smoking a cigar, and I detected a slight smell of brandy as he passed the door.  Soon Colonel Richardson came in and after some chitchat, he told me that my assignment was Paris – that night.  I gulped!  The Germans occupied Paris.  It was a one-man job – or in this case, a one-woman job.  We normally travelled in pairs.  He gave me all the instructions several times in great detail, and I repeated them back to him.  It was all memorized.  The Underground would give me my contact’s name in Paris when I got there – if I got there.

Undisclosed Location

Daphne, my driver, was waiting for me outside to drive me into the country to an 18th Century mansion that had become a briefing station for SOE and other secret agents.  I changed into clothes there – French clothes, which were made for me with French labels – everything from bra to panties.  The only thing of my own I was allowed to take was my rosary of Connemara marble blessed by the Pope in Rome.  It was given to me on my first communion in the Catholic Church at age eight.

Tea was being served and there were quite a few people around.  They were also going to various places on various missions, but we only talked about other subjects.  Then it was time to leave and Daphne drove me to the airfield.  The time, I was not going to be dropped by parachute, but would be going by Lysander.

I jumped in, said hello to Andrew, the twenty-one year old pilot, and we were off.  We crossed the Channel at a height of about 3,000 feet, then the plane dropped to about 400 feet.  At that height it was almost impossible for the German anti-aircraft guns to hit us.  The Lysander’s speed was less than 200 miles an hour and being very small; it was able to land on a very short field.  Soon, the landmarks were picked up by the aid of the moon, and as it neared the landing ground, an ultra-short wireless set in the plane, called an S phone, would get the directional signal.  We would then see the three or four small pinpricks of light flashed by a member or members of the reception committee carefully spaced out to indicate the size of the field.  The landing ground selected for tonight was about thirty miles outside Paris, hidden among the farmlands.

Making Contact

Suddenly, below us, we saw the dim signaling lights of the electric torches.  With the engines switched off, the plane began to descend cautiously down and down, towards the moonlit countryside, and in a few minutes was bumping gently along the uneven field.  We stopped, I jumped out and Andrew immediately took off:  he was picking up another agent somewhere else.  On my tummy, I squirmed my way across the field where I saw a pinprick of light.  This was always a little dangerous, as some agents had been met by the Germans instead of the Maquis.

Well thank God it was Jacques.  We had met before.  He was about forty, rather old I thought.  I was only twenty-two.  He embraced me warmly and we walked about a half a mile through the woods to his old car, a Citroen, I think.

I got in and we drove to Paris.  Jacques told me about the occupation and how things seemed fairly normal in Paris – no bombings, but the German uniforms were everywhere.  It was very late by the time we got there, and he drove me up to the Sacre Coeur district and dropped me off at a nearby apartment.  It was owned by the old aunt of a French agent I knew.  The concierge let me in and directed me to a small lift that went to the second floor.

Henriette Gauthier met me and welcomed me with jambon sandwiches and glorious French coffee.  We spoke of pre-war days and my education at the Loretto Convent in Liege, nothing relevant of the visit.  She showed me to my room, high above he rooftops, and I thought what a strange visit to Paris this was – certainly not the way I wanted to visit.

I jumped into bed in my cotton underpants and bra – not like the movies – no gorgeous black satin and lace nightgown – no handsome man to sleep with – just me with slightly damp sheets around me.  Then I remembered Henriette had given me an envelope.  I opened it.  It was the name and address of my contact in Paris.  It was in code, and I deciphered it – SLYVIA BEACH – THE SHAKESPEARE BOOK SHOP.  My hand shook.  I graduated from the University of London with an English Literature degree and Sylvia Beach was high on my list of people I wanted to meet.  What a strange circumstance – I would meet her as my contact on a secret mission in Paris.

Notre Dame Cathedral

I awakened after a fairly sleepless night to find Henriette standing by my bed with a steaming cup of coffee and hot rolls.  I ate them, the rolls I mean, and drank the coffee, then proceeded to get dressed.

