Karl's Bog

The murky world of politics (and other things) as seen from the Bog

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Tag: Congress

  • Trump’s (Needed) Apologies – part 2 of ?

    A while ago I thought it would be fun to keep track of the apologies Donald Trump owes the country.  I wrote one on his assertion that Judge Curiel could not rule on his Trump University case since the judge is of Mexican heritage and could not possibly be unbiased.  It was fun.  But I could not keep up.  What with the Khan family, fire marshals, beating up protesters, lying about his changed positions on Syria and Libya, on the number of immigrants in the country illegally, the unemployment rate, crime rates, Obama as founder of ISIS and at least 70 other stories tallied by PolitiFact, I was beaten.

    Then I realized those are just chump change!

    The biggest and most abject apology owed to America is for accelerating the decline of our most important institutions.  He and his fellow Republicans have for years been doing their best to create darkness where there should be light.  They have turned the perception of science from an instrument of discovery and verification to an instrument for promotion or vilification of political positions.    They have changed reverence for education into distrust of expertise.  Support for common infrastructure has become classified as “tax and spend” programs to wreck the budget.  For these, the Donald gets credit for advancing the ball but not for all the recent progress.  The Republicans, after all, have worked on knocking down government for years.

    Mr. Trump’s singular contribution is his unique ability to stare into the mouth of a bear and deny that he sees teeth or even that there may be a bear.  For example, we have his continuing claim that what he said in 2004 about favoring the invasion of Iraq, on film, did not happen.   Also, his claim that president Obama is not a native-born American is now being denied on his behalf by his campaign but he would not admit it in person until 9/16/2016.  And speaking of bears, he still denies Russia has troops in the Ukraine.

    Most of all, though, we have his skill in debasing political debate.  I know, I thought that art had already been perfected by Congress, but I was wrong on that too.  Trump has skills in innuendo, ad hominem attacks, misdirection and blatant lying that make the most ambitious sixth grade bully weep from jealousy.  With his recent claim that Secretary Clinton has run a “hate filled” campaign, he has taken the school yard taunt “I know you are but what am I?” to impressive new levels.  Similarly with his continuing attacks on the Clinton campaign regarding Benghazi, the email server, her health and the Clinton Foundation, he has created exactly the sort of distraction that his son now says is the real reason he won’t release his tax returns – that it would create a distraction and keep Mr. Trump from delivering his message.  I wonder what the distraction would be?

  • The Republicans Brought This on Themselves!

    The grandees of the Republican party are nearing panic over the potential of Donald Trump becoming their nominee for President.  They alone are to blame for their fate.  And this fate does not depend solely on whether Trump becomes their candidate.

    Republicans created the environment that allowed, maybe even enticed, a candidate like Trump to run and win or come close enough to  fracture the party.

    They created an atmosphere in which complete disrespect for the other party is not only OK but expected. The 2008 decision by Mitch McConnell and Eric Cantor among other Republican leaders to obstruct every Obama initiative gave substance and sustenance  to massive disrespect.  The contempt with which party leaders and now the candidates spew disdain for anything Democrat paves the way for Trump’s outrageous comments to fall on numbed ears.

    It extends to public disdain for “the other”.  “The other” is any bogeyman the current political speaker needs to blame for whatever they don’t like to generate an emotional response.  The Republican list currently includes Democrats, immigrants, scientists, Muslims and the press.  For the Democrats, it is “Wall Street”.  That is a shorter list and more nebulous but just as dangerous.  Both parties have culpability in the search for bogeymen.

    It is hard to deny the disrespect Republicans create when they attempt to shut down the government rather than advancing principled but achievable options; when they spend more time fund-raising  than they spend working; and when they fail to do their constitutional jobs like passing budgets and confirming court nominees.  If Congress doesn’t respect the government, why would we not expect the people to drift toward a candidate to promises to “make America great again”. Whether you think government should be smaller, larger or just work, most people expect their representatives  to work to make it so and not just avoid tough votes.

