Politics

September 15, 2023

Compare the Candidates: Ryan Binkley is Running for President

Now before you go “who?” let me tell you something—this guy is worth listening to. He’s an articulate speaker with a big heart. He is nowhere in the polls but that may change if he can get his message out.  Binkley is a businessman from Dallas as well as a pastor who started his own church, but he doesn’t hit you over the head with the cross. “I’m a Christian, but I don’t want that to be a divisive factor. We’re all one family, children of the Father. Let’s just love each other.” One of his campaign workers told me beforehand he will never run other candidates down or insult anyone–wouldn’t that be a relief.  

            It was a modest turnout of about 25, mostly students at New England College in Henniker and probably some of them had to come as an assignment.  As I listened to them giggling I wondered if all of us were that silly at that age.  Oh, and in case you were wondering, it’s still cool to wear your baseball cap backwards. 

Binkley is a tall man, a youthful 56 and easily the best-looking candidate of the bunch.   The evening benefitted from having a skilled moderator from the Manchester TV station.  The questions and answers kept coming at a brisk pace and covered a lot of ground without the applause that has characterized all the other townhall events. This was pure policy, no playing to the crowd. It was a thousand times more informative than any TV debate.

As I waited for it to begin I thought, “Why do these unknowns start with a run for president?  Why not congressman or mayor?” That, as it turned out was the moderator’s first question, and his answer was “I’m running for the next generation.” He has five kids and the country is in trouble.  He calls himself an economist at heart (he runs an investment bank) and the economy is out of control.  “The amount of money we owe and have to pay interest on is a disaster.  There is no plan in Congress for balancing the budget, for fixing health care, for inflation, for addressing poverty and if we don’t watch out people will turn to socialism.”  It’s the first time I heard a candidate mention the S word and it tied in with one of his slogans: Freedom. He means freedom from government overreach. Eminent domain takes someone’s land, and watch out, someone is coming for your freedom too.  “Socialism tries to buy your vote by offering you some benefit.  Giving free college tuition sounds great but year after year of that you’d have big trouble down the road because someone has to pay for infrastructure, for the professors.  That would mean raising tax rates, maybe even up to 70%. Inflation would result, pushing interest rates on mortgages up to 17%.    It’s like a credit card that will come due for your children and lead to a huge collapse.”  

The moderator hit the main talking points of the campaign and his answers kept coming back to finances and compassion.

Climate change: we can’t get rid of fossil fuels now. We need to get inflation down first. 

Abortion: I’m pro-life, but let’s change the conversation to show that we care.  Teenage mothers feel so alone. Churches, charities need to step in to help them and make adoptions more affordable (he has adopted a South Korean girl). Let’s make the men more accountable too.

Borders Plan: he has a “Security and Dignity Plan”—a path to citizenship and the Wall.

Trans: There are some things we will never agree on, but that doesn’t mean I hate you. Let’s listen to each other’s stories and respect each other. 

Foreign policy: We need a strong military, but we also need to be in shape financially. Only then will the world respect us.  China is in control and we are on the sidelines.  Putin will pay attention to us once we are leading financially again. 

Ukraine: We can’t have an endless war, but we also can’t let Putin win. So keep supporting Ukraine for now, but after the war we have to create a way for Russia to re-enter the world, to let them know we will help reintegrate them.  

Where he really got excited was when he began to talk about the need for a cultural change that hearkened back to Jimmy Carter’s appeal to morals or Bush the First’s compassionate conservativism.  “Most people hate politics, but would join in a movement to love your neighbor that would change the culture of America.  We need to encourage volunteerism, to give five hours a week to mentor someone, to help kids read in school.” 

If you voted for Trump because he was an outsider, Binkley, another outsider,  is nicer, more intelligent, a better speaker, doesn’t fly off the handle, and wins the sincere award.   At one point you could hear the emotion in his voice. “There are big crises coming and we’re not ready:  the economy, the border, race, health.”  That’s why he felt a calling to run though he knows it’s a long shot. But he’s also got a sense of humor. As he ended the night he held up the two hats he’s giving away: one says Binkley Believe –“this is my pastor side,” and the other says Way to Freedom, abbreviated WTF. The students laughed because of its more general meaning, and he laughed too, telling us when the double meaning was pointed out to him, he was urged to change it but he said, no let’s keep it.  “This is my business side.”  

    Nice guys finish last, as any baseball fan knows, but let’s wish him well in his quixotic quest. I’m sure many Americans would savor the moment in a future debate where he got to confront his opponents on the economy: “You just raised the national debt again! WTF!” 

