dailykos--2020-11-14--BIDEN WON THE ELECTION BUT CAN HE BRING NEEDED STRUCTURAL CHANGE TO THE NATION?

Now that the Presidential election has been resolved , it still leaves the courts , and as things stand now probably the Senate in the hands of the opposition conservative party .
The Republican party holding two of the four levers of Federal power would leave the Executive with a more difficult job governing the Nation and carrying out its policy agenda .
Republican control of the Senate could limit the President ’ s ability to make appointments of his choosing and to pass important legislation .
Right now , it appears that going into the new term there will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democrats and 50 with the Republicans , with two races still undecided .
These two still-undecided races are awaiting the results of a special election in previously deep red Georgia now set for January 5 .
The best the Democrats can hope for in the unlikely event the Democratic candidates win both seats is a 50-50 tie .
With the tie , they would be able to assume control of the Senate because the vice-president , now a Democrat , is the authorized tie-beaker .
This is a tenuous road to power , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the traditionally fractious nature of the Democratic Party .
One option available to the new administration is to persuade a current Republican Senator in a state with a Democratic governor to leave the Senate and join the Cabinet leaving the Governor to appoint a Democratic replacement .
I would favor an offer being made to Senator Toomey of Pennsylvania .
He has already announced he will not seek reelection when his term ends in two years .
He may be amenable to accepting the Department of Commerce secretaryship given his strong pro-business background @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Senate remains in Republican hands , it leaves the Democrats in control of the House of Representatives with a diminished majority as a result of the elections .
That election loss has already prompted the expected stirrings of internecine warfare among the various Democratic factions in the House .
True , Biden will still have mostly unlimited authority over foreign affairs and will control the administration , but hopes for programmatic reforms in tax fairness , climate and social issues , and political reform are sadly diminished .
Radical reforms will hit a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Court , and even moderate reforms will be dependent upon Biden ’ s well-deserved reputation for bringing people together and compromise .
Unfortunately , even this will be limited at best given the fury compromise will engender from those who see their pet programs watered down and truncated .
Unfortunately , in a democracy , good things are more often than not achieved incrementally and the bad seems to happen all at once .
Witness , the past four years in which a hundred years of progress came close to being permanently shredded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ euphoria following Biden ’ s immediate reversal by executive action of many of Trump ’ s programs and the hopeful approval of a COVID vaccine by spring 2021 , can we expect that it will generate enough good feelings toward the administration that it will carry over to the 2022 Congressional Elections such that it will return an enhanced Progressive House and a Democratic majority to the Senate ?
I doubt it .
The party controlling the presidency historically loses seats in off-presidential election years and more Democratic Senate seats are up in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ truth , however , is that the young as they age become conservative , ethnic groups as they move into the middle class do so also .
We progressives can slap ourselves on the back all we want , but we all too often fail to grasp the grim realities of politics which is that it is an eternal war of attrition and the opposition is frequently better equipped and trained while all too often all we have is our optimism to sustain us as the barricades are overrun and we wait for @ @ @ @ @ @

Now that the Presidential election has been resolved, it still leaves the courts, and as things stand now probably the Senate in the hands of the opposition conservative party. The Republican party holding two of the four levers of Federal power would leave the Executive with a more difficult job governing the Nation and carrying out its policy agenda. Republican control of the Senate could limit the President’s ability to make appointments of his choosing and to pass important legislation.
Right now, it appears that going into the new term there will be 48 Senators who caucus with the Democrats and 50 with the Republicans, with two races still undecided. These two still-undecided races are awaiting the results of a special election in previously deep red Georgia now set for January 5. The best the Democrats can hope for in the unlikely event the Democratic candidates win both seats is a 50-50 tie. With the tie, they would be able to assume control of the Senate because the vice-president, now a Democrat, is the authorized tie-beaker. This is a tenuous road to power, to say the least, especially given the traditionally fractious nature of the Democratic Party.
One option available to the new administration is to persuade a current Republican Senator in a state with a Democratic governor to leave the Senate and join the Cabinet leaving the Governor to appoint a Democratic replacement.
I would favor an offer being made to Senator Toomey of Pennsylvania. He has already announced he will not seek reelection when his term ends in two years. He may be amenable to accepting the Department of Commerce secretaryship given his strong pro-business background.
Should that not occur and the Senate remains in Republican hands, it leaves the Democrats in control of the House of Representatives with a diminished majority as a result of the elections. That election loss has already prompted the expected stirrings of internecine warfare among the various Democratic factions in the House.
True, Biden will still have mostly unlimited authority over foreign affairs and will control the administration, but hopes for programmatic reforms in tax fairness, climate and social issues, and political reform are sadly diminished. Radical reforms will hit a wall in the Senate or the Supreme Court, and even moderate reforms will be dependent upon Biden’s well-deserved reputation for bringing people together and compromise. Unfortunately, even this will be limited at best given the fury compromise will engender from those who see their pet programs watered down and truncated. Unfortunately, in a democracy, good things are more often than not achieved incrementally and the bad seems to happen all at once. Witness, the past four years in which a hundred years of progress came close to being permanently shredded.
After what I expect would be euphoria following Biden’s immediate reversal by executive action of many of Trump’s programs and the hopeful approval of a COVID vaccine by spring 2021, can we expect that it will generate enough good feelings toward the administration that it will carry over to the 2022 Congressional Elections such that it will return an enhanced Progressive House and a Democratic majority to the Senate? I doubt it. The party controlling the presidency historically loses seats in off-presidential election years and more Democratic Senate seats are up in 2022 then than Republican.
The tragic truth, however, is that the young as they age become conservative, ethnic groups as they move into the middle class do so also. We progressives can slap ourselves on the back all we want, but we all too often fail to grasp the grim realities of politics which is that it is an eternal war of attrition and the opposition is frequently better equipped and trained while all too often all we have is our optimism to sustain us as the barricades are overrun and we wait for popular support that rarely comes.


dailykos--2020-11-14--PWB Peeps Open Thread - Transition team trials.

Andy got the call !
He was asked to join the Biden-Harris team .
Packages were delivered to Pootie Party @ @ @ @ @ black suits and dark glasses .
Enclosed were detailed floor plans of the White House @ @ @ @ @ over the layout and developed a plan .
Andy let all the gang know that @ @ @ @ @ Pootie Party to prepare the White House ahead of the official transition .
The floor @ @ @ @ @ many good ideas were offered .
Here are the some of the proposed improvements .
@ @ @ @ @ dogs .
They will need new sleeping areas .
Visiting cats will need a place @ @ @ @ @ room .
Andy personally took charge of gifts for the new arrivals .
Ginger made @ @ @ @ @ agreed .
A welcoming banner would hang over the Truman Balcony .
At the end @ @ @ @ @ reflected on all that the Pootie ’ s had accomplished .
The ballot counting is @ @ @ @ @ good .

Andy got the call ! He was asked to join the Biden-Harris team.
Packages were delivered to Pootie Party Headquarters by tall humans in black suits and dark glasses.
Instructions included.
Enclosed were detailed floor plans of the White House. Andy and Peng looked over the layout and developed a plan.
Andy let all the gang know that President elect Biden needed the Pootie Party to prepare the White House ahead of the official transition. The floor was open to suggestions and many good ideas were offered. Here are the some of the proposed improvements.
Champ and Major are big dogs. They will need new sleeping areas.
Visiting cats will need a place to unwind in the sitting room.
Andy personally took charge of gifts for the new arrivals.
Ginger made the final decision and all agreed. A welcoming banner would hang over the Truman Balcony.
At the end of the week, Andy reflected on all that the Pootie’s had accomplished.
The ballot counting is nearly finished and it was good.


dailykos--2020-11-14--Which Republican Will Joe Biden Appoint as Secretary of Defense?

It is expected that Joe Biden , on becoming president , will give serious consideration to appointing a Republican to be Secretary of Defense .
He must do so at some time during his presidency .
Obama did have a couple of Democrats hold that position , but only after he allowed Republican Robert Gates to serve as Secretary of Defense as a holdover from the Bush presidency , in acknowledgement of Bush ’ s successful wars in the Middle East .
And later on , Obama made sure to appoint Republican Chuck Hagel to that position .
After all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are weak on defense .
It would have been scary to let nothing but liberals be in charge of the military for eight years .
A Democratic president must appease his party by having a couple of Democrats be in charge of the Defense Department at some time during his administration , but he must not overdo it .
And so it is that a Democratic president will usually put a Republican in charge of the Defense Department for a while to make sure the world understands that America ’ s military might @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Clinton saw the good in it .
That ’ s why he had Republican William Cohen be in that position for about three years .
Carter had only an independent in that position .
That ’ s why he lost the election to Reagan .
And , of course , Kennedy and Johnson had Republican Robert McNamara .
There has never been a Democratic Secretary of Defense during a Republican administration , of course .
That would show weakness .
But Democrats must have an occasional Republican hold that position in order to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ history , before the creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 , I have been unable to find a Republican president that appointed a Democrat to the equivalent position of Secretary of War , but I can not be sure .
Somehow I doubt it .
Therefore , Biden might get away with appointing a Democrat as Secretary of Defense for starters , but let ’ s hope he doesn ’ t think he can get away with doing that for eight years .
That would make the Republicans unhappy .