I left the apartment soon after and walked down the Sacre Coeur steps to Montmartre, then found a bus to take me to the area where I would find my contact.  It was strange to see so many German uniforms, and I must admit I was uncomfortable.  I decided to go into the Notre Dame Cathedral and say a few prayers.  I put my hand in my pocket and found my one familiar possession, my rosary.  I wondered about myself.  Did I look French?  My hair wasn’t piled up high, my complexion was fresh – no makeup, I wasn’t reeking of perfume.  But I was Jeanine Mouret, wasn’t I?  That was my identification.

 I went into the Cathedral, knelt down and began my rosary:  “Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee…”.  I was half way through when I was aware of a figure entering the pew.  He sat quite close to me, and he had on a German uniform.  Am I now going to be arrested I thought – terrified, of course.  “Hail Mary, please help me in my hour of need”.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched a long, slender hand come out of his pocket.  He was a Luftwaffe officer — a sigh of relief – one seldom got picked up by a Luftwaffe officer.  In his hand was an ivory rosary and he began his prayers.  I was compelled to look at him – he was blonde and handsome, and he turned and smiled.  I smiled back.  There we were, both praying to the same God and both of us, without a doubt, would have killed each other in a minute.  What a strange world this was.  

Shakespeare & Co.

I finished my rosary and began to leave.  He smiled again, and I was concerned he would follow.  I went out, walked around for a half-hour, went into a perfume shot and bought some Worth perfume all wrapped in a dainty bad, and made my way to the Shakespeare Book Shop.  I tried not to appear nervous and shop-gazed a lot on the way.  The shops still had gorgeous things in them.

I entered the Shakespeare Book Shop without hesitation.  It was a musty looking old place and seemed deserted.  I went on through the second door and there she stood – Sylvia Beach – the woman who made literary history in 1922 when she published James Joyce’s Ulysses under the imprint of her Paris book shop, Shakespeare & Co.  And it was not only Joyce who visited her bookshop of the Left Bank, but also most of the writers who were to make the 1920’s legendary when they converged on Paris to live and work.

Sylvia Beach

There she stood – the woman I had admired from afar for many years.  My first reaction was disappointment.  She look to be a frumpy old woman – hair pulled back in a bun, spectacles on her nose, a worn old beige sweater, slightly soiled, with pockets sagging down, wool stockings and clumpy lace-up shoes.  Not the Sylvia Beach I had imagined – not the glamorous lady who hob-nobbed with the elite.  But then I looked into her eyes and saw the fire and light and knew that this was she who had challenged the literary world.

I introduced myself in French as Virginia – my code name.  She beckoned me to follow her up in a little spiral staircase.  At the top was a shabby couch with an old Indian blanket thrown across the back and a table nearby with two white enamel cups and a white enamel coffee pot and some kind of a burner to heat the coffee.  The room was lined with books and photos, and a simple desk was beneath the window with an Oliver typewriter on it.  I had learned to type on an Oliver, so I recognized it immediately.  I quickly told her of my admiration for her and how I had always dreamed of meeting her and perhaps being a part of her group.  She grasped my hand and patted my face and then we went on to the business at hand.

Mission Completed

She had information for me and on her information I had instructions and decisions for her to pass on to the Underground.  She told me that things were getting more difficult, and that a few days before a German officer had come in and wanted to buy a copy of Finnegan’s Wake by Joyce.  It was her only copy and she wouldn’t sell it to him and he threatened to have the bookshop closed down.  However, she promised to pass the information on.  Incidentally, as a result of our meeting, a German troop train was blown up by the Maquis.  

I had spent almost an hour with her and it was time to leave.  I picked up my little bag of perfume and went out into the street.  I made my way, by walking and bus, back up to the Sacre Coeur Cathedral, went in, lit a candle of thanks, and back to the apartment.  Henriette had found some English tea and had made some little cakes – petit fours.

Soon, Jacques came and we drove in the darkness back to a different blind airfield.  Finally, the Lysander appeared and I climbed in and we made our way back to England.  I spent the night near the coast and then, in the morning, went on into London to my “fake” office at the Ministry of Health where I held a position as a Junior Executive Officer.  Mr. Ferguson looked at me leeringly and said, “Been out with a Yank all night?” Little did he know that I had been doing my bit for the war and I had realised one of my ambitions – I had met Sylvia Beach.