    Facts have never been of major concern to political campaigns.  Nonetheless, the Republicans’ continuous attacks on science from denying climate change science to defunding the Office of Technology Assessment, helped increase the general populace’s acceptance of the idea that facts are subject to political vetting.  When they assign Representatives who fundamentally do not believe in the process of science to the House  Committee on Science and Technology, you have to think they don’t take science seriously.  (Paul “science is spawn of the devil” Broun for instance.  Google it.  There are now at least five Republican anti-science members of that committee.)

    If facts don’t matter in science or political campaigns, why would it matter that 76 of 77 statements made by Mr. Trump and fact checked by Politifact turned out to be false?

    The Republicans have also shown a systematic revulsion for their own ideas when proposed by a Democrat – e.g., ACA, Cap and Trade, and Common Core (which was more bi-partisan but a grass-roots initiative).  When a Republican dominated Congress spends six years arguing over purely symbolic issues instead of trying to improve anything, how can a large part of the public avoid a level of cynicism that makes the Donald look attractive relative to professional politicians?  At least he gets things done – according to his branding.  The fact that he makes stuff up, makes outrageous claims and has no political theory is of no consequence if all other politicians are regarded as the same!  Then, simply the facts that he is from outside and reflects the frustration is enough to give him a platform.

    Hilary – similar lessons applies to the Democrats!  Wonder why Bernie looks so appealing?

     

  • Writing 101 – Radical Political Middle

    This is an article I’ve had in mind for some time and I’m going to use the WordPress Writing 101 session to get at it!  This is take 1.  There will be more versions of the same idea until I get it right.

    Our elected “leaders”, otherwise known as members of Congress (both federal and state versions count) as well as our President and governors and mayors, have little to no incentive to fix probelms for their constituents or their country.  Why not, you ask? (more…)

  • Trial of US Congress – Press Conferences

    In competing press conferences today, both the prosecution and defense in the case of United States Citizens vs United States Congress, known as United Citizens, laid out provocative claims on their positions.

    Attorney Adams for the prosecution stated that they are facing difficulty in controlling the amount of evidence they want to present.  They  have already been warned by the court that they would not be allowed the full six months requested to present evidence.  Attorney Jefferson, in response to a question, said the evidence is so overwhelming they can make the case in a matter 0f hours if necessary.  He said that the difficulty the court was having finding unbiased jurors had convinced him of that.

    The attorneys for the defense had trouble with the sound system at their press conference.  That was due primarily to the fact that the Democrats and Republicans hired separate attorneys and all were trying to speak at the same time.  The basic messages that seemed to come through the babble were that it was all the other party’s fault and that they had selected their voters fair and square through gerrymandering.  However, they also seemed to be setting a possible course for a group insanity defense.  The attorney for the Republicans, Javier Rasputin, commented on the rumor that Systemic Accountability Disorder, SAD, or Reactive Apoplexy Disorder, RAD, would be part of the defense.  “Absolutely no truth at all to those rumors.  They are baseless charges created by the Democrat Party to hide their true agenda of increased spending”.  At the same time, the lead attorney for the Democrats, Melissa Malicious,  said “the preposterous notion that we will claim Bipartisan Anxiety Disorder as a defense is a just a ploy by the Republicans to take the spotlight off their refusal to raise taxes on the rich”.  Based on the denials, we expect to hear much more about these disorders in the near future.

    Related News

    The court had to expand jury selection to include Mexico and Canada.  In so doing, they overruled a defense motion to restrict the jury pool to the United States.  The court cited two justifications.  One, there are too few potential jurors in the US.  “The probability of finding a potential juror of sound mind who has not already convicted Congress in his or her mind is about the same as winning Lotto and being struck by lightening while an asteroid hits earth “.  The second reason is that Congress has as much potential to hurt all of North America as it does the US alone.

    A small group of Representatives and Senators are quietly disassociating themselves from the crowd.  The group of a few Republicans and Democrats have taken the recently unprecedented step of talking to each other in defiance of their party’s leadership and extremes.  Responding to a question on catering to primary voters, one said “The slightest sacrifice we can make is to lose our jobs by doing the right thing for the next generation¹.”