September 10, 2023

Compare the Candidates: Tim Scott Woos New Hampshire

To see Tim Scott, Republican US senator from South Carolina, I headed north into the Lake District, and a dot on the map called Meredith Center.  The event was held at the Wicwas Lake Grange Hall and a cozier spot can scarcely be imagined, with a stone-lined fireplace, upright piano, wainscoting, and a curtained stage.  My father would be proud to see that the old grange movement still has some life in it. A big blue backdrop stood before the stage with his slogan “Faith in America” all over it.  Now would that be “I have faith America will get it together?”  or “Let’s get faith (Christianity) back into America?”  Maybe both… Clever campaign managers. 

It was a muggy 86 degrees and the good people of Meredith were passing out water and chocolates lest any Republican feel woozy.   About two-thirds of the citizens who drifted in were couples in the autumn of their lives and we’re talking late November, not September.  Some of them were pretty wobbly on the old pins, and/or carrying a bit too much ballast in their hulls.  There were several baseball caps in evidence with indications of service in Vietnam.  As usual they were a friendly bunch, introducing themselves, chatting about the weather.   One younger man was showing a new acquaintance photos of himself and all the candidates he’s seen so far.  As 5 PM approached the room filled quickly and the conversational din grew louder.  Occasionally you could pick out a word like “Biden” and “treason.”

Then suddenly, without fanfare, the candidate appeared from a side door.  He was 15 minutes early, looking comfortable despite the weather in a white shirt, no tie. He asked for a vote on who wanted to start now because of the heat, and who wanted to wait till the advertised time.  Of course everyone wanted to get the show on the road. In fact, anyone who didn’t was not yet in the room.   Now that’s a rigged vote!

He was brief with his personal story. Grew up poor. Single mother. “I started working at age 13, like many of you I’m sure (heads nod approvingly). But I was able to rise out of poverty because this is America. (applause). In the America I grew up in, you work hard, you get ahead. You take out a loan, you pay it back” (“yes sir!”—this from an enthusiastic dowager, doubtlessly furious at Biden for trying to forgive all those student loans). “I just want to say up front that we have a big field of candidates, but any of them would be better than Joe Biden.” And here began what the crowd wanted to hear: all the things Biden has made a hash of and Tim Scott would get right. It was by now a familiar Republican list:  support the police, empower parents, balance the budget—see his website for more.  The audience loved all this, but the biggest response came when he said on day one he would fire Merrick Garland.  “I know a two-tiered justice system when I see it. I grew up with that and that’s what we’ve got now in the Justice Department.”   Wow. Comparing the racism in the South of the 60s to prosecuting the people who stormed the Capitol. 

Then we come to the Republican red meat: the unsecured border and China. He wants to finish building that wall.  Like Haley he warned that fentanyl is being manufactured in Mexican factories and smuggled in. We need to crush the cartels responsible for this, but the ingredients come from China.  Now folks, you never lose points demonizing China. The Republican Party could finance the entire campaign by selling life-size Xi Jin Ping punching bags. And there is no question that we should be wary of the Chinese government as it flexes its muscles, but Scott assured us it’s not the case that Xi is strong, it’s that Biden is weak. “Our supply chain shouldn’t rely on China. My Made in America Plan creates economic-activity zones for manufacturing. Our high-tech jobs should be here, not in Asia.” He would create even more jobs by “releasing energy resources” (i.e., digging that coal, pumping that oil). Like all candidates he starts rattling off numbers on the economy that make your head swim and you have to go to fact checkers later on to see if any of it adds up. 

Will he get the votes he needs?  He’s got a no frills approach to campaigning that is refreshing.  There was no rock music, no pledge to the flag, no Bible readings or mention of religion other than a quick “God bless you” as he finished.  He’s a personable guy with a good head on his shoulders.  He’s got experience in Congress and is pleasant company. He claimed he wasn’t a funny guy, but he is. He was constantly kidding around with the audience. It’s easy to imagine that our allies would like him, and he could hold his own as well as anyone with an antagonist. Nikki Haley almost never smiles but comes across as someone with a lot of grit.  Tim Scott on the other hand has a disarming grin along with a lets-get-down-to-business side. If you like the Republican planks, he could be your guy, but my sense is that Republicans are attracted to the tough ones more than the nice ones.

  Nice touch, grangers, in providing the mini-cupcakes gratis as we exited!