Post Script

I have been to Paris several times since World War II and couldn’t find Shakespeare & Co.  Two years ago I was there and finally found it.  Although it was in a different location, it was identical to the old one.  It looked the same – the same string of small rooms.  I ventured in the back and there was the spiral staircase.  A small card hung by a black silk ribbon – the words inscribed on it said, “In memory of Sylvia Beach”.  I went up the stairs.  There was the couch, the blanket, the coffee pot, the mugs and the old Oliver typewriter.  I waited for Sylvia to appear.  She did not.  I was trembling with emotion.  Someone had recreated the whole place.  I stoop for a moment remembering the hand patting my face and wondered if it was all a dream.

Then I descended and asked a young man if there were any memoirs of Sylvia Beach.  He said, “No, but ask George”.  I asked, “Who is George?”  “George Woodbridge Beach,” he said, “the man over there with the white hair”.  I approached him and told him I was a friend of Sylvia’s and asked if there were any memoirs I could buy.  He was very short with me and said, “Only upstairs, not to be taken away”.  We left soon after, and then George came rushing after us and said, “There will be a reading on Sunday at 3:00.  Will you come?”  Unfortunately, we were leaving that day.  However, whoever George Woodbridge Beach is, he is carrying on the torch for Sylvia.  I hope it always burns brightly.

My Father’s Party

Old School Republicans

I’m not a Republican, and I’ve never been one.  But my Dad was, as were most of the folks I grew up with.  Here’s what their Republican Party believed.

They believed that capitalism was the best economic form, and that while some government regulation was reasonable, less was better than more. But their Republican Party was the Party of Teddy Roosevelt, the original “Trust Buster”. They didn’t want uncontrolled capitalism. And they believed that America was a land of equal opportunity where all should get their chance to achieve the American Dream.  They were the Party of Abraham Lincoln.  

My father’s Republican Party believed that America had a strong role to play in keeping world peace, and in encouraging democracies throughout the world.  Theirs was the Party of Dwight Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan.  And my father’s Party believed that the government had no place in “the bedroom” or the “doctor’s office”.  What folks did was their own business.   

Soul of the Party

After World War II, the Democratic Party of Roosevelt did not have the monopoly on moderation or even liberalism.  The Republican nominee for President in 1944 against Roosevelt and again in 1948 against Truman was New York Governor Tom Dewey.  He was a moderate, a “business Republican”.  Dewey’s greatest rival within the Party was Ohio Senator Robert Taft Sr., the son of President William Howard Taft and the leader of the true conservative wing of the Party.

Taft thought that 1952 was his year to gain control. But the “Dewey” wing of the Party, led by Dewey himself, persuaded General Dwight Eisenhower to run against Taft in the primaries, and his popularity swept him to the nomination. Eisenhower then chose a young California Senator as his Vice Presidential candidate, Richard Nixon.  They were moderates and successful in the general election against the “liberal” Democratic nominee Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson. 

The battle for the “soul” of the Republican Party continued through the 1960’s, with Nixon winning the Presidential candidacy in 1960 and 1968.  But in 1964 the conservative wing finally broke through, nominating Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater as the successor to Taft.  Goldwater suffered the worst Presidential election defeat in history up to that time.  That led to a moderate return with Nixon in 1968 where he eked out a victory over Democrat Hubert Humphrey.

So when did conservatives finally get control of the Republican Party?  In 1980 they found their “Eisenhower”, a candidate who had broad national appeal, California Governor Ronald Reagan.  Reagan cemented the Republican Party into a conservative philosophy.  Even more moderate members like George HW Bush “became” conservatives in order to gain appeal to the majority of the Party.

Party of Trump

So what happened to the “Dewey” Republicans, the moderates?  There was no place for them in the Party of Ronald Reagan, and they were squeezed out.  While a few still remain in New York and Massachusetts, in general the Republican Party became America’s conservative Party.  That is, until Donald Trump.

Trump brought a very different brand of politics to the Party.  He created a raw populism, convincing a traditional Democratic base, non-college educated white men, that he best represented them.  He used Reagan’s slogan, “Make America Great Again”, to pursue a nationalistic agenda that pulled America back from world leadership.  And many of his actions polarized the nation along racial lines.  

