Trump gets mad

When he found out he was trailing Biden in all the battleground states, his reaction was to scream at his campaign manager.  It's never his fault, never his problem.  I don't understand why people would continue to work for a man like that.  Do they need the money that much?

Using the coronavirus to bust unions

The Cort Furniture Rental company in New Jersey, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, was about to go union.  The workers had organized and were planning to vote in the Teamsters Union.  The company laid off its drivers and other workers and hired "independent contractors,"  using the virus as an excuse.

Cort was not the only company to take advantage of the virus.  HCA Healthcare used the virus as an excuse to delay a union election by nurses.  The Detroit Free Press replaced union workers with non-union employees.

There are other examples across the country.  What an opportunity for corporate America.

Oh, yeah, and some states have shut abortion clinics, using the virus as an excuse.

See "Unions See Crisis Used To Foil Labor," New York Times, (April 29, 2020), pp. B1, B4.

Meat packing plants

I do not understand how Trump can order a business to remain open while exposing its employees to danger.  Hundreds of meat packing workers have contracted the coronavirus; they work in close contact with one another.

It is not that people need meat.  They can eat peanut butter and beans.  So Trump is willing to risk the health and safety of workers for his reelection prospects.  What an asshole.

Squashing the curve down under

What a good leader can do.

Australia and New Zealand are currently reporting only a few new cases of the coronavirus each day.  At one point they had hundreds daily, but now both countries believe they may soon eliminate the virus entirely.

Australia has a conservative prime minister; New Zealand's prime minister is very liberal.  Both governments, however, mobilized early, followed the lead of scientists, worked closely with local and regional governments, and operated cooperatively.  Politics was put aside for what was seen as a national emergency.

What a concept.  In the U.S. we politicized this issue from the beginning.  Trump is treating states differently depending on their level of support.  McConnell is talking about states declaring bankruptcy, which will eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs and allow states to cut pensions.  The Republicans are bailing out large businesses, including hedge funds.  Trump supporters are rallying against medical advice.  Bleach is suggested as a cure.  No wonder we are leading the world in deaths.

See Damien Cave, "New Zealand and Australia Squash Curve,"  New York Times, (Apr. 27, 2020), pp. 1, A7.

Article 1, Section 8

Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, that document written by the Founding Fathers and revered by Americans, lists the powers of Congress.  One of those powers is "To establish Post Offices and post Roads."

Now Trump is doing his best to destroy the Post Office by starving it of funds because he doesn't like the fact that it delivers packages from Amazon.  Jeff Bezos heads Amazon, and Trump hates Bezos because Bezos also owns the Washington Post, which has been very critical of Trump.

It is difficult to imagine the pettiness of this President, who is willing to destroy an institution thought important enough to be mentioned by the men who wrote the Constitution.  And why?  To satisfy a personal thirst for revenge.

Trump is deranged.  Yet I know people who still think he is wonderful and plan to vote for him.

Note:  I plan to buy a new computer tomorrow.  I may not get it until Tuesday, which means no post tomorrow night.  I hope I'll be back on Tuesday,

Grieving

“Climate grief” is the phrase environmentalists and climate scientists use to describe the feeling of despondency when we think about how life will be in the not-to-distant future.  By 2050, if current trends continue, almost all of Bangkok, Miami, and New Orleans, much of Mumbai, and most of the Mekong Delta will be under water.  The Everglades will have disappeared.  Thousands of animal species, including birds and fish and some of the largest mammals, will be extinct.  Millions of climate refugees will be on the move.  My grandson will be 44.  

That is just one kind of grief we are experiencing.  Those of us who live in the U.S. or Brazil, Turkey, India, Hungary, Poland, the Philippines, and Israel are also experiencing “democracy grief.”  Lessons I once taught in my American government classes at San Jose State no longer apply.  The President moves funds around to build his wall without congressional approval.  We separate kids from their parents and put them in cages.  Scientists are dismissed from government agencies, replaced by religious fanatics or political hacks.  The Republican Party is a personality cult.

Just 20 years ago we had a functioning public school system.  Our national parks attracted tourists from around the world.  Our air and water quality was improving.  Our university graduates were among the world’s best.  Facebook, Twitter, and QAnon did not exist.  Russian bots did not interfere in our elections.

Reasonable and intelligent people now ask out loud, “Do you think he will use the coronavirus to cancel the election?”  My first reaction was, That’s crazy talk.  Now I take the question seriously.  

