Self-disclosure. Yes, all my yard signs are for Democrats. Republicans this year scare me too much.
Is Donald Trump a fascist? His own former chief of staff kind of did a decent analysis of this question, ticking off the criteria. Hyper nationalism? Check. Racial identity politics? Check. Treating political opponents as “the enemy” and threatening them with prison? Check. Calling for mass roundups into detention camps? Check. Admire Adolph Hitler and “Hitler’s generals?” Check.
Clearly, a fascist. But is that the key question?
Half of America doesn’t see it that way, and we’re only six days away from (knock on wood, it could take longer) seeing if America chooses fanatical fascism or traditional governmental competence. Will we choose the felon or the prosecutor? The jury is still out, and it makes me anxious.
But even the “f” word and f question isn’t the key issue, to me. Whether wanna-be Hitler wins next week or not, we’re at a strange place politically when he’s got a very good chance. And it does, partly, reflect a wholesale breakdown of the troubled relationship between the American public and America’s journalists—we don’t trust our own trustworthy voices in the news anymore.
Because, yes, the New York Times has a strong liberal bias. Yet it works a lot harder to report facts and correct its reporting mistakes than the entire weird alt universe of right-wing disinformation systems that have grown and spread and become many people’s main sources of social media lies wearing fact Halloween costumes.
Oct. 9--Visited Czech and Slovak Museum. One theme there is long-standing thirst for freedom and democracy.
The key question to me is: Is America in 2024 too much like Germany in 1924?
Germany: Had recently lost a cataclysmic war that most people thought it had won until, suddenly and shockingly, it hadn’t. Germans had thus grown cynical and untrusting of a nascent free media and the lies government told them. After all, while Germany was the cradle of the press, it was not the cradle of the free press. America: We recently experienced a collective trauma, a pandemic (which, by the way, was badly mismanaged by none other than President Donald Trump, although much of the story of that time is being badly rewritten now). We also face challenges abroad, reacting to a bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan and seeing conflict spread in the Middle East and Ukraine. But despite our challenges today, we’re not a defeated power like Germany was in the last century—we just seem to weirdly feel like one.
Germany: A century ago, a young country, around 50 years old, that had, for most of that history, weak democratic institutions, and monarchial rule. By the 1920s, a republic had been established—but it was also seen as the government that betrayed the Fatherland by signing the Treaty of Versailles.
America: The world’s oldest functioning federal democracy, with a strong history of constitutional, lawful government. That history is not perfect, and there are all kinds of issues facing our democracy, including that it seems to be for sale for the likes of shady billionaires like Elon Musk, but for all our faults we can’t validly give our own institutions the kind of side eye Germans cast on the Weimer Republic. And yet, we do. It’s sane and very American for us to be skeptical of our government, but deeply and foolishly cynical to dismiss it altogether.
Germany: In the 1920s and 1930s, riots and political violence became an increasing part of the politics of the day. America: Yeah, sort of. In 2021, a violent mob (prompted by none other than President Trump) stormed our Capitol and tried to stop the count of the 2020 election results. Granted, riots and violence aren’t exclusively the purview Trump or of the right, but despite a history of sometimes violent civil unrest in these United States, we don’t have a history like that of Germany a hundred years ago. Yet, this one is more of a tossup—our rhetoric has become rougher and more violent, and workers in our democracy such as election volunteers face unprecedented risk from delusional vote second-guessers who threaten and intimidate. So, maybe this is a criterion in which the parallels are a bit valid.
In summary: We aren’t Germany of the 1920s or 1930s. But half of our electorate is ready to give an incompetent strong-man who failed miserably at the job the first time a second chance to remake America in his own sick, twisted image. And Trump himself is quite clear that he’s running as a revenge candidate—he has no positive plans for a better future; he wants retribution for often imagined slights of the past.
And that’s what gets me. That the election is still so close and that we are flirting with decisions as wrongheaded as Germans did in the past. I hope that Trump loses in six days, but it’s even money right now.
In October, my wife and I visited the Czech and Slovak Museum in Cedar Rapids. Many of the displays recount the struggle for freedom the Czech people endured, from the Soviet crackdown in 1968 to student resistance in the 1980s to the eventual Velvet Revolution that brought democracy to that land.
Student hand-drawn protest poster of the 1980s at Czech and Slovak Museum.
Not sure why mutant Smurf is a symbol of freedom, but another student protest poster.
Not sure why the Czech fashions represent freedom, but to me, they do.
Never fear books. Even a book robot just looks friendly.
Czech out the art protesting lack of freedom in the Communist era.
We Americans constantly talk about the heroes of our past who fought for our democracy. Yet too many Americans today seem to dismiss Trump’s own words as bluster and exaggeration and resent his being classified as a fascist when he loudly and openly threatens attacks on all of the guardrails that keep our democracy functioning.
I’m ashamed of Republicans who won’t call out this anti-democratic strain in their party and its stain on our democratic ideals. Best case: Harris wins by a whisker.
And that’s a true shame. Really, America? I do hope Trump loses—but even if he does, the disfunction in our politics doesn’t go away. Our obsession with competing media universes remains. Trump and Trumpism is a symptom of something dark and enduring. We are badly in need of lots of clear-headed and effective political reforms, even given the best case, and we badly need to rebuild a more respected news media system.
Decades ago, the Czech people took to the streets in a desperate, dangerous call for freedom. We need a similar rebirth of the spirit of freedom here. To me, the election next week is not the end of the story nor the end of the danger.
I don’t have the cure, sadly. But I can see the disease.
Official White House images of President Joe Biden (above) and Vice President Kamala Harris (below). In 2020, they won the election. Let's acknowledge that as a fact.
What a week! Who knew the contemporary Republican party could be so weird and vindictive that Democrats would feel a little sympathy for someone named Cheney?
In some ways, the odd Republican reaction to the election of 2020 parallels the reaction of liberals in 2016.
Remember the #notmypresident trend? That was a hot hashtag in 2017 when it became obvious Trump’s odd craziness during the 2016 campaign wasn’t a publicity stunt—Donald J. Trump was every bit as awful and delusional as president as he seemed to be when he was a candidate.