He found a core constituency of 35 to 40% of the electorate.  But more importantly, Donald Trump was supported by close to 90% of Republicans, and an even higher percentage of active Republican primary voters.  A word (or a tweet) from Trump could make or break any Republican primary campaign.  This forced other Republican candidates to fall in line with Trump, or be primaried out of office.  

Party of the Future

And even though Donald Trump will no longer be President in a month, he will maintain that “power” over “his” voters.  The battle for the future of the Republican Party will be a battle of inheritance.  Which politician will inherit the Trump “core” voters?  Whether Trump himself runs again in 2024 (Trump will be 78) only delays the crisis.  The maneuvers are already beginning, with figures like Mike Pompeo, Lindsey Graham, Nikki Haley and Josh Hawley all trying to become the “crown prince”.  And of course, there is the actual Trump family, with Don Junior surely having political aspirations.

So where do “regular” Republicans go to get “their” party back?  They don’t.  Steve Schmidt, campaign manager for the 2008 John McCain campaign and founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project showed the way yesterday. He stated that he was, “…a single issue voter, and that single issue is democracy”.  

He registered as a Democrat.

Post Truth World

Extra Sleep!!!

Lou, our “rehab-foster” dog gave us a present this morning.  He slept until eight.  And the rest of our “pack” slept in as well, so we actually all got in up in daylight for the first time in a couple on months.  Lou is recovering from two broken legs and a displaced hip, so a big part of his rehab is our morning walk.  We started at a few hundred feet, and worked up to over a mile in the mornings.  And since Lou (and the rest of our crew) are generally early birds, most of our walks have been pre-dawn strolls through the dark byways of Pataskala.

But this morning we got to actually see the neighborhood on our stroll.  It’s a “pre-snow” morning, with a few inches predicted before the end of the day.  The snow is already falling, and there is a gray sky, with the gray and dark houses blending into the landscape.  It’s like the town s getting ready.  For some that’s actually true:  there are several neighbors who make a living plowing driveways and parking lots out.  They are quietly getting their trucks and supplies ready – today will be a workday for them.

This is a “working class” town.  Morning rush hour here is between 5:30 and 7:00 – folks working the early shift.  Sure there’s nine to fivers living here as well, and a lot of them are working from home here in COVID world.  But the majority in this town are “punching a clock” somewhere.

And there’s a lot of respect for work, for what Sherrod Brown, our Senator from Ohio, calls “the dignity of work”.  And to further quote Sherrod, Pataskala is a town where folks take a “shower after work,” not before.  

Teaching in Pataskala

I was a teacher at the local school here for thirty-six years.  When I first got a job at Watkins Memorial High School, I decided to live in the town where I worked.  That, by the way, is a big decision for a teacher.  If you live where you work, you are immersed in the “job”.  Going to the grocery store, getting a haircut, buying parts at the auto store (there are four within two miles) you always see parents and students.  It was normal to have a parent/teacher conference between the Chinese vegetables and the Taco section at Krogers.  

Other teachers make a choice to maintain a more private life.  They live outside the district, so they can have a little more anonymity in their lives.   Either choice is correct, but for me, to quote an old teaching friend – “You’re either on the bus, or off the bus”.  I was on the bus.

Generally folks in Pataskala respect the work that teachers do with their kids.  And they also respect the work it took to become a teacher.  Most understand what a college education costs, the effort it requires, and the choices “not made” to finish a degree.  A lot of the time it wasn’t just “Mr. Dahlman” from the kids, it was “Mr. Dahlman” from the parents as well.  Even though the nameplate on my desk clearly said “Marty Dahlman”, it’s how people considered education and teachers, with respect.

Dis-Respect

There is a controversial editorial in the Wall Street Journal this week about Dr. Jill Biden.  Of course that’s President-Elect Biden’s wife, and she’s an educator, a schoolteacher who went on to earn a doctorate in education.  She now teaches in college, instructing the next generation of teachers how to educate our kids.

Joseph Epstein is an instructor and lecturer at Northwestern University.  He wrote the opinion piece demanding that Dr. Biden “drop” the “doctor”.  She’s not a “medical doctor” and she hasn’t “delivered a baby” he said.  And Epstein makes his demand in as condescending a manner possible, even addressing Dr. Biden as “kiddo,” as if somehow she’s kidding everyone about her credentials.  “She is married to the President, she should be happy being ‘Mrs.’ Biden”.

