My older son Andrew, who died Dec. 19, 1994--we still miss you!
************
I wasn’t
planning to post again on this blog until after the Electoral College vote Dec. 19, but do think it
germane to pass along a message from a friend who has researched why the
Founders first established the Electoral College--it was to stop candidates like Donald Trump!
Here’s
what he has to say: The electors from the
College of Electors have already started to consider to not vote to officially
elect Donald Trump, on the basis of what is now a plethora of evidence that
Trump fits exactly the criterion of character bereft of “ability” and “virtue,” which
were the words used by Alexander Hamilton in his “Mode of Electing The President”
published on Friday, March 14, 1788.
Donald Trump does not fulfill the
prerequisites outlined for the Electoral College via the Federalist No. 68
article to qualify him as shown infra:
The process of election affords a moral
certainty, that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man
who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. Talents
for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity, may alone suffice to
elevate a man to the first honors in a single State; but it will require other
talents, and a different kind of merit, to establish him in the esteem and
confidence of the whole Union, or of so considerable a portion of it as would
be necessary to make him a successful candidate for the distinguished office of
President of the United States. It will not be too strong to say, that there
will be a constant probability of seeing the station filled by
characters pre-eminent for ability and virtue. And this will be
thought no inconsiderable recommendation of the Constitution, by those who are
able to estimate the share which the executive in every government must
necessarily have in its good or ill administration. Though we cannot acquiesce
in the political heresy of the poet who says: “For forms of government let
fools contest That which is best administered is best,’’ yet we may safely
pronounce, that the true test of a good government is its aptitude and tendency to produce a good administration.
Some investigators are
looking for a Donald Trump
connection to the Russian hacking. Apparently,
electors do want a briefing on the hacking before they vote; some Democrats are
asking for a delay in the Electoral College vote until after that briefing: https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-presidential-electors-seek-briefing-russian-hacking-213702820.ht
Here’s a
persuasive article from the Washington
Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-electoral-college-should-think-hard-before-handing-trump-the-presidency/2016/12/14/ba3b570e-c23b-11e6-9a51-cd56ea1c2bb7_story.html?utm_term=.b424374e64d9
To actually nullify
the election or name Hillary Clinton president, some Republican electors would
have to jump ship. They've been holding off so far out of party loyalty and an aversion
to Hillary. If a few started doing so, maybe others would follow suit. McCain,
Romney, even Paul Ryan, are not crazy about Trump, but don't dare say anything about
his lack of qualifications for fear of incurring the wrath of Trump supporters,
who are also Republican voters, and of losing total control of the government,
which their party would have (sort of) if Trump remains. But can they control
Trump? It looks unlikely. It would be better to get this over with now, messy
as that would be, than to go to impeachment. There are even calls to run the
election over again in light of the Russian hacking. Trump would not win on a
second vote. (In fact he did not "win" anyway in terms of the popular vote, though polls indicate that most Republican voters believe he actually did win the popular vote.)
Although the majority
of Americans who did not vote for Trump might wish for a miraculous
reversal of the presidential election outcome, that appears unlikely, and we, along with the whole wide world, will be stuck with Trump, for
better or for worse, probably for 4 more years. He may temper his behavior and
the Republican Party may have a modifying influence, though, so far, judging by
many of Trump’s erratic and inappropriate appointments, little modification
appears to be occurring. Except maybe for consulting daughter Ivanka on some women’s issues, Trump
does not seem to have sought advice. He refuses daily intelligence briefings
and is used to making decisions alone, based on gut feeling. In some cases,
because he is nominally a Republican, Republicans may decide to go along with
some of his proposals, whereas they would have blocked the very same if
proposed by Obama or Hillary—for example, infrastructure spending and
increasing the national debt. We will have to cope with Trump’s election like
the terrible accident it was--and, like most accidents, due to a strange, unusual,
and unanticipated convergence of forces, like an earthquake or a terrorist
attack, and we'll have to simply do our best to confront, cope with. and try to remedy it.
Trump’s surrogates and spokespersons keep trying to put the
best spin on his unorthodox and outrageous utterances, justifying them or
saying, as Conway does, that his
supporters know very well that he doesn’t mean what he says. Maybe he is just
trying to entertain us and get news coverage by saying provocative things? He
is not trying to win over those who failed to vote for him, but is keeping us all engaged with his showmanship, and doing pretty well at that. He seems able to say
and do anything to get attention—saying now that he really actually loves conflicts of interest and wants daughter Ivanka in his
administration. She and her husband are apparently planning to move to DC. In
fact, she seems more level-headed than he, so she might be helpful. Otherwise,
we are going to have perpetual insecurity and instability, not good for
government planning, markets, or international relations. Democrats have been
aroused now to be in a perpetual fighting mode.
Republicans are uncertain whether to
support or oppose Trump on specific issues. He is sure to go on public attack-mode
against whoever opposes him. And he’s planning for 8 long years in office, based on what
he’s said so far (if he doesn't get too bored). Woe is me! Woe are we! Will I live long enough to see the end
of his administration? I don’t wish any ill will to Donald Trump and is family—may
they flourish. I know it would be a big disappointment to him, his children, and
their ardent followers if he did not actually become president, but for the
greater good of the country and for humanity, it would be best. Melania would appreciate it also.
Why doesn’t Trump bring many of his overseas businesses back to
the US to provide jobs here?