The campaign bombast was not a ploy—Trump immediately began governing in chaos, occupying his time on strange obsessions like the battle over the inaugural crowd size, and his insistence that his basically average Electoral College win (coupled with a popular vote loss) somehow was a historic landslide.
There was a sense of unreality on election day in 2016, that something unexpected had happened—and indeed it had. I recall hearing an acquaintance say shortly after that at a meeting that Trump “is not my president.” At the time, I was taken aback. Our republic rests on political opponents accepting election results and agreeing to fight another day.
President Donald Trump, the man who thinks he's still President. He's not. Accept it and move on.
Trump won. Not a clean nor decisive win, but under the rules, a win. Last year, Biden won, by the same Electoral College margin as Trump, and also, unlike Trump, in the popular vote—and yet there is again a new “not my president” idea in the air.
But the 2017 #notmypresident movement was fundamentally different from what we face today.
In 2016 and 2017, neither President Barack Obama nor candidate Hillary Clinton sought to have the election of 2016 overturned. Clinton didn’t call her supporters to the streets to disrupt the normally routine task of Congress counting electoral votes. The losers in 2016 were not digging in their heels, denying reality.
And when some said in 2017 that Trump was not their president, they were mostly rejecting him symbolically—implying that he was not fit to be president and they would not consider him their leader. There was no huge movement, run by the leader of the Democratic party, to recount votes months after it was all over. There were no oddball Q Anon ninjas seeking bamboo in Arizona. There weren’t dozens of lawsuits—all based on BS and all tossed quickly by the courts—to try to overturn the election.
Today, Donald Trump still has a grip on the increasingly extreme GOP, and he’s fuming in Florida, plotting his return, sometimes even seemingly convinced he’s still “Il Duce.” Trump’s stranglehold on his party is cutting off the fact oxygen supply to the GOP brain, and the Trumpy House vote to oust conservative Liz Cheney from her leadership post because she speaks the truth this week shows how tight that grip is.
There’s a sharp contrast between today and four years ago. When Rep. Elise Stefanik was named third-in-command among House Republicans this week, her first public statement called for “unity” as she works with her party’s undisputed leader—President Trump.
She got around to mentioning President Biden after first praising the orange one—Stefanik referred to the current president in a statement about how terrible, socialist and dangerous he and his party are—so she’s not denying the election results.
Rep. Elisie Stefanik, R-NY. When was the last time we had to care who was number three in the House minority party?
At least not yet. As quickly as some in the GOP are re-writing the events of Jan. 6 into harmless tourists touring the Capitol, I wonder what the gaslighting future holds.
But still. The shout out to Trump as the current party leader by Rep. Stefanik was startling. Think what it came after. Trump attempted to overturn a lawful election in any way he could. After all else failed, he called for protests on Jan. 6 that led to the violent storming on the U.S. Capitol by a murderous crowd.
What if that crowd had found Nancy Pelosi? Or Mitt Romney? Or Mike Pence? What if they caused so much chaos—as they seemed intent on doing—that Congress was prevented from fulfilling it’s role in the election?
Some people died that day—and President Trump was impeached a second time, correctly so, because he incited that violence.
In a rational world, Trump would be retired in ignominy, a shallow, shamed figure shunned by all as the Republicans move on and seek new party leadership. Instead, Rep. Stefanik called for the GOP to retake the House, and seems to be looking forward to the second Trump administration.
It’s all about the base. And there’s the trouble.
Tweet this week by Iowa's Republican Governor, Kim Reynolds. Odd how she doesn't ask about any credible news sources in her "where do you get your news" tweet. That's part of the problem.
Trump, term 2? God helps us. Not my president again, please.
Anyway, today you can buy a “not my president” shirt today with Joe Biden’s picture on it. As some on the left rejected Trump, so many on the right reject Biden.
The current “not my president” movement, however, is tied to the Big Lie, to the sense that President Trump was somehow cheated of a victory he won.
In reality, Trump was the loser. Neither he nor his fans can face that, but public servants who have sworn a duty to the Constitution, should feel some obligation to speak truth on this point.
Biden won. You can wear the “not my president” shirt with his image all you want—that doesn’t change the fact that old Joe is president.
Sure, Trump doesn’t accept it. Yet Trump edited weather maps and would not believe crowd counts nor images. Trump not accepting something isn’t very strong evidence for the lack of veracity of the thing.
I understood the “not my president’ idea in 2017, even if I didn’t buy it. Today, if Biden is not your president—if you, like Elise, look forward to Trumps triumphant return—you make me shudder.
In 2020, The voters spoke. Get over it, get on with it, and try to live in the fact-based universe.
The Trumpverse is perverse and increasingly out of touch. As Jan. 6 showed, that perversion can even bring anti-democracy violence.
May the Don never be my president again. Rep. Cheney was right, even if she speaks from the right. Donald Trump should never again get anywhere near the White House.
Ousted in the House, but not silenced--Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming will probably face many primary challengers. Because she would not speak the Big Lie. Good for her.
Image of President Trump boarding a plane. When he flies our Jan. 20, good riddance. Image from White House Facebook page.
The phone call. From a man with a history of spectacular phone calls. President Trump called the Secretary of State of Georgia to demand that the election, long since certified and over, be called back.
And he spouted a fire hose of nonsense—but many craven Republicans in the House and Senate still vow to object to Joe Biden’s win. Odd—new GOP members selected in the same election aren't objecting to their shady wins. If an election is bogus, isn't it bogus up and down the ballot? Meanwhile, Trump calls for a rally in the street.
Well, we have an interesting fortnight plus change of crazy before us, and I just hope it ends without riots or war with Iran. Avoiding either is not a sure bet.
Official White House wanted poster.
It is very interesting how the nuttiest corners of right-wing media imagine an election conspiracy, then Trump mirrors and amplifies the message, and suddenly the worst of GOP political opportunists (I’m looking at you, Ted Cruz) say a huge investigation is needed because so many millions do not trust the vote. Which the liar-in-chief has falsely told them is fake.
I’m not shocked that Trump has gone off the deep end. Nobody could drive him crazy when it’s more of a putt. No need to move to Crazy Town when you're already the mayor. But the lack of principle and spine among so many other Republicans is as depressing as the fact that, in the midst of this pathetic spectacle, our loser Prez retains the loyalty of the Trumpers.