It is expected that Joe Biden, on becoming president, will give serious consideration to appointing a Republican to be Secretary of Defense. He must do so at some time during his presidency.
Obama did have a couple of Democrats hold that position, but only after he allowed Republican Robert Gates to serve as Secretary of Defense as a holdover from the Bush presidency, in acknowledgement of Bush’s successful wars in the Middle East. And later on, Obama made sure to appoint Republican Chuck Hagel to that position.
After all, it is well known that Democrats are weak on defense. It would have been scary to let nothing but liberals be in charge of the military for eight years. A Democratic president must appease his party by having a couple of Democrats be in charge of the Defense Department at some time during his administration, but he must not overdo it.
And so it is that a Democratic president will usually put a Republican in charge of the Defense Department for a while to make sure the world understands that America’s military might is not to be underestimated.
Bill Clinton saw the good in it. That’s why he had Republican William Cohen be in that position for about three years.
Carter had only an independent in that position. That’s why he lost the election to Reagan.
And, of course, Kennedy and Johnson had Republican Robert McNamara.
There has never been a Democratic Secretary of Defense during a Republican administration, of course. That would show weakness. But Democrats must have an occasional Republican hold that position in order to show strength.
Going back further in history, before the creation of the Department of Defense in 1947, I have been unable to find a Republican president that appointed a Democrat to the equivalent position of Secretary of War, but I cannot be sure. Somehow I doubt it.
Therefore, Biden might get away with appointing a Democrat as Secretary of Defense for starters, but let’s hope he doesn’t think he can get away with doing that for eight years. That would make the Republicans unhappy.


dailykos--2020-11-14--CNN Story On Javanka Is As Delusional As The Trumps.

The heart of this CNN article on Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump — Javanka as they are know — is on how unwelcome they will be on the NYC social circuit .
But some of the other parts of the article are just as downright delusional as Donald Trump and the rest of his family is when it comes to the “ future ” in politics .
And the couple future in business is laughable as well .
From the “ No one loves them anymore ” part of the article : New York ( CNN ) If the celebrations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ York City in the wake of Joe Biden 's victory made one thing clear , it 's that the Trumps are n't welcome here .
, that 's perhaps no major loss , but for Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner , the block parties celebrating the demise of the Trump administration may provide a glimpse of what awaits them once they exit the White House .
For the President , who changed his primary residency last year to Florida , that 's perhaps no major loss , but for Ivanka Trump and Jared @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demise of the Trump administration may provide a glimpse of what awaits them once they exit the White House .
is what their time in the political spotlight has meant for their brand , particularly in their old Manhattan stomping grounds .
Now that their political lives in Washington are over -- the question for this once-golden power couple is what their time in the political spotlight has meant for their brand , particularly in their old Manhattan stomping grounds .
`` [ The President ] was so awful and divisive about New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or that it 's empty , or a has-been , '' said Jill Kargman , a writer , Upper East Side resident and daughter of the former chairman of Chanel who has socialized at events with the couple in the past .
`` No one here is going to forget that .
To even come back here after everything he 's said , it 's not going to work . ''
In the days before they were denizens of the White House , Kushner and Trump inhabited a rarified slice of New York @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , she in a strapless royal blue gown one year and a backless scarlet jumpsuit the next , and the Vanity Fair party for the Tribeca Film Festival .
She made the rounds at fashion events , attending Carolina Herrera runway shows , a Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts celebration for Italian designer Valentino and the Glamour Women of the Year Awards .
A glimpse of what likely awaits them was on display in Times Square last month where the anti-Trump Lincoln Project took out ad space on a pair of Times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death statistics and an illustration of body bags .
When the couplethreatened to file a lawsuit , the group transferred the boards to a billboard truck that circled Trump Tower and on a boat that set sail for Mar-A-Lago , according to tweets from the project co-founder .
The transactional shits at the top of the food chain in NYC didn ’ t like being thrown under the bus time and time again by Donald Trump .
And if you lost the top dogs in NYC , I don ’ t think the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and dying of COVID-19 are going to sit quietly by when one of these sociopaths goes out and about in the city .
Something tells me the Trump show has worn out its welcome in NYC .
But the rest of the article is just glosses over the problems these two idiots face .
Financial obligations could be a factor Kushner was previously CEO of Kushner Companies , the real-estate firm founded by his father , Charles Kushner .
The company is largely family-run , in part because the Kushners prefer it that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with his thinking .
Charles Kushner is likely to expect his son to return to the business , this person said , and with the relationships Jared Kushner has established in recent years with leaders of deep-pocketed Middle Eastern countries , including Saudi Arabia , he could potentially leverage those connections going forward in the family business or other business ventures .
Leverage those connections .
I think they are called bribes .
But Kushner will probably get a pardon from Donald Trump soon .
Trump , too , left her position at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but she retained passive stakes in the business .
She receives fixed guaranteed payments for some of her assets as well as a financial interest in the Trump International Hotel Washington , DC , for which she played a key role in closing the deal , and which is home to the first `` Spa by Ivanka Trump . ''
She reported $ 3.9 million in income from the hotel in 2019 .
And though she has sought to position herself as a sunny , polished figure who is distinct from her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ valued at the company for her ability to channel his whims and preferences .
.
Both loans , which were taken out jointly with limited liability companies , are due in 2022 .
While working at the White House , Kushner has taken out two loans from Bank of America , one in 2017 and one in 2019 , each ranging between $ 5 million and $ 25 million , according to his financial disclosure form .
Both loans , which were taken out jointly with limited liability companies , are due in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ owns residential properties with hundreds of tenants , will also likely face challenges from the pending housing crisis .
One $ 285 million loan , taken out in 2016 for a Times Square retail complex , is underwater after one tenant filed for bankruptcy , according to TreppWire , a real estate data analytics firm .
For her part , Trump shut down her namesake fashion brand in 2018 , and while the apparel line had performed well the year of the election , it suffered in the aftermath as anti-Trump boycotts of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is where the article goes into delusion and ass kissing : One wild card is whether Trump 's taste for politics will stick as she has gotten a sense of her power to generate big political dollars .
Since August , she headlined 38 events in multiple states and hosted nine fundraisers , garnering more than $ 35 million for her father 's campaign .
She has offered an alternative to the massive crowds , chants of `` lock her up '' and throngs disco-dancing to `` YMCA '' at her father 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ often sticks to speaking about matters she feels her father has succeeded in advancing , including job growth , economic stability , family tax credit and entrepreneurship .
Trump , however , recognizes that her future -- now more than ever -- is tied to her father , said a person familiar with the matter , adding that she came into the White House as Kushner , but now she has gone `` Full MAGA . ''
Several people told CNN in recent months that Trump is considering her own potential political future @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nuanced positions she has taken in contrast to with her brothers ' strident remarks on matters like immigration and , more recently , alleged voter fraud .
Ivanka Trump staying in politics .
Does anyone seriously think that Ivanka will draw out the MAGA supporters like her old man ?
And that listing of job growth and economic stability ?
What fucking medication are these reporters on ?
I want to get some of that stuff !
And the more “ nuanced ” positions that Ivanka has is just more ass kissing from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Ivanka would “ moderate ” her dad .
It ’ s the same lies the Trump ’ s told before they got into the White House .
This will not go over well with some , but this is just more of the double standard sexism the Media loves to embrace .
Democratic women get none of the benefit of the doubt with regards to their motivations , policies , or looks to be honest .
But a Republican woman is always given a break , especially if she looks good and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a breathy manner .
Yes , I would LOVE to see Ivanka end up broke or in prison , along with her evil dad .
And her arrogant , talentless hubby needs the same fate .
But until that happens , some in the Media will continue to kiss their asses .