We are also experiencing “future grief.”  The 21st century was anticipated with a mixture of hope and optimism.  Of course we had problems, but we believed with Martin Luther King, Jr. that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”  Really.  We believed that.

Do you know anyone who looks forward to the 22nd century with hope and optimism?  The very question seems silly.  No wonder Millennials often are depressed.  Many of them may still be alive to celebrate New Year’s Eve 2100.  That should be some fun celebration.

Maybe you think I’m pessimistic because I’m old and not far from shuffling off this mortal coil.  [That’s a euphemism for dying, you young pups.].  Maybe you noted the world’s response to the coronavirus.  Maybe you were impressed with how all of the nations came together to work on solutions.  And you were amazed how the U.S. exhibited that “can-do” attitude, rolling out ventilators and rushing test kits to less fortunate countries, and how the spirit of the American people rose to the occasion.  Sure you were.

McConnell to New York: Drop Dead

Most states have constitutions that require a balanced budget.  This, of course, is nuts.  In bad times you pump money into the economy; in good times you save.  Right now the federal government is running huge deficits in an effort to stimulate the economy.  States can’t do that, which is why they need federal help–the kind that big companies are getting.

Along comes Moscow Mitch, who has suggested Republicans will oppose aid to states, instead telling them to consider bankruptcy.  In an interview with a conservative radio host, McConnell said, “There’s not going to be any desire on the Republican side to bail out state pensions by borrowing money from future generations.”

Where this is leading became clear in a news release by his staff which quoted McConnell’s statement under the heading “Stopping Blue State Bailouts.”  Illinois, California, and New York are in his sights.

I do like what Gov. Cuomo said about this:  “One of the saddest, really dumb comments of all time.”

See Carl Hulse, “McConnell Wants States To Consider Bankruptcy,” New York Times, (Apr. 23, 2020), p. A14.

The last picture show

I’m a movie buff.  I mean I really like movies.  I taught an upper division course at San Jose State entitled “Political Films,” and it may have been my best course ever.  

It didn’t stop there.  On one of my trips back from California, I learned that the theater in Atwood, Kansas, had been purchased by the town when the theater was about to close.  The town government felt that a movie theater added to the town’s luster and also provided one of the few places teenagers could go on a date in a small Kansas town.  With the help of students, we then called every county in Kansas and found that twelve Kansas towns had purchased their theaters and were showing films.  You can read the results of this study in the Fall 1998 issue of Great Plains Research published by the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska.

Obviously I was saddened to hear the Mahoning Theater was closing down for good.  Movies are my main source–I might say only source–of entertainment.  The Opera House in Jim Thorpe, live concerts, Penn’s Peak, Broadway plays–never.  Just movies.  It is the quintessential American art form.  I also will miss manager Bruce, who was also a knowledgeable movie connoisseur, and I’ll miss the employees who sold the tickets, made the popcorn, and cleaned the floors.  

If you tell me the movies are available on HBO or Netflix or Amazon, that’s like saying “I get my news on Facebook.”  It won’t work, and this area has lost a wonderful asset.

Is there a doctor in the house?

CNN brings in Dr. Sanjay Gupta to explain various aspects of Covid19.  Dr. Gupta is knowledgeable, calm, and informative.  He’s the kind of doctor you’d want if you had the virus.

Fox News, not to be outdone, brought in its own doctor, Dr. Phil.  Yeah, that Dr. Phil.

As some of you may know, I am also a doctor.  Ph.D., Political Science, 1974, Penn State.  I’m thinking of contacting Hannity and offering my services.  I could diagnose some of the mental issues bedeviling our President, and I could advise him on that orangey skin condition.

Another newspaper in trouble

Our daughter lives in Chico, California.  You may have heard of it; it was the town closest to the town of Paradise that burned to the ground.  Thousands of people took refuge in Chico.

Chico has a daily newspaper, the News and Review.  It is a reasonably good paper, reporting on events at Chico State University, the city government, and Butte County news.  It had the usual news section, editorials, features, letters to the editor–all the things you expect a local paper to have.  

The paper was in trouble before the coronavirus.  Ad revenues were down, subscriptions were down, and people thought they were getting what they needed on Facebook, of all things.  When the virus hit, ads dropped to near zero, and reporters and staffers were laid off.  Whether the paper survives or not is iffy.  

Chico, by the way, has a population of over 100,000 people.