It would be easy to push Epstein off as a “disgruntled” educator.  He is one of the few who made a career teaching at the University level without even earning a Master’s degree.  Most public school teachers these days have one of those, even me.  So it’s likely that there’s a big “chip on his shoulder” about the work he didn’t bother to do, earning the doctorate that is standard for college level professorships. 

After Truth

But I think he’s taking a side on a larger point, one that fits in with our current political divide.  Education, particularly higher education, is based in research and discovering facts.  Whether it’s getting an advanced degree in Medicine or Chemistry or Education or English Literature:  it’s about researching observable facts and drawing conclusions.  

But we live in a “post-fact, post-truth” world.  Our President has spent the entire last year telling us the “fact” that the election is fraudulent – even though it’s not.  Even the simple fact of wearing a mask in public to reduce the spread of COVID is debated. We have a third of our nation that denies “established facts”, from the established media to the established Universities.  So if they deny those facts, they definitely need to deny the “honor and effort” required for success in that establishment.  What’s a doctorate in anything if “we don’t believe in it”?

So Epstein’s opinion is more than just about the “Dr.” before Jill Biden’s name. He’s highlighted our nation’s disrespect for “truth” and those who offer it. And that fits right in with where we are today.

The snow is falling fast, more than an inch as a write this essay.  Some doctor in meteorology figured all of that out, and let the northeastern part of the US know that it’s big storm, with lots of snow coming.  We can deny that truth, but it still piles up at the door.

Close the Barn Door

There’s an old farm saying, “Once the horses are gone, it’s too late to close the barn door”.  And that’s true about a lot of things in life.  Something that might have been easy to prevent before it happened, might be impossible to fix after.  But there is a corollary saying, “Don’t make the same mistake twice”.  So while “closing the barn door” may be foolish once the horses are gone, it’s good to not let the new horses get out the next time.

At least that seems to be the view of the Republican Party in Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia.  

Gerrymander

Over the past decade (and more) the Republican Party had a national plan to maintain political control.  It started with making a concerted effort to gain control of state legislatures in 2010, in order to be in charge of the redistricting process.  This was when the district boundary lines for state and federal legislative districts were last drawn. And in the old American tradition, dating back almost to the founding of the Republic, the lines were carefully drawn to maximize the number of Republican legislators, and minimize the Democratic representatives.

The traditional name for this is Gerrymandering, named for Elbridge Gerry who as Governor of Massachusetts in 1811, drew a district so convoluted that it resembled a salamander. The newspapers called it a “Gerrymander”, and so a man who signed the Declaration of Independence, was a part of the Constitutional Convention, and served in the House of Representatives, as a Governor and Vice President of the United States, is best known for manipulating district lines for political advantage.

The Republican RedMap project brought modern computer technology to bear, creating exquisitely drawn maps down to the block and address.  The gerrymandered districts maximized the Republican advantage with technological precision.  (By the way, Democrats did this too when they had the advantage, in Maryland for example, but without the national planning of the Republicans).

There was nothing illegal about the RedMap plan, nor gerrymandering, nor using computers to make the districts even better.  It was, to quote Hamilton, “…how the game is played…how the sausage gets made”.  The RedMap project just was better at making this particular sausage than anything before. 

Voter Suppression

But the Republican Party also made another tactical decision that had a more profound impact on America.  After the Presidential election loss of 2012, the Party did a study of why they lost, an “autopsy” of the election.  They determined that unless the voting base of the GOP was expanded to include more minorities and women, they would become a permanent minority Party.  But those that wanted to follow-up the “autopsy” with action to expand their base were also in the minority of the decision makers.

There was a corollary plan to that as well.  If fewer minorities voted, than the impact of those votes would be reduced.  So the Republican Party went on a campaign to keep people from voting.  They called it “securing the vote” but it really was a concerted effort at voter suppression.