July 27, 2023

Compare the Candidates: Nikki Haley Makes Her Pitch

The next stop on our primary tour was the luxurious Fulchino Vineyard in Hollis, New Hampshire, a great spot for an open-air townhall with its terrazzo in front of a handsome Italianate villa, surrounded by lush vineyards… quite a difference from the scruffy VFW where Gov. Christie spoke yesterday. As we walked up the steps on this hot, muggy, overcast day we were met with the welcome sight of caterers offering us cool fruit drinks or chilled bottles of wine that beckoned enticingly from tubs of ice. 

The terrace was full of tables with fancy gilt chairs.  A friendly threesome urged me to join them, and soon we were chatting pleasantly like old acquaintances.  As I looked around I couldn’t help noticing that not only was the setting more elegant than the VFW, but the people themselves were cut from a different cloth. Where the vets were swilling bottles of Bud in t-shirts, the current company was sipping fine wine, dressed and coiffed to the nines.  You could even order food, a “Sicilian Plate” –a bit on the steep side at $40.   Clearly I was among the crème de la crème of the GOP.  A newcomer joined our party and the conversation quickly shifted to some good old-fashioned Biden bashing. 

Enough of that, time to start!   The music gets louder, the humidity rises, and we cast a worried eye to the heavens, now seriously threatening to rain us out. But never mind, here she is!  Most readers will know her story: a girl from small-town South Carolina, the only family from India, “not white enough to be white, or black enough to be black.”  Her mother told her, “Don’t show them how different we are, show them how we’re similar.” Here the first lightning flash of the evening. Clearly God approved that sentiment, as should we all. She told us about her accomplishments as governor and at the UN: “We took the kick-me sign off the back of America. We made the world respect us again.  I had a list of every country: how much aid we gave them and how many times they voted against us in the UN.  When I’m president we will no longer give money to countries that don’t support us or that hate America: Iran, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Byelorus, Cuba.” (Note to hardliners: That sounds good, but it’s a tricky thing morally–withholding food aid punishes the innocent, not the elite who run things).

She shifts to a litany of Biden failures: the Chinese balloon, the Afghanistan pullout.    She’s not afraid to include Republicans on her what’s-wrong list.  “We’re 32 trillion in debt. Republicans did that.  They expanded Medicaid, food stamps, earmarks.”   On education:  8th graders scores are down, critical race theory is taught.  “I will end the national self-loathing, the teaching that America is racist.  Faith, family, country used to be what we taught, don’t you want that again?  All kids will start the day saying the pledge of allegiance” (at this point the American flag blew over. Was that God again? Maybe He doesn’t like loyalty oaths, even those that include Him.)

Then she got to China and really let ‘er rip:  They’re our biggest national security threat, they’ve been preparing for war for years, their navy is bigger than ours, they’re infiltrating America, buying property near airforce bases, deliberately sending in Fentanyl over our unsecured borders—thousands are dead as a result, and don’t even get me started on Covid. They’re stealing our intellectual property, yet Biden tries to accommodate them.  We’re not competitors, we’re enemies!  China only knows winner-take-all. When I’m president I will take back the US soil that they’ve bought.  I will tell universities you either take US money or Chinese money, not both.  I’ll build up the military.  Strong militaries don’t start wars, they prevent them.  And by the way, there will be no more gender-pronoun classes in the military. 

 That line got the biggest response of the evening, except perhaps in her schools section where she said there will be no biological boys playing on girls’ sports teams.   Listening to the crowd’s enthusiastic reactions, I suddenly realized that just as in 2000 George Bush squeaked out a victory because of the fear of same-sex marriages, now it’s going to be gender that inflames conservatives to the point where they rush to the polls en masse to save us from the trans invasion.

She tells us no more whining, we have to act.  Instead of the IRS going after the middle class, let’s shift our attention so we go after all those who benefited from Covid fraud. We need transparency in schools, school choice, defund sanctuary cities (war whoops), send 25,000 ICE agents and border patrol on a “catch and deport” mission. “When I’m president I’m going to clean house. The first thing is to change all the department heads, and 5 year term limits for all staff.”   Like other Republicans, she would shift funds away from Congress to the states. Congress has let the veterans down. We need to fund mental-health care for soldiers and sailors. In fact, let’s make Congress get their healthcare through the VA (huge cheers). We also need term limits. “Let’s give everyone who’s over 75 a mental health competency test.  It’s not hard, it’s things like name three items that begin with letter A, or how many grandchildren do I have. (Ooooo! Laughter, then with fake-innocence) “I don’t know what y’all are laughin’ at.”   This snide remark was her least attractive moment.  (For those who missed it, this is a reference to President Biden’s failure to acknowledge his son’s out-of-wedlock child). 

