April 6, 2020

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter,” Hester Prynne is forced to wear a scarlet “A” in public to shame her for conceiving a child out of wedlock. The “A” stands for adulteress. As the misshapen response to the coronavirus devolves and many more people die because of Trump’s incompetence and dithering, I think that anyone who voted for Trump should have to wear a red “T” signifying their total abrogation of civic responsibility and their unfaithfulness to American ideals. You knew, like Rex Tillerson, that Trump was a moron, yet you voted for him anyway. You knew he was a chronic liar as the Washington Post as documented in detail. You knew his only interest was self-interest. You knew he was corrupt. Yet you voted for him anyway. Now it is time to pay the piper. Wear the scarlet “T” proudly as you would your MAGA hat. We all want to know who you are so we can maintain social distancing.

April 5, 2020

A recent letter to the editor essentially claimed that Fox News was the only place to get complete coverage of the President’s news conferences. This is patently not true. I watch gavel-to-gavel coverage of the President’s pressers on MSNBC. I watch not because I may learn something from Trump, but I do want to hear what the doctors have to say. I supplement Trump’s screeds with the New York Times, AP articles in the Springfield Republican and online, The Atlantic, blogs from professors of political science, and articles from the Washington Post. I attend lectures sponsored by the Springfield World Affairs Council. I don’t use social media for my news, I don’t read fringe publications, and I don’t visit conspiracy websites. After all that, I make up my mind. That is what I call “fair and balanced.”

April 3, 2020

While he is sheltering in place, Joe Biden is busy vetting possible candidates for Vice President. He has publicly committed to nominating a woman for Vice President, and he has many appealing candidates to choose from. I think he will choose Kamala Harris. By the way, I did get Joe Biden right.

At the risk of stating the obvious, she is a woman. She is also a woman of color, having parents of Indian and Jamaican descent. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) set Biden on his current arc with his timely endorsement before the South Carolina history. He delivered the African-American vote, and he deserves payback.

She is tough and tested. She served as Attorney General for California, our most populous state. She confronted Biden in the first debate on busing. The American public saw her in the debates. She has been vetted. She knows how to handle herself on the campaign trail, and would be a worthy foe for Pence in debates.

Biden has said that he wants someone, who can step in immediately. Kamala Harris is experienced. She has been the junior Senator from California, serving on the Budget, Homeland Security, Intelligence, and Judiciary Committees. All of these committees have had vital roles recently dealing with the coronavirus, the Mueller Report, and the Ukraine scandal.

She and Biden are reasonably in agreement on most of the issues important to Democratic and Progressive voters. She wants to expand healthcare; she wants stricter gun safety laws; and she wants tax relief for lower and middle income taxpayers while raising taxes on the top 1% and corporations.

She is 55 years of age, and photogenic. Democrats do not have to worry about losing her seat in the Senate because California is a Democratic stronghold led by a Democratic Governor. Like Joe Biden, she comes from a modest background, which will appeal to the Sanders-Warren voters. And lastly, she has already withstood the spotlight of being lampooned by Saturday Night Live.

March 31, 2020

Italy has been the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. It looks as if it may be turning the corner, but northern Italy has been ravaged. It will soon be passed in total number of deaths by the United States. Nero was a famous Italian, who ignored what was happening around him. He fiddled while Rome burned. Recently, another famous Italian, Nancy Pelosi, said of Donald Trump, “But as the President fiddles, people are dying.”

Fortunately, in addition to Speaker Pelosi, we have other Italians, who are trying to put out Trump’s fires. The one person that we can trust to give us the unvarnished truth and the benefit of his many years of experience is Dr. Anthony Fauci. His daily briefings tinged with a Brooklyn accent are must see TV as he takes pains to correct the President at every turn. Predictably, he has been attacked by the right wing media, and has received death treats. Another Italian from Queens, who has been giving inspirational and fact-based presentations, is Governor Andrew Cuomo. A chip off of the old block, he has been giving a master class on how to present unpleasant information to his constituents. He is organized and compassionate. He exudes competence and leadership.

In contrast, America’s Nero spews random and inaccurate information in his campaign rallies disguised as daily updates. He blames everyone, and takes no responsibility. He talks, but says nothing. Trump would be better off taking lessons from the great Roman orator, Cicero, than the Fox News shill, Sean Hannity.

Stai attento!

March 31, 2020

Once upon a time, there was a country that had a bloated bureaucracy filled with sycophants and toadies. The only goal of the bureaucrats was to curry favor with the leader and rise within the ranks of the party. Achieving the party’s goals was paramount, and bad news was frowned upon. Problems were papered over, and denied.

Then one day the country was threatened by a catastrophic event. The destruction could be devastating, and the loss of life could be substantial. However, the reaction of the bureaucrats was predictable. It took days for the bureaucracy to react to what was happening. Committee after committee had to be assembled. Despite the obviousness of what was about to happen, its first instinct was to deny and to deflect. Lower level bureaucrats were afraid of losing their jobs if they shared accurate information with their leader. They were more concerned with finding scapegoats and someone to blame than protecting the population.

This may sound familiar, but it is the story of The Chernobyl meltdown in the Ukraine. The President, who is certainly familiar with Ukrainian melt downs, should heed the lessons of history, even if it’s Russian history.

March 28, 2020

In many ways, Donald Trump has said that the inept handling of the coronavirus pandemic was not his fault, and he is not to blame. It has been clear from the beginning of this crisis that Trump’s primary motivation was to take credit for things that go well, and blame everyone else for things that go bad.

In short order and against rising criticism, he has blamed Democrats, Obama, and the media for mistakes that his administration has made. He has railed against many governors for lack of effort, and not being appreciative enough. He blames China for the original sin, calling it the Chinese Flu. He is now railing against GM (probably because Obama/Biden bailed them out,) and threatening to make them do what they had already promised to do.

He is craftily distributing responsibility for the managing of the epidemic in hopes he can establish a fall guy or gal. Mike Pence was in charge, but, when it became clear he was doing an effective job, Trump took the mic back. Trump will kick him off the 2020 ticket. Jared Kushner was then put in charge of something. He is family, but he is not blood. Dr. Anthony Fauci has to constantly look over his shoulder. The heads of FEMA, HHS, Homeland Security, and the CDC better be careful. Now he has tariff man Peter Navarro overseeing the implementation of the Defense Procurement Act. What could go wrong there? Someone is going to get fired.

Regardless of the outcome that he just missed predicting accurately by 100,000 deaths, he will say that it wasn’t his fault, and he will wash his hands of the whole thing.