    1.  Senator Joe Manchin, D, West Virginia, at No Labels Meet for America, January 14, 2013

  • US Congress Indicted on Contempt of the Governed Charge

    Washington, D. C., February 29, 2013

    The Grand Jury of the United States handed down long-awaited indictments of the United States Congress today.  All five hundred thirty-eight members of the House of Representatives and the Senate were named in separate seven count indictments.  The charges are ignoring the oath of office, taking oaths to unelected constituents, failing to complete constitutionally required tasks, taking money under false pretenses, misleading the citizenry, abdication of responsibility and treason.

    The only surprise in the indictments was that the fifty to seventy-five members of Congress who have shown they understand the difference between facts and political claims and who have found ways to talk across the aisle were included in the indictments.  At a press briefing announcing the indictments, the spokesperson for the Grand Jury, Thomasina Paine, clarified.  “Although some members of Congress may be shown to be innocent of the specific charges, it is the failure of Congress as the governing body of the United States to work effectively that lead to these indictments.  Therefore the Grand Jury felt obligated to indict all and let the evidence fall where it may”.

    On the first count, ignoring the oath of office, the indictment lists a series of breaches of the Congressional Oath of Office including “failing to have serious discussions on the future of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, corporate tax expenditures, complaining about out of control spending and too-big government while subsidizing the Senate barber shop $400,000 a year and brinksmanship with every issue  constitute failure to ‘well and faithfully discharge the duties of office’ as required by their oaths of office”.  Also, since the greatest enemy of the US economic recovery today is the Congress, the indictment charges “Congress has become a domestic enemy of the US rather than defending the country against its enemies.”

    The second count states that “many in Congress feel such pressure from super-PACs, special interest groups and the extremes of primary voters that they solely serve those groups and not the people of their districts or states as a whole.  That is tantamount to pledging allegiance to bodies not recognized in the Constitution.  Since the donors behind some of these sources do not need to be disclosed, it is also possible that individual members of Congress are in effect following foreign powers and other interests from outside their districts in direct contravention of their oath of office.”

    Count three, failing to complete required work, accuses Congress of not doing the work they are required to do to pass a budget and appropriations bills.  Even the recently passed No Budget/No Pay provision seems to have had little impact on them to date.   The indictment charges “proper financial operation of the country requires more care than a string of Continuing Resolutions”.  A bystander at the briefing was overheard to say “If only they would spend as much time doing their work as they do on their hair, we’d all be better off.”

    Count four alleges that the “current Congressional work schedule of three days a week for a total of 126 days in 2013 could only be the result of a) desire to rush off to fulfill other desires, so to speak or b) needing to rush of to pander for campaign contributions (see count two) and in either case constitutes taking money under false pretenses” stated Ms. Paine.

    In the fifth and most damning article, they were charged with abdication of responsibility. Two principle items were offered in support of this charge.  The first is the fact that members of Congress spend more time blaming the other party or other branches of government than they do looking for solutions. Second, they failed to provide solutions to the “sequester” for two years and instead spent the time practicing their sound bites.

    The sixth count accuses Congress of lying to the public.  Ms. Paine said this was self-evident.  However, examples in the indictment include suppressing Congressional Research Office reports that don’t support their positions, calling everything they don’t like either “job killers” or “helping the super rich at the expense of the middle class” and generally refusing to tell the truth to the public on the belief that either the public will blame Congress for it (as they should) or won’t blame the other party for it.

    Count seven, treason for providing aid and comfort to enemies of the United States, reads in part “that there is sufficient evidence that Congress provides constant amusement and entertainment for our enemies and embarrassment to the United States and its allies” citing in particular the failure of Congress “to solve any problem that takes longer than their three day work week.”

    Congressional Reaction

    Congressional Counsel, attorney B. Arnold, argued that these charges only represent incompetence and do not rise to the level of criminality.

    A statement issued jointly by Representative Boehner and Senator McConnell and dated, strangely, December 2008, stated “This is a result of the president’s failed leadership”.

    Senator Reid and Representative Pelosi also issued a joint statement saying “Our party won the elections.  Doesn’t that count for anything?”

    The trial is scheduled to begin on April 1.  Attorney’s J. Adams and T. Jefferson are expected to lead the prosecution.  Pre-trial hearings may begin immediately.

    The Grand Jury is believed to be investigating similar charges against the president and justices of the Supreme Court.