Leadership in a crisis

During the Cuban Missile Crisis my dorm at Ursinus College only had one television.  When Kennedy gave his speech to the nation, we all crowded around.  We saw no preening, no blaming Eisenhower, no bluster, no self-praise.  Here’s part of what he said:

“My fellow citizens, let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out.  No one can foresee precisely what course it will take or what costs or casualties will be incurred.  Many months of sacrifice and self-discipline lie ahead–months in which both our patience and our will will be tested, months in which many threats and denunciations will keep us aware of our dangers.”

His brother Robert later wrote, “President Kennedy wanted people who raised questions, who criticized, on whose judgment he could rely, who presented an intelligent point of view, regardless of their rank or viewpoint.”

Just thought you might like to know what a leader sounds like.

Journalists

First they came for the journalists.  After that, no one knew what happened.

Taking advantage of the Coronavirus

Look over here at this bright shiny object.  Isn’t it fascinating?  It’s the coronavirus.

In the meantime, while you are looking at it, President Trump’s E.P.A. has weakened the regulations on the release of mercury and other toxic metals from oil and coal-fired power plants.  If the industry deems the pollutant too costly to control, it is exempt from the regulations.  This is being done in the middle of a pandemic.

In the meantime, Stephen A. Feinberg, whose company owns a major private military contractor, and who has given given a million dollars to a PAC that backed Trump in 2016, is being considered for the second-in-command of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.  If he runs into trouble in the Senate, Trump will appoint him to an “acting” position in the agency, one that won’t require confirmation.  

In the meantime, abortion clinics in Texas have been ordered to close because of the coronavirus.  

By the way:  Trump supporters are making fun of the low number of people who have subscribed to Biden’s YouTube channel, so I’ve subscribed.  It’s well-done and informative.  You know what to do.

Ventilators

Tim Wu, a law professor at Columbia University, recently wrote about how in 2012 the Federal Trade Commission allowed a large medical company named Covidien to acquire Newport Medical Instruments, which made cheap portable ventilators.  Newport Medical Instruments was supposed to build an emergency stockpile of 40,000 ventilators, but Coviden terminated the program because it wasn’t very profitable.  We’ve seen the results of that decision.

Dr. Wu went on to discuss hospital mergers, and I think he is worth quoting at some length.  I live in an area where an on-going battle between St. Luke’s Hospital and Lehigh Valley Hospital is being waged to lock in profits.  

Perhaps the greatest failure, in terms of harm done, has been the F.T.C.’s inability over the past two decades to stop hospital consolidation, despite growing evidence of negative effects.  In theory a hospital merger might produce welcome efficiencies, but in practice too many hospital mergers tend to yield higher prices and lower quality of care (measured by morbidity), not to mention bed shortages.  After a bad hospital merger, patients pay more and die more .

See Tim Wu, “A Corporate Merger Cost Us Ventilators, New York Times, (13 Apr. 2020), p. A23.

Stupid people around the world

In the United States some idiots have attacked Asians because they blame Asians for the coronavirus.  (Our President, calling it the “Chinese virus,” deserves lots of credit for that.)

African visitors and students in China have been attacked; a rumor spread on the internet said the virus originated in Africa.

In India, Hindus have attacked and killed Muslims for causing the virus.  

You would think in 2020 we would have evolved from the Black Death when Jews were attacked as the cause.  If you did think that, you’d be wrong.  

P.S.  Personally, I believe it all started in the basement of a pizza parlor in Washington, D.C.

The Vote-By-Mail project

In Carbon County, Pennsylvania, the Palmerton and Lehighton Area Democratic clubs are sending out applications for people to vote by mail.  Neither club has the money to reach all the Democrats in their respective areas, so we are mailing to the “Super Voters.”  We defined those as people who voted in the 2018 or 2019 primary elections.  

Each mailer costs $.55 in postage, and then we also have the costs of printing the explanatory letters and the applications.  A thousand mailers runs to $550 in postage alone.  That is money raised from people who have little money to donate.

I heard that the Pennsylvania Republicans are sending applications to every Republican voter in the state.  How I would love to belong to a party that has unlimited funds donated by wealthy corporations and the superrich.  The Trumpists already have their “Trump 2020” signs up.  Big signs, professionally made.  At least they help us identify who are the idiots and hateful people in our neighborhoods.

Mail-in ballot winner opposes mail-in ballots

It really does resemble Stalinist Russia.  When Stalin made a pronouncement, all the apparatchiks immediately parroted what he said.  

Republican House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy from Bakersfield won his March primary election on a 2-1 vote.  72% of the votes came from mail-in ballots.  