And now the umbrellas come out as the rain begins to fall. She keeps going.  In answer to a question about abortion: I’m pro-life, I want each state to decide, but I don ‘t want to punish women who’ve had abortions…let’s respect everyone’s story. Another question on how to win over blue states: “Tell them, if you vote for Biden, you’re voting for Kamala Harris, because there is no way Biden finishes the term.”  (snarky laughter–wow, how did Kamala Harris become such a punching bag!) 

Clearly she’s pushing many of the usual conservative positions. However Haley is an amazing speaker especially when you contrast her with bumblers like McConnell, Grassley, or Biden.  But then of course, she’s not an octogenarian, she’s 51.  She speaks with an intensity that leaves no doubt about her views.  Her passion for her role as public servant comes through loud and clear, and the audience was responsive–cheering and applauding as she listed her achievements and intentions.  One well-dressed woman near me who favored a particularly striking shade and amount of lipstick was whooping it up at every opportunity.  Maybe it was the Fulchino vino but her colorful grin got bigger and her woo-hoos louder as Haley itemized the butts she was going to kick once in office.   This was a lovefest and these candidates in the primary have to find their tribe, that group within the Party that will float their boat, pick it up and carry it over the churning surf to the safety of the shore.  Ramaswamy goes for the youth vote, Christie for the anti-Trumpers, and Haley for women of a certain age who see themselves like her, elegant and strong. 

Another thing she’s got going for her is her husband.  He’s with the national guard and she just dropped him off for a one-year deployment in Africa. “They are sacrificing a lot for us. We need to be equal to their courage. Me to run and you to support.”

Her final statement amid the raindrops:  “No one will outwork me. No one will outsmart me.” Meaning, I presume, Xi Jinping.

July 26, 2023

Compare the Candidates: Chris Christie at the VFW

It was off to our state capital to see the former governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie.  We were meeting at the Concord VFW where a giant American flag served as the backdrop.  Unfortunately, the patriotic effect was somewhat diminished by the video game beside it flashing its title: “Piggy’s Big Break” featuring a smirking pink pig.  The VFW is a humble venue–OK, basically it’s a bar.  There were about 80 of us in there on folding chairs or standing, mostly older couples and single women. “We’re retired,” one matriarch grinned, “What else do we have to do.”  The regulars sipping beer at the bar seemed a bit bewildered by the invasion of their space.   At a table next to the bar sat a group of NH politicians, identifiable by their black suit coats and impeccable haircuts.  As we waited a TV off to the side broadcast the news. Whoops! Here’s an ad for rival candidate Tim Scott!  How embarrassing.       

The techies take their positions, it’s about to start, and through the doors comes the governor’s wife, Mary Pat, all smiles, taking a seat in the front row.  She’s immediately likeable—the word vivacious comes to mind. She shakes hands with her neighbors, laughs with them, and you can tell she’s someone who’d be fun to be around. 

Then we all stand and clap as the man himself appears, dressed in shirt and tie, no coat, and let’s just get this out there right away:  he’s a big guy.  Think Jackie Gleason.  Trump of course has been mocking him because of his weight, and Christie cleverly uses it as an opportunity to point out that Trump is, was, and always will be a schoolyard bully.  As I looked around in Concord afterwards I couldn’t help thinking if everyone who is struggling with weight goes for him, he’s a shoo-in.

But what a difference between the former Christie and the present one!  Eight years ago he was snapping at people, mean.  Now, like his wife, he seems like the kind of guy you’d like to hang out with. He’s quick.  He’s smart.  He’s funny. Spending an evening with him is entertaining.  You could tell he was having a good time as he joked with the photographers and questioners, and the crowd ate it up.  “Trump and DeSantis are angry men.  They’re always mad at something. I’m a happy guy.”  And he looked it.  

He gave us the stump speech. He’s running again because Biden is past his sell-by date.  What did he give us? Inflation, runaway spending, a botched Afghanistan pullout, his son enriching himself, and now he wants to erase student loans that the taxpayers will end up paying for.  This sets an awful example to young people, like they’re entitled.  It’s not fair to all those who worked hard to save and pay off what they borrowed.  “I paid my loans back. It took 10 years for us,” and with a flash of humor,  “I was such a catch that Mary Pat took on my loans when she took me on.”  

Then he goes for Trump. Like the prosecutor he used to be he slowly and methodically lays out the case: He promised three things in 2016: he’d end Obamacare, he’d build a wall and Mexico would pay for it, he’d balance the budget. None of that happened.  Instead he added 6 trillion dollars to the deficit, more than any other president.  One guest shouts: “That’s how he ran his businesses!” which gave Christie the chance to tell us that Trump’s Atlantic City casinos went bankrupt three times.  He told us that when he became governor and inherited an 11 million dollar deficit, Trump called him up with this advice: “Declare bankruptcy.”  

