Not So Stupid

Among the roughly 60% of us who do not approve of Donald Trump, this is nearly conventional wisdom:

“Why did he sit down for 18 interviews?”

Because he’s a narcissist. Narcissists can’t imagine not being able to charm anyone because look at how delighted they are with themselves! And then all the other person has to do is wait.

So, he did them because he’s stupid.

— Quinn Cummings (@quinncy) September 10, 2020

So conventional, in fact, that former Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri can be seen below maintaining

 Strike two, he sits for eighteen interviews. O.K., who in their right mind who's running for office in a year- within the year- sits for eighteen interviews with a journalist. This is not a smart thing to do. This is beyond folly. This is ultimate stupidity.

 

Donald Trump, that's who.

President Trump may have believed for reasons outlined here by David Frum, that the novel coronavirus would be a thing of the past by Labor Day. If it had, he would have claimed credit for suppression of the virus, boasting "I knew it all along." Trump is a disciple of Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, who conned a lot of people for several decades with his "power of positive thinking," and whose influence in society tragically continues.

Moreover, leaks from the Woodward book came less than a week after the President

confronted a political crisis on Friday that could undercut badly needed support in the military community for his re-election campaign as he sought to dispute a report that he privately referred to American soldiers killed in combat as “losers” and “suckers.”

Mr. Trump, who has long portrayed himself as a champion of the armed forces and has boasted of rebuilding a military depleted after years of overseas wars, came under intense fire from Democrats and other opponents who said a report in The Atlantic demonstrated his actual contempt for those who serve their country in uniform.

Showing actual contempt for American soldiers is a big thing. It's unlikely that it would have seriously damaged Trump's standing with the public or his prospects for a victory in November. However, we don't know that- and now, probably never will.

We're unlikely to know because Woodward's tome drove off the front pages the Atlantic piece, as well as Michael Cohen's book, which hardly had enough time to garner attention.

The timing was propitious for Trump. That may have been dumb luck- or it could have been part of an understanding between author and subject, a matter none of Woodward's journalistic colleagues will directly raise with him. At best, someone will ask Woodward whether the lives of tens of thousands of Americans would have been spared had he not kept his mouth shut for 6-7 months.

When we learned that President Trump stood with John Kelly at the grave of the General's son, complained "what was in it for them" and Kelly refused to corroborate the report, it confirmed what many people already suspected. If credible individuals refuse to stand up and be counted, there will be little impact of Donald Trump's narcissism upon voters.

 

 

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Money Talks. So Do Guns.

It's no coincidence that the per capita incidence of, and death rate from, Covid-19 is higher in the USA than in virtually any developed country.

Some governors, such as the one here in New Jersey, recognized that the novel coronavirus was serious and have taken responsible measures to prevent its spread.  Others, such as Republican governors in Texas, Florida, and perhaps Arizona, have prioritized profits in the short term over public health. And in South Dakota, GOP governor Kristi Noem arguably took the matter to a new low by encouraging a quarter of a million bicyclists to travel to Sturgis and eat and drink themselves to- well, death:

We estimate that over 250,000 of the reported cases between August 2 and September 2 are due to the Sturgis Rally. Roughly 19 percent of the national cases during this time frame. https://t.co/6tCCV6aXYf

— Andrew Friedson (@FriedsonAndrew) September 6, 2020

But no state chief executive was sufficiently focused on September. None imposed a severe lockdown with the express purpose of ensuring (as far as possible) that schools and colleges in the state would be able to open as normal in fall.

Obviously, most of the blame must be attributed to President Trump He continually has downplayed the severity of the virus; stalled on invoking the Defense Production Act: propagated the myth that the economy could flourish only if measures weren't taken against the coronavirus; pressured states to "open up" businesses; discouraged testing by the federal government; competed against states for personal protective equipment; took politics into consideration in distribution of ppe; and in mid-August warned "We’ve got to open up our schools and open up our businesses."