The first phase was to create an issue with election security.  Traditionally, voter cheating in the United States has been miniscule.  Most of the election fraud in the US has been by the people counting the votes, not the voters themselves.  There have been forty-four voter fraud cases in the US since 2000, out of over a billion votes cast.  That’s a rate of 0.0000044% (NPR).  But if Americans could be convinced that voter fraud was rampant, then restrictive Voter ID laws requiring the presentation of state issued identity cards could be enacted.  

Voter ID laws reduce minority voter participation.  But that wasn’t enough.  In addition, restricting opportunities to vote impacted minority voting, as well as reducing the number of polling places available.  It was logical.  Restrict voting hours, cut the number of poll locations, make sure the lines were long, and folks working a “day job”didn’t have time to vote.  

They Can’t Vote – We Win

And it worked, and is still working.  Georgia was a prime example.  In 2016 lines at the Atlanta inner-city polls stretched so long it took over ten hours to vote.  Many voters left, and many didn’t even try.  This wasn’t an accident, or some surprise.  This was a concerted Republican strategy to keep minority voters from casting their vote.

After the 2018 election, when the same situation resulted in the election of Republican Brian Kemp as Governor, his opponent Democrat Stacy Abrams made it her “life mission” to increase minority participation.  Her “Fair Fight” program registered voters, pressed for more polling locations with extended hours, and relaxed Georgia’s restrictive absentee ballot laws.  And then COVID struck, and Georgia (reasonably) made mail-in voting even easier to make voting safer during the pandemic.

What happened?  Joe Biden won Georgia in the 2020 Presidential election.  And, as states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania increased mail-in voting opportunities in response to COVID, Biden also won those.  It might have taken a world pandemic to do it, but, from the Republican standpoint, the barn door was wide open.

Try as Donald Trump might, there’s no getting that horse back in the barn.  But Republicans are now moving to reinstate the restrictions that kept their minority party in control.  The Republican Georgia legislature has already tried to change the voting rules for the January 5th runoff election for US Senator in the state. 

The GOP has made a choice to be a Party of exclusion.  It’s going to take a lot more “barn door closing” in the next couple of years to maintain their power.  And that, combined with the Trump myth of massive voter fraud, is about as anti-democratic as they can get.

Reading Tea Leaves

Reading “tea leaves” is an ancient art, a way of telling the future.  We already have some real “tea leaves” to judge the incoming Biden Administration.  Here’s what I “foretell”.  

Who Elected Biden?

There are lots of “constituencies” that supported President-Elect Biden in the 2020 election. All of those groups now want to have representation in the Biden Administration.  Women, Blacks, Hispanics, Environmentalists, Progressives, LGBTQIA, younger Democrats:  all can say they had a “piece” of Biden’s victory, and all rightfully want a “seat” at the Cabinet table.  After all, this isn’t tiddlywinks it’s politics.  Quid pro quo is in the air.

The President-Elect already made his biggest choice.  Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris is the first woman, the first Black person, and the first Southwest Asian to have the job.  The oldest man ever elected to the Presidency has a Vice President who shatters multiple barriers.  And a record eighty-one million Americans voted for them.

Cabinet Diversity

And from what we already know about Biden’s Cabinet it will be the most diverse in American History.  Women are at the helm of the Treasury and Housing and Urban Development Departments. A Black man will be Secretary of Defense, and Hispanic men are at Homeland Security and Health and Human Services.   And there are more, an all-woman White House Communications team, a Black woman as Ambassador to the United Nations and Senior Economic Advisor, and women of Asian ancestry at OMB and as Trade Representative.

But there is a more common thread running through Biden’s appointments.  They are seasoned, experienced, and well versed in the jobs they’ve been asked to do.  And that raises the hackles of the Progressive wing of the Democratic Party, many of them young and supporters of Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez.  Where are the young appointees, the “next generation” that Biden promised as a “transition”?  Where is the seat at the table for Pete Buttigieg or Stacy Abrams or Jamie Harrison?

The Biden cabinet may be diverse, but they definitely represent the best of the Obama White House, not necessarily the future of the Democratic Party.  This Administration is no “training cruise”.  These are the seasoned veterans coming back for another try at governance.

Biden’s Goals

So what is Joe Biden thinking?