The heart of this CNN article on Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump — Javanka as they are know — is on how unwelcome they will be on the NYC social circuit. But some of the other parts of the article are just as downright delusional as Donald Trump and the rest of his family is when it comes to the “future” in politics. And the couple future in business is laughable as well.
From the “No one loves them anymore” part of the article:
New York (CNN)If the celebrations that spilled into the streets of New York City in the wake of Joe Biden's victory made one thing clear, it's that the Trumps aren't welcome here. , that's perhaps no major loss, but for Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the block parties celebrating the demise of the Trump administration may provide a glimpse of what awaits them once they exit the White House. For the President, who changed his primary residency last year to Florida , that's perhaps no major loss, but for Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the block parties celebrating the demise of the Trump administration may provide a glimpse of what awaits them once they exit the White House. is what their time in the political spotlight has meant for their brand, particularly in their old Manhattan stomping grounds. Now that their political lives in Washington are over -- the question for this once-golden power couple is what their time in the political spotlight has meant for their brand, particularly in their old Manhattan stomping grounds. "[The President] was so awful and divisive about New York, saying it's a nightmare or that it's empty, or a has-been," said Jill Kargman, a writer, Upper East Side resident and daughter of the former chairman of Chanel who has socialized at events with the couple in the past. "No one here is going to forget that. To even come back here after everything he's said, it's not going to work." In the days before they were denizens of the White House, Kushner and Trump inhabited a rarified slice of New York society. They frequented the Met Gala, she in a strapless royal blue gown one year and a backless scarlet jumpsuit the next, and the Vanity Fair party for the Tribeca Film Festival. She made the rounds at fashion events, attending Carolina Herrera runway shows, a Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts celebration for Italian designer Valentino and the Glamour Women of the Year Awards. A glimpse of what likely awaits them was on display in Times Square last month where the anti-Trump Lincoln Project took out ad space on a pair of Times Square billboards showing their smiling faces alongside coronavirus death statistics and an illustration of body bags. When the couple threatened to file a lawsuit, the group transferred the boards to a billboard truck that circled Trump Tower and on a boat that set sail for Mar-A-Lago, according to tweets from the project co-founder.
The transactional shits at the top of the food chain in NYC didn’t like being thrown under the bus time and time again by Donald Trump. And if you lost the top dogs in NYC, I don’t think the little people who are out of work and dying of COVID-19 are going to sit quietly by when one of these sociopaths goes out and about in the city. Something tells me the Trump show has worn out its welcome in NYC.
But the rest of the article is just glosses over the problems these two idiots face.
Financial obligations could be a factor Kushner was previously CEO of Kushner Companies, the real-estate firm founded by his father, Charles Kushner. The company is largely family-run, in part because the Kushners prefer it that way, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Charles Kushner is likely to expect his son to return to the business, this person said, and with the relationships Jared Kushner has established in recent years with leaders of deep-pocketed Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, he could potentially leverage those connections going forward in the family business or other business ventures.
Leverage those connections. I think they are called bribes. But Kushner will probably get a pardon from Donald Trump soon.
Trump, too, left her position at the Trump Organization upon moving to Washington, but she retained passive stakes in the business. She receives fixed guaranteed payments for some of her assets as well as a financial interest in the Trump International Hotel Washington, DC, for which she played a key role in closing the deal, and which is home to the first "Spa by Ivanka Trump." She reported $3.9 million in income from the hotel in 2019. And though she has sought to position herself as a sunny, polished figure who is distinct from her father's brash ways, she is valued at the company for her ability to channel his whims and preferences.
Isn’t she on the hook for the scams involving the Trump Organization in New York state that the State Attorney General is looking into? I think she is
. Both loans, which were taken out jointly with limited liability companies, are due in 2022. While working at the White House, Kushner has taken out two loans from Bank of America, one in 2017 and one in 2019, each ranging between $5 million and $25 million, according to his financial disclosure form . Both loans, which were taken out jointly with limited liability companies, are due in 2022. The family business, which owns residential properties with hundreds of tenants, will also likely face challenges from the pending housing crisis. One $285 million loan, taken out in 2016 for a Times Square retail complex, is underwater after one tenant filed for bankruptcy, according to TreppWire, a real estate data analytics firm. For her part, Trump shut down her namesake fashion brand in 2018, and while the apparel line had performed well the year of the election, it suffered in the aftermath as anti-Trump boycotts of her line took hold.
But this is where the article goes into delusion and ass kissing:
One wild card is whether Trump's taste for politics will stick as she has gotten a sense of her power to generate big political dollars. Since August, she headlined 38 events in multiple states and hosted nine fundraisers, garnering more than $35 million for her father's campaign. She has offered an alternative to the massive crowds, chants of "lock her up" and throngs disco-dancing to "YMCA" at her father's rallies. At political events, she often sticks to speaking about matters she feels her father has succeeded in advancing, including job growth, economic stability, family tax credit and entrepreneurship. Trump, however, recognizes that her future -- now more than ever -- is tied to her father, said a person familiar with the matter, adding that she came into the White House as Kushner, but now she has gone "Full MAGA." Several people told CNN in recent months that Trump is considering her own potential political future, which may be driving the more nuanced positions she has taken in contrast to with her brothers' strident remarks on matters like immigration and, more recently, alleged voter fraud.
Ivanka Trump staying in politics. Does anyone seriously think that Ivanka will draw out the MAGA supporters like her old man? And that listing of job growth and economic stability? What fucking medication are these reporters on? I want to get some of that stuff! And the more “nuanced” positions that Ivanka has is just more ass kissing from reporters who must have bought the BS that Ivanka would “moderate” her dad. It’s the same lies the Trump’s told before they got into the White House.
This will not go over well with some, but this is just more of the double standard sexism the Media loves to embrace. Democratic women get none of the benefit of the doubt with regards to their motivations, policies, or looks to be honest. But a Republican woman is always given a break, especially if she looks good and speaks in support of evil policies in a breathy manner.
Yes, I would LOVE to see Ivanka end up broke or in prison, along with her evil dad. And her arrogant, talentless hubby needs the same fate. But until that happens, some in the Media will continue to kiss their asses.


dailykos--2020-11-14--Mark Cuban advises us to give up on politics

From Merriam-Webster 's definition of politics : 1a : the art or science of government b : the art or science concerned with guiding or influencing governmental policy c : the art or science concerned with winning and holding control over a government Politics is a multifaceted word .
It has a set of fairly specific meanings that are descriptive and nonjudgmental ( such as “ the art or science of government ” and `` political principles '' ) , but it can and often does carry a negative meaning closely related to these ( “ political activities characterized by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
English is a flexible language , and it is not uncommon for a word to have multiple related meanings that run the connotative gamut from good to bad .
Some of these have been around for a surprisingly long time .
The negative sense of politics , as seen in the phrase play politics , for example , has been in use since at least 1853 , when abolitionist Wendell Phillips declared : “ We do not play politics ; anti-slavery is no half-jest with us.
” Many people will tell you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But to disengage from political discussion only gives permission to someone else to make decisions for you about what and how our government should serve us .
Mark Cuban recently advised people to refrain from contributing to the Senate campaigns in Georgia and instead give money to their local food banks , saying that it would do far more good .
He ridicules John Legend for criticizing Mitch McConnell by asserting that Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are no different ( claiming that all politicians are bad ) .
John Legend disagreed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ priorities would have a much greater impact on the public .
I concur with John Legend 's argument .
I believe that it is our right if not our duty to participate in the political discussions of our time no matter what side you take .
It is particularly galling to me that Cuban as a member of the one percent who has a greater voice in society than you or me , presumes to tell us to throttle our voices and not to spend our money on campaigns .
Cuban has expressed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for president .
His comments only contribute to increased apathy in government .
The last thing we need is another TV celebrity billionaire to run for president .

From Merriam-Webster's definition of politics:
1a: the art or science of government
b: the art or science concerned with guiding or influencing governmental policy
c: the art or science concerned with winning and holding control over a government
Also from Merriam-Webster:
Politics is a multifaceted word. It has a set of fairly specific meanings that are descriptive and nonjudgmental (such as “the art or science of government” and "political principles"), but it can and often does carry a negative meaning closely related to these (“political activities characterized by artful and often dishonest practices”). English is a flexible language, and it is not uncommon for a word to have multiple related meanings that run the connotative gamut from good to bad. Some of these have been around for a surprisingly long time. The negative sense of politics, as seen in the phrase play politics, for example, has been in use since at least 1853, when abolitionist Wendell Phillips declared: “We do not play politics; anti-slavery is no half-jest with us.”
Many people will tell you that they have no use for politics. But to disengage from political discussion only gives permission to someone else to make decisions for you about what and how our government should serve us.
Mark Cuban recently advised people to refrain from contributing to the Senate campaigns in Georgia and instead give money to their local food banks, saying that it would do far more good. He ridicules John Legend for criticizing Mitch McConnell by asserting that Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are no different (claiming that all politicians are bad). John Legend disagreed saying that the opportunity to change government priorities would have a much greater impact on the public. I concur with John Legend's argument.
I believe that it is our right if not our duty to participate in the political discussions of our time no matter what side you take. It is particularly galling to me that Cuban as a member of the one percent who has a greater voice in society than you or me, presumes to tell us to throttle our voices and not to spend our money on campaigns. Cuban has expressed an interest in running as an independent for president. His comments only contribute to increased apathy in government. The last thing we need is another TV celebrity billionaire to run for president.


WHAT NOW?