Moreover, in mid-April the President was

demanding state officials "liberate" Minnesota, Michigan, and Virginia amid the coronavirus pandemic, after saying hours earlier it would be up to governors to reopen their states.

The president issued his demands on Twitter on Friday in short tweets as protesters were "massing," as a local television station put it, in front of the official residence of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat. Earlier this week, conservative protesters, many wearing pro-Trump gear, stormed the State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, to demand leaders there open that state from a "stay-at-home" order.

"I think they'd listen to me. They seem to be protesters that like me and respect this opinion, and my opinion is the same as just about all of the governors," Mr Trump said Thursday night when asked about the open-up protests.

The President's supporters heard the call to take up arms. There were two similar protests in Michigan's state capital. In all three, protesters were armed and in the second

demonstrators entered the Capitol and chanted: "Our House" and "Let Us In" outside of the House chamber against a line of Michigan State Police. Many protesters didn't wear masks or follow social distancing. Some armed demonstrators entered the Senate gallery and stood above lawmakers. At least one lawmaker donned a bulletproof vest.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer at the time maintained "we have legislators who are showing up to work wearing bulletproof vests." She pledged not to be swayed by the demonstrators, but the state did not ban weapons on the premises and no one was arrested.

It strains credulity to believe there weren't governors, Democrats and Republicans alike, who didn't take notice and proceed accordingly. No governor wants to have otherwise (presumably) law-abiding citizens storm her capital and demand action contrary to the public interest.  It is bad publicity and makes it appear that the governor's actions are opposed by a popular majority.

Additionally, police would be called out, at least as a precautionary measure. There might be confrontations which would result in, at best, viral moments and at worst, deaths.

There may be other states in which anti-lockdown protesters were armed. It is hard to determine the extent to which that occurred because contemporaneous news reports generally conflated those protesters with anti-BLM protesters or ignored entirely the issue of whether firearms were present.

However, the armed intimidation continues. Late last month

In Boise, the first day of Idaho's special legislative session erupted into chaos before it began. Dozens of unmasked protesters, some of them armed, shoved their way past state troopers to pack the gallery overlooking the state's House of Representatives.

The clash was a manifestation of the anger and frustration from a vocal minority of far-right Idahoans that has been compounding over the last several months as the state has navigated its reopening amid the pandemic.

To enforce social distancing, the gallery area above the House chamber was restricted with limited seating. But after the confrontation with state troopers, which resulted in the shattering of a glass door, Republican House Speaker Scott Bedke relented and allowed protesters to fill every seat.

Of course he did. They were armed.

Idaho's House Speaker responded as governors across the country have responded.  Firearms have a way of focusing the attention, and state legislators and governors don't want trouble. If that trouble includes gunfire- even if no one is killed- a governor's political career may go up in smoke. Moreover, dead constituents are hard to explain away.

This concern extends to the Police Department, whose members prefer to go home, upright,  at the end of a shift. They would rather live till retirement than to go out as a deceased hero.

However ignorant they appear, right-wing mobs understand this.  They can claim credit as the fatality rates from SARS-CoV-2 continue to mount and their country proves itself morbidly exceptional.

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Near Sighted

Rapidly gaining-in-popularity political scientist has a vivid imagination:

Imagine if instead of living in some fantasy world in which 20-year-old kids practice social distancing for a virus they perceive themselves personally immune from, unis & colleges spent the spring/summer intensely building up their IT/remote learning infrastructures?! https://t.co/UZ4vWSb8R2

— Rachel "The Doc" Bitecofer 📈🔭🍌 (@RachelBitecofer) September 8, 2020

This would be a fantasy. Young people not enrolled in college have their own interests and make their own lifestyle choices. So do residential college students, who have decided both to obtain a degree and to make the most out of their situation, which is to congregate with perhaps hundreds of fellow students. Add to this the reality that most young individuals, as with most young individuals throughout history, have a sense, however unrealistic, of their own invulnerability.

