Donald Trump’s abject deference to Vladimir Putin at the Helsinki summit,
which he himself had requested (why?), makes one wonder what Putin has on him.
His further invitation to Putin to come to DC only compounds the problem. If Trump
is trying to disprove his collusion with Russia, this is a strange way of
showing it. He accused his critics not
only of spreading “fake news” (i.e., anything he doesn’t like), but of Trump Derangement Syndrome, a phrase
first coined by Rand Paul, but more than applicable to Trump himself. Before
that, he made a fool of himself (and of us all) with European leaders. The poor
guy is way, way out of his depth but seems ever more confident of his own
intellect and less inclined than ever to listen to advisers. I don’t know the
legalities of whether the interpreter can be questioned about what was said in
Trump’s meeting with Putin, but speaking as an interpreter myself, we normally
would not reveal what was said and really don’t commit it to memory or take
notes, just go along with conveying the conversation so that the parties can
communicate.
Reportedly,
many Republican voters approve of Russian
meddling in our elections if it helps Donald Trump and other Republican
candidates to win.
Not surprisingly,
Trump’s voter fraud commission has found
no fraud in the 2016 vote, as the president had alleged.
Here's
what Robert Epstein, a psychologist
and former editor of Psychology Today, says in an article
in USA Today trying to figure out how Donald Trump makes
decisions that are so unexpected and shocking even to his closest associates.
He doesn't look back or forward, just decides to say or do something in the
moment. Epstein says: And if I’m right, Trump will continue to
function this way — blindly, erratically and reactively, without
principle or direction — for the rest of his life.
Trump has
given me and many other Americans a continuing low-level case of vertigo and PTSD. However, Trump and his minions do
lend themselves to satire and humor, which serves as an antidote. And I am not
sorry to see Ivanka having to give
up her clothing and jewelry business. If any members of the Trump family
expected that the presidency would bring them fame and fortune, they are finding,
after an initial surge, that the Trump brand has become toxic.
Very sneaky,
really, for Trump to offer relief to mid-west farmers after deliberately starting
a harmful trade war. To keep increasing deficits to cover up his mistakes is
scary, but Trump will be out of office or dead before the bill actually comes
due. He also seems to have strategy, perhaps first used in real estate, of
making an outrageous proposal, then pulling back a little, so that his
opponents (or associates) then feel a sense of relief.
European
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker apparently cautiously
and with sufficient flattery manipulated Trump into a “deal” on some tariffs
with Europe. Trump was ready to deal after feeling the sting of criticism over
his trade war and after behind-the-scenes pressure from beleaguered mid-west
Republican candidates. If Republicans lose Congress, what protection will Trump
have?
It’s hard to imagine a major world leader who is not
smarter than Trump, a leader who isn’t able to manipulate him through flattery and
misinformation. His advisers hold their breath every time Trump tweets or speaks
publicly. Sometimes when he goes over the top, as with his invitation to Putin, then even Putin wisely pulled
back.
Heaven help
me, Donald Trump has even invaded my
dreams! He was standing in my living room wearing long pants and an
undershirt with his belly hanging out, talking loudly on a cell phone. A
notebook was left behind after his departure and I had a hard time calling
people at the White House to find out where to send it.
Although I
understand the anger fueling it in reaction to Trump’s outrages, I feel wary about
the Democratic Party moving more to the left for fear of alienating and
abandoning the large middle cohort of voters and increasing political polarization.
Also, some far-left positions are not well thought out. That’s one reason I did
not support Bernie Sanders’
presidential bid, besides the fact that he was not even a Democrat, but still
running to represent the party. Additionally, I feel aggrieved by the fact that
his state of Vermont, with a smaller population than DC, has two senators and a
congressman while we have no voting representation. Also, as volunteer
Caribbean Coordinator for Amnesty Int’l USA, I considered Vermont’s Senator Patrick Leahy much too accommodating to
the Castro brothers and the Cuban military, to the point of facilitating the
artificial insemination of the wife of a Cuban spy imprisoned in the US, later
released, Gerardo Hernandez.