Well , first of all , obviously , we celebrate .
We won !
The adults have taken over again !
It feels wonderful to wake up in the morning and not have the first emotion be despair at the criminal , no traitorous malice governing this country .
It 's a week since the election has been called , and I still feel elated , no matter the deep blue wave did n't materialize .
ButI wonder if perhaps we are letting our thirst for vengeance cloud our good sense .
I too have been calling for punishment for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ measure of the outraged law to be visited on their well-deserving heads .
I am furious with what these creeps have done to our democracy .
But wait a minute : Which is better , the satisfaction of vengeance , or the immediate well-being of the nation ?
What do you think would happen if we offered rump this deal ?
You and Pence resign immediately , leaving Nancy Pelosi interim president until January 20 , when the Biden-Harris team will take over , and we will guarantee you immunity with regard to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Just leave , leave now , and we will not punish you .
What do you think would happen if we made an offer like that ?
I think he would grab it up and be gone in a flash .
And then , all of a sudden , no Betsy DeVos , no DeJoy , no Pompeo , no Stephen Miller—all of them , gone .
No more worry over what rump will do in the remaining few lame-duck weeks of his office .
You see , I think he 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I think that is one of the main reasons he 's flaming out like this , and threatening all sorts of malice and mayhem .
I think he is flat-out scared shitless .
And I think if we made him an offer like that , he would snap it up and be gone .
And would n't that be wonderful for the country ?
I would be happy to leave him to fate , or karma , or just the operations of the world .
He has shown no ability to cope with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and failing man .
He will not live much longer , regardless , and I doubt he has the capability for happiness or satisfaction .
All he ever had was the ability to frighten people , and now that ability has been taken away .
He knows , deep down , that everybody hates him , that everyone knows what a fool and idiot he is .
As for DeJoy , Devos , Pompeo and all the other baboons—surely they have been fully discredited .
If anybody ever believes anything any of these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ put it this way , the believer will get what he or she deserves .
It is totally up to the media to decide whether they will parade these totally discredited buffoons and murderous cretins as talking heads and political experts .
It does n't really matter , though .
They are going down in history as the vile idiots they are , and there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about that .
So why not take the simple drastic course ?
It will work .
Can we not use our brains @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for vengeance and punishment ?
Is n't it better to out-think them and win than it is to punish them ?
What does it matter if the uberclown gets off light , so long as we get our country back , and right away ?
I would even recommend taking the same approach to that much-worried-over cohort of voters , his base , the 70 million Americans who voted for rump in spite of everything .
We have delivered ourselves—understandably , I hasten to say , and I admit I have contributed my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deal of outrage over just how immovably , wickedly , evilly , these hypocritical and apparently conscienceless cretins have refused to face facts , have denied science , have lied without let-up , have repeatedly betrayed their country , and how they just wo n't listen to reason .
But now I think , of course they wo n't listen to reason .
They ca n't .
The problem is , after all , not their morals , but their perceptions .
The problem is that they do NOT think .
They are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sort .
To these people , emotions are the primary reality , not thought .
Emotions can be trusted .
In the same way that there is no disputing taste—you can state that in your opinion , a certain person has bad taste , but you can not , by any means , successfully dispute the fact that that is the taste they have—one can not dispute emotions .
And for rump 's base , almost all of them , thinking is just a step too far .
Before you assume I am @ @ @ @ @ @ @ am not .
I am simply saying that thought is complex , puzzling , abstract , and there is a vast population of citizens who avoid it at all costs .
Remember how the right-wing insists on gut feeling as being the source of truth , not “ book-learning ?
” Stifle your outrage , and do what the fortunate among us can do—think about the matter .
Morality and intelligence have a very powerful correlation .
I am not saying that all intelligent people have good morals , not at all .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , morality is more a matter of intelligence than it is a matter of passion .
Think about it : Our passions lead us into battle after battle , fight after fight .
It is only thought that allows us to control our emotions , to be civil .
I had long felt that the word meek in the statement , “ The meek shall inherit the Earth ” ( leading to the bad right-wing joke , “ Yeah , well that 's the only way they will get it ” ) , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and familiar to nearly everybody , should be translated not as “ meek , ” which we interpret as fearful and weak , but as “ civil.
” Law-abiding .
Decent .
Plays well with others .
America has a long history of anti-intellectualism .
We must bring that history to an end .
I remember when the right-wingers got all upset over Sotomayor 's confirmation , because she had “ admitted ” to having empathy .
Their reading on empathy—and most people's—is emotional , unobjective , bleeding-heart , et cetera , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , since their own perceptual apparatus is based primarily on emotion , not thought .
They use thought only to rationalize their emotional viewpoint , and they are bad at it , which is why we are able to hector them over their hypocrisy .
Empathy is NOT a purely emotional faculty .
It is an intellectual faculty .
After all , you have to have a certain degree of intelligence to be able to understand that the interiors of other people may be just as real and important to them as your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the real edge we have over them .
We can think , and they can not .
So what we do from now on is not seek to exact vengeance , not seek to punish them , but to out-think them .
I promise you , there are ways and ways .
And if we are not a group of people in which the best ideas float to the top , well then we are doomed no matter what temporary victories we win .
Once again , no mockery , no contempt is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ factual explanation of what we see before our eyes .
And this is how I see it .
rump 's “ base ” prefers to found behavior on feelings , emotions .
And so they are totally controlled by emotions .
Have n't you heard them wailing ?
They 're terrified .
I read one poor woman 's desperate screed in which she said she was leaving the U. S. and going to Hawaii because with Biden 's election all hope was lost .
Can anyone blame them for their reliance on feelings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are there , are incontestible .
They arrive with conviction , because that 's the way feelings work .
And never mind the many many contradictions they run into , all of which can be explained by the inexplicable will of God .
( Remember that many cultures have portrayed the gods as capricious and unpredictable—in other words , no sense can be made of how things work when you just follow your feelings .
Feelings are the pre-eminent thing , the truth , to them .
And right now , they are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leads one into uncertainties , into complexities , into doubts , hesitations .
It is not for the faint of heart .
If you give up your life to the rule of emotion , you are , implicitly , an authoritarian , looking for someone or some thing outside yourself to make it all work out , to take care of things .
If you are willing to take on the burden of doubt and uncertainty that thinking requires , if you are willing to control your emotions rather than be controlled by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ role .
The base is composed , essentially , not so much of evil people as of children .
Children shriek and scream if they do not get what they want .
They put on terrific and frightening displays of anger and hostility -- ” I do n't love you any more !
” But every good parent knows that children do this because , after all , they have no sense of agency , of power .
Children are ruled by emotion , by fear .
When we contradict them , when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ No , ” they are terrified .
They know they have no real control , and they do not know what will happen to them next .
My daughter had to reassure her son for two full weeks that she would not leave him in day care “ forever , ” that she would come and bring him back home every day , for two full weeks before he relaxed about the matter .
And good parents know that controlling a child does not mean you do not respect that child as human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ You do n't let your child play with the burners on the gas stove or stick a fork into an electrical outlet , because experience has taught you that disaster lies that way .
It does n't mean you do n't love your child or recognize him or her as a fully valuable human being .
I say get rid of rump and Pence , the way I have suggested above .
And then start thinking .
I saw a brilliant suggestion on how Biden might , perfectly legally , give us the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ announced plans to retire in 2022 .
The suggestion is that Biden nominate them for say ambassadorships ( where he can keep an eye on them , and from which , like rump , he can fire them at anytime ) .
That will require the governors of those three states to appoint senators to fill out those three terms .
And the governors of those three states just happen to be Democrats .
Get it ?
LikeI say , a beautiful plan , and perfectly legal .
And it is a result @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emotions , but of good thinking .
Using our brains is by no means giving up the fight to take back over the government from the malicious and the disturbed .
On the contrary , it is the one way to try and take it back which might actually work .
I 've seen another brilliant suggestion for a legal path around predictable republican roadblocks .
In response to mitch 's declaration that he will block all of Biden 's cabinet nominees , a Daily Kos commenter ( I regret that I failed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hope the commenter will take credit if he or she cares ) that Biden prepare two lists : One would be the appointees he actually wants in the position , and will submit to the Senate .
The other would be ( taking a page from the rump book , which is sweet justice ) a list of people Biden will appoint as acting directors if Mitch attempts to block the appointees submitted to the Senate .
The acting directors will be forced to serve until the position is filled in the constitutional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ list of acting directors—the back-ups , so to speak—while definitely good people for the job , should be people that will absolutely terrify mitch , leaving him no choice but to approve the original slate .
Of course , if the first plan above is used , this second one would not be necessary .
But that is n't the point .
The point is , whatever the problem , we can think rings around them .
Let us leave off our anger and vengeance , our thirst for retribution , and start @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is of course a hard-core bunch of nazis , racists , misogynists , white supremacists , and other malicious morons for whom nothing can be done .
They are like almost-grown children who never learned to control themselves or to take responsibility or think about what they do .
They are driven by hatred , anger , resentment , malice , rage .
Unfortunately , as it so often is with severely emotionally disturbed adults who have had disastrous childhoods , there is little we can do for such people .
We must @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unsatisfactory approach , leave them to the law .
But by far the majority of the base are simply terrified children .
We can do a great deal to relieve their fears , and yet return our government to the hands of the adults .
What if , taking a page from FDR , we created an “ infrastructure corps ” ?
-- the few , the proud , the builders , you get it .
What if the government provided free training , and then employed them at good pay , rebuilding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lines , our new non-carbon-dioxide-generating power farms ?
At good salaries , very good salaries .
We could give out badges .
And though it would not be restricted to the base , it would certainly be open to them .
Of course the corps would be open to everybody , and no racism will be permitted among the workers—but you would be astonished at howq uickly racism drops out as a factor among workers who are doing good solid work , and know it , and not only that , are being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to start paying a lot of attention to education .
Among rights that I think citizens of this country should have , all citizens , are the right to good health care and the right to a good ( and universal—and free ) education .
Even colleges and universities should be available at no cost to any citizen .
I will not suggest here exactly how to make it happen , but it can be done , and we can figure out how .
( I will note , however , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who makes a billion a year is just as effective—and probably more so—than raising taxes one percent on 20 people making $ 50,000 a year . )
Education simply must regain an emphasis on verifiable facts , on accuracy , and we must begin to teach critical thinking .
We should start teaching it from a very early age .
Another sort of education , and a tremendously effective one , is our mass entertainment business .
Perhaps it is time for a new sort of hero , a hero who can solve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by shooting guns .
Enough of the hagiographic cop shows in which all the cops are devoted to the well-being of the citizens and none of them are racists .
We know it is n't true , after all .
Enough of the many many idiot comedies which all seem to argue that it is n't thought which counts , after all , but being good country people who just always have the right feelings and who manage to work things out by sheer good-heartedness .
Things do not work that way and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s quit telling ourselves these comforting lies .
But enough also of glorifying mafiosi as being “ just like us , ” of glorifying the dirty-Harry types who just go their own way no matter what anybody else thinks , who break all the rules but prove to have been right all along .
Well , some rules just beg to be broken , but on the whole , we damn well know it does n't work that way .
Our novels , our tv shows , our movies and plays—what a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , if we just start to use our brains .
Are you listening , writers ?
I have long insisted that The Cosby Show ( and all apart from Cosby 's own terrible sexual misbehavior ) did as much to normalize blacks as typical Americans as all the civil rights protests did .
It may be unfortunate that the general public works that way , but it does .
Never mind , for now , all the details .
We can work them out .
The point is , the over-all point , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reacting , and start acting .
It is time to quit being afraid and start thinking .
Because we can think , you know .
There are solutions , and if we turn from blind vengeance to intelligent action , the attitudes of the people we think of as the base will change faster than we can imagine .