Then Trump criticized mail-in ballots.  McCarthy, following “Fearless Leader,” immediately said he opposed mail-in ballots because they resulted in “a lot of fraud.” 

These guys have no integrity and no shame.

I am indebted to my California stringer Tom Vick for providing me with the S.F. Chronicle article detailing McCarthy’s sycophancy.  

What does a party do when it can't win an election?

It cheats.  

Its partisans on the Supreme Court rule in favor of unlimited campaign spending by corporations, interest groups, and rich people.  

Its partisans on the Supreme Court then overturn “preclearance” in the Voting Rights Act, and states immediately take advantage by restricting voting rights.

Then its partisans on the Supreme Court give the green light to political gerrymandering like we have in Pennsylvania, ruling that the issue was “nonjudiciable.”

Republican legislatures enact photo ID requirements.  They institute purges of voters.  They close polling sites.  They hold a Wisconsin primary in the middle of a pandemic, and limit polling sites in Democratic areas.

Now they are opposing vote by mail.  Trump, who votes by mail, says “Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans.”  Part of that statement is a lie.  There is no potential for voter fraud.  Part of that statement is true.  In almost every case, the more people who vote, the more likely the Democrats are to win, and Republicans know it.  

Great Blunders: A Critique of President Trump

I recently finished to a 24 lecture course entitled “History’s Great Military Blunders and the Lessons They Teach” by Prof. Gregory S. Aldrete of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.  Dr. Aldrete discussed such conflicts as the Battle of the Crater, Little Big Horn, Gallipoli, the raid on Dieppe, and Operation Market Garden, the last memorialized in the movie “A Bridge Too Far.”  

Professor Aldrete identified four categories of military mistakes.  Failures in planning, in leadership, in execution, and in adaptation.  Obviously, many of the military blunders involved more than one of those categories.  

President Trump likes to say he is a “wartime president,” fighting the battle against Covid19.  Evidently bone spurs no longer present a problem for our fighting president.  Unfortunately, he has managed to make all four of the mistakes Prof. Aldrete discussed:

planning  The Trump administration ignored recommendations to prepare for a contagion, cutting health programs and failing to stockpile needed supplies.

leadership  There wasn’t any.  Thank goodness we had governors who stepped up and health experts who tried to correct his lies and errors.  Trump was able to brag about his television ratings, however.

execution  The federal response started off badly and never improved.  Saying that the federal stockpile of supplies was for the federal government betrayed complete ignorance of the American federal system. 

adaptation  As the death toll increased, Trump adapted by giving daily campaign speeches and putting Jared in charge of the response.  

Prof. Aldrete should develop another course entitled Great Political Blunders.  He certainly has some great material with which to work.

Impeachment was not the problem

I have read at least two letters to the editor and heard Republican Congress members say that one of the reasons we were so ill-prepared for the Covid-19 crisis was because Trump was consumed with the impeachment proceedings, and the lack of preparedness was the fault of the Democrats.

Just for the record, impeachment was not the problem.  Here are the dates from January to early March when Trump either went golfing or held one of his campaign rallies:

January 9

January 14

January 18

January 19

January 28

January 30

February 1

February 10

February 15

February 19

February 20

February 21

February 28

March 7

March 8

Stir crazy

Some people who are working from home and are self-isolating are having a difficult time of it.  A friend of mine told me tonight he was watching a ten-year-old Philadelphia Eagles game.

The Eagles were losing.

A comparison to Vietnam

Because Americans are taking the coronavirus seriously, with social distancing, and mask wearing, the death toll has been revised downward to 60,000.

The Vietnam War took over 58,000 American lives and the lives of many more Vietnamese.  Those deaths represented a total failure of American policy.

We are doing it again.  A huge number of the coronavirus deaths also represent a failure of American policy.  Our incompetent president, his anti-science attitude, his unqualified appointees, and his past efforts to undermine the Obama health policies have all contributed to unnecessary deaths.  But hey, his ratings are high and his base thinks he is doing a wonderful job.

Republican Supreme Court puts Wisconsin voters at risk

Justice Roberts wants us to think that the judiciary is non-partisan.  The word for that is bullshit.  The 5-4 vote that said that Wisconsin voters had either to vote today or forego their voting rights was a purely partisan decision.  I saw a picture of Wisconsin voters lined up with their masks, trying to keep the “social distance” so they wouldn’t get sick and perhaps die.