I don’t know
a lot about Mass. Congressman Joe
Kennedy, with a fairly low profile nationally. Of course, the Kennedy name
is an old one, but Joe seems like a young, fresh face, yet someone with some
government experience who might be a good presidential candidate. He’s also quite
good looking, which is a help. I’m more inclined to have the Democratic Party
field someone new against the 2020 Republican candidate, whether that be Trump,
Pence, or someone else.
On the other
hand, younger first-time voters now seem entranced by “socialism,” never having experienced what it has actually meant in
practice. They want something new and, though socialism is actually old, it’s
new to them. Of course, I’m in favor of promoting greater economic and social
equity and recognize that income disparities between the top 1% and the rest of
us have only grown over the last couple of years. But I am cautious about
embracing socialism, depending on how it is defined. I would certainly support
a basic minimum income which gives everyone purchasing power and helps level
the economic playing field, especially at a time when automation is making
employees more productive and actually less necessary. The basic needs of life
for everyone can be produced with the efforts of just a few. Still, everyone,
whether child, middle-aged adult, or long-lived senior, wants, in the words of
my mentors at the occupational therapy association, to engage in “purposeful
activity,” as subjectively defined, whether that’s play, art, volunteerism, or
a paid job. I foresee a time when paid jobs will become premium activities, even
more than today, and not because of monetary rewards, but because of being so
scarce and valued.
Our gun culture has unfortunately crept
over the border into Canada. And
here in the US, we are getting blasé about mass shootings, with recent ones in
New Orleans and Texas. Being able to create guns with 3-D printers is really
scary and must be stopped, but for how long? Not only can they be made without
a trace, but would evade metal detectors. However, as I mention in my book Triumph & Hope, Hondurans were able
to assemble homemade single-shot guns, probably not unlike these 3-D guns.
There us no great mystery about how a gun works. Just take one apart.
And I do worry
that Trump is going to create a stock
market crash, especially with his trade policies and criticism of the
Federal Reserve, as well as the huge federal deficit accruing. In a trade war
with China, not only are Chinese leaders much smarter and more strategic than
Trump, but they don’t have to worry much about public opinion under their dictatorial
system. The current strong US economy is all that Trump has going for him and
it started under Obama. He brags about it and takes credit, but does not understand
economic and trade policy any more than he understands anything else
(including, most recently, even about buying groceries). You or I would be a
more competent president. The contrast between the cerebral, articulate, and
thoughtful Barack Obama and Trump’s crude, bumbling and confused utterances is
breathtaking. Trump has left the nation feeling rudderless; even his advisers
don’t know what to expect next. Like a naughty child, he likes to ignore and
surprise them. The main (false) charge that Trump could think to level at Obama
was that he was born in Kenya. Yet, for his small, solid cohort of cult-like
followers, whatever Trump says is gospel.
Bernie
Sanders has been touting single-payer, government-run health care, “Medicare for All.” An attractive idea,
it would take a lot politically and logistically to get there, with winners and
losers, as with any huge governmental change. Losers would be health insurance companies,
drug companies, and even doctors and nurses, who would probably have salaries
and lower incomes, no longer being paid per procedure, as they are now, which
gives them an incentive to do more procedures. Patients would have leaner care,
but probably less invasive and risky. Kaiser, to which I belong, would be the
likely model. Patients at Kaiser face more bureaucracy, longer waits, and internet
rather than phone calls with practitioners, but lower costs, including for Rx
drugs. Kaiser requires some modest co-pays, a good idea to prevent
hypochondriacs from abusing the system. Obamacare was moving in that direction,
but the Trump administration has reversed course, going backward, as in so many
areas.
It looks like
Cuba is moving ever-so-slightly toward recognizing more
non-government-employment, but mostly in the form of individual self-employment,
so not nearly to the same extent as Russia, China, and Vietnam.
Déjà vu
is what I'm feeling about Nicaragua these
days. It's like a replay of the 1980's and the 1990 election where I was an
observer. Ortega started out slowly in his second presidential round, even
allowing the Peace Corps, but he wasn't content with just one or two
presidential terms, he wanted to keep carrying on. The Cubans are advising him
as usual.