WHAT NOW?
Well,first of all, obviously, we celebrate. We won! The adults have taken over again! It feels wonderful to wake up in the morning and not have the first emotion be despair at the criminal, no traitorous malice governing this country. It's a week since the election has been called, and I still feel elated, no matter the deep blue wave didn't materialize.
ButI wonder if perhaps we are letting our thirst for vengeance cloud our good sense. I too have been calling for punishment for rump and his cronies, the full measure of the outraged law to be visited on their well-deserving heads. I am furious with what these creeps have done to our democracy.
But wait a minute: Which is better, the satisfaction of vengeance, or the immediate well-being of the nation? What do you think would happen if we offered rump this deal? You and Pence resign immediately, leaving Nancy Pelosi interim president until January 20,when the Biden-Harris team will take over, and we will guarantee you immunity with regard to any of the crimes you have committed. Just leave, leave now, and we will not punish you.
(We will not, of course, offer to take care of his debts. That's his worry.)
What do you think would happen if we made an offer like that? I think he would grab it up and be gone in a flash. And then, all of a sudden,no Betsy DeVos, no DeJoy, no Pompeo, no Stephen Miller—all of them,gone. No more worry over what rump will do in the remaining few lame-duck weeks of his office.
You see, I think he's terrified of being brought to justice. I think that is one of the main reasons he's flaming out like this, and threatening all sorts of malice and mayhem. I think he is flat-out scared shitless. And I think if we made him an offer like that, he would snap it up and be gone.
And wouldn't that be wonderful for the country?
I would be happy to leave him to fate, or karma, or just the operations of the world. He has shown no ability to cope with reality, and he is an old and failing man. He will not live much longer, regardless,and I doubt he has the capability for happiness or satisfaction. All he ever had was the ability to frighten people, and now that ability has been taken away. He knows, deep down, that everybody hates him, that everyone knows what a fool and idiot he is.
As for DeJoy, Devos, Pompeo and all the other baboons—surely they have been fully discredited. If anybody ever believes anything any of these dupes and clowns say, well, put it this way, the believer will get what he or she deserves. It is totally up to the media to decide whether they will parade these totally discredited buffoons and murderous cretins as talking heads and political experts. It doesn't really matter, though. They are going down in history as the vile idiots they are, and there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about that.
So why not take the simple drastic course? It will work. Can we not use our brains instead of lusting, like right-wingers, for vengeance and punishment? Isn't it better to out-think them and win than it is to punish them? What does it matter if the uberclown gets off light,so long as we get our country back, and right away?
I would even recommend taking the same approach to that much-worried-over cohort of voters, his base, the 70 million Americans who voted for rump in spite of everything. We have delivered ourselves—understandably, I hasten to say, and I admit I have contributed my own fury to the furor—of a great deal of outrage over just how immovably, wickedly, evilly, these hypocritical and apparently conscienceless cretins have refused to face facts,have denied science, have lied without let-up, have repeatedly betrayed their country, and how they just won't listen to reason.
(And just incidentally, I am sick and tired of this nicey-nice pretense that economic and financial insecurity are the cause of their angst. Hell, I live in far more straitened financial circumstances than most of them do, and there are millions more like me, and WE are not racists and nazis and white supremacists.)
But now I think, of course they won't listen to reason. They can't.
The problem is, after all, not their morals, but their perceptions. The problem is that they do NOT think. They are very uncomfortable with abstract thought of any sort. To these people, emotions are the primary reality, not thought. Emotions can be trusted. In the same way that there is no disputing taste—you can state that in your opinion, a certain person has bad taste, but you cannot, by any means, successfully dispute the fact that that is the taste they have—one cannot dispute emotions. And for rump's base, almost all of them, thinking is just a step too far.
Before you assume I am mocking them, step back. I am not. I am simply saying that thought is complex, puzzling, abstract, and there is a vast population of citizens who avoid it at all costs. Remember how the right-wing insists on gut feeling as being the source of truth, not “book-learning?” Stifle your outrage, and do what the fortunate among us can do—think about the matter.
Morality and intelligence have a very powerful correlation. I am not saying that all intelligent people have good morals, not at all. I am just saying that in general, morality is more a matter of intelligence than it is a matter of passion.
(Neither am I saying that racists and nazis are cannot be intelligent—although mostly they aren't. I do, though, make a strong distinction between intelligence, which is awareness, and cunning, which is merely the skillful employment of a repertoire of maneuvers. Mitch McConnell,for example, is someone I think of as not intelligent—intelligence tends toward facts and evidence—but cunning.)
Think about it: Our passions lead us into battle after battle, fight after fight. It is only thought that allows us to control our emotions, to be civil. I had long felt that the word meek in the statement, “The meek shall inherit the Earth” (leading to the bad right-wing joke,“Yeah, well that's the only way they will get it”), taken from the KJV of the Bible, and familiar to nearly everybody, should be translated not as “meek,” which we interpret as fearful and weak, but as “civil.” Law-abiding. Decent. Plays well with others.
America has a long history of anti-intellectualism. We must bring that history to an end. I remember when the right-wingers got all upset over Sotomayor's confirmation, because she had “admitted” to having empathy. Their reading on empathy—and most people's—is emotional, unobjective, bleeding-heart, et cetera, et cetera. This is deeply ironic, since their own perceptual apparatus is based primarily on emotion, not thought. They use thought only to rationalize their emotional viewpoint, and they are bad at it, which is why we are able to hector them over their hypocrisy.
(Citizens of this country keep insisting on dividing the world up into thinking and feeling, as if they were opposed instead of complementary. Just because you like to think does NOT mean you have no emotions. It may mean, if you practice hard, that you think about your emotions, that you do not let them drive you. The Buddhists tell us—and they are right—that emotions come from within in us. They are not outside forces we cannot control.)
Empathy is NOT a purely emotional faculty. It is an intellectual faculty. After all, you have to have a certain degree of intelligence to be able to understand that the interiors of other people may be just as real and important to them as your own is to you.
This is the real edge we have over them. We can think, and they cannot. So what we do from now on is not seek to exact vengeance, not seek to punish them, but to out-think them. I promise you, there are ways and ways. And if we are not a group of people in which the best ideas float to the top, well then we are doomed no matter what temporary victories we win.
Once again, no mockery, no contempt is intended here. I simply intend a factual explanation of what we see before our eyes. And this is how I see it. rump's “base” prefers to found behavior on feelings,emotions. And so they are totally controlled by emotions. Haven't you heard them wailing? They're terrified. I read one poor woman's desperate screed in which she said she was leaving the U. S. and going to Hawaii because with Biden's election all hope was lost.
(I refrain from the easy shot about Hawaii actually being a part of the U.S. It feels good in the moment, but mockery will get us nowhere. Feeling superior is pleasant, but in fact it is counter-productive. We need to start using our real advantage, and to start out-thinking them. Believe me, the base are well aware of the contempt with which they are seen by “libs”--and it hurts them. That's why they are so angry. They are deeply insecure, and one of the primary defenses of insecurity is rage—not just anger, but rage. Think of the ferocity of a cornered animal. They think we're coming for them,that we despise them, that we are going to harass them and kill them and throw them in jail.)
Can anyone blame them for their reliance on feelings, emotions? After all, feelings are there, are incontestible. They arrive with conviction, because that's the way feelings work. And never mind the many many contradictions they run into, all of which can be explained by the inexplicable will of God. (Remember that many cultures have portrayed the gods as capricious and unpredictable—in other words, no sense can be made of how things work when you just follow your feelings. Feelings are the pre-eminent thing, the truth,to them. And right now, they are terrified.
Thinking, by contrast, leads one into uncertainties, into complexities, into doubts, hesitations. It is not for the faint of heart.
If you give up your life to the rule of emotion, you are, implicitly, an authoritarian, looking for someone or some thing outside yourself to make it all work out, to take care of things. If you are willing to take on the burden of doubt and uncertainty that thinking requires, if you are willing to control your emotions rather than be controlled by them, you are assuming the adult role. The base is composed, essentially, not so much of evil people as of children. Children shriek and scream if they do not get what they want. They put on terrific and frightening displays of anger and hostility--”I don't love you any more!”
But every good parent knows that children do this because, after all, they have no sense of agency, of power. Children are ruled by emotion, by fear. When we contradict them, when we scold them or just say “No,” they are terrified. They know they have no real control, and they do not know what will happen to them next. My daughter had to reassure her son for two full weeks that she would not leave him in day care “forever,” that she would come and bring him back home every day, for two full weeks before he relaxed about the matter.
And good parents know that controlling a child does not mean you do not respect that child as human, a person of deep value. You don't let your child play with the burners on the gas stove or stick a fork into an electrical outlet, because experience has taught you that disaster lies that way. It doesn't mean you don't love your child or recognize him or her as a fully valuable human being.
I say get rid of rump and Pence, the way I have suggested above. And then start thinking. I saw a brilliant suggestion on how Biden might, perfectly legally, give us the senate majority. Three repub senators have announced plans to retire in 2022. The suggestion is that Biden nominate them for say ambassadorships (where he can keep an eye on them, and from which, like rump, he can fire them at anytime). That will require the governors of those three states to appoint senators to fill out those three terms. And the governors of those three states just happen to be Democrats. Get it?
LikeI say, a beautiful plan, and perfectly legal. And it is a result,not of giving in to overwhelming emotions, but of good thinking. Using our brains is by no means giving up the fight to take back over the government from the malicious and the disturbed. On the contrary, it is the one way to try and take it back which might actually work.
I've seen another brilliant suggestion for a legal path around predictable republican roadblocks. In response to mitch's declaration that he will block all of Biden's cabinet nominees, a Daily Kos commenter (I regret that I failed to remember the name, but I hope the commenter will take credit if he or she cares) that Biden prepare two lists: One would be the appointees he actually wants in the position, and will submit to the Senate. The other would be (taking a page from the rump book, which is sweet justice) a list of people Biden will appoint as acting directors if Mitch attempts to block the appointees submitted to the Senate. The acting directors will be forced to serve until the position is filled in the constitutional way. And the people on this list of acting directors—the back-ups, so to speak—while definitely good people for the job, should be people that will absolutely terrify mitch, leaving him no choice but to approve the original slate.
Of course, if the first plan above is used, this second one would not be necessary. But that isn't the point. The point is, whatever the problem, we can think rings around them. Let us leave off our anger and vengeance, our thirst for retribution, and start actually behaving like adults again.
There is of course a hard-core bunch of nazis, racists, misogynists, white supremacists, and other malicious morons for whom nothing can be done. They are like almost-grown children who never learned to control themselves or to take responsibility or think about what they do. They are driven by hatred, anger, resentment, malice, rage. Unfortunately, as it so often is with severely emotionally disturbed adults who have had disastrous childhoods, there is little we can do for such people. We must, though it is as yet an unsatisfactory approach, leave them to the law.
But by far the majority of the base are simply terrified children. We can do a great deal to relieve their fears, and yet return our government to the hands of the adults. What if, taking a page from FDR, we created an“infrastructure corps”?--the few, the proud, the builders, you get it. What if the government provided free training, and then employed them at good pay, rebuilding our bridges, highways, ou relectric lines, our new non-carbon-dioxide-generating power farms? At good salaries, very good salaries. We could give out badges. And though it would not be restricted to the base, it would certainly be open to them.
Of course the corps would be open to everybody, and no racism will be permitted among the workers—but you would be astonished at howq uickly racism drops out as a factor among workers who are doing good solid work, and know it, and not only that, are being paid well for their work.
We have to start paying a lot of attention to education. Among rights that I think citizens of this country should have, all citizens, are the right to good health care and the right to a good (and universal—and free) education. Even colleges and universities should be available at no cost to any citizen. I will not suggest here exactly how to make it happen, but it can be done, and we can figure out how. (I will note, however, that raising taxes one percent on a man who makes a billion a year is just as effective—and probably more so—than raising taxes one percent on 20 people making $50,000 a year.) Education simply must regain an emphasis on verifiable facts, on accuracy, and we must begin to teach critical thinking. We should start teaching it from a very early age.
Another sort of education, and a tremendously effective one, is our mass entertainment business. Perhaps it is time for a new sort of hero, a hero who can solve things by thinking about them, not by shooting guns. Enough of the hagiographic cop shows in which all the cops are devoted to the well-being of the citizens and none of them are racists. We know it isn't true, after all. Enough of the many many idiot comedies which all seem to argue that it isn't thought which counts, after all, but being good country people who just always have the right feelings and who manage to work things out by sheer good-heartedness. Things do not work that way and we know they don't. Let’s quit telling ourselves these comforting lies.
But enough also of glorifying mafiosi as being “just like us,” of glorifying the dirty-Harry types who just go their own way no matter what anybody else thinks, who break all the rules but prove to have been right all along. Well, some rules just beg to be broken, but on the whole, we damn well know it doesn't work that way. Our novels, our tv shows, our movies and plays—what a tremendous engine is there for cultural change, if we just start to use our brains. Are you listening, writers?
I have long insisted that The Cosby Show (and all apart from Cosby's own terrible sexual misbehavior) did as much to normalize blacks as typical Americans as all the civil rights protests did. It may be unfortunate that the general public works that way, but it does.
Never mind, for now, all the details. We can work them out. The point is ,the over-all point, is that it is time to quit reacting, and start acting. It is time to quit being afraid and start thinking. Because we can think, you know. There are solutions, and if we turn from blind vengeance to intelligent action, the attitudes of the people we think of as the base will change faster than we can imagine.


