News briefs of the week

1.  The New York Times broke the story Tuesday night that last June president Trump instructed the White House counsel Don McGahn to order the Justice Department to fire Robert Mueller.  McGahn refused, saying that, if the president insisted on his doing this, he would resign first.   He explained how harmful it would be to the president himself, given the circumstances.   Trump did not pursue it further . . . yet.

In an earlier and apparently unrelated release, it has also been reported that some time back, when interviewing FBI professional Andrew McCabe to be Acting FBI Director, the president asked McCabe whom he had voted for in 2016.  McCabe's very correct answer was that, according to his obligations to remain politically neutral in his job, he had not voted in the presidential contest.

Come to think of it, has anyone else noticed the growing resemblance of Trump to 1930-40's Italian dictator Benito Mussolini?    Trump's about got that jaw-thrust, chin-tilt scowl down perfect.
Take note in this photo from LGBTQNation:

Firing an FBI Director who is investigating you, asking his potential replacement if he voted for you, and then telling the government lawyer to fire the special prosecutor investigating you?    These are clearly attempts to obstruct justice, a crime.    Is Trump just naive or ignorant , , ,   or a dictator-in-the-making.   


2.  After having campaigned against, among others, the "global elites" who epitomize the attendees of the annual Davos World Economic Forum, President Trump decided this year not only to attend that gathering but to address the group as well.  Another step in his attempt to mintain a nationalist-populist image with his voting base, while governing from the stance of a capitalist, tax-cutting elitist.

The speech was what the New York Times called "mixed facts, falsehoods, and claims that could use context.

He informed the assembled leaders of commerce, government, culture and journalism that "America is open for business again" under his leadership -- and of course he bragged about what he has already achieved (some quite easily debunked as either his having no control over or else, as in job growth, part of a pattern and at a rate that was well under way during the last year of the Obama presidency.

One of the notable aspects of the Trump speech was the booes and hisses that came from some of the audience when he began talking about "fake news" and criticizing the media.   These were not protesters but rather regular members of the invited crowd.

He did make one statement that seemed agreeable, although I question how well he himself has lived up to it:   "We support free trade, but it must be fair and it must be reciprocal."   In his view, this does not include room for requiring that trading partners must meet minimum environmental and work-conditions standards.

3.  The dramatic sentencing hearing has been completed for former USA Olympics sports doctor Larry Nassar, who was also a sports doctor at Michigan State University.  More than 150 girls and women gymnasts accused him of having abused them sexually, and most of them spoke in court aboutr their experience.  The sentence from this trial, added to prior sentences of other trials keeps Nassar in jail now for well over 100 years.

There are other severe consequences.   The entire board of USA Gymnastics, which oversees the US Olympic gymnastics program, was forced to resign if they had not already voluntarily left the board.   The president and athletic director at Michigan State resigned.   Congress and the U.S. Department of Education are opening investigations into sex abuse in sports.

4.  Trump is on his way home from Davos, Switzerland;  and the next thing on his agenda apparently, is surprising everyone with his own immigration plan -- after saying he wanted Congress to come up with something they could agree on, and then after seeming not to understand the policy issues enough to even discuss a plan.

So I think we can assume that this is the work of senior adviser Stephen Miller, a hard-liner on immigration.   As I currently understand it, here are the elements that will be in Trump's plan:
   a.  A path to citizenship for over 1 million 'dreamers' who were brought here as children by their parents;  this would include the 800,000 DACA recipients.
   b.  $25 billion to build the Wall and increase border security
   c.  Elimination of the diversity lottery immigration program.
   d.  Shifting, generally, to a merit-based immigration system, where immigration status is selectively awarded to those with education or technical skills that are needed in our country.  In other words, it shifts immigration from a "their needs" (humanitarian) basis to an "our needs" (America first) basis.   Some countries have this kind of system.   But, given our history of welcoming "the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to be free," it turns the Emma Lazarus poem affixed to the Statue of Liberty on its head.   It also alters one of the basic values of America.


5.  The GOP has been trotting out first one faux scandal after the other, hoping to find one that would tarnish the FBI, distract from the Mueller investigation, and put the spotlight on Hillary Clinton, Robert Mueller, the Obama administration . . . almost anything would do.

The problem is that nothing does stick.  The latest, loudly touted by Rep. David Nunes and other conservative Republicans in Congress, is the so-called texts between two FBI members who said unkind things about Donald Trump back during and immediately after the election.   The latest one mentioned a "secret society," which has now mushroomed into a conspiracy theory fever-dream of ridiculousness.