There is the most obvious answer.  Joe Biden is seventy-eight years old.  If there was a President who looked like a one-term leader, Biden may be the one.  Seventy may be “the new fifty”, but eighty-two is still in the eighties.  If you start from the position that Biden is thinking about four years, not eight, then putting an experienced team in place becomes the preeminent goal.  There’s no time to learn “the ropes”.

And there are multiple reasons to “hit the ground running”.  The United States is living in the middle of a world pandemic.  And there can be no doubt that our country is the worst in the world at handling that crisis.  Almost 17 million are diagnosed with the disease, and over 300,000 have died.  The rate of infectivity, the percentage of the population who test positive for COVID, is growing daily.

The Biden team needs to serve as the “bridge” for the several months required to get the newly approved vaccines into the general population.  It is now a “short term” problem, but a critical one.  How many Americans die from now until June will be determined by how effective a new Biden Administration strategy is.

Norms to Rules

And Joe Biden sees the totality of the Trump experience as a threat to norms that have directed American governments since Washington.  The job is not just to undo all of the “damage” done by Trump. It’s to find ways to institutionalize and regulate those norms, instead of simply depending on the “good will” of future Presidents.  

The historic example is Franklin Roosevelt. George Washington established the “norm” of two terms in the Presidency. 154 years later, Roosevelt “broke” that norm. After his death in office, the Congress and states approved the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. That set into law a two-term limit on Presidential terms.

Donald Trump has ignored so many of the “norms” it’s hard to know where to begin. The list of “fixes” is long:  environmental regulation, border and immigration control, the Iran nuclear deal, personal profiting from the Presidency and nepotism rules just to name a few.  If Biden sees himself as the four year “return to normalcy” then he can’t wait for a new Cabinet to find their footing.  There’s too much repair to do.

Won’t Get Fooled (Again)

There are two times in the past year we were “fooled” by the vote counting order.  The second time was when Republican state legislatures prevented the mail-in votes from being processed until Election Day in key swing states.  This intentional decision setup the Trump “scenario” when he could claim he “won” after the count of the “day of election” vote, and before the massive mail-in pandemic vote could be counted.  We are still paying the “price” for that strategy, as a significant number of Americans continue to question the outcome of the election.

But the second time we were “fooled” was by the order of the Democratic Primary elections.  February, the first month of primaries, had three states, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada.  And for that entire month the results of those three states, all made up of mostly white voters, dominated the news.  Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders were the “big” winners, and Joe Biden was absolutely the “biggest loser”.  

For that month, until Biden swept the South Carolina Primary of February 29th, Progressive Democrats thought the election was “theirs”.  Then on March 3rd, Biden won ten of fourteen primaries.  A week later, he won five of six.  But the “feeling” that Progressives should have “won” persisted, particularly when only a week after that, the pandemic disrupted the election process.

The reality of the entirety of the primary results is that a moderate “traditional” Democrat, former Vice President Joe Biden, was overwhelmingly elected for the nomination of the Democratic Party.  That “magic Progressive month” of February (in more ways than we realized at the time) melted away with the last of the winter snow.  Biden can legitimately claim a “mandate for moderation” despite the claims by Progressives that Biden won “because of them”. 

Expectations

Regardless of the outcome of the Georgia Senate races, getting appointments through the US Senate will be a near thing.  Either Party will have a narrow one or two vote margin.  Moderate Senators from both Parties will have pivotal votes over the Biden Cabinet appointees.  An appointee too far in either political direction may well get stalled or denied.

So we can expect that Biden will continue to prioritize experience over everything else.  And we can hope that Biden will act as soon as he takes the oath of office.  That’s the Cabinet he’s choosing, one that can get confirmed, and one that knows how to get things done.

The Box

High School

I graduated from high school in 1974. It was after the “hippie era” —though many of us had older brothers and sisters who claimed that time. We were the “next generation” – a stop between dropping acid and drinking Mad Dog or whatever else was available – the “Dazed and Confused” era of the later 70’s. 

And while we may have been soberer than those before and after us, we had our own set of issues. Ours was an era of “finding” a place in life.  Some of our friends and classmates became “Children of God”; some would be “Moonies” and some “Hare Krishna”. They gave up everything to their chosen “cult” – their names and credit cards, families and nonbelieving friends. 