dailykos--2020-11-15--Escaping the Other Pandemic

Escaping the Other Pandemic

The sigh of relief was heard resoundingly worldwide .
After almost a week of nail-biting anxiety a majority of Americans elected new leadership that we could trust to pull us back from the brink .
Suddenly it no longer felt like the earth had rolled off its axis and was tilting dangerously to the right .
As people gathered in front of the White House and in streets across the country , dancing , hooting , weeping , it became clear that individually and together we had not quite acknowledged to ourselves the depth of our despair , and our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we realized what had been tamped down for four years .
Like the liberation of Europe from a terrifying Nazi regime at the end of WWII , Americans understood that we had barely crawled out from under the boot of our own homegrown mad dictator .
Sadly , others are not so lucky .
Across the globe the earth continues tilting right as autocratic regimes rise .
Many people are living in fear and deprivation with little hope .
Their futures look bleak as dictators become entrenched or rise anew .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maniacal dictator , Duterte , sends a chilling reminder of what total control by a madman looks like .
He has established death squads in the name of fighting a drug war and he controls all of public administration leaving no checks and balances in place .
The military , judicial and legislative branches of government are fully in his control and he recently shutdown the major media outlet , ABS-CBN , the largest and oldest broadcaster in south-east Asia , just when Filipinos need reliable information about COVID-19 .
Hungary ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country ’ s rating downgraded to “ partly free ” due to “ sustained attacks on the country ’ s democratic institutions , ” as one think tank put it .
Over the past decade , the watchdog added , Orban ’ s party “ has used its parliamentary supermajority to impose restrictions on or assert control over the opposition , the media , religious groups , academia , NGOs , the courts , asylum seekers , and the private sector.
” Another Eastern European country , Poland , is also seeing increasing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ July was decided by a slim margin that split the country in two when incumbent President Andrzej Duda won a narrow victory for the 'Law and Justice ' party .
Duda is rabidly homophobic and misogynist .
His campaign relied on religious animosities between the conservative Catholic Church and more liberal Catholics and secular Poles .
Recently Poland ’ s abortion laws , already some of the strictest in Europe , were further tightened making abortion virtually unattainable .
Polish women made international news when they took to the streets forcing the government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Both Turkey and Egypt have experienced repressive regimes in recent years .
Under emergency policies in Turkey promulgated by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , crackdowns on political opposition , academia , media and civil society occur regularly .
In Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ’ s autocratic style is reminiscent of longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak .
Under Sisi ’ s leadership security services crack down on all forms of dissent , detaining and torturing political opponents in large numbers .
A new House of Representatives was seated in 2016 and promptly passed numerous laws @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over protests , media , and certain organizations .
Brazil serves as an example of autocracy in South America .
President Jair Bolsonaro has created a totally dystopian society .
According to the Globe Post “ Since taking office in 2016 he has done everything he can to undermine the Brazilian Republic as he carries out his mission to destroy everything he believes was built by the ‘ left.
’ He undermines , defunds , or simply closes down any public agency that has been constituted to control civic life and the norms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ India , a longstanding democracy , the government has tried to stifle protests and preventive detention without trial is increasing The state can now unilaterally declare someone a terrorist and imprison them .
Some human rights activists have been incarcerated as terrorists and others have been warned to stop their activities .
Muslim rights have been eroded despite a long history of peaceful co-existence with Hindus .
For people living in countries like these the political pandemic is as dangerous and potentially deadly as the one we are facing in this public health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , survival is more likely if citizens are educated and take adequate precautions to prevent contamination .
In Covid we need to mask .
To avoid autocracy we need to vote .
How lucky we are that Joe Biden ’ s victory signaled a new “ Morning in America.
” But democracy is always fragile and we clearly have “ miles to go before we sleep.
” The challenges before us , the hard work to be done , the healing and re-visioning of a humane and just future , will not be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ altogether finished .
We are unlikely to achieve total unity .
But in the dawning of a new day , we can breathe again .
We can weep openly in gratitude , join hands in renewed hope , and be proud once more of who we are , individually and as an imperfect but ever-growing nation .
“ Oh , what a relief it is !
”