“Donald, I can’t do that, the state of New Jersey isn’t a business.” 

“So it’ll go to court, and by the time it’s decided, you’ll be out of office.” 

Then he asks us to imagine what Trump would do if elected for another 4 years, when he won’t have to answer for anything because he’s not eligible to run again.  

Christie’s theme is that our country has become small. We’ve broken up into small, like-minded groups that can’t be civil to each other.  We’re arguing about stupid things, small things.  He invoked Washington, Lincoln, FDR , and Reagan–leaders who thought big, who were up against powerful forces threatening us. Now it’s China who wants to dominate the world.  Is that what we want? A communist dictatorship running everything? 

The governor gave a jovial greeting to a New Hampshire teenager, Quinn Mitchell who has been making a name for himself with pointed questions at these events.   “Would you put country over religion, party, family? “Yes! Definitely. I’m Roman Catholic but country comes first.” And this gave him another opportunity to point out that Trump has never done that. Jan. 6 was all about him, not the country, and he still denies he lost the election or that he was responsible for what happened that day. It also gave him a chance to take a swipe at Tim Scott and Ron DeSantis both of whom refused to condemn Trump for Jan. 6.

 Other issues came up:  He’s against Obamacare, he’s for term limits, he’d raise the retirement age for those who are in their 30s and 40s to rescue Social Security.  Most positions on climate change, abortion, Ukraine were typical of the Republican platform.    He  reminds us that Trump said he would settle the Ukrainian conflict in 24 hours. Christie shakes his head in disbelief: “Folks, this isn’t a celebrity TV show in a fake boardroom!”  

A lady takes the mike to thank him for going after Trump: “You’ve got big balls to stand up to a narcissist.”  The crowd guffawed and Christie took it in stride, but, ah me, I long for the good old days when public discourse was gonad-free. 

I couldn’t help thinking if he doesn’t get the nod from the Republicans, maybe he’d go in with No Labels and actually pull off the third-party-candidate wager.  His policies wouldn’t please the Democrats obviously, but you’ve got to admire his chutzpah.  He refered to his time as governor, working with a democratic legislature to get things done. “We don’t spend enough time with people we don’t like.  It’s harder to hate up close.”

So he’s saying some of the right things in a splintered world. I just wish he had not repeated the mean-spirited and fallacious tweet by a former Trumpist that Biden fell asleep in front of the cameras when the president of Israel was here.  If you don’t check on these kinds of things you’re just spreading more lies which is what you’re condemning Trump for.

February 18, 2021

The Capitol Riot: 1776 or Just Misguided?

 Some of those who invaded the Capitol claim they were taking a page from the book of the patriots of 1776.  They were the Sons of Liberty resurrected, doing nothing more than our vaunted ancestors did when they lit the spark for our Revolution.  Others find that laughable, and categorize the people who attacked police and entered the Capitol on Jan. 6 as deluded, misguided– dare we say “deplorable”–criminals. The true patriots, they would say, were the members of Congress, doing the work of the People in the face of an insurrection.

            Though the temptation is great to wave off the Trumpists’ comparison with 1776, let’s not be too hasty.  They make some excellent points.   In 1776 the Sons of Liberty were a grassroots group who were angry with the government (the king, his council, and Parliament) that was foisting rules, regulations, and taxes on them.   Faced with a hostile government, they took to the streets and their protests turned into violent acts like throwing tea chests into the harbor and tarring and feathering opponents they didn’t like.  In Boston they dressed up like Indians to do their dirty work—remind you of the guy in the Viking headdress?

            Their brethren of 2021 see themselves in the same light.  They say their voices have been blocked by a tyrannical government that rigged an election, leaving them no option but to take to the streets.  They equate Congress with Parliament in denying them representation in governing themselves, with Nancy Pelosi as the new George III.  It’s exactly for this reason that the Second Amendment is in the Bill of Rights, they would say, so the average guy can be part of a militia to defend himself against bad government, and they would be right about that. Our Founding Fathers were very worried about government overreach.

            But they’re wrong about the most important part of this.  The 1776ers actually had no voice in the government, but in 2020 there was an election.  Their claim to be patriots defending the country depends on their proof that some dirty work at the crossroads kept their votes from counting.   All 61 of the court challenges to the election faltered for lack of evidence and these would-be patriots were left with only the hot air of Trump and Giuliani to float their balloon.  

