November 30, 2018--Appalled

With a heavy heart, reflecting on Donald Trump's effect on the country, historian Walter Isaacson said that more than anything else Trump has stolen our capacity to be appalled.

He has accomplished this by normalizing outrageous behavior.

From early in his campaign for the presidency, by not being forced to pay a political price for recklessly attacking John McCain for not being a "winner" because he was shot down over North Vietnam and held prisoner for five years--"I like people who weren't captured"--Trump quickly realized he could say anything and could even, he claimed, literally get away with murder.

And so, since that time, daily, he says something outrageous to the point, Isaacson said, that we have become numb to his transgressions and lies. 

Everything becomes trivial; everything becomes essential. It is impossible to sort things out--to identify what is important, what is best to ignore, what to resist.

Trump does this in part because he cannot control his inner demons, he lacks impulse control, but mainly to shut down discourse and dissent, to overwhelm and anesthetize the population with him eventually the one remaining voice. The goal ultimately of all narcissists.

I am finding that as time goes by and Trump rages on that I am becoming inured to his bluster and outrageousness. I am falling victim to his efforts to limit my ability to be appalled. In my case becoming desensitized and less and less able to retain my sense of outrage.

I need to fight this off so I can continue to resist and do the few things I can to push back.

Walter Isaacson

November 29, 2018--Triple Agent Paul Manafort

Paul Manafort may be all the bad things he has pled guilty to and even worse all that juries have found him guilty of, but though he may not be the shiniest penny, in regard to things important to him (money and power, especially money) he may actually be brilliant.

For someone so seemingly unimpressive he somehow managed to amass millions--tens or hundreds of millions--mainly by finding ways to be of serious service to some of the world's sleaziest operatives in some of the most complicated and corrupt regions of the world. Especially in parts of the former Soviet Union, more specifically, primarily in Ukraine.

He also managed for a while to put on a glittering show of opulent living, with houses and apartments in Manhattan (including in Trump Tower), East Hampton, and Brooklyn as well as his reputed million-dollar bespoke sharkskin wardrobe.

But now we see him being wheeled in and out of courtrooms, looking pathetic in an orange prison jumpsuit, seemingly brought low. But who knows, considering his slimy skills, he may be hatching a way to fool almost everyone and manage to walk away largely unscathed.

This could be because, after working in Eastern Europe where nothing it was it seems and there is someone scheming to cut you down at every turn, he has so mastered the art of subterfuge that he may have found a way to work for the Russians (Putin) and Trump while pretending to be working for Robert Mueller. 

In other words he may have figured out how to operate as a triple agent, playing these three sides against each other. 

And through one of the seams that connect these pieces Manafort may find a way to slither out to some version of freedom.

Working with the Russians, Manafort has more goods on Trump to market that are essential puzzle pieces that fit with the covert material the Russians already have on Trump--remember that dossier and what it allegedly contains about Trump's escapades with, among other transgressions, prostitutes in Moscow. If Manafort working as a secret agent for the Russians is true, think of the resulting additional leverage they have on Trump. It helps explain Trump's wimpy behavior when it comes to anything Putin.

Working concurrently for Trump as his campaign manager (my favorite part--for free) he managed to keep the Trump-Russia collusion going while on the surface doing all the basic gofer things campaign managers routinely do like getting a platform written that everyone can agree to and ultimately ignore.

And then, with Robert Mueller, the very smartest of his handlers, Manafort seemingly turned the tables on Trump to become a valuable resource to the special counsel and his investigators. In that role, other than Trump's boys who know all the family felonies, by ratting on Trump and his inner-inner circle, Manafort could help Mueller connect all the illegal dots while auditioning for the part of star witness before grand juries, congressional committees, and eventual impeachment hearings and criminal trials. For these services Manafort could expect to be rewarded by not having to do any jail time and might even wind up with his own show on Fox News.