Last year, Politifact.com, a fact check site run by the Poynter Institute, named COVID-19 denial as their lie of the year. The Denier-in-Chief was voted out of office, I think partly due to the consequences of that lie, but the orange one refuses to admit he lost.
I know it’s early in 2021, but even in January, the spectacularly fact-challenged call by Trump would seem to make election denial a strong contender for this 2021’s lie of the year.
A potential for a twofer! The same master of BS, Donald Jessica Trump (thank you, Randy Rainbow, you’re a national treasure) could win it again! Lie of the year for two years in a row—they’ll have to find a special piece of stone for that Pinocchio nose when they add him to Rushmore. Tired of all the winning yet?
Joe Biden will be president next Jan. 20—that’s not opinion, but reality. But reporting reality seems to be something that gets the media into trouble, these days. The media are not believed by close to half of the voting public, the 70 million to whom Donald Trump is speaking truth as he denies reality.
Trump being delusional, immature and incompetent are nothing new, and helps explain why he has been fired. It’s always been about Trump to Trump—working hard to govern the country was never his thing. He lazily spends his days golfing and watching TV sending out crazy rage tweets. And his refusal to see the hand writing on the wall, to so gracelessly ignore the need for an orderly transition of power—it’s all totally normal for this flawed, abnormal man.
And yet. The Daily Show’s video of the MAGA march on Washington, calling for something or other, was a bit scary to me. So many so willing to attack the news media on baseless claims emanating from that famous source of unreliable nonsense, Donald Junk-for-brains Trump. Democracy dies in darkness and darkness seems to be closing in.
And the Donald has no incentives, now, nothing to preserve except perverse fame. Republican voices calling on him to do the right thing have been few. And I can’t help but think that it’s not only his hyper-active stupid gland at work, nor just the now reflexive craven GOP fear of the far-right base that keeps this sad charade going. I think the tweet storms and dark conspiracy claims keep the Trump base riled and up and are an attempt to excite them and fund raise. It may yet fuel Trump’s next move, which no doubt will involve some sort of awful fact-starved media.
He always was a reality TV star more than he was a business tycoon. He was never a successful captain of industry, but a spoiled rich kid who played one on TV. And as ex-president, the star power of this dim man shines brighter than ever.
Others have noted that Trumpism isn’t over with the defeat of Trump. The MAGA minions march in Washington signals the start of the next campaign. (Yes, yes, violence bad, don't hurt the MAGA minions, they get to march, too--but really, now we're concerned about people attacking protesters? At least the lawless lefty loons weren't acting under the order of a would-be dictator clearing a street for a photo op).
The campaign of 2016, after all, never ended. Having been elected president with no clear idea of what the job was, Trump occupied his time reveling in his imaginary landslide and reliving the glories of victory by continuing the only thing he liked--rallies to draw adoring crowds. They are so important to him that he continued that during a pandemic--reveling in mask-less cheers as he hopped across the country, cheefully ignoring the safety and health of his MAGA-nation.
And the pandemic rages on. Our Dear Leader rage tweets, encourages street marches and does absolutely zero to battle the deadly virus that has already robbed us of more than 250,000 souls. He is not only doing nothing, but he’s preventing the future president from even making contact with the government employees who will have to play catch up and cleanup on this raging mess once the Orange One is finally rolled out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the White House bleached from top to bottom.
Trump tweet, screen shot from my phone. I agree, get the straight jacket, but why do so many still believe him and still think it's the media that are lying to them?
I’m trying to see some light. I am happy Biden won. Yet I worry about my country when the right has continued to make the media the enemy. It seems like facts are the stranger in the this strange land.
And back in Iowa, a red-hot state of COVID-19 infections, our aw-shucks ol’ boy Senator, the Chuckster, tweets that he’s got the ’vid. He is not alone. My incoming representative in the House, “recovering” journalist Ashley Hinson, who left a career of reporting facts to joining a party that ignores them, also is isolated with the virus. Both report mild symptoms.
Get well, Chuck. Thoughts and prayers. But, can you also test positive for a backbone? Like maybe what the Dear Leader is doing (really, not doing) is not so OK?
Well, good, or goodish. Except a person with mild COVID-19 can breath out droplets that still may kill. And where, one wonders, did old Chuck and young Ashley encounter this virus? And why was it suddenly after the election that our governor, COVID-Kim, decided it was time to take sort of serious and mostly symbolic ineffective action?
Months too late, the gov says, Iowans are to wear masks, sort of. In big groups. Bars are closed—after 10 p.m. No sports. Except for the most popular ones at the high school and college levels. And before Nov. 3, we had all kinds of GOP campaign rallies, visits by un-wise men from the East, unmasked Republicans going together to cheer Trump and share infections, yet not a peep from COVID Kim Reynolds.
Chuck Grassley, above (official Senate portrait) and Ashley Hinson, below (image downloaded from her campaign web site and cropped) have tested positive for COVID19. Our elder senator and young congressperson-elect report their symptoms are mild. Would that it was the same for 250,000 Americans already lost and counting.
I don’t expect Chuck or Ashley to provide any leadership on the virus. They are too busy laying low when MAGA nonsense gets pushed via social media. And recovering from journalism.
And Trump? He’ll fire enemies, play golf and ignore the needs of the country. Because the needs of Trump have always weighed more with him than the needs of the country.
Meanwhile, the student staff at the newspaper I advise did some good work this week, including being direct with the powers-that-be that they are not doing enough to protect us. The students were writing about university administration—but the message they state holds true at the highest level of the land.
We must do more:
The young journalists get it. Why can't the recovering ones? You probably can't read this image of a newspaper page--here is a link to a PDF of the page. Their opinion columns are worth a read, too.
Watching MSNBC Saturday night. After rousing intro by Kamala Harris, Joe Biden jogs out to give his speech. He's older than Trump, but I struggle to imagine Trump having the moves like Biden.
Joe Biden jogged to the lectern Saturday night. He spoke clearly, well, and powerfully. At 77, he seemed fit, aware and presidential.