Relax, folks.  It now seems that the original reference in that email exchange between two FBI intimates in a private exchange was a joke.  It was the day after Trump was elected, and they were just venting their dismay and frustration.  One mentioned something like -- we'll just have to join the Secret Society -- or something like that.    It was a JOKE, folks.   Please come down from the ledge.

Ralph

"Please don't call them 'DACA kids'"

Vox.com journalist Dara Lind sent out this plea, and I'm passing it on.   Good information to have.  I didn't know.

@DLind
"I know it's not that important in the scheme of things but PLEASE DON'T call them 'DACA kids.'   The avg age of DACA recipients is 26.  A quarter of them have kids of their own.   This is important for understanding the impact of them not knowing how long they'll have work permits."

====

That's really an important distinction.   "Kids" seemed to fit, because we know they were brought here as small children.   But, in most cases, that was many years ago.   Many of them are serving on active duty in our military.  Some are in graduate school.   Others have careers, which could suddenly be ended if they are deported.

And, most important:   Many of them have taken on responsibilities -- for families, in business, as volunteers in helping organizations -- in short, just what we want in good citizens.   Why deport those who have already proved themselves?

====  

It may be nothing more than one of those door-of-the-plane throw-away comments, but on the eve of his departure for the Davos gathering (without Melania) Trump told reporters that he would be open to a path to citizenship for the DACA recipients in exchange for $26 billion for the border wall.   That breaks down to $32,500 per person in new, vetted, proven good citizens.   They will pay far more tax than that within a few years.   Seems like a good investment for the country and, incidentally, to be done with this divisive issue and humanitarian crisis.

Former RNC Chair blasts evangelicals who are Trump enablers

Back during the campaign when first confronted with the ethical dilemma of Christian conservatives supporting the obviously un-Christian Donald Trump, their explanation seemed rather quaint -- a sort of out-of-this-world, esoteric bit of religious arcana that I didn't pretend to comprehend.   Something like the more familiar phrase:   "The Lord works in strange and mysterious ways," implying that we don't have to understand everything that God does;  sometimes he uses bad people to accomplish long-range good.    

O-o-o-K-a-a-y.

But now, Michael Steele, the former chair of the Republican National Committee and a political analyst for MSNBC -- someone I have come to respect even when I don't agree with his conclusions -- has had his say.   And it is a doozy.

He started by saying that he has "just about had it" with evangelical Christian leaders who support Donald Trump no matter what.   [This came after the revelations about his lawyer paying a porn star $130,000 just before the November election to keep quiet about an affair they had 12 years ago.]

In response to that latest revelation about Trump, Tony Perkins, head of the conservative Christian Family Research Council awarded Trump "a mulligan" (golf term for a "do-over" when you mess up your shot).   Steele wasn't buying it.

Speaking on MSNBC's "Hardball" news and opinion show, Steele said:  "I have a very simple admonition at this point.   Just shut the hell up and don't ever preach to me about anything ever again.  I don't want to hear it.

[Steele continued]:  "After telling me how to live my life, who to love, what to believe, what not to believe, what to do and what not to do and now you sit back and the prostitutes don't matter?   The grabbing the you-know-what doesn't matter?    [Trump's] outright behavior and lies don't matter?   Just shut up."

=====

Michael Steele is not an excitable hothead.   He's a smart, reasonable, analytical type of person.   There may be a little of personal animus in this -- but he is reflecting what I and many others are feeling at this point.   Don't you people have any principles left?    You are revealing that your motivating impulses have nothing to do with "Christian values" of love and sacrifice and caring for others, especially the needy and sick.   Republicans have abandoned all those principles in favor of tax cuts for the rich.  And you Christian leaders are going along . . . for what?   

Please explain.   And please be honest about your motives.

Ralph

PS:   Those who may be new to reading this blog need to know that I do not ascribe to any notion that so-called "Christian values" are the exclusive possession of those who believe all the doctrines and theology of the Christian faith.    In short, I do not believe you have to be a "Christian" to be a good person as measured by how you treat other people.    By that measure, I know some Muslims, some Jews, Buddhists, and some atheists whom I consider to better exemplify those values than some of the professional Christians that I also know.  And please also understand that I am not saying that being a Christian rules out your also being good in this sense.