A friend hopes there is a chance that President Trump will surprise us
all and rise to the occasion, growing in competence with the demands of the
job. Even at age 70 and despite the bad habits of a lifetime, is personal change
on his part still possible? For the sake of us all, for humanity's sake, let’s hope so. But it would
require a yuge effort and character reversal on his part. It’s more
likely that we are in for a long rocky road. Trump already seems impaitent with the
minutiae of the presidency (those pesky daily intelligence briefings), but perhaps
Pence, Conway, and his children will keep him on task or take the burden mostly off
his shoulders. GW Bush didn’t like to read, went to bed early, took long naps,
and would decide to go out for a bike ride on a whim. Meanwhile, Dick Cheney
was still on duty, stealthily plotting what to do next. (Now GW seems much happier in
retirement, painting images of his dog or of himself in the bathtub and proudly displaying
his adolescent-style art at occasional shows. Once in a while, he accepts a high-paying appearance.) We are all waiting to see what Barack Obama will do post-presidency.
Another friend tells
me the following—is this true or is it fake news? It’s hard to tell sometimes and assassination accusation claims do seem exaggerated. He says: Obama just declassified docs. which show
that "Operation Condor" of the Kissinger / Nixon years targeted
Amnesty International officials and officials of other human rights
associations for assassination by CIA agents.
Here are 2 of my new public blog postings the wake of Fidel’s death:
http://democraciaparticipativa.net/forum/iberoamerica-y-espana-latin-america-spain/9164-end-of-an-era/reply.html
Human Rights Day,
Dec. 10, fell on a Saturday this year, so at the Amnesty International (AI) USA
office in DC, we celebrated on the following Monday, writing letters to
authorities about prisoners of conscience, that is, people imprisoned only for
non-violent expression or association. Last year, El Sexto, the Cuban
graffiti piglet-painting artist had joined us in the office for that letter-writing event.
This year, he is back in prison, as I’ve stated before on this blog. Now, we
were there writing letters on his behalf.
And to add injury to insult: 12-17-2016,
from HR
Foundation: URGENT: KIMBERLEY MOTLEY, EL SEXTO'S
INTERNATIONAL LAWYER, ARRESTED IN HAVANA, CUBA, AND TAKEN TO UNKNOWN LOCATION
In Castro's
Cuba, a kind of Macondo in real time, anything can happen. For example, the jeep carrying Fidel Castro's ashes can even break down as it enters
Santiago de Cuba, with the shrine's solemn keepers having to get out of the
vehicle and push. (From Diario de
Cuba)
Here is Americas
Quarterly, sometime after my Confessions
book came out, corroborating my contention there that Afro-Cubans are especially disadvantaged because of receiving fewer
remittances and not often being chosen by the government to work in tourism. That
was one of the initial arguments, which my “nunny bunny” critic forcefully disputed,
that first led me to write that book. It is not so surprising that Afro-Cubans
would be at the bottom of the heap, but a number of Fidel’s American partisans have
argued against the very notion, still caught up in the Castro rhetoric
and mystique.
Talked by phone with Sirley
Avila, the Cuban woman maimed by a machete attack. She is in a shelter in Homestead,
FL, with more than 400 other people, sharing a room with bunk beds (she
has a bottom bunk) with 24 other women, all there for various reasons (I wasn't
clear if all are refugees, migrants, asylum seekers, or what--maybe some are
awaiting deportation?). They eat in a central dining hall, have few activities,
and she is waiting for assistance to move into her own place. The Directorate
is still in touch and staff from there sometimes take her out, but they are no
longer in charge and are leaving her to go through the government system. She
says she is glad to have left Cuba when she did, as after Fidel's death,
matters have gotten worse there for dissidents.
This is
about Venezuela, not one of my
Amnesty International Caribbean countries, but one that used to have the highest
per capita income in Latin America, now apparently with families unable to feed their children.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/poor-venezuelan-parents-away-children-amid-deep-crisis-141708650.html
The Dakota pipeline
access protest seems to have been vindicated by an oil spill only 150 miles
away: https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/pipeline-spills-176-000-gallons-192837222.html
I believe I’ve previously mentioned my friend Anna, whom I knew as a teenager in Colombia and who visited
me in Honduras, as per my Peace Corps book. I won’t give out her last name or where
she lives, only say that 2 years ago, she was gravely injured by a vehicle belonging
to her assisted living compound, which ran over her. After a near-death experience, multiple
surgeries, including the amputation of a leg below the knee, and 2 years in the
hospital, at age 79, she is finally out, with a wheelchair and an artificial leg, residing now in another assisted living facility. Congratulations, Anna! But her lawsuit
keeps getting delayed because—no doubt—the original facility, where the injury occurred,
hopes that she dies first so they won't have to pay. That side keeps putting up roadblocks. Meanwhile, she still
has a humongous bill from the hospital she just left, but is waiting for
her settlement, if it ever comes through. I will keep you posted.
Finally, the Catholic
Church is not the only one that has covered up child sexual abuse, though
it does seem to finally be coming clean and making reparations to victims. Not
so the Jehovah’s Witnesses, where a
cover-up of ongoing and extensive abuse has been underway for decades and where church officials
have only turned over court-ordered documents with names redacted. That’s according to a
recent NPR program devoted to the subject.
In the Trump era, we need NPR more
than ever!
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