It was a fine end to a beautiful day. I was surprised this morning when suddenly the news came. The first hint was a family message on WhatsApp, which is my headline news service, I suppose. I turned on the TV, and Morning Joe on MSNBC was telling me, a Joe, of the triumph of another Joe. I had not realized how on edge I have been for the past few days when suddenly the weight of this long count was lifted. The land of P!nk and also of Elizabeth Cochrane (a.k.a Pink, but a famous 19th century journalist writing as Nellie Bly, not a 21st century singer) had spoken. The boy from Scranton, Pennsylvania, will reside on Pennsylvania Avenue.
And before Biden spoke, we got to hear from the vice president-elect, Kamala Harris. She was rhetorically powerful, not just a wonderful warmup act, but a woman who is ready to lead the nation, should the need arise.
Kamala! In suffragette white she spoke, noting 100 years since the 19th Amendment, promising that she’s the first woman in her position—but she surely won’t be the last.
I think it turned out that old Joe chose well. Kamala delivers as VP-elect. Again, I'm watching MSNBC.
It’s to Joe Biden’s credit, as others have noted, that he picked one of his most effective opponents in the primary race to be his running mate, and tonight she delivered a speech that shows what a great choice that was.
I like Joe Biden even though he was never my first choice as a candidate this year, and honestly age was a factor in that. I would like a new generation of leaders to emerge. Well, inevitably they will, and seeing Joe speak so well tonight gives me some comfort. He seems to have the makings of a decent president, and I hope that's enough, because the problems loom larger than a tribble-headed orange autocrat.
An American president in the first quarter of the 21st century has to be effective in use of media. They have to be a TV personality, but also come across well on social media: YouTube, Twitter, etc. President Trump, for all my loathing of that loathsome human being, certainly was a media star in his own right.
And Trump came fairly close to winning a second term. The popular vote margin is not all that larger in 2020 and in 2016, and Biden’s campaign succeeded partly because it did not take the old “blue wall” states for granted this year.
Joe on my screen as I watch speech on MSNBC.
So, now the hard work begins. This country is deeply divided, and many in the Trump camp are convinced an election was stolen from them, mostly because it’s a lie their Dear Leader repeats over and over. A greater man and better president than Trump would calm the waters and offer transition help to the next president—but that’s not in Trump’s nature.
He’s a fighter, not a thinker. He does have some skill in media manipulation, in drawing attention, in firing up his base with incendiary rhetorical fire bombs. Sadly, he has shown no skill at governing. He claimed in 2016 that it was easy to act presidential, but has not tried to since. Damaging democracy is not even a thing he worries about, although I wish he did.
And Trump is wounded but still dangerous because he wields enormous power. I can’t help but think the raucous, wrong-headed protests at sites where election workers have quietly tried to carry on the task of making democracy work is due to Trump’s ill-advised, divisive rhetoric. Despite my happiness today, I can’t help but think that until Jan. 20, we’re living in a powder keg and giving off sparks.
Still, Trump the communicator is clearly not always skilled. Contrast the rambling, angry, incoherent and factually challenged address the Donald gave Thursday night with Joe’s performance tonight. One man was presidential, the other an angry, crazy old uncle, and the crazy one is the actual president today.
To most of the world, there’s no contest. America picked the right horse. See how Ireland's largest TV network covered the rise of Pennsylvania's most famous person of Irish ancestry:
But that's not the reality in Trumpland, which is close to half of America. I’m deeply disappointed that my state, Iowa, was on the wrong side of history in 2020. There is lots of anger and resentment in the red lands, and while Biden vows to be president of the whole United States, not just blue states, it remains to be seen if he can make it happen. Four years ago it was liberals who vowed "not my president," an equally toxic reaction on the right is already bubbling away. I hope Joe's conciliatory words helps heal that divide, a little, but it's been brewing for years, and I don't think one nice speech will quell this storm.
Yet, the media show tonight was great. Joe and Kamala were both compelling speakers. Let’s hope that the reality that follows the TV show will also turn out well, but I'm sure it will take some time.
MSNBC shot of crowd. Perhaps I watch "Firefly" too much. In my head, I hear a guitar chord followed by a man singing: "Jooooe! The man they call Jooooe!" In my estimation, any man who has had a statue been made of him is one kind of son of a bitch or another, to paraphrase the wisdom of Mal Reynolds. Still, tonight was a good night for Joes. May it be a sign of better days ahead.
Donald Trump says 2.2 million people were going to die. That only 210,000 have is thus a great success.
It’s a lie. A rather vile lie, since it traduces human lives. I know, Trump is not responsible for 210,000 deaths—many would have died had the country taken adequate action against COVID-19. But the death toll could have and should have been much lower, and the spike can be lowered now, with effective, science-based action that this president can’t wrap his head around.
It was a night of lies from Donald Trump. The final presidential debate of 2020 is over, and I have to admit I am relieved.
Trump did score some points. His contention that Biden’s environmental plan spell economic disaster is going to be the point pounded on again and again in attack ads for the next 12 days. Not that it’s true. As is much of what Trump said tonight, it’s a lie.
A lie delivered coldly and calmly by a president who dismisses severed families as the fault of coyotes, COVID-19 as the fault of China and economic meltdown as—well, I’m not sure who he is blaming. Trump claimed the economy would be a disaster if Biden is elected, but who the heck was president this year when the recession kicked in?
Typical Trump. "Don’t elect him or the chaos I have caused will continue." "Elect me so that I can put out the fire that I lit in the first place."
Sigh.
Some keys in tonight’s debate:
Biden nailed Trump on his tax returns. Trump tries to paint Biden as corrupt, but one of Trump's consistent patterns is to project his own flaws onto his foes. I don’t think Joe is pure like the October snow—but on the corruption meter, Trump has pretty much everyone trumped, yet he says Biden is corrupt. And Biden is the one who has released his tax returns, not Trump. Tell me again how Trump is more honest?
Trump made anybody with a brain sick to their stomach with his Lincoln lines. No, Trump, you are not the “least racist” person in the room. As Biden said, his dog whistles are fog horns. In one breath, you’re the least racist, in the next, your saying immigrants who show up for hearings have low IQs. You’re blaming China, coyotes and claiming not to be racist.
COVID-19 should be the nail in the coffin for this president. Just consider this exchange: “People are learning to die with it,” Biden on the pandemic. “I take full responsibility. It’s not my fault.” Actual comeback quote from Trump.