On another subject, in
a case was brought by a number of asylum seekers who were contesting their
detention, the DC district court judge ruled in their favor. There is no reason
to hold asylum seekers in detention at all unless they are deemed flight risks
or threats to the community. See aiusa-refugee-and-asylum-work@googlegroups.com Meanwhile, there is
a bill before the DC Council to cover legal costs for asylum seekers. A child
released from immigration detention has died and 500 fathers in detention have
announced a hunger strike. The problems of the Trump policy multiply as Ivanka declares her opposition to
separating parents and children. Trump has stoked anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-black,
and anti-Hispanic fears, now also, apparently, anti-Asian starting with Chinese.
Amnesty International USA urges
Committee to Reject Increased Funding for CBP/ICE
Meanwhile,
Amnesty is not immune to hacking.
Nicaragua:
Government’s shameful denial of human rights violations is part of its strategy
of repression
22 June 2018,
In response to the
government of President Daniel Ortega’s outright rejection of the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ report on grave human rights
violations committed in the context of the recent protests in Nicaragua, Erika
Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, said:
“It’s shameful that
the government of President Ortega is denying the undeniable. There is a wealth
of evidence, including thousands of testimonies, to show that the Nicaraguan
state has committed terrible human rights violations and continues to do so on
a daily basis. This has to stop before more lives are lost.
“The government’s
reaction to today’s findings by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
demonstrates that the rhetoric of denial and division form part of its strategy
of repression of the Nicaraguan people. We remind the state that it has an
obligation under international law to protect the human rights of everyone,
without distinction or discrimination.”
Forget the wall already, it's time for
the U.S. to have open borders
Jeffrey Miron, Opinion contributor
The
author is affiliated with the right-leaning CATO Institute and while his proposal is an intriguing way to spark
a dialogue, I would not consider it a serious proposal.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/07/31/open-borders-help-economy-combat-
When horrific
deaths occur, as after mass
shootings or an accident like the recent duck-boat sinking where one survivor
lost her children, husband, and other family members, people rush to contribute
money. That’s fine to help defray funeral and burial costs and also shows
support for the survivor. But all of us who have ever lost someone we
love—unfortunately, probably universal experience—know that no amount of money
in the world can compensate for the loss of a love one’s very life. The two are
not equivalent, yet that’s what is most often offered and even sought by
survivors of a tragic personal loss. Since nothing can bring back the missing
person, we often accept money as the next best thing and the only alternative, or we ask for contributions to a charity
supported by us or our loved one, as I did when I lost my son Andrew. However,
what might offer a smidgen of comfort to the grieving person might be just
sitting down with them, holding their hand, bringing them something to eat or a
flowering plant, and avoiding saying “I know just how you feel,” because you
really don’t. Their grief is unique and the person lost is not like anyone
else.
A tragedy just waiting to happen
was the drowning of 2-year-old twins is the backyard pool of a
daycare worker. Apparently, she was not licensed—and speaking here as a former
daycare licensing worker and friend of a woman who lost her small daughter in a pool drowning—I hasten to say that a swimming pool poses an
existential threat to children, whether to one’s own children or others
who are visiting or being cared for. An adult dares not take eyes off a child
in the vicinity of a pool. Aware of so many drowning accidents involving kids,
including the daughter of a friend, and sometimes even of older kids who have
scaled a chain-link fence, I would advise anyone who wants children to have a
swimming experience to enroll them in classes in a public pool with a lifeguard
on duty. And if adults want to have a personal pool for their own use, that
pool should be located indoors behind a locked door or, if outside, surrounded
by a high fence with a locked gate and topped with razor wire. That may seem
draconian, but many child drownings could then be prevented.
After my Bhutan visitors have now left and after I quoted to
them a passage in my Confessions book
about Bhutan’s discrimination against
ethnic Nepalis, I looked up Bhutan on Amnesty International’s website: Since the early 1990s, over 100,000 refugees
of ethnic Nepalese origin from southern Bhutan have been living in camps in
eastern Nepal after they were arbitrarily stripped of their nationality and
forced to flee Bhutan. These 100,000 people constitute about one-sixth of the
population of Bhutan. The Bhutanese refugee situation has become one of the
most protracted and neglected refugee crises in the world. Despite many rounds
of bilateral talks between the governments of Nepal and Bhutan, a durable,
rights-respecting solution to the plight of the Bhutanese refugees does not
seem close. Amnesty International also remains concerned about continuing
reports of discrimination against ethnic Nepalese living in Bhutan.