I am aware that in places like Afghanistan voters sometimes must be brave and vote in spite of fears that they will be killed by terrorists out to disrupt elections.  I never thought I would live in a country where the Supreme Court ruled that voters would have to risk death in order to vote.  

We need to get ready for November.  You can be certain that the Senate, the President, and the U.S. Supreme Court will do their utmost to ensure a Republican win.

Coronavirus and poor people

We were told that the coronavirus mainly affected old people, especially those with existing medical problems like diabetes.  That’s true; it does.  What we weren’t told but are learning is that it also disproportionately attacks poor people.  Poor people in many cases don’t have health insurance and may delay going in for treatment.  Poor people often live paycheck to paycheck, and they can’t afford not to work.  They live in “food deserts,” and have to travel to distant markets.  They don’t have cars and take buses and subways.  They are often in poor health with chronic problems.

As a retiree, I have it easy.  I don’t need to go out to work.  I don’t need to take public transportation.  If I need groceries, I have a car.  I have health insurance.  Pity the waitress or the Amazon worker or the nursing home attendant who have none of these things.

By the way, the Trump administration is going forward with the lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act.  On the other hand, Trump’s ratings are high, and he noted that lots of people are following him on Facebook.

Lighten up

If Americans have a saving grace, it is that they have a sense of humor in the face of adversity.  

But first, and this is important, you can get tested for symptoms of coronavirus.  It takes a few days, but at least you’ll know.  Just send a stool sample to the White House.

Second, and this is equally important.  If you get an email with “Knock, Knock” in the subject line, do not open it.  It is from a Jehovah’s Witness working from home.

On a more serious note, the age old question of whether the toilet paper flap comes over the top and down in front or the other way.  In an article about toilet paper in yesterday’s New York Times, the diagram for the original patent was reprinted.  The man who invented toilet paper roll was S. Wheeler (in 1891), and his diagram clearly shows the flap of the paper coming down in the front.  That should settle that argument.

Why would you interfere with Zoom?

Zoom has become very popular since people are staying home.  It’s a program that allows groups of people to meet on-line and see and talk to each other.  It is used by businesses, schools, and friends.  I have no idea how it works, but millions of people use it, including Linda.

Unfortunately creeps have been interfering in Zoom meetings with porn, racial insults, and other methods of harassment.  153 Instagram accounts, dozens of Twitter accounts, and message boards on Reddit and 4Chan provide places for thousands of people to gather and plan ways to disrupt Zoom meetings. 

How did we get like this?  How did we become a nation of nasty people who insult and belittle each other?  I am well aware that our President does that kind of thing, but why do other people feel the necessity to be just as vulgar and vindictive?

See Taylor Lorenz and Davey Alba, “As Zoom’s Use Soars, So Does Its Abuse by Harassers, New York Times, (Apr. 4, 2020), p. B7.

Onion snow

There is a tradition among the Pennsylvania Dutch that you don’t start planting your onions until after a snowfall, usually in early April.  This snowfall, called the “onion snow,” generally melts the same day it falls.  

This entire winter we have had less than five inches of snow.  I don’t think we will have any more, and I have 100 yellow, 100 red, and 100 white onion sets sitting in the cellar.  I’m not waiting.  Tomorrow I’m planting them.

Trusting the census?

If you are a Mexican-American filling-out the census forms, should you trust the information you give to be protected from ICE or the Border Patrol?  I would say yes, but I am not of Latin descent.

Americans of Japanese descent who filled out their census questionnaire in 1940 probably trusted in the law that said census information was protected, yet in 1942 the War Powers Act authorized the Census Bureau to release information on Japanese-Americans that was used to track down American citizens of Japanese descent and put them into camps.

The head of the Census Bureau refused to divulge the information, but he retired, and his successor released the information.  

I hope Latinos do fill out their census forms, since Congressional representation depends on the count.  Nonetheless, I understand why they might be reluctant, especially now that Trump is President.

I found the info on the 1940 census in Jill Lapore, “But Who’s Counting?” New Yorker, (March 23, 2020), pp.10-16.

Trump apologizes

President Trump at his press conference earlier today surprised the reporters with an apology to the American people.  He said he had not done all that well in the coronavirus battle, and then added, “Some people are saying I’m a real asshole.  In fact, I may be the biggest asshole in America.”  He then went on to say that he was thinking of resigning from the Presidency.

Although the news broke just before the close of the stock market, in the brief period before the day’s trading ended, shares shot up to their highest level since late January.