I do think that Trump did better tonight than the first debate, although he set a rather low bar to lumber over. Trump was still spouting insults, lies and trite campaign lines.
Biden speaks during debate.
Trump needed to change the dynamics of the election tonight. I do not think he did. I think Biden held his own, which I hope is all he had to do. And what was that about pillows and sheets? Earth to Trump: What?
Image by Gage Skidmore from wikimedia commons. Kristen Welker of NBC in Arizona in 2018.
Kristen Welker of NBC News did pretty well, I thought. She had been insulted by Trump before the debate, but was praised by him during the debate. Despite that, I think the use of the enforced time limits was good. There was some cross shouting, but not the chaos of the first debate. Her questions were decent and she stayed calm.
Well, that phase of the campaign is over. Five-thirty-eight is starting to write about a possible blue wave that could take the Senate, keep the House and win the presidency. Trump’s fantasy about taking the House rang very hollow, and I don’t think Trump built much of a flood wall against the coming blue wave.
View of candidates on MSNBC before debate begins. From the back side, Biden looks to be in way better physical shape.
The quote came late in the debate, when the candidates were discussing urban violence and the BLM movement.
“He does not want to calm things down,” said Joe Biden of Donald Trump. “He pours gasoline on the fire.”
And right after that, moderator Chris Wallace asked Donald Trump to condemn white supremacist groups—whom his own government has identified as the main domestic terrorism threat.
Trump’s answer was incoherent. His message to the Proud Boys was “stand down, but stand by.” And then he referred to Antifa as it if were a thing.
“Antifa is an idea, not an organization,” Biden correctly countered.
Biden speaks. Trump is not happy listening.
I don’t think Joe Biden debated all that well, to be honest. He had his moments, but he did not always track the questions well and sometimes did lose count of his own points as he was answering.
But Trump. Holey orange crazy! What a hot mess. A family member observed on WhatsApp during the debate that it seemed like Trump became more orange as the night went on. Trump got into disputes with the moderator and seemed to be debating him rather than Biden. Trump repeated slogans like “law and order, law and order” but didn’t note any policy that leads to that.
Biden noted Trump’s pathetic response to protests so that he could clear a street for a photo opp, and Trump just responded with anecdotes about urban violence. But the uptick in violence is happening after more than three years of Trump as president. Warning us things will fall apart in Biden’s America because they are falling apart now seems like a really weird case to try and make.
And as Biden noted, the real threats to suburbs aren't BLM and Antifa. It's coronavirus and climate change that may wipe them (and the rest of us) out.
Sure, I know Trump claims violence is a problem because Democrats run cities—but as Chris Wallace noted, Republican cities are not peaceful, either.
And then there was the election. I don’t think our election system is perfect, but Trump suggests in advance that it’s fraudulent because he senses he will lose, and if you can’t win the game, you try to yell at the refs, I suppose.
Well, I saw on Facebook that some friends had tuned out. Honestly, after 45 minutes I was ready to do the same. I did not—I felt like I had to observe the whole thing. But it was tough to watch. A dumpster fire.
Like Trump’s America.
Put these yard signs up tonight. Nothing tonight changed my mind at all.
I gave two of the best Trump family speakers two hours of my life Thursday, and it left me a little scared.
Because I’ll state something that might surprise you.
President Donald Trump did a pretty good job at his acceptance speech Thursday night. Oh sure, he was not as energetic as he is when he’s ranting at a huge crowd. It was “teleprompter” Trump, who is always less engaged than unplanned, rant Trump. But for Teleprompter Trump, he was pretty good.
As a speaker, he did OK—and like a dog singing “Happy Birthday,” OK was better than anybody could have expected of him. Of course, the content of his long, long speech was full of deceit and exaggerations and fear mongering. It was, after all, a lie fest from the liar-in-chief.
Anyway, after Ivanka Trump gave the best speech of the awful tribe named “Trump” at the convention, the president’s pretty much just OK speech left me a bit depressed. Because he might pull it off. Between voter suppression, riling up his base and all kinds of semi-legal shenanigans, this con man might pull off the scam one more time. In case you have more than a hour to kill or need a cure for insomnia, here it is:
So, I went to bed without writing up my summary of the RNC, sleeping on it to see how I felt in the morning. And I feel better today. His ratings were lower than Joe Biden's which must hurt. And on second look, Trump's speech does not grow on me.
Still, Trump hit the right, right-wing notes, calling to his base on crime, patriotism, abortion, socialism and, Heaven help us, even God, which really made me nauseous.
So, as a wrap-up on the freak show that was the sad reality TV scare fest from what was once an American political party, my wrap-up of the RNC, focusing mostly on the long speech by President Trump.
First the setting. What can I say? It was a horrible desecration of the people’s house. Trump called it a “home,” but it’s the nation’s home and a president merely borrows the White House for four years. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, had a great tweet Thursday night that sums up how I felt:
Trump, the "law-and-order" candidate, can’t be bothered to understand or follow the law.
True, a president is personally exempt, but he’s used the full machinery of government—and lots of government employees—as political props and settings. What a jerk. The low moment of his speech was his smirky reference to the setting (quote is accurate, used a transcript from NPR):
“The fact is I’m here -- what’s the name of that building? (Gestures behind him to cheers from the gathered doomed gladiators) “But I’ll say it differently. The fact is we’re here and they’re not. To me one of the most beautiful buildings anywhere in the world, it’s not a building, it’s a home, as far as I’m concerned. It’s not even a house, it’s a home. It’s a wonderful place, with an incredible history.”
A history, you jerk, that you are ignorant of. Another low point—technically after the speech, but part of the Trump awfulness: Fireworks on the National Mall (a federal public park that includes, among other things, the Vietnam National Memorial with the names of heroes who didn’t claim bone spurs to stay home) that spelled out “Trump” and “2020.”
If that didn’t turn your stomach, see a doctor to see if you have a stomach.
The other main point of the flawed optics of the evening where the odd crowd. The fact that there were Trump MAGA-A acolytes from all over, crowded together, largely not masked during a pandemic that this horrid president has infamously not managed well. It was a Sturgis-style super spreader event, and shows that this president is so cold, so indifferent to fellow humans, that some of them may die, yet it’s a price he’ll happily pay.