They were taught to believe and obey. Prayer and work crowded out independent thought. Continual chanting “Hare Krishna – Hare Krishna, Krishna – Krishna, Hare – Hare,” drowned out any attempts to analyze their situation.   I diet of little more than boiled rice kept them from having the energy to think. Outside influence – family, friends, Media, was strictly regulated. They could talk to their parents: but only under supervision and generally in attempts to get more money for their “new family”.   When they went into public, often to sell their “herbal incense”; more seasoned and trustworthy elder members closely supervised them. 

Programming

We learned vocabulary words taken from the new mainframe computers carefully fed with stacks of punch cards.  Our friends were “programmed” by the cults. Their minds were cleared by lack of sleep, intense work, limited nutrition and constant chanting. Then they were “programmed” with the faith and regulations of their newfound religion.    

And there were the “deprogrammers”:  guns for hire that would kidnap your child from the cult. The cult member was held in a room against their will for days.  The “deprogrammer” would lecture, argue, quote scripture, and after days “break through” the cult’s mental barriers.   For some of us reuniting with our lost friends it seemed more like “re-programming” with middle class American Christian mores replacing rather than returning them to their pre-cult state. 

Flash forwards forty-six years to 2020. The mainframe computers are piles of hazardous waste, and kids think punch cards are something used to score a Mixed Martial Arts contest.  Like those old dialup modems that cradled the landline phones, the cults of old are mostly gone. 

But the concept of programming the mind is sharper than ever. Now instead of a cult member at the bus station offering “family”, the recruiter is on your pocket computer screen. It’s a YouTube video, or a celebrity text: all saying to ignore the “mainstream” media. Like the Krishna “gurus” of old this electronic programming demands loyalty and exclusivity. Any message questioning their conclusions from “outside the box” of the phone is “wrong” simply because of its origin. The “mainstream media” is declared totally corrupted, so none of their “facts” can be real. 

From the Box

But the “programmees” are no longer high school kids. They are twenty and thirty something’s, Generation Y.  And why not, they are the video game generation grown to adulthood that worked together to kill Nazi Zombies and win Call of Duty.  They saw hope in Obama’s “Yes We Can,” but saw those ideals smothered by “the old white guys”.  Bernie offered an alternative despite being an old white guy himself, but when the establishment went with Hillary – their anti-establishmentarianism turned them to Trump (and I got to use that term in a real sentence!).  

Trump was the master of the Twitter message.  An entire mythology was built around him, from QAnon to Alex Jones.  If you throw out the entire Mainstream Media, Fox News included, what remains is only the extreme, all knowing and all inclusive.  They have a universal answer to all of the questions, from class inequality to UFO’s.  Science is an enemy, corrupted by industry.  The guy on YouTube knows more than Dr. Fauci, and the anti-vaxxers lend respectability and even heroism to dodging a needle in the arm.  The failures become the omnipotent victims, from Michael Flynn to Scott Atlas.  They must be right, but silenced by the establishment.  It’s George Soros striking once again.

And perhaps even worse, there is a universal equity in blame.  Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden, John Roberts and Ruth Bader Ginsburg: all are establishment and therefore all are rejected equally.  Republican and Democratic Parties both deny the “revolution”, so both are unacceptable.  If it was on Netflix, or YouTube or anything on the “box” in their pocket, then it must be true.  Anywhere else merits the universal denial – “fake news”. 

Breaking the Box

How to “break the box”? We can’t kidnap Generation Y and lock them in a room to  “deprogram” them.  We can’t convince them that what sounds like the “universal key” to all problems is like almost all singular answers to complex problems – wrong.  They are convinced:  that all of the the vaccines, electoral counts, lower Courts, Republican election administrators, and now the Supreme Court itself are all corrupted – the universal answer.

Reality is there is some corruption in our government, and even in our elections.  The universal opposite isn’t any more valid.  And we must find a way to reach out from inside the box.  Maybe “Trump World” needs to be a Podcast, not an old-fashioned essay.  But that is the way out, after all of the craziness of “Stop the Steal” and “Natural Herd Immunity” fades.  The box is unbreakable from the outside, but from within, it can be breeched. And that’s the way we bring America back to a place where we can work together again.