Colleges and universities, in inevitable pursuit of profit, failed (as Bitecofer notes) to build up their information technology and/or remote learning infrastructure. But their failure was not primarily yours.

Most objective individuals, including public officials, knew President Trump was lying when as of mid-May he had said fifteen (15) times that the novel coronavirus would, as he usually put it, "go away."  It was likely that whatever the dampening effect the arrival of warm weather would have on SARS-Cov-2, the air conditioning which would predominate in the summer would push numbers upward.

Then, of course, would come the fall and with it, the arrival of cooler weather and more viruses, yanking the infection rate higher.

Many governors, especially of the Democratic variety, took the pandemic seriously. But no chief executive said what needed to be said. Their constituents could have been told something like 

Summer is coming. If we want schools and colleges to open this fall, we have only one choice. That is to bite the bullet in the summer. Parties, gatherings at beaches- lakes, rivers, the ocean, and elsewhere- athletic events, indoor dining, and all the other things we like to do in the warm weather must be curtailed. Severely. It won't be easy but the alternative is no in-person education in September. And that goes for both children, students who commute to an institution of higher education, and the young adults we parents send off to college.

 

There was not done for varied reasons. One has been virtually, if not totally ignored, but will not be in my next post.

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Con Man Supports Con Man

You may say that Zach Fuentes, who served as Deputy Chief of Staff under John Kelly, is no man's fool. A famous right-wing rag reports

“You can put me on record denying that I spoke with The Atlantic,” Fuentes told Breitbart News on Monday. “I don’t know who the sources are. I did not hear POTUS call anyone losers when I told him about the weather. Honestly, do you think General Kelly would have stood by and let ANYONE call fallen Marines losers?”

He specifically also stated that he believes The Atlantic’s sources “are unlikely first hand accounts.”

“They are conflating those people from something the day after,” Fuentes said....

Every person who was allegedly in the room who has spoken up so far has denied the account of what happened. Fuentes’ denial, reported here exclusive on Breitbart News first, deals another strike against The Atlantic’s credibility.

“I also think any President, regardless of political affiliation, deserves to have candid and private conversations with trusted advisors,” Fuentes added in a text to Breitbart News. “If the President decides to talk about it, that is his right, but generally, I don’t think it is my place to divulge private conversations I’ve had with him.”

That was every person allegedly in the room;. Moreover, no one wants the boss, King of Kings Donald Trump, to believe that he or she is the one who leaked this extremely embarrassing andpotentially damaging story.

However, Fuentes completely gives it away when he adds that he believes "any President deserves to have candid and private conversations" and that it is not his "place to divulge private conversations I've had with him."  He could hardly be any clearer that whatever the President said privately should remain private- and that if he were privy to a private conversation, he would not divulge it. 

There is nothing more impressive than a source who outs himself as an untrustworthy source.

Fuentes' credibility is non-existent, not unlike his integrity.  Over three months ago ProPublica found

A former White House aide won a $3 million federal contract to supply respirator masks to Navajo Nation hospitals in New Mexico and Arizona 11 days after he created a company to sell personal protective equipment in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

You have three guesses- the first two don't count- whom that former White House aide was.  It seems

Zach Fuentes, President Donald Trump’s former deputy chief of staff, secured the deal with the Indian Health Service with limited competitive bidding and no prior federal contracting experience.

The IHS told ProPublica it has found that 247,000 of the masks delivered by Fuentes’ company — at a cost of roughly $800,000 — may be unsuitable for medical use. An additional 130,400, worth about $422,000, are not the type specified in the procurement data, the agency said.

If you're thinking that there is no way Fuentes could possibly have dreamt that the products would be substandard, you'd be interested in knowing

What’s more, the masks Fuentes agreed to provide — Chinese-made KN95s — have come under intense scrutiny from U.S. regulators amid concerns that they offered inadequate protection.