We’re closing in on 200,000 dead, and this president and his followers brag about making respirators and banning travel. Well, hooray, those are two things you did right, but you completely squandered any time you bought by not listening to science, pushing quack cures and claiming the virus would disappear like “magic.”
And Trump holds an in-person party with people from all over, unmasked and undistanced.
If your ego demands accolades from a crowd so badly that you’ll force federal employees to violate federal law and potentially expose over a thousand of your misled fans to a deadly virus during a pandemic, you’re not, as our former secretary of state called you, a fucking moron.
You’re a fucking monster.
So, Trump spoke well. And displayed his full evil in full view. He and Joe Biden have both stated that this will be a campaign for the soul of America.
Not that there was any doubt before Thursday, but Thursday proved, if anybody needed proof, that one of those candidates sure doesn’t give a rat’s patootie for his own or anybody else’s soul.
His speech was preceded by Ivanka Trump. She’s a good speaker, but is part of the dark tribe trying to promote the orange demon on us. And it was odd, how “co-presidential” she seemed. Ivanka, nobody elected you to anything.
She was among the best speakers during the whole RNC, I thought, but the bar was pretty low so she didn’t have to work hard to clear that low bar. The most amusing line in her speech, to me, was this (quote from ABC news transcript):
“My father has strong convictions. He knows what he believes, and says what he thinks. Whether you agree with him or not, you always know where he stands. I recognize that my dad's communication style is not to everyone's taste. And I know his tweets can feel a bit -- unfiltered. But the results speak for themselves.”
“Unfiltered?” His tweets are the all-caps yowling of a mad man who, sadly, is president of the U.S.
For now. Shame on America if we prolong this nightmare for four more years.
And I don’t care about Joe Biden’s obvious shortcomings at this point. Get me out of here!
Other observations on Trump’s speech:
It was full of ridiculous exaggerations and distortions. For example, Trump on his record on race relations: “And I say very modestly that I have done more for the African-American community than any president since Abraham Lincoln, our first Republican president. And I have done more in three years for the Black community than Joe Biden has done in 47 years.”
Donald Trump has never in his life said anything in modesty. He’s a narcissist of the first order.
Another point that Trump bragged about was cutting regulations, thus approving oil pipelines and removing the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement. He promised to cut regulations more in order to promote jobs, and made this claim about Joe Biden: “Biden has promised to abolish the production of American oil, coal, shale and natural gas, laying waste to the economies of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Colorado, and New Mexico, destroying those states. Absolutely destroying those states, and others.”
One of the dirty little secrets of life is that any extraction economy is doomed in the long run. The wells will run dry, the vein will be played out, the drillers and miners will make money now, but not generations from now. And Biden won’t open federal lands to drilling like Trump will, but has not pledged to end production of American fossil fuels. Instead, he has called on us to transition to a sustainable green economy, which will create jobs.
Making the planet uninhabitable by just drilling and burning and devil-may-care is the road to hell.
Trump is not our ecological savior. He is the Satan of the environment.
OK, I admit I’m getting carried away. That’s the mood swings induced by the RNC. And I do have a favorite, no-shit-Sherlock chyron that I saw on MSNBC: “Fourth Night Filled with more false statements” Yes, it was. Surprise, surprise.
So now the fall campaign begins. Here is our lineup (images from Wikimedia commons, most by Gage Skidmore, except Mike Pence image which is a White House photo):
President Donald J. Trump. Check whatever he says. This man will gladly get you killed if it means he wins. Not an exaggeration. Image by Gage Skidmore.
"Sleepy" Joe Biden. I'll take sleepy over evil, any day. And why does Trump always list as flaws in others attributes that he has? Trump leaned on the lectern Thursday like a sleepy old man. Takes one to know one, I guess. Image by Gage Skidmore.
Vice President Mike Pence. In some ways, worse than Trump, because he'll spill his venom in a friendly, folksy, neighborhood preacher sort of tone. It's also not easy to find this man's image--of all four figures here, this is the oldest image, the one that is an official White House image because he doesn't get out much or draw attention when he does, and it's cropped to show Mike. Unlike the orange-skinned one, this guy has the pale skin of someone who avoids the limelight. And the sunlight. Mike Pence, mild mannered vampire? White House image (from visit by Greek officials, hence the flags).
California Sen. Kamala Harris. She's equipped to be president, probably the best of this bunch of candidates. The woman stands out as the best human for the job. Image by Gage Skidmore.
Voting for a “Joe” is going to be easy for this Joe. Well, maybe not as easy as I wanted since a judge tossed out ballot requests in my county. But I’ll crawl over hot coals to vote against the current occupant. You know that building, behind you, Don? I hope soon that it's the house where you used to live.
Final note: This is a reflection of the times we live in. Here is much of section A of The Gazette this morning. I don’t think you can read the stories, just look at the headlines. Trump is on the bottom of page 4. The county I live in setting new virus records is on page 6. And I don’t think The Gazette got it all that wrong. Many of the headlines are on the aftermath of the Aug. 10 derecho that blew this city apart, so I will concede much of the end-of-the-world tone of these pages is due to Mother Nature and not Monster Trump.
Still, the Republicans have said repeatedly this week that you should be scared to live in Biden’s America. They’ve got it wrong. The real nightmare is now, here are headlines from Trump’s America:
This week, a liberal PAC issued a rather stark political ad attacking President Trump, using his own words. The “Exponential Growth” ad is from “Priorities USA”.
As a response, the Trump presidential campaigned threatened TV stations airing the ad in a cease-and-desist letter. Among the threats is the possibility of revoking stations FCC license to broadcast. Here is a Reuters news report on the situation:
Yikes! Is this the End of Democracy as We Know It?
Not really. This is not as scary as it seems. PAC political attack ads are not fair and balanced commentary, although this one pretty directly uses Trump’s words against him. The sources of the quotes are detailed in this article by Politifact.org. A cease-and-desist letter is a threat of a possible future legal action—it’s not a court order and has no legal authority.
So, you need to calm down. But not too much. Because the campaign’s response to this ad says nothing good about the authoritarian tendencies of our most incompetent president.