My one-time loyalty to the Catholic church has
faded in the wake of continuing sex scandals (including in Honduras), especially
those involving minors. Pope Francis has said and done many admirable things, including supporting migrants and denouncing the death penalty, but
has not really come to grips with this festering problem. Now, to compound
matters, nuns are becoming part of the “met-too” movement, calling out male
clergy who have raped or molested them. Meanwhile, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick,
who has presided over masses that I have attended in Washington, DC, now seems
to have been a prime offender regarding underage boys. A photo of him smiling
and wearing a bathing suit with his arm around the naked waist of a similarly
clad very uncomfortable looking youth is chilling. As I have advocated in my
book Triumph & Hope, the priest
shortage and these recurrent and pervasive sex scandals could be greatly
reduced through allowing both married and female priests, a position I and many
others have been calling for now for decades. The largest and longest-established
Christian church in the world cannot afford to allow this to continue. Pope Francis, for all his good deeds
and fine utterances, needs to firmly confront this situation, even if it
involves sanctioning some of his fellow Jesuits.
Having
replied to requests for moral support or money from some early anti-Trump
appeals, of course they have now metastasized to the point that I can no longer
even read them all. How do I know which are legit and which are just fishing
expeditions for my e-mail address and/or money?
One recurrent appeal comes from a woman who must be of Mexican heritage
whose first name is the exotic Xochitl.
Somehow, some rightwing appeals have also crept in there.
I am amused
and also appalled that both sides in on-line appeals for funds for the midterms
use similar alarmist language, though the right’s rhetoric is more extreme and
they ask for larger sums, not a mere $1 or $5, but $50 or $100. Here from the
Democratic side is an exaggerated appeal: Your support will make these GOP seats FLIP. And
here is something from a right-wing site: “Save
our president’s majority, triple-matched. More than 60 conservative candidates got
out-raised by radical leftist sponsored candidates.” And still another: “I’m sick
and tired of the left’s radically FAKE NEWS media spreading lies about me, our
president, and other Conservatives around the country.” Newt
Gingrich makes this appeal: Please contribute $20.18 or more to help our
Republican campaigns unseat radical liberals. Does all it take to change votes is more money? Money does allow
candidate forums and also buys political ads, but ads alone won’t change minds
if voters have an ounce of sense. Same
with Russian interference, voters need to be able to discern real “fake news.”
Supreme Court
nominee Brett Kavanaugh has
reportedly said, “We should not burden a sitting president with civil suits,
criminal investigations, or criminal prosecutions.”
Trump is
endorsing Republican midterm candidates right and left, a gamble for him, but
if they win, they owe him his much-prized “loyalty.” That means supporting him publicly
and slavishly, right or wrong, however outlandish whatever he says or does.
Although I
have expressed mixed feelings about the “right” to an abortion, trying to ban the morning-after
pill or any other early medical abortifacient
is a complete non-starter because women are going to find and use such means if
they want to end their pregnancy, whether or not doing so is technically legal.
(Coat hangers are not the future,
even with a repeal of Roe.) Pills or other chemical non-surgical pregnancy terminations
will take place privately without visible medical intervention, thus taking
them out of the contentious and visible realm of Planned Parenthood or any other
freestanding clinics that now provide most abortions. Only when women have
passed the early stages will they consult such a clinic, so the issue will
fade, at least that is my prediction, regardless of what happens to Roe vs.
Wade.
And while
most frozen embryos would develop
into a baby/person if implanted, then born and raised, that’s not going to
happen to most; they are only potential individuals
and do not have the same rights in the real world as actual people. Many pregnancies
are lost through miscarriage in the first three months, unfortunately, but something
not considered a major tragedy. And the availability of abortion does level the
playing field between men and woman in terms of the consequences of a sexual
encounter. Surveys have shown that a portion of Democrats actually consider
themselves pro-life, while a number of Republicans identify as pro-choice.
I would draw
the line for protection of the fetus sometime after 3 months and certainly
after 20 weeks when viability is possible. Most Americans, according to polls,
would agree. Arriving at consensus on this question is within our grasp.