The sigh of relief was heard resoundingly worldwide. After almost a week of nail-biting anxiety a majority of Americans elected new leadership that we could trust to pull us back from the brink. Suddenly it no longer felt like the earth had rolled off its axis and was tilting dangerously to the right.
As people gathered in front of the White House and in streets across the country, dancing, hooting, weeping, it became clear that individually and together we had not quite acknowledged to ourselves the depth of our despair, and our fear. Once the election was called, we realized what had been tamped down for four years. Like the liberation of Europe from a terrifying Nazi regime at the end of WWII, Americans understood that we had barely crawled out from under the boot of our own homegrown mad dictator.
Sadly, others are not so lucky. Across the globe the earth continues tilting right as autocratic regimes rise. Many people are living in fear and deprivation with little hope. Their futures look bleak as dictators become entrenched or rise anew.
In the Philippines, for example, the maniacal dictator, Duterte, sends a chilling reminder of what total control by a madman looks like. He has established death squads in the name of fighting a drug war and he controls all of public administration leaving no checks and balances in place. The military, judicial and legislative branches of government are fully in his control and he recently shutdown the major media outlet, ABS-CBN, the largest and oldest broadcaster in south-east Asia, just when Filipinos need reliable information about COVID-19.
Hungary’s dictatorial prime minister Viktor Orban saw the country’s rating downgraded to “partly free” due to “sustained attacks on the country’s democratic institutions,” as one think tank put it. Over the past decade, the watchdog added, Orban’s party “has used its parliamentary supermajority to impose restrictions on or assert control over the opposition, the media, religious groups, academia, NGOs, the courts, asylum seekers, and the private sector.”
Another Eastern European country, Poland, is also seeing increasing autocratic leadership. The presidential election in July was decided by a slim margin that split the country in two when incumbent President Andrzej Duda won a narrow victory for the 'Law and Justice' party. Duda is rabidly homophobic and misogynist. His campaign relied on religious animosities between the conservative Catholic Church and more liberal Catholics and secular Poles. Recently Poland’s abortion laws, already some of the strictest in Europe, were further tightened making abortion virtually unattainable. Polish women made international news when they took to the streets forcing the government to delay implementing the court ruling.
Both Turkey and Egypt have experienced repressive regimes in recent years. Under emergency policies in Turkey promulgated by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, crackdowns on political opposition, academia, media and civil society occur regularly. In Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s autocratic style is reminiscent of longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak. Under Sisi’s leadership security services crack down on all forms of dissent, detaining and torturing political opponents in large numbers. A new House of Representatives was seated in 2016 and promptly passed numerous laws restricting political activity and formalizing government control over protests, media, and certain organizations.
Brazil serves as an example of autocracy in South America. President Jair Bolsonaro has created a totally dystopian society. According to the Globe Post “Since taking office in 2016 he has done everything he can to undermine the Brazilian Republic as he carries out his mission to destroy everything he believes was built by the ‘left.’ He undermines, defunds, or simply closes down any public agency that has been constituted to control civic life and the norms that rule social life.”
Even in India, a longstanding democracy, the government has tried to stifle protests and preventive detention without trial is increasing The state can now unilaterally declare someone a terrorist and imprison them. Some human rights activists have been incarcerated as terrorists and others have been warned to stop their activities. Muslim rights have been eroded despite a long history of peaceful co-existence with Hindus.
For people living in countries like these the political pandemic is as dangerous and potentially deadly as the one we are facing in this public health crisis. As in the Covid pandemic, survival is more likely if citizens are educated and take adequate precautions to prevent contamination. In Covid we need to mask. To avoid autocracy we need to vote.
How lucky we are that Joe Biden’s victory signaled a new “Morning in America.” But democracy is always fragile and we clearly have “miles to go before we sleep.” The challenges before us, the hard work to be done, the healing and re-visioning of a humane and just future, will not be easy. The work will never be altogether finished. We are unlikely to achieve total unity.
But in the dawning of a new day, we can breathe again. We can weep openly in gratitude, join hands in renewed hope, and be proud once more of who we are, individually and as an imperfect but ever-growing nation. “Oh, what a relief it is!”
# # #
Elayne Clift writes from Saxtons River, Vt. www.elayne-clift.com


dailykos--2020-11-15--Are we reliving the world of Procopius?

Are we reliving the world of Procopius?

During these days of political turmoil which some much wises than I have foreseen a historic change in the wold order , I thought a brief excursion into another era in the past where that world also experienced great upheaval might be entertaining even if not particularly informative .
Periodically , I like to peruse a site called , “ The Fold of the Bards , ” ( http : //www.maryjones.us/ctexts/index.html ) a blog dedicated primarily to translations of ancient Celtic poetry .
It sometimes also contains bits of prose commentary on historical events often written by those who actually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or shortly thereafter .
The following , by Procopius , contains a brief history of the departure of the Romans from Britain in the Fifth Century written about one hundred years after the events described .
It is interesting , and fascinating to me at least , in that it departs from the often laconic and unsatisfying descriptions found in most history books — namely one form or another of the statement , “ The Romans left Britain in 410AD after 400 years of occupation.
” It leaves so many questions unanswered — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up their documents and left ?
Why did the population decline so radically immediately after departure ?
Did they just get up and leave ?
Why ?
Was there a sudden and vast die-off ?
From what ?
Did they just suddenly choose to migrate ?
Why , they were not under serious military attacks ?
And so on .
Here Procopius informs us that in the fifth century AD during the vast turmoil that affected the Roman Empire throughout the reign of the last Emperor of the West , Honorius , armed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an opportunity for profit by taking over ( plundering ? )
resource-rich and valuable sections of the Empire .
After all , the Roman Empire had been organized and always was a profit-making enterprise for the benefit first of the Romans themselves and then of those they chose to make citizens .
They acted much like corporations do today focused on producing a profit .
They were not prescient .
They did not know or suspect the Empire was ending .
Like today ’ s corporations , they saw short-term profit and did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whether or not a great historical era was ending .
It seems reasonable that the “ corporate ” leaders of 5th Century Britain saw the apparently far more valuable lands of Brittany and Galicia free for the taking and assembled their bands and their people and set off from dismal fog-shrouded Britain to conquer them .
Sort of like a modern company moving their head office , administration and production to someplace that would increase short-term returns to their management and investors .
On Britain From Procopius ’ De Bellis c. 540ts CE @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Britain revolted from the Romans , and the soldiers there chose as their king Constantinus , a man of no mean station .
And he straightway gathered a fleet of ships and a formidable army and invaded both Spain and Gaul with a great force , thinking to enslave these countries .
But Honorius was holding ships in readiness and waiting to see what would happen in Libya , in order that , if those sent by Attalus were repulsed , he might himself sail for Libya and keep some portion of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there should go against him , he might reach Theodosius and remain with him .
For Arcadius had already died long before , and his son Theodosius , still a very young child , held the power of the East .
But while Honorius was thus anxiously awaiting the outcome of these events and tossed amid the billows of uncertain fortune , it so chanced that some wonderful pieces of good fortune befell him .
For God is accustomed to succour those who are neither clever nor able to devise anything of themselves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if they be not wicked , when they are in the last extremity of despair ; such a thing , indeed , befell this emperor .
For it was suddenly reported from Libya that the commanders of Attalus had been destroyed , and that a host of ships was at hand from Byzantium with a very great number of soldiers who had come to assist him , though he had not expected them , and that Alaric , having quarreled with Attalus , had stripped him of the emperor ’ s garb and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the position of a private citizen .
And afterwards Alaric died of disease , and the army of the Visigoths under the leadership of Adaulphus proceeded into Gaul , and Constantinus , defeated in [ 411 a.d. ] battle , died with his sons .
However the Romans never succeeded in recovering Britain , but it remained from that time on under tyrants .
And the Goths , after making the crossing of the Ister , at first occupied Pannonia , but afterwards , since the emperor gave them the right , they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after spending no great time there they conquered the West .
But this will be told in the narrative concerning the Goths .

During these days of political turmoil which some much wises than I have foreseen a historic change in the wold order, I thought a brief excursion into another era in the past where that world also experienced great upheaval might be entertaining even if not particularly informative.
Periodically, I like to peruse a site called, “The Fold of the Bards,” (http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/index.html) a blog dedicated primarily to translations of ancient Celtic poetry. It sometimes also contains bits of prose commentary on historical events often written by those who actually lived during the time the events occurred or shortly thereafter. The following, by Procopius, contains a brief history of the departure of the Romans from Britain in the Fifth Century written about one hundred years after the events described. It is interesting, and fascinating to me at least, in that it departs from the often laconic and unsatisfying descriptions found in most history books — namely one form or another of the statement, “The Romans left Britain in 410AD after 400 years of occupation.” It leaves so many questions unanswered — Do you mean a few bureaucrats packed up their documents and left? Why did the population decline so radically immediately after departure? Did they just get up and leave? Why? Was there a sudden and vast die-off? From what? Did they just suddenly choose to migrate? Why, they were not under serious military attacks? And so on.
Here Procopius informs us that in the fifth century AD during the vast turmoil that affected the Roman Empire throughout the reign of the last Emperor of the West, Honorius, armed bands, tribes and the like saw an opportunity for profit by taking over (plundering?) resource-rich and valuable sections of the Empire. After all, the Roman Empire had been organized and always was a profit-making enterprise for the benefit first of the Romans themselves and then of those they chose to make citizens. They acted much like corporations do today focused on producing a profit. They were not prescient. They did not know or suspect the Empire was ending. Like today’s corporations, they saw short-term profit and did not recognize, appreciate, or care whether or not a great historical era was ending.
It seems reasonable that the “corporate” leaders of 5th Century Britain saw the apparently far more valuable lands of Brittany and Galicia free for the taking and assembled their bands and their people and set off from dismal fog-shrouded Britain to conquer them. Sort of like a modern company moving their head office, administration and production to someplace that would increase short-term returns to their management and investors.


dailykos--2020-11-17--Does Esper’s Firing Imply Using the Insurrection Act?

