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Now with Hurricane Irma (and then Hurricane Jose) following on the heels
of Harvey, is there no climate change? Just a series of amazing coincidences
or maybe Mother Nature or the Almighty sending us a message on the burning of
fossil fuels? No, say some evangelical leaders, it’s divine retribution for
gay marriage. However, might the devastation of Irma result in an extension
of TPS for Haitians? Logical idea. Struggling Haiti has suffered another
enormous blow with this hurricane. Might Trump reverse the Haiti expulsion? Florida
residents asked him to open Mar-a-Lago
as a refuge (not likely, but it would be a PR win if he did).
My granddaughter Natasha and great-grandson De'Andre recently moved to Clearwater, Florida, where they survived Hurricane Irma fairly unscathed. Here above (right) \ is Natasha helping the city make preparations and after she had boarded up their home.
Above, my nephew Jim and his family drove north to the DC area from Del Ray, Florida, with their dog, sharing colorful meal cooked by their aunt in Takoma, Md.
There may be a fine line between appeasement and principled engagement. In my Confessions book, I repeat arguments made to me by high-ranking
Catholic prelates, including (recently retired) Cardinal Jaime Rodriguez,
about the tightrope they were walking and the need to gain the trust of
Communist Party officials to open a small measure of space while also attempting
to moderate the party’s positions. Many Cuban expatriates and dissidents have
labeled the church “complicit” as a result.
Likewise, now many democracy advocates
have expressed shock and disappointment in Nobel Laureate Aung San Si Kyi’s apparent cooperation
with the Burmese military’s mistreatment of Rohingya Muslims. I don’t know, but she may be doing her best. Objecting
more openly might put her back into house arrest where she would have no
influence at all. It’s a difficult calculation.
Trump has appointed some terrible
people who have done real damage, but, so far, because of his ineptness, his
administration hasn’t done as much damage as he might have, given a
Republican Congress, so maybe that’s blessing in disguise. And Trump’s deals with Democratic leaders are a
welcome surprise, though it not something to be counted on, as
the man likes to be unpredictable and to double-cross both supporters and
foes. He is unreliable and untrustworthy in the extreme. Where does he stand?
What’s his position on anything, except what gains him approval, fame, and
money?
But the standoff of a guy like Trump
with North Korea is really scary.
Now with North Korea ratcheting up its threats, what does Kim Jong Un actually want? Money,
recognition, being treated as a normal leader from a normal country, or maybe
as a world hero? He may just want to flex his muscles and engender fear. He
certainly does not like seeing any defensive military action to protect South Korea. Apparently, he’s not
interested in talks right now. If a missile deployed bomb should reach
Washington, DC, I’m a goner, because my house is so close the capitol.
Ending
DACA was an uncomfortable announcement
that Trump avoided by outsourcing it to a very eager Jeff Sessions, probably because Trump didn’t want to be
associated with ending DACA himself. After all, two of his three wives have
been immigrants. He still wanted to appeal to his base without further
alienating the majority of Americans who do support DACA and do not support him. It’s hard to take
away a benefit already being granted, as Trump found out with the effort to
repeal the ACA.
Sessions’ holier-than-thou speech
and his references to “illegal aliens” and an “unconstitutional” power grab
were calculated to grate as much as possible on the vast majority of
Americans who actually support DACA. Sessions has long opposed DACA, so it
must have given him satisfaction to deliver that message, a very
mealy-mouthed, weasely statement, almost schoolmarmish and scolding in tone
as he looked out over his tiny glasses. Because of his long history of
racism, Sessions is even more reprehensible than Trump, who, however, bears
ultimate responsibility for appointing him, even if done under Bannon’s
influence. This administration is going out of its way to be mean and nasty
to so many ordinary people. I could not feel sorry for Sessions when Trump
was bad-mouthing him. Now, it’s time for the Republican Congress to stand up and be counted on DACA and let’s
see how enthusiastically Sessions implements a new fully constitutional DACA, if he is still around if and when that
happens. Republican icon Ronald Reagan
supported a limited immigration “fix,” which did not hurt his reputation
among conservatives or in the light of history. Nor should Democrats agree to
fund Trump’s ridiculous, costly “fortress
America” border wall in exchange for DACA. (Maybe, in exchange for a
major concession, then only a very short, token section of a wall where Trump
can pose for photo ops.)
Knee-jerk
opposition by the Republican Congress
to almost any Obama proposal on immigration led him to create DACA by
executive action. Now, with a (nominally) Republican president, maybe
Congress can agree to approve such a program. As I said in my Confessions book,
After
my Honduran sojourn and starting Spanish interpretation work, I became an
even stronger immigration reform advocate, although the very term “amnesty”
as applied to undocumented immigrants has become invested with pejorative
connotations, even though Republican icon Ronald Reagan practically invented
the concept. Opponents of immigration reform are quick to label undocumented
people “illegals,” as if legal status were an immutable condition rather than
a creature of legislative will. After all, immigration laws are not the Ten
Commandments handed down from on high! Heaven help tea-partiers and other
bigots and hypocrites when they get old and gray and need immigrants to care
for them. Let’s face it, we white-bread Americans aren’t producing enough
offspring to replace ourselves or to support and tend us in old age.
Neighboring Canada, in contrast, realizes the economic and social benefits of
being immigrant-friendly.
Likewise, a bipartisan “fix” to
healthcare is possible. If Hillary
had been president, any tweaking of DACA or the ACA would have met the
Republican Congress’s implacable opposition, just as Obama experienced. Now
Republicans are confused. Whom are they opposing, the Democrats or Trump?