The episode appears emblematic of Kelly's character, for while he was an aide to the Chief of Staff

In December 2018, as Kelly prepared to leave, The New York Times reported that Fuentes had told associates he planned to “hide out” in a vague role at the White House until he qualified for a Coast Guard early retirement program. Fuentes retired in January from the Coast Guard after 15 years of service. He said his retirement was for medical reasons.

Vouching (literally) incredibly for Donald Trump may not be a bad career move.  Throwing stones at a President who, if re-elected, plans to become an emperor would be unwise if you're living in Zach Fuentes' glass house.

 

 

                                             HAPPY LABOR DAY

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The Heretical Joe Biden

The National Catholic Reporter notes that Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas has praised a video released by Father James Altman, pastor of a Roman Catholic Church in La Crosse, Wisconsin, one which

slams Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Washington D.C., for his criticism of President Donald Trump’s photo-op and appearance at the St. John Paul II National Shrine earlier this summer. He also criticizes Jesuit Fr. James Martin and his closing prayer at the Democratic National Convention, and refers to participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects immigrants who entered the United States as minors from deportation, as “criminal illegal aliens” and calls climate change a hoax.

We learn also

Martin, who is known for promoting LGBTQ inclusion within the Catholic Church, did not speak and instead offered a prayer that included petitions for “the LGBT teen who is bullied” and “the unborn child in the womb,” among other vulnerable and marginalized groups.

“I guess it’s okay for James Martin to spout out for the Democrats on their national stage but God forbid a priest speak out against their godless platform,” said Altman. “Here is a memo to clueless baptized Catholics out there: you cannot be Catholic and be a Democrat. Period.”

 “The party platform absolutely is against everything the Catholic Church teaches, so just quit pretending that you’re Catholic and vote Democrat,” he continued. “Repent of your support of that party and its platform or face the fires of hell.”

Go to hell, Altman argues, for believing

Americans deserve an economy that works for everyone—not just for the wealthy and the well connected. But our system has been rigged against the American people. Democrats believe that it is a moral and an economic imperative that we support working families by rebuilding the American middle class for the 21st century, making sure this time that everyone can make it and thrive, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, age, or ZIP code.

 The National Catholic Reporter adds

in recent months, the faith of Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, has promoted controversial commentary from several Catholic bishops questioning the sincerity of his Catholicism.

In August, Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, tweeted: “Biden-Harris. First time in awhile [sic] that the Democratic ticket hasn’t had a Catholic on it. Sad.”

You'll notice the nod to President Trump with inclusion of "sad," with which President Trump infamously ended many of his own tweets in the past. Tobin believes also that a presidential ticket must include someone he would consider a Catholic, which would surprise the authors of the US Constitution, who specifically ruled out a "religious test" as qualification for any political office.

The notion that Joe Biden isn't Catholic is ludicrous on its face, of course. And if Tobin thinks support for forced birth is a prerequisite for being a good Catholic, he is free to point out any passages in the Bible, from Jesus Christ or any follower of his, opposing abortion. Please- go ahead. (Video below is from 11/09.) 

Joe Biden is no more or less a Catholic than when he was competing with a myriad of non-Catholics. Nonetheless, criticism of Biden for allegedly being insufficiently Catholic was missing while he was a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, facing the other leading candidates, a Protestant senator from Massachusetts, Jewish senator from Vermont, Protestant mayor from Indiana, and a Protestant senator from Minnesota.

The criticism arises instead when the former vice-president is facing an individual who hasn't read Two Corinthians," can't cite a Biblical verse, has never been seen opening a Bible, has felt no need to ask for forgiveness from God, and on separate occasions ridiculed communion and tried to put money into a communion plate. However, he's a "baby Christian," we are assured by the President's circle of evangelical supporters. "Baby" evidently is a synonym for "phony," given that Michael

Cohen writes that before winning the presidency, Trump held a meeting at Trump Tower with prominent evangelical leaders, where they laid their hands on him in prayer. Afterward, Trump allegedly said: “Can you believe that bulls--t? Can you believe people believe that bulls--t?”