Trump ’ s firing of Secretary of Defense Mark Esper , two months before leaving the White House , may mean Trump is keeping a domestic military intervention in his playbook .
Esper publicly rebuffed President Trump ’ s invocation of the Insurrection Act in June .
Trump wanted to use that act to justify Esper sending active-duty military troops into cities experiencing violence associated with protests .
Esper ’ s statement , “ I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act , ” was counter to the president ’ s wish .
Trump told Fox News , '' Look @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We just send them in , and we do it very easy . ''
At that time , Trump was referring to the massive urban unrest that was occurring over the police killings of several Black citizens , many of whom were unarmed .
Those protests and the ancillary lootings have largely disappeared .
So why would Esper be fired now ?
Think about it for a moment .
Every military commander-in-chief must look at all options for how to battle the enemy , even if those options are never pursued .
President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ instance , as he has often implied if not said , the enemy is the Democratic Party .
As of this writing , he has still refused to concede defeat on the electoral battlefield .
He is employing both legal and political strategies to try to retain the presidency by denying former Vice President Joe Biden the more than 270 electoral votes needed for victory .
Trump understands that he lost the popular vote by even more millions of votes than Hillary Clinton beat him by .
( The spread is over 5 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of those folks are concentrated in the Democratic-dominated urban areas that witnessed last summer ’ s street protests .
Should Trump ’ s strategies result in overturning Biden ’ s legitimate victory , he is not blind to the high probability that there would be massive street protests in those cities .
Most of all in Washington D.C. which was the greatest anti-Trump voting city with 95 % plus voting against him .
Given public anger over Trump negating Biden ’ s election , the chances are that those urban gatherings would witness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fire , and other types of physical damage .
Such destruction is almost always the result of a tiny contingent of street agitators who are more intent on the direct action of destroying everything they can lay their hands on rather than pursuing more abstract long-range reforms .
But these instigators provide a platform for Trump and his allies to attack the democratically elected local representatives who pursue various responses to such chaos .
Trump ’ s solution is to simply overrule local governments ’ efforts with military force .
Esper ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employ our national military for domestic law enforcement in our cities does not spring from liberalism .
He is no liberal .
Esper served as chief of staff for the very conservative Heritage Foundation .
He made clear to whom he feels a loyalty to when he responded to his firing with a letter to Trump saying , “ I serve the country in deference to the Constitution , so I accept your decision to replace me.
” Democratic Representative Elissa Slotkin , a former Pentagon official , said in a statement that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump “ wants to take actions that he believes his secretary of defense would refuse to take.
” Expecting personal loyalty from the person in charge of the Pentagon appears to be critically important to Trump .
Others , besides Esper , have apparently fallen short of that expectation .
Esper ’ s replacement , Christopher C. Miller will be the fourth Secretary of Defense since Trump came into office .
Miller is seen as a straightforward soldier who has served his country admirably .
But he has no experience running a massive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have expressed doubt that he could stand up to any of the president ’ s requests .
Esper ’ s departure was not a one-off incident .
It has been followed by the departure of the top Pentagon officials overseeing policy , intelligence , and the Defense Secretary ’ s staff .
They have been replaced by people who are considered more loyal to Trump .
The new Undersecretary of Defense for policy is Anthony J. Tata .
Trump nominated him for the position last summer , but the nomination was withdrawn when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ extreme .
As recently as 2018 , Tata tweeted that Barack Obama was a `` terrorist leader '' who did more to harm the US `` and help Islamic countries than any president in history . ''
Trump will be unable to stage a coup to stay in power .
If he doesn ’ t concede by December 14 , which is the date the electors meet and vote , his probability of retaining the presidency approaches zero .
His only hope is that the courts , in concert with Republican state legislatures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And if they did , as I said , there would certainly be major demonstrations in many cities for overturning a legitimate vote .
Trump could again try to invoke the Insurrection Act to send in troops to quell riots .
It would not be the first time a president has used the act for dealing with that situation .
Since the end of FDR ’ s time in office , George H. W. Bush did it twice , Lyndon Johnson did it four times , and John F. Kennedy once .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ governors have not requested such assistance under Trump , doing so now could still be seen as exceeding the Act ’ s intention .
Which is what Esper determined when he told the New York Times this past June that active-duty troops in a domestic law-enforcement role `` should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations . ''
The easiest way to avoid these scenarios is for Trump to realize that he not only didn ’ t win the election , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election result the more he damages his own standing and his chances of running again in 2024 .
As I pointed out in my Oct 21 Citizenship Politics , Trump needs to once again be a media star of his own reality show .
This time the show would be titled “ Watch Former President Donald Trump Become the Future 2024 President ” .
Nick Licata is author of Becoming A Citizen Activist , and has served 5 terms on the Seattle City Council , named progressive municipal official of the year by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chair of Local Progress , a national network of 1,000 progressive municipal officials .
Subscribe to Licata ’ s newsletter Citizenship Politics

Trump’s firing of Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, two months before leaving the White House, may mean Trump is keeping a domestic military intervention in his playbook.
Esper publicly rebuffed President Trump’s invocation of the Insurrection Act in June. Trump wanted to use that act to justify Esper sending active-duty military troops into cities experiencing violence associated with protests. Esper’s statement, “I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act,” was counter to the president’s wish. Trump told Fox News,"Look, it’s called insurrection. We just send them in, and we do it very easy."
At that time, Trump was referring to the massive urban unrest that was occurring over the police killings of several Black citizens, many of whom were unarmed. Those protests and the ancillary lootings have largely disappeared. So why would Esper be fired now?
Think about it for a moment. Every military commander-in-chief must look at all options for how to battle the enemy, even if those options are never pursued. President Trump is no exception. In this instance, as he has often implied if not said, the enemy is the Democratic Party. As of this writing, he has still refused to concede defeat on the electoral battlefield. He is employing both legal and political strategies to try to retain the presidency by denying former Vice President Joe Biden the more than 270 electoral votes needed for victory.
Trump understands that he lost the popular vote by even more millions of votes than Hillary Clinton beat him by. (The spread is over 5 million ballots and counting.) Many of those folks are concentrated in the Democratic-dominated urban areas that witnessed last summer’s street protests. Should Trump’s strategies result in overturning Biden’s legitimate victory, he is not blind to the high probability that there would be massive street protests in those cities. Most of all in Washington D.C. which was the greatest anti-Trump voting city with 95% plus voting against him.
Given public anger over Trump negating Biden’s election, the chances are that those urban gatherings would witness stores being looted, buildings set on fire, and other types of physical damage. Such destruction is almost always the result of a tiny contingent of street agitators who are more intent on the direct action of destroying everything they can lay their hands on rather than pursuing more abstract long-range reforms. But these instigators provide a platform for Trump and his allies to attack the democratically elected local representatives who pursue various responses to such chaos. Trump’s solution is to simply overrule local governments’ efforts with military force.
Esper’s resistance to using the Insurrection Act to employ our national military for domestic law enforcement in our cities does not spring from liberalism. He is no liberal. Esper served as chief of staff for the very conservative Heritage Foundation. He made clear to whom he feels a loyalty to when he responded to his firing with a letter to Trump saying, “I serve the country in deference to the Constitution, so I accept your decision to replace me.” Democratic Representative Elissa Slotkin, a former Pentagon official, said in a statement that Esper’s firing may signal that Trump “wants to take actions that he believes his secretary of defense would refuse to take.”
Expecting personal loyalty from the person in charge of the Pentagon appears to be critically important to Trump. Others, besides Esper, have apparently fallen short of that expectation. Esper’s replacement, Christopher C. Miller will be the fourth Secretary of Defense since Trump came into office. Miller is seen as a straightforward soldier who has served his country admirably. But he has no experience running a massive bureaucracy. Professionals within the Defense Department have expressed doubt that he could stand up to any of the president’s requests.
Esper’s departure was not a one-off incident. It has been followed by the departure of the top Pentagon officials overseeing policy, intelligence, and the Defense Secretary’s staff. They have been replaced by people who are considered more loyal to Trump. The new Undersecretary of Defense for policy is Anthony J. Tata. Trump nominated him for the position last summer, but the nomination was withdrawn when even some Republican senators considered him too extreme. As recently as 2018, Tata tweeted that Barack Obama was a "terrorist leader" who did more to harm the US "and help Islamic countries than any president in history."
Trump will be unable to stage a coup to stay in power. If he doesn’t concede by December 14, which is the date the electors meet and vote, his probability of retaining the presidency approaches zero. His only hope is that the courts, in concert with Republican state legislatures, toss out Biden’s victory. And if they did, as I said, there would certainly be major demonstrations in many cities for overturning a legitimate vote.
Trump could again try to invoke the Insurrection Act to send in troops to quell riots. It would not be the first time a president has used the act for dealing with that situation. Since the end of FDR’s time in office, George H. W. Bush did it twice, Lyndon Johnson did it four times, and John F. Kennedy once.
However, since municipal officials and state governors have not requested such assistance under Trump, doing so now could still be seen as exceeding the Act’s intention. Which is what Esper determined when he told the New York Times this past June that active-duty troops in a domestic law-enforcement role "should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations."
The easiest way to avoid these scenarios is for Trump to realize that he not only didn’t win the election, but that the longer he fights the election result the more he damages his own standing and his chances of running again in 2024. As I pointed out in my Oct 21 Citizenship Politics, Trump needs to once again be a media star of his own reality show. This time the show would be titled “Watch Former President Donald Trump Become the Future 2024 President”.
Nick Licata is author of Becoming A Citizen Activist, and has served 5 terms on the Seattle City Council, named progressive municipal official of the year by The Nation, and is founding board chair of Local Progress, a national network of 1,000 progressive municipal officials.
Subscribe to Licata’s newsletter Citizenship Politics