Updates and fill-ins

1.  Shutdown Ends:  So, did the Democrats "cave" on the shutdown?   According to Republicans, Trump's twitter feed, some progressive democrats, and especially some DACA recipients who feel betrayed and abandoned:   Yes, they did.

But it's more "live to fight another day," in my opinion.  Republicans, as usual, do a better job of sensationalizing and distorting the news, making it look like the "feckless Dems" once again are weak and refuse to fight effectively.   But let's look at the deal.

Here's what the Democrats got:  (1)  Reauthorization of the CHIP program that provides health care for millions of children for another six years.   (2)  Did a short term funding of the goverment so that it can re-open and stay open until Feb. 8th.  During that time, work can begin on an immigration plan,   If, by Feb. 8th, there is no agreement, McConnell said "it is my intention at that time" to allow open debate on the Senate floor on a DACA bill leading to a vote.

What if he doesn't uphold that promise?  Here's the other, unstated part.   The Democrats will have the same power that they have now, if McConnell reneges on that promise.   Along with more public pressure on Republicans for not having lived up to the compromise.   Government funding will run out on Feb. 8, just s it did on Jan 20th;  and we'll be right where we were 4 days ago, with power to shut it all back down -- plus one more demonstration to the public that Republicans don't keep their word.


2.  Mueller Team Questions Sessions:  Remember how livid Donald Trump was last spring when AG Jeff Sessions recused himself from overseeing the Russian collusion investigation by the FBI?   Trump revealed then that he had expected his AG to protect him -- and we began to realize how much like an authoritarian dictator this president really is, if not constrained by our laws and traditions of checks and balances on power in our government.

Well, now, there must be even better reason for Sessions to have recused than we knew at the time, which was simply that he had met twice with the Russian ambassador as was his routine as a member of the Armed Services Committee.   Why say that?    Because it's just been revealed that Sessions was interviewed by Robert Mueller's team for "several hours" last week.   Presumably it has much to do with the firing of FBI Director James Comey and possible obstruction of justice by the president;  but that's a presumption, not leaked information, although the fact that Sessions  was questioned has been confirmed by the Justice Department itself.  Three hours is a long interview.   Must be something important.


3.  Wall Off the Table?   Did anyone notice that the compromise bill that authorized a temporary funding bill did not mention Trump's border wall?   Is that off the table now?    Perhaps Mitch McConnell put in some wiggle room when he referred vaguely to "immigration and related issues," that would be looked at on Feb. 8 if there is no immigration plan in place.   But there was certainly nothing specific that I saw about a wall in this chapter-ending agreement, passed by both houses and signed by the president.

The truth is that President Trump really was not involved in the final negotiations that led to the compromise and reopening of the government.   Everyone seems to have concluded that it is not helpful (at best) to have him involved, because he has no policy depth knowledge, doesn't understand the implications of what he may impulsively insist on, and he has no subtlety of strategy.   He's a bull in a china shop, likely to be influenced by the last person he talked to.

4.  Melania skipping Davos trip:   The White House released a statement Tuesday evening that the First Lady will not be accompanying the president to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.   They were to arrive Wednesday, where Mr, Trump will be delivering the plenary address.   The administration had booked 600 rooms for the entourage, giving an idea of its importance.

The announcement attributed the First Lady's change of plans to "scheduling and logistical" concerns.   However, she had nothing listed on her public schedule.  Anyone want to place bets that it isn't just that her dress didn't get back from the cleaners?   More likely it's an example of her skill at subtle messaging to her husband.

One can't help wondering if it has something to do with the negative publicity about the president's alleged affair with an adult film star just weeks after their last child was born, for which Trump's lawyer reportedly paid $130,000 to buy her silence.   News reporters also noted that Tuesday was also the couple's 13th wedding anniversary -- bad timing;  maybe he forgot.

We've also just had the inauguration anniversary.  For that occasion, Melania put out a picture of herself being escorted to the podium by a military escort.   No picture or mention of the president himself in Melania's accompanying note that mentioned only the wonderful moments and all the people she had been able to meet during this year.   Donald J. Trump is nowhere mentioned in Melania's  commemoration of their anniversary, the inauguration's anniversary, or the Davos trip.   Message:   erasure.

Ralph

Bipartisan senate group breaks impasse

By early Monday afternoon, a bipartisan group of moderate Republicans and Democrats apparently was able to come up with a compromise that will allow the government to reopen, in exchange for a commitment by Republicans to debate and vote, by mid-February, on a resolution of the status of the Dreamer and DACA kids.