Whether due to Trump’s accidental assumption
of the presidency (I hesitate to say that he was actually “elected”), previous
Obama policies, or because of just plain good luck and current business expectations, at
least so far, the stock market has
rallied under Trump, so that’s a plus for his presidency. But the market did
fall after the DACA announcement.
While Trump
might not be able to pardon himself if he is impeached, Mike Pence, as president, could and no doubt would pardon Trump,
just as Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon. Pence, being a more traditional politician and a solidly
right-of-center Republican, might be harder to oppose than the erratic and
unpredictable Trump, so we must not push impeachment too hard, at least not
before some Republicans are defeated in the mid-term elections. In polls,
Pence is somewhat more popular than Trump, but not by much. Good that Bannon is out—things seem a little
calmer at the White House since he left.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is out with a tell-all best-seller that attempts
to settle scores, not only with Donald
Trump, but with Bernie Sanders,
who despite being a white elderly man—and not even a Democrat—appealed to
young Democratic voters. His vision was and still is attractive to
many—Medicare for all, free college tuition, tax the rich. While I am not
against those objectives—what’s not to like?--I never thought they were totally
achievable in the current political climate and under our present economic system.
It was kind of like Trump’s promises in reverse, though not as extreme. I
considered Bernie’s proposals wonderful aspirations rather than realistic objectives,
which is why I voted for Hillary. I also think she got a bad rap simply for
being a woman and that many of Trump’s smears against her gained traction
because of her gender. But like Trump’s core supporters, Bernie’s supporters
wanted all or nothing. Bernie, to his credit, is reacting to Hillary’s
laments by saying that we need to move on. Hillary admits her mistakes—using
a private server and the unfortunate characterization of many Trump
supporters as “deplorables” (even though they may be). As the first woman
presidential candidate, she could not afford even one mistake, although the
same ones would not have sunk a male candidate. Bill Clinton remains popular
despite the Monica scandal and Trump has weathered bragging about sexual
assault and even has a Russian “pee-pee” dossier, while any hint of sexual
shenanigans by a female candidate would spell the end. (Probably some men
vicariously enjoy male candidates’ conquests.) Maybe after she has gotten many
of her justifiable but seemingly “sour-grapes” complaints out of her system
with her new book and book tour, Hillary can just move on. She says she is
through running for office. No doubt, she gave the presidential campaign all
she had.
Sanders and Joe Biden, both older white men, might appeal to that same
demographic, but neither appeals to me. And not just because they are older white
men, rather from how they have conducted themselves in office, nothing
objectionable, but also not outstanding in their many years in office in my
view. Sanders may steering the Democratic Party in a more progressive
direction, which may prove helpful, but I don’t see him as electable as
president—he should keep his bully pulpit in the Senate. I thought John Kerry
showed more nuance insight as secretary of state, but he doesn’t seem up for
another run and his personality does not lend itself to a campaign for national
office—too cerebral.
Anyway, it’s time for our first female president;
we got cheated last time. How about some new faces like Kirsten Gillibrand or Kamala
Harris, or even Elizabeth Warren,
not exactly a new face, but quite a dependable and thoughtful politician? I
like Tim Kane because of his
long-ago service in Honduras. After Trump, we need more stability and
predictability in our politics. With the last election, many of us couldn’t
imagine ever Trump winning (even he was
surprised and woefully unprepared), so those of us who voted for Hillary and
were confident of her victory didn’t support her as vigorously as we should
have in hindsight. Even those who were not enthusiastic about her are sorry
now. The choice was between Clinton and Trump, not anyone else. In that
respect, Bernie was actually a
liability and a distraction because, while he appealed to many, especially
young people, it’s hard to imagine him winning a general election, which is
why I hope he won’t try again. Of course, he was also trying to steer the
Democratic Party in a more progressive direction. He should put his efforts
toward supporting the Democratic presidential candidate and the same goes for
Biden. Michelle Obama is
reportedly a popular figure, but she has expressed no interest whatsoever in
political office and, in her case, her denial of any political plans seems
genuine. She was apparently never keen about Barack’s political career, but
supported him as a loyal spouse. Now, she’s done.
The Democratic
Party has been encouraging members to run for office, even beginning at
the local level. I was briefly inspired to consider it, but realistically, in
such a heavily Democratic city as DC with so many younger and more energetic people
eagerly seeking office, my efforts would not be missed. If I lived elsewhere,
I might try running for something like the school board or other local office,
as my many civic involvements would be in my favor. Even then, assuming I
were successful, I would be in my dotage (if not there already) with few
years left to move up the political ladder to make a more significant impact.
Ageism would work against me, of course, also my being a white female in a
city with a big African-American population, a little less than 50% for the
first time in a long time, but still the predominate ethnicity, so I don’t have
a good demographic political profile for this city. If Hispanics could vote,
I might capture them by speaking Spanish. It’s all a fantasy
anyway, as I’m bowing out of politics except as a voter and advocate for
others. However, I’m getting tired of the constant on-line appeals for
signatures and money to overcome Trump’s many bad policies and appointments
from organizations we know little about and what exactly the money will be
used for. (Meanwhile, NPR is also
fundraising. Help!)
Reportedly, most mass shootings this year have
involved domestic violence, a man killing his wife, ex-wife, or
girlfriend and taking her friends or family along with her. These events were
not reported prominently in the news, mainly by being overshadowed by other
developments. Unfortunately, background checks would not have prevented most
of these guys from getting a gun, because they often got their guns before
they became violently jealous or vengeful. There needs to be a way to have
fewer guns in circulation, but I know that’s a heavy lift politically right
now, especially with this Supreme
Court.
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