If any of them are reading this I hope you now realize that there is no conspiracy to deprive you of your votes, but if you’re not, you still have a chance to prove your case.   As we learned from the 2000 election, even though a victor has been declared, it doesn’t have to end there.  As the newsmedia did in 2001, what you should do is gather all your evidence and lay it out for all to see in the courtroom of public opinion, but just make sure it’s not innuendo, or unsubstantiated claims like “everyone knows that….” or “people saw things that….” which are worthless. That’s what McCarthy did in the 50s and what Giuliani and Trump are doing now. Also make sure that you get it into the mainstream media.  Lay it all out and if you’re right, we’ll all know it. 

So much of the unrest in the world right now comes down to who won an election and who cheated:  Venezuela, Belorus, Uganda, CAR, on and on into darkness and death.  The proof of a fraudulent election can’t be, “I know it’s rigged because I lost.”  It all comes back to what I wrote earlier: we need better, more transparent ways to hold a vote and more grace in losing.  It doesn’t have to be this hard!   

January 22, 2021

Two Protests: Washington and Minsk—What’s the Difference?

President Putin wagged his finger at the US in the wake of the storming of the Capitol,  claiming an equivalency between the protestors in Belarus who want to overturn their presidential election and the mob in Washington who wanted to overturn ours: if we condemn the Washington protestors as lawless troublemakers we should condemn those in Minsk too.  Does he have a point? Let’s break the argument down.

The Trump supporters believe our election was rigged so they came to Washington in the thousands to overturn it.   The opposition in Belarus and all of Europe believe their August vote was rigged and Lukashenka’s claim that he won amounts to a steal.   Thousands of protestors have marched since then. Lukashenka has tried to shut them down, saying they are being set on by “provocateurs”, but these average citizens are risking prison and sometimes torture to come out into the streets.  Yesterday one man set himself on fire in protest and is in critical condition. 

There have been many similar protests in Africa, Latin America, and Asia we could talk about, but let’s focus on these two for now: is there a difference? Should we condemn them as a danger to society or support them all in the name of freedom of expression?

There is a definite danger with mass protesting: you can’t control who joins in.  That leaves the way open for the provocateurs.  In Washington we don’t know how many of these guys were just hotheads who boiled over in the moment, or were militias who made a plan in advance to use violence to “take back the government.” In either case things can easily spin out of control when thousands are in the streets, and then you have looting and tear gas and police over-reacting and all the usual list of horrors.  Given that possibility, law-abiding citizens would probably applaud shutting things down before they start.

But you can’t.   Not in a real democracy where freedom of speech lies at the core of citizens’ rights.   Without it there can be no check on the powers that be.   The key of course is peaceful protest.  The right to protest should not be seen as license to break windows, loot, or hurt people.  As soon as anyone starts urging people in that direction, it’s incitement to violence and it’s jail time. So the peaceful nature of the Belarus protests is one thing that sets them apart from what happened in Washington.

The other distinguishing characteristic of course is the reason for the protests: stolen elections. In the USA every accusation from the Trump team was reviewed in independent courts and found to be without foundation. In Belarus numerous reports of fraud from poll workers were ignored. There have been no investigations. That leaves only protest and beyond that, revolution.

Putin himself faces street protests tomorrow (Saturday Jan. 23) for jailing a major opposition figure, Alexei Navalny, who just returned to Russia from a German hospital after being poisoned.  He is accused of fraud, taking money from his non-profits and spending it on himself.  Putin has also thrown some of Navalny’s key supporters in prison for calling on Russians to fill the streets on Saturday and demand his release.   The Kremlin is justifying these measures, because of the dangers of provocateurs. They’re  also worried about young people heeding the opposition’s cry, and are calling on parents to take their kids on walks in the woods on Saturday to keep them off the streets! Let’s see what happens.  

We need to think of a better way to hold elections in every part of the world. More on that next time.

January 20, 2021

Fighting off the Dark Side after the Storming of the Capitol

The Death of Democracy, a short play

A: You stole the election!

B: No, you’re trying to steal it!

A: No, it’s you!

B: No, it’s you!

A: You’re a liar!

B: No, you are. 

A: I’m gonna kill you!

B: No, I’m gonna kill you!!

Repeat until everyone is dead.

This is what is passing for discussion in the USA when it comes to the latest presidential election.   It’s a play that has already been performed many times in Africa and may well become the norm around the world, so by the end of the next decade no election result anywhere will be accepted by the losing side.  Why is this happening to us in the Land of the Free?  Every pundit and his brother is pondering that question now and a couple of things are clear: that some came to Washington on Jan. 6 having made their plans to wage war on tyranny (as they see it) weeks in advance, but others came only to protest and were caught up in the moment, doing things they never intended to do, which brings me to what I call the “Sacrament of the Group,” or rather, the perversion of it.    