Not everyone is happy with this.   Progressives feel that they really got nothing but promises they can't trust.   The Freedom Caucus in the House will resist anything that has to do with pathways to citizenship, which they derisively refer to as "amnesty."

Some of the senators involved in the negotiating group, however, speak about restoring old-fashioned trust among the group.   Nevertheless, the Senate voted, 81 to 18 to end the filibuster, pass a temporary spending bill though Feb. 8th, and to reauthorize the Children's Health (CHIP) fund.

Later the House voted to pass the same bill with a sizable, bipartisan majority.  So, assuming Trump doesn't flip again, the government will be open again tomorrow.  At least the Democrats got this:  it's the first time they will have had a date-certain commitment from Republican leaders for debate and a vote on the DACA program.

Ralph

PS:   Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham, Lisa Murkowski, Jeff Flake, Chris Coons, Tim Kaine, Joe Manchin and some 20+ others were involved in the informal negotiations.

Same-sex wedding in West Point Chapel

Two active duty Air Force Officers, Capt. Daniel Hall and Capt. Vincent Franchino, both West Point Academy graduates and both currently serving as Apache helicopter pilots, have had their formal wedding ceremony in the West Point Chapel    Their union was celebrated with the traditional saber-arch salute as they left the chapel.

Talk about macho.   Blackhawk Down.   Apache pilots.   No false stereotype portrayals of gay men here.

It is believed that this is the first same-sex wedding of two active duty officers in the West Point Chapel, although there has been at least one prior, same-sex wedding of a retired Army general and her partner, who was also a West Point graduate.

See what happens when you get rid of Don't Ask, Don't Tell -- thanks to President Obama?   No tweets of congratulations yet from the current president, who is these Apache helicopter pilots' commander-in-chief.   

Ralph

Shutdown continues

As of 8:00 pm, despite earlier optimism that s "moderate. bipartisan" group of senators was hoping to come up with a compromise -- something in the order of scheduling a vote on Feb. 8 for an immigration proposal in exchange for passing the budget funding bill tonight --  one of the chief negotiators of such a deal had this to say.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said this:   President Trump and Chief of Staff Kelly are being tough but reasonable.  But "every time we have a proposal it is only yanked back by staff members.   As long as Stephen Miller is in charge of negotiating immigration, we're going nowhere."  Miller is known as a hard-liner on immigration.

It is assumed by many that Miller is also the one who scuttled the deal that Sen. Schumer thought he and Trump had agreed to last Friday.

Another problem is that the Democrats, with good reason, simply do not trust the Republicans, especially Trump and his staff, on immigration.  It was last September 5th that Trump abruptly announced he was ending the program -- but gave Congress until March to come up with a fix-it plan.   They have not done so, and show no real interest in doing so.   And, with Trump's quixotic flip-flops, depending on who last talked with him -- why should they be trusted?    So they are determined to use this pressure now that they have it.

Liberty's welcome message now a scam

Sunday, the second day of Trump's Shithole Shutdown, an odd juxtaposition became evident.

The Statue of Liberty has the Emma Lazarus poem emblazoned on a plaque, and it has become synonymous with the hope our country offers to the world, inviting them to send "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free."
Lady Liberty stands there forever in New York's harbor, where boatloads of immigrants from Europe used to behold her as their first view of America -- and of hope.

But not Monday.   She is part of the U.S. national parks and monuments service.  And thus she will be closed to visitors on Monday, if the shutdown is not solved.

Of course, most immigrants these days, much to President Trump's displeasure, do not come by boat from Europe.   They come from Latin America and from Asia and Africa.   Not so many from Norway.

So, as Congress falters in disagreement over immigration, we do not welcome them to our shores.   And our president and his hard-liners delight in deporting those who get in without permission -- and, it seems, even those brought here as children, who have never known another home or another land.

Ralph

PS:  New York's Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday that New York State will pay for workers to open the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island for visitors on Monday.  Let it be known, however, that the above irony continues, given that it is the federal government, presided over by Donald Trump, and Congress, controlled by Republicans, who are responsible in the long run for keeping them open.

Quick update on the shutdown

Government is still shutdown.   Attempts to find a compromise so far have not worked.   Trump and Republicans say they won't vote on a DACA plan until a budget is passed.   Democrats will not vote on a budget bill that does not include DACA -- or at least a plan that guarantees a full debate and amendments by a specific date.