For one thing, this ad, biased as it may be, is clearly not beyond the pale. It’s political opinion that’s fair to express. Conservatives who promoted “Hillary the Movie” and supported Citizens United have no standing whatsoever to try to shut it down. I don’t know that “rough” political commentary sets the right tone right now as our nation should unite to fight a pandemic, but the Trump campaign threatening broadcast licenses over this particular ad fits into a rather scary, systematic attack on political discourse that Trump has waged.
The president himself last week blasted an NBC reporter for a softball question—the reporter asked what words of comfort the president had for the American people. The bombastic Trump did not offer any, but instead lashed out, calling the reporter “terrible.”
It fits a pattern, described in this Slate article. Trump’s campaign has filed frivolous libel suits against pretty much every major media outlet over stories or commentary that it doesn’t like. The strategy of filing such doomed lawsuits has a name—they are known as “Strategic Lawsuits Against Political Participation,” or SLAPP suits, and have been used in the past by certain groups, such as the Church of Scientology, against negative media coverage.
Because defending yourself against a libel suit is expensive—and the whole point of a SLAPP suit is not to win a lawsuit, but to slience critics.
Sure, every American president plays hardball. Politics is a vicious game. But this president is special in his disregard for any political norms and the harshness of the attacks he makes against perceived media enemies. And he fits into a cultural pattern of anti-science, anti-knowledge, anti-education and anti-discourse that is the political virus running globally amok right now, as recent years have seen a resurgence of right-wing authoritarianism.
Think of Trump’s threat to “open up the libel laws” during the 2016 campaign because he was unhappy with negative media coverage.
So now we are faced with a real existential threat. Whether it’s from the short-term economic slowdown caused by social isolation or a deeper, longer economic, spiritual, emotional and physical hit caused by pandemic deaths, 2020 is bound to be a year full of challenges caused by COVID-19.
And we have an election going on. To me, it’s pathetically sad that President Trump may yet be re-elected—in fact he stands a decent chance. He’s mishandled this pandemic from day one and the “it’s only the flu” crowd loves him for it.
His right-wing media machine and campaign can’t stand criticism of this president, especially criticism that uses his record against him. Yet, we all heard the quotes that the Priorities USA ad used. Ignorance and amnesia are not promoted by effective leaders who understand how a democratic republic or open marketplace of ideas are supposed to function.
So maybe this letter from the Trump campaign to TV stations is not, by itself, all that scary. It, however, fits into a very scary pattern: Trash the media, attack the media, sue the media—not for their lies, but to get them to stick to your version of truth.
I don’t have the heart for divisive politics at the moment. It is, however, important to all of us that critics of the president are free to say what they want. TV stations should be free to air this ad—it’s not beyond what the FCC should allow. After all, right-wing nonsense is a regular feature of the daily Trump Show.
No, I am not calling to censor the president, He should be more choosy in what he says, but he is free to say it. And we should be free to quote him and criticize him, even during a pandemic. And the Trump campaign, like Donald Trump himself, is once again revealing itself as a threat to democracy.
I do feel that we need to join together in this trying time. This ad doesn’t help. But what helps least of all is an incompetent, anti-democratic president and his sleazy re-election campaign.
So, share the ad. Make them mad. We are sitting on our couches and can't go anywhere--so let's make some virtual noise. The ad is already going viral, which is delicious under the circumstances.
Boost the signal. It's something we can do right now.
Photo from thegazette.com, CR mayoral candidates Brad Hart and Monica Vernon.
When it really didn’t matter, Monica Vernon, candidate for mayor of Cedar Rapids, could not come up with an answer.
The question came during the rather lengthy introductory phase of a “Mayoral Forum” sponsored by The Gazette and CBS-2/Fox-28. Matt Hammill of 2/28 asked 20-minutes worth of rather fluffly personal questions, such as “What was your first job?” or “How did you meet your spouse?” I suppose I didn’t hate the one-on-one interviews, but honestly I was not a fan either.
After questioning Brad Hart, Hammill asked Vernon what Disney song she would most like to sing. She didn’t come up with an answer until she mentioned some old song from Snow White. Me, I think the appropriate Disney song for the evening would be this:
“I Wan’na Be Like You” because it was amazing how similar Brad Hart and Monica Vernon were and how much they both want to follow closely the path established by the current mayor. They had mostly identical answers—their placards almost completely agreeing during a Gazette-asked “lighting round” where they held up “yes” or “no” answers. The biggest disagreement was whether 2nd Avenue should have been closed—Hart was a yes, Vernon a no.
Me, I’m thinking it’s like a cow’s opinion. It’s pretty much a Moo point (extra credit if you get the “Friends” joke).
They both love, love, love outgoing Mayor Ron Corbett, which seems like another reference to the Disney song. If he were in the race for re-election, neither would challenge him.
On balance, I had several reactions to the forum. First and foremost, way to go, Todd Dormann and Lynda Waddington. The two Gazette opinion writers asked substantial and interesting questions. Score: Newspaper journalists 10, TV journalists 0.
I’m not even bummed that the question I submitted—how the candidates react to the sexual harassment issued and #metoo movement—wasn’t asked. The questions that were posed were more local and more relevant. Maybe my question will be part of the follow-up The Gazette hinted it might do with unused query.
My second reaction is that I’m not too worried about the outcome of this election. Both Vernon and Hart are establishment candidates. In choosing these two as the top vote getters, it seems to me that the body politic in Cedar Rapids wasn’t too upset with local leadership. That’s kind of where I stand, too.
I went into the night leaning towards Monica Vernon, but open-minded. Brad Hart did impress me as intelligent and capable, but, even if she didn’t name the Tessa Violet rendition of a Disney classic as her favorite song—as well she should—I would say my plan to vote for Vernon was strengthened by the candidates’ demeanor and answers at tonight’s forum. Although, to be fair, I also think if the chips fall the other way, Hart is not a poor choice for mayor.
My view of debate. Sadly, a friend from MMU said there were empty seats in the auditorium. Wish I could have been in one.
Finally, being the attendee who worked hardest to get there didn’t do me any good. Despite riding a bicycle in the cold dark, I was put in the overflow room, which was a bit irritating as the audio didn’t work at first, and there were some rude “stage whisperers” in behind me helpfully making it harder to hear. As it turned out, the audio was improved shortly after the forum began, and all I missed was Zach Kucharski’s introduction of the forum and Matt Hammill.