“The cosmic joke was that Trump convinced a vast swathe of working-class white folks in the Midwest that he cared about their well-being,” Cohen writes. “The truth was that he couldn’t care less.”

These extreme evangelical (Protestant) leaders are involved in a symbiotic relationship with the President, in which the latter gains politically and the ministers in some other manner, perhaps financially.  The relationship is less transactional for far-right Catholic leaders, thus a little more altruistic. Evidently, they either support the values of Donald Trump- or are really, really stupid. They are faith leaders. One hopes for the latter.

                                                       HAPPY LABOR DAY

 

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A Silence Inexcusable But Explainable

 

In the middle of the furor over Trump and soldiers is John Kelly, who so far has remained silent. Kelly has told associates that a retired 4-star general should not come out against a sitting president in the heat of a campaign. ⁦@anniekarni⁩ https://t.co/UglfrguBXh

— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) September 5, 2020

Reportedly, President Trump on Memorial Day 2017 turned to General John Kelly as they standing in Arlington Memorial Cemetery at the grave of First Lieutenant Robert Kelly and remarked "I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”

Charlie Pierce writes "I don’t know how John Kelly didn’t flatten the vulgar talking yam right there at Arlington." Generals Kelly, Mattis, and McMaster "took an oath to defend the Constitution, not to hold their tongues until they could get a book deal as a reckless vandal takes the Republic down, brick by brick."

In the case of Kelly, it now appears that it is something more important than a book deal- or being a retired 4-star general,-which is irrelevant, at least with the word "retired."  On Friday, I argued that cowardice probably has prompted former Department of Homeland Security chief (1/17-7/17) and Chief of Staff (7/17-12/18) Kelly from publicly acknowledging the disturbing information revealed by The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg. However, in April of 2019 CBS News had reported

protesters outside the nation's largest facility for unaccompanied migrant children noticed a familiar face enter the massive, fenced site in Homestead, Florida: former White House chief of staff John Kelly. Soon after, a local television station recorded footage of him riding on the back of a golf cart as he toured the grounds.

It wasn't clear why he was there, but Friday, Caliburn International confirmed to CBS News that Kelly had joined its board of directors. Caliburn is the parent company of Comprehensive Health Services, which operates Homestead and three other shelters for unaccompanied migrant children in Texas.

Prior to joining the Trump administration in January 2017, Kelly had been on the board of advisors of DC Capital Partners, an investment firm that now owns Caliburn.

During Kelly's tenure, the administration pursued ambitious changes to immigration enforcement, and the average length of stay for an unaccompanied migrant child in U.S. custody skyrocketed.

Kelly was famous in the Administration for being not only anti-illegal immigration but anti-immigration- period. It's hardly likely that his current involvement in Caliburn is a mere coincidence.  Moreover

While Comprehensive and DC Capital appear to have reaped financial benefits through government contracts during and after Kelly's tenure as White House chief of staff, Richard Briffault, a Columbia Law School professor, said Kelly may not have broken any rules.

"It sounds like he's running between the raindrops. It doesn't sound great, but most likely he's not directly violating any policies," Briffault told CBS News. Briffault said government officials are barred from benefiting from their involvement in matters that involve specific parties, meaning that while serving at the White House, Kelly could not directly influence any decision to award a contract to a DC Capital company.

Briffault argues that Kelly was barred from directly influencing any decision to award a contract to a DC Capital company. 

   

We don't know whether Kelly had a direct influence because investigative reporting is relatively unusual nowadays and is rarely if ever featured on any televised news program, cable or otherwise. (There was very little follow-up by the media to CREW's lawsuit addressed in the 7/19 video above.)

Nonetheless, in the most corrupt Administration in American history, it would be surprising if Kelly did not use his influence to benefit the company he had worked for, and would work for after he worked for President Trump. 