We need to be part of groups.  We were made to live in flocks.  It’s how we get things done and feel good about ourselves.   This need begins with family and friends, but extends beyond our inner circle.  When we gather with like-minded people in clubs and organizations amazing things can happen.  It’s exciting to be at a sporting event where your team wins at the last moment, or at a revival meeting where a gifted preacher really gets the crowd going.  There are even times when we experience something truly extraordinary as part of a group, a euphoria that leaves us breathless, thrilled to the depths of our being. These are moments where we feel like we really belong, where we forge a powerful connection to those around us. “These are my people!” we think.   We hug strangers, we chant, we sing and go home carrying the joy of that experience with us for weeks, months, or even a lifetime.  The Women’s March in Washington in 2017 was like that.  At such times a spirit descends on those present like the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, delivering an intoxicating moment of ecstasy.

 But there is a danger.   Being with like-minded people and embracing a cause creates a powerful force.   A political rally can wind a crowd up with fiery rhetoric, but that crowd can turn into an angry mob at the drop of a hat.  The Sacrament of the Group can easily give way to the Dark Side of our humanity.  People suddenly see red. They want a fight. The Dark Side can be triggered by leaders who want violence or by the average Joes in the crowd who are carried away by the moment and start yelling “Let’s get them!–whoever “them” might be. They feel their power rising and lash out at imagined enemies.  We end up with the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, Kristallnacht, and Jan. 6, 2020 with the Ostrogoths in the Capitol—or were they the Sons of Liberty?  More on that another time.

Whoever they were, how do we stop this recurring accusation of election fraud and the spiral of violence? Specifically, how do we get everyone to agree that the outcome of the 2020 balloting was fair and head off the potential to breathe life into the Dark Side?  

The only answer is through education and reason.  First there has to be a real effort to get the facts straight.   This seems to be the hardest part these days.  To all my readers who believe the vote was rigged, and may the courts be damned who ruled otherwise, let me urge you to not follow the lead of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who when Jesus said his cause was to bear witness to the Truth replied, “What is truth?” and walked out the door.[1] To walk away from the truth as Pilate did is to cede the power of the Group to the forces of Darkness. If millions of Americans are still unconvinced by the court rulings, we need a larger conversation on Truth and how it is different than “The Outcome I Want,” as well as a discussion on what makes a reliable news sources.

Having agreed on the facts, we must be able to use our reason to figure out what to do about the messiness of voting.   Is there a better way to hold elections, a fairer way? A more transparent way? A more secure way? Is it time for the Electoral College to go?Should we not use scanners or mail-in ballots?….Figure it out and have all parties on board with procedures before the election takes place!

As Voltaire put into the mouth of Socrates in his play of the same name: ”It is the triumph of reason to get along with those who have none.”  Socrates was talking about his nagging wife, Xantippe, but we should take these words to heart and apply them to our neighbors who seem to have fallen into some kind of madness, almost a group hysteria like we saw in the Salem Witch Trials.  We may need a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to sort all this out and lead our divided country onto more solid ground. You can’t rebuild a nation in a quagmire.

[1] This of course gave rise to the (formerly) well-known cliché from Francis Bacon, passed down from the 17th century : “ ‘What is Truth?’ asked jesting Pilate and would not stay for an answer.” 

January 2, 2021

The Death Wish of Senate Republicans

Hang on to your hats! Senate Republicans are not yet down for the count. They’re out there flailing away on two fronts, trying to keep Trump in power at all costs. In the latest twist in our post-election epic we have Republican Senator Josh Hawley from Missouri bucking his own party leaders to support Trump’s call to challenge the vote on Jan. 6 when the official counting before Congress takes place.  At the same time Ted Cruz is leading a crew of 11 senators who want a 10-day delay to examine the charges of fraud.   Each Senator and Representative may then have to let his or her position be known to the world in no uncertain terms: do you support Trump or have you had enough of him and his sycophants? 

Where can this lead other than to a greater chance the Republicans will formally split into two parties?  The pro-Trumpers will be able to brand those who will not kowtow to his wishes as apostates, run candidates against them in future primaries, and ruin the party’s chances of survival.   The long-term damage to the Republican Party and to the electorate’s confidence in the voting process is a near certainty.