In addition to the Senate Reps/Dems problem, the House has an extra problem with their Freedom caucus, which opposes anything that grants more immigration rights.   So even a compromise that might pass the Senate might not then be passed by the House.

Personal animosities have also poisoned the process.   Chuck Schumer feels betrayed by Trump, now having twice promised and then backed out of a deal.  Schumer was quoted as saying that, with Trump, it's "like negotiating with jello."

He added that "It's impossible to negotiate with a moving target.  Leader McConnell has found that out.   Speaker Ryan has found that out.   And I have found that out."

Mitch McConnell has announced a vote at 1:00 AM Monday -- probably timed to put extra pressure on, he thinks, the Dems, on whom he is heaping full blame for the shutdown, hoping to build public support and pressure on the Dems.

Ralph

No, acing the cognitive test does not make you fit to function as president

[This was written before all the events in Congress leading to the shutdown.]

Let's be clear about what just happened in President Trump's physical exam done last week by the White House physician, Dr. Ronny Jackson, who is a Rear Admiral in the Navy and was appointed as White House physician in 2006 during the George W. Bush administration.

Dr. Jackson declared Mr. Trump's physical health to be "excellent." He does have a disturbingly high "bad" LDL cholesterol level of 140 (normal is less than 100;  his total cholesterol is 223), even though he is already taking a statin to reduce it.   However, he passed an exercise tolerance test, so Dr. Jackson concluded that he has no clinical evidence of heart disease.   Technically true, based on lack of having already had a heart attack.  But this is a high risk factor;  and his clinical status could change overnight.

Equally troubling are Mr. Trump's borderline obesity -- just one pound under what would put a man of his height in that category -- and his fast-food, high-fat diet and lack of exercise other than hitting golf balls (he uses a golf cart to get from one hole to the next.)   These risk factors are somewhat offset, according to Dr. Jackson, by the fact that he has never used either alcohol or tobacco in any form, and his blood pressure is normal without medication.

Since Dr. Jackson gave his public report on Tuesday, several cardiologists have objected to his rosy characterization, some saying that his cholesterol level, his diet and his weight are high risk factors.   On the other hand, he lacks other risk factors of hypertension, smoking, and strong family history of heart disease.

What people have been more interested in, however, is the president's mental state.  Dr. Jackson said he saw no indication for doing any cognitive testing (because he sees the president almost every day (as he travels with him and has a sense of his mental status).   But the president asked to have it done, so he took the more extended version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, scoring a perfect 30 out of 30.  Needless to say, Team Trump is crowing about that.

But it's important to know what the test does and doesn't do.   It tests ability to name objects, to repeat immediately, as well as later, a series of numbers read to him.  It tests verbal facility by asking him to name as many words as he can that begin with a letter selected by the tester.  It also tests ability to pay attention by having to repeat backward a series of numbers given to him.  You also have to draw a copy of a geometric figure and other such simple tests.

It's a good screening test for someone you think has early signs of dementia.   It would indeed be very, very troubling if a president could not pass it.   But it is a minimal screening test of cognitive ability.  It in no way measures a person's ability to use the higher functions of judgment, integrative thinking, discretion, integrity, application of history to current situations, ability to work in a negotiating way with both allies and adversaries.   Nor can it test for character pathology or wisdom and for concepts of right/wrong at a higher level.

I'm not suggesting that Dr. Jackson implied that the test can do any of that, although he summed it up, rather jocularly, by saying that the president exceeded the passing score of 26 out of 30 right answers by getting all 30 correct.   "So, he is ready for duty," an old military phrase.

What concerns me is that the Trump team will imply that he has been certified on all that -- therefore trying to silence any legitimate concerns about the inadequacies so readily demonstrated in Trump's everyday actions that we are able to observe in real time.

Being able to repeat some words given to you 30 minutes ago has no bearing on understanding the centuries-long history of conflict between Suuni and Shia Muslims and applying that to understand the current intractable controversy rampant in the Middle East.  Being able to distinguish a drawing of a rhinoceros from a camel on a test doesn't give you a clue of how to resolve the conflict with North Korea.   

Let's don't oversell the product here.   We have a problematic president, not just in policy (which is bad enough) but in the specific ability to perform the tasks needed to accomplish very complex executive and leadership functioning.   As Dr. Richard Friedman of Cornell Medical College says:  "The fact is that Americans already have all the data they need to judge Trump's fitness."

Ralph