The President then would have something hanging over Kelly's head. Of course, Trump also would be implicated but Teflon Don, he who could arguably shoot someone and not lose any support, realizes he would not be hurt in the least.

And that means General John Kelly is ripe for being blackmailed. He could verify key aspects of Goldberg's story but were he to do so, President Trump might claim, truthfully or otherwise, that Kelly convinced him to pursue the policy and to steer contract(s) to DC Capital.  He may have made it clear to his former employee or it may have been done with a nod and a wink.

But there is a very good chance that this is playing out at this very moment. This fellow believes General Kelly "must, for the sake of our country and his honor, tell what he's seen and do what he can to sink the pirate ship Trump."  However, this story may blow over and Donald Trump may be re-elected.  If John Kelly comes clean, tells all, and Joe Biden is defeated, the ex-general's honor will be no match for the legal horror he'd probably face from an emboldened President Trump.

 

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Patriotic Duty

 

John Kelly is still a bigot who signed off on locking up children away from their parents. Don't forget that.

— Pé (@4everNeverTrump) September 4, 2020

In his article in The Atlantic, we learned further details from editor Jeffrey Goldberg about the president whom we knew believed everything in life is transactional and that American soldiers, past and present, are "losers" and "suckers." In only one of the instances noted by Goldberg

On Memorial Day 2017, Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery, a short drive from the White House. He was accompanied on this visit by John Kelly, who was then the secretary of homeland security, and who would, a short time later, be named the White House chief of staff. The two men were set to visit Section 60, the 14-acre area of the cemetery that is the burial ground for those killed in America’s most recent wars. Kelly’s son Robert is buried in Section 60. A first lieutenant in the Marine Corps, Robert Kelly was killed in 2010 in Afghanistan. He was 29. Trump was meant, on this visit, to join John Kelly in paying respects at his son’s grave, and to comfort the families of other fallen service members. But according to sources with knowledge of this visit, Trump, while standing by Robert Kelly’s grave, turned directly to his father and said, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?” Kelly (who declined to comment for this story) initially believed, people close to him said, that Trump was making a ham-handed reference to the selflessness of America’s all-volunteer force. But later he came to realize that Trump simply does not understand non-transactional life choices.

 

 Nonetheless, the tweeter noted above contends John Kelly is a bigot, signed off on separating children from their parents, and that we must not forget that.

He is, he did, and we shouldn't.

John Kelly loyally served a man who did not deserve to be loyally served. In his controversial tenure as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and White House Chief of Staff. he was not a paragon of tolerance nor a beacon for a pluralistic society.  He was not a paragon of tolerance nor a beacon for a pluralistic society.

Nevertheless, John Kelly has been presented with what many Americans never get: a second chance. He served his country in civilian capacities in the federal government and courageously in the armed forces.

John Kelly now can compensate for  being "a bigot who signed off on locking up children away from their parents" or for  simply offering a little legitimacy to an evil President. He can make amends, atone for past errors, or in the manner of the Catholicism in which he was reared, do penance.

The White House has claimed that the Goldberg piece is fiction, though a ludicrous claim, one that would benefit from at least one of its anonymous sources dropping his anonymity.   General Kelly could publicly confirm the details as they apply to him. He could further explain that the behavior ascribed to the President was characteristic of the man he served as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and as Chief of Staff. And he could endorse Joe Biden's effort to unseat that President.

In early 2017, Kelly stated "If lawmakers do not like the laws they've passed and we are charged to enforce, then they should have the courage and skill to change the laws. Otherwise they should shut up and support the men and women on the front lines." Lucky him. John Kelly now has the opportunity simultaneously to exhibit courage and support the men and women on the front lines. It's a two-fer. If he does- and only if he does- he will exhibit the courage he once demanded of members of Congress and perform a patriotic duty beyond any he ever has.

 

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