So, on balance, thanks Gazette and 2/28 for putting this event on, and CR Library for hosting. Also thanks to Tessa Violet for being Tessa Violet.
About 9:30 p.m., I pass the Rockwell-Collins pond on C Avenue. Both candidates would go to Connecticut to make the case to new Rockwell-Collins owners to keep jobs in Cedar Rapids.
Wikimedia.com, from flckr user Gage Skidmore. Hillary Clinton.
Compare the speeches: Clearly the one who was more presidential got the most votes.
But sadly, she didn’t win. Hillary Clinton delivered a good concession speech. She offered to aid President-elect Trump. And she avoided much of the bitter rancor that has lit up the social media universe in the wake of Tuesday’s Trump victory.
I applaud her for that. I understand the fear, anger and frustration of the many who are worried about fundamental human rights and healthcare as the Republicans are champing at the bit to repeal the Affordable Care Act and name near Neanderthals to the federal bench, and I share the sense that difficult times are ahead.
But I won’t raise my middle finger at America nor declare the electorate fatally mentally challenged. I think we—the collective we, I voted for Hillary—are in for a boatload of buyer’s remorse soon. But Clinton is right. Trump now gets to enter the world stage for the biggest act of his Reality TV career.
The depressing truth, to me, is that I think Trump treated the campaign as a Reality TV show. He Tweeted and said provocative, outrageous, misogynist, bigoted things and then denied them—just to draw attention, like a compelling but slightly evil camper on “Survivor.” He never carried much of a narrative thread—that is, he never had a coherent policy position that allowed his voters to support something of substance. And the Trump Reality TV campaign worked. American went for the “as-seen-on-TV” candidate.
The odd thing, of course, is that in fact the plurality of votes when to Hillary Clinton. More Americans chose her than chose Donald Trump, but under our odd, anachronistic electoral system, Trump won.
Trump was right. The system is rigged. And the media were part of it. He was just wrong—it was the Reality TV star who benefitted from the biases and unfairness built into the system.
Now Trump gets to try to govern. I doubt he has any idea what he’s in for. The Republicans have two years before mid-term elections to not mess it up, and I don’t have high hopes.
“I will be president for all Americans,” Trump said. After that hopeful line, the Trump victory speech was pretty terrible. He said the uniting line, his best line, in the first few seconds, but then the speech became rather like the most boring of Academy Awards acceptance speech. “I’d like to thank, Rudy Giuliani, who was always lurking in the background of my campaign like some vampire.” I may be slightly paraphrasing.
Same site, same user, Donald Trump.
The Trump speech was a missed opportunity. He gets lost in the thanks and didn’t do much to calm the fears of the national that he now will lead. There was no articulate or memorable line from the new boss of the free world. I guess I should just be glad he managed to stay on script, even if it was a bland, poor script.
Anyway, other random media-related thoughts sparked by this improbable election:
The walled garden is a thing. Our First Amendment was written to foster the “marketplace of ideas,” but that, sadly, is now closed and America has moved into gated idea suburbs, where we echo only the like-minded. I recognize that cutting off people from your Facebook feed who irritate you is OK—Facebook is your own personal place to be in contact with who you want; it’s a cocktail party where you don’t’ have to say in an unpleasant conversation—but the immediate instinct of some Clinton voters to shut off all contact with anybody who voted for Trump still bugs me. And many of us experience ideas and news through links that are posted on our badly named Facebook “news” feed. We, the liberals of this cold new world, are almost as bad as the conservatives in wanting to shut out the other. It’s official now. The Marketplace of Ideas is an empty Main Street with tumbleweeds, and we’re all off in our own, competing, realities. Truth doesn’t grapple with Falsehood. They both stay at their own private barbecues, no strangers invited.
Our democracy isn’t a democracy. One person’s vote is not equal to the vote of any other person. The system, as Trump charges, is indeed rigged; he was just dishonest about who benefited from the rigging. The GOP engineered a Gerrymander takeover of Congress in the last two Census cycles. Since Citizens United put government up for sale, voters sensed there was something wrong and wanted to toss a brick through the window. But, handing the reigns of undisputed power to the party that carefully crafted the building to its advantage doesn’t seem to me like it will lead to meaningful reform. The people have spoken, but their voices were inarticulate, muted and warped.
And, in this year of magical thinking, I’m not sure of the way forward.
Trump won’t deliver on many of his empty campaign promises, because they were fantasies from the Trump TV show to begin with. Mexico won’t pay for a wall. The wall itself won’t mean much if it is built—in 2,000 miles, there will be some weak points, and airplanes and boats will bypass it entirely. Clinton may be endlessly investigated, but she never came close to an indictable crime in many, heavily investigated, decades of public service. She won’t be locked up. American manufacturing jobs are part of a global economy that doesn’t care who POTUS is, and those jobs won’t come flowing back because The Donald orders it to be so. The rural, uneducated white voters who handed the keys of the White House to a New York billionaire are, I think, in for years of disappointments.
Well, life goes on, even if it feels like it has careened into a scary place. Yet, if the shoe were on the other foot, if Clinton’s electoral fortunes reflected her plurality because her voters had been spread out more in the states like Iowa that gets its votes magnified, I think we Clinton supporters would be rightly indignant at Trump supporters who were too quick to grab their muskets or claim it’s the end of America.
Remember when the scandal was that Trump would only accept the election results if he won? He won. He accepts the results.
So does Hillary Clinton.
We can cry, scream, rend our garments, gird our loins for the long fight, etc. But, Clinton liberals, the vote has happened. If we would have expected DJT to concede had he lost, we should be a bit consistent and accept, unhappily, that he won.
And yes, I would reform the system so that he wouldn’t’ win again under the same circumstances—we do need boatloads of election reform—but Trump’s win was “clean” in the sense that it did fit the twisted, insane rules we live under.
No, I don’t mean we have to sing “Kumbaya” or forget our deep divisions or not be on alert for the tragic coming attempts to take away fundamental rights form the vulnerable among us.
But calm down. If need be—and I think need will be—we can beat him in a landslide next time.