Maybe that’s OK. Maybe we need a big change in American politics.  It’s time to abandon the two-party system and winner-take-all elections in favor of proportional representation.   Any fan of the Danish show Borgen can see how this works, with smaller parties glomming together in coalitions to get the work of governing done.  It’s more democratic than our current system, even if it is more unwieldy.  While we’re at it, it would be great to diminish the role of president to more of a chief ambassador, a handshaker, winer and diner of VIPs, someone who is an “above it all” kind of politician like the crowned heads of Europe or the presidents of Germany and Austria.  Lets take the best of the ideas from Europe with a prime minister at the helm of the ship of state, lots of political parties representing all kinds of people in these changing times we live in, and get ourselves a Congress that can stop floundering and start functioning.

 Of course this will take an amendment or two to the Constitution, which almost never happens because parties like to protect what power they have, but when things get really bad on the street, Congress tends to kick into gear.  Maybe now is the time for that to happen again.  The Democrats may have to split too, into the moderates and the socialists.  Exciting times!

October 27, 2020

Purge the Republican Party!

What the Republican Party needs is a good old-fashioned purge.  Whether the Trumpists (Trumpites?) purge the moderates or vice versa, it doesn’t matter.  They shouldn’t, no, cannot be on the same team any longer.  It’s like the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks: someone’s got to go.  

I’m not talking about military action like Pride’s Purge in 1648 where the Puritan General Pride famously refused to allow pro-monarchy members to enter Parliament, leaving the “Rump” to arrange the execution of King Charles I without opposition.  We don’t need the security forces to get involved like Stalin did in his purges. All you need is to have the Republicans answer a simple question:

“Do you want to be member of a party whose president is a liar, a lecher, a braggart, a bully, a conman, and a swindler?”  

If yes, hurray! Three cheers for Trump!  Might as well just name the party after him too–how about Trump’s Rump?  All those in favor please adjourn to a rally at the new party headquarters in Mar-el-Lago to bask in the glory of your Beloved Leader, laugh at his inane comments, and chant mindless slogans, while hosannas ring out from the evangelical churches.  

Then those who would prefer a decent human being who comes close to telling the truth, who isn’t always talking about himself, who treats others with respect can keep the name Republican and go about their business without having to deal with the enablers in Congress and the White House who, up to now have been standing beside the throne simpering and salaaming even though, let’s be honest, they all know what a disaster he is, has been, and ever more shall be.

Just as a good purgative cleans out the GI tract, so this party purge will get things moving in the body politic.   The old-style Republicans like those of the Lincoln Project will have their party back, and the Rump can go their merry way, imagining absurd conspiracies and hatching some of their own, forming hate groups, closing their minds, and generally spinning further and further out of control until they completely lose touch with reality. There seem to be a lot of them out there, but maybe this break up will make it easier for those Republicans who still have an ounce of discernment to find themselves back in a party they can believe in and be proud of.

July 3, 2020

From Elephant to Lemming: The Recent History of the Republican Party

Ah for the good old days when proud Republicans could look to their leaders and see men and women of integrity, sturdy and steady, powerful and wise—like the noble elephant that symbolized their party.   Those days are long gone.

Say good bye to the elephant, folks.   The majority of Republicans in the country have shape-shifted into little lemmings, throwing off any semblance of wisdom as they deny science, embrace conspiracies, and blindly follow a sneering Narcissus driven by his own delusions.   His lemming-captains, the propagandists of Fox and the enablers in Congress, seem willing to march in lockstep in whatever disastrous direction he’s taking them, while the lemming masses swarm around them, happily heading toward the cliffs of climate change and social upheaveal.

And what is it that’s driving the lemmings, blinding them to realities the rest of us see only too clearly?   Why won’t they admit that the environment is under threat? Why would they defend a president who is so obviously out of touch?  A scoundral, a braggart, a lecher?  Why wouldn’t they wear masks when the example of New York City was there for all to see?

I recommend this Ted Talk with Julia Galef for an explanation.  She compares us to soldiers in battle, and our decision making is based on the need to protect our side at all costs.  Our adrenaline is up, we’re ready for battle, and if our captains say march, lemming-like we march.  It’s a great analogy.  So many Americans feel embattled, besieged.  Change is happening and change is scary especially when it brings in people who have a different look, accent, love life, or God.    She suggests we need to get out of that guardian-of-the-gates mentality and become a different type of soldier—the scout.  Scouts have to gather information, analyze it, reason it out, and make some important decisions to benefit the community they live in.

Lemmings make terrible scouts.   They’ve switched off their brains and won’t take in information they don’t agree with. They believe what they want to believe as they lock arms and march to their imagined Promised Land to the tune of the last Trump.