That seemed to be where things were headed until a few days ago when Manafort was discovered to have been lying to Mueller's team. As a result Mueller puled the plug on Manafort, leaving the investigation bereft of anyone who could testify with direct knowledge about the BIG picture.

Furthermore, in his role as a secret agent mole within the Mueller operation, a few days ago we learned from Trump's lawyers that Manafort's lawyers have been colluding with them, leaking to Trump's people inside information about the workings and strategies of the Mueller probe. 

When it comes to Manafort so much is complicated and seemingly self-inflicted. 

So much so that most of the print and cable legal analysts are left scratching their heads, frustrated that they can't seem to make sense of Manafort's recent moves--lying to Mueller and his people after making a sweet deal to get a reduced sentence by cooperating truthfully. Apparently  as a result of lying to Mueller, Manafort seems to be facing at least a decade of hard jail time.

It could turn out that Manafort blew it. But it may mean he will be pardoned with gratitude by Trump for undercutting arch-villain Mueller (he will be pardoned in a matter of just weeks) and figure out a way to skulk back to Ukraine where he can live out the rest of his natural life in whatever splendor Ukraine has to offer. This assumes, of course, that he will find a way to keep from getting killed by a Putin hit squad.

In Manafort's line of work, you win some and you lose some.

November 28, 2018--Internet Crash

My internet connectivity was not connecting all day yesterday and so I have nothing to post. I should be back on line tomorrow.

November 27, 2018--South of the Border

Silly me, all along I thought Trump would wag the dog when Robert Mueller's findings were about to be published by bombing nuclear installations in North Korea or Iran. To distract from the main Mueller takeaway--the indictments of half the Trump family--he would start a war either place and watch his approval ratings soar. 

Don't they always when a president shows muscle? Like Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon did in the early days in Vietnam, Ronald Reagan did in Grenada, as George H. W. Bush did in Panama and Iraq, as Bill Clinton did in Bosnia, and George W. Bush did in Afghanistan and again in Iraq. Approval numbers in all instances went off the charts. 

But then (is there a lesson here?) in almost all cases the numbers came crashing back to earth. In fact so low for LBJ and Nixon that for this and other reasons they both wound up having to resign the presidency. (Lesson here as well?)

But now I think Trump's first (note that--first) wag situation will not be with Iran or North Korea but along the 1,900 mile border with Mexico.

With our border patrol people already using teargas and rubber bullets à la Israel to contain asylum seekers and Trump authorizing the use of "lethal force" if they or the military he has deployed to the area have rocks thrown at them, the visuals are already so intoxicating to the cable-news-addicted president that how can he be expected to resist a wider, more telegenic little war? And of course not have to worry that these fleeing Guatemalans might lob nukes on San Francisco or Trump Tower in New York City.

While all this excitement is going on who will care about the beans spilt by former campaign manager Paul Manafort or former fixer Michael Cohen? Who will notice that Trump pardons Don Junior, son-in-law Jared, and Ivanka? Who will pay attention to the legal spatting about the constitutionality of subpoenaing or indicting a sitting president?

After running this riff by Rona, she said, "A little snarky, don't you think?"

"Maybe a little," I said, "But this is serious."

"And for something this serious you think snark is the right tone? Thousands in the caravans are suffering and back in their home countries there are millions more being preyed upon by violent gangs, collapsed economies, and governmental corruption."

"So what are we supposed to do? Open our borders and let anyone in who wants to work and live here? I agree the situation is serious but what are we realistically supposed to think much less do? I get the demagoguery and the rhetoric, how Trump is playing with these people's lives for his own political purposes. To feed his base of terrified haters. If you were president what would you do?"

"It is very complicated," Rona said, "Look at what happened to poor Hillary the other day. When she said in an interview in The Guardian that 'Europe needs to get a handle on migration because that is what lit the flame' of nationalism in England, Western Europe, and with Trump the U.S. too. She got beat up, most claimed, for not getting off the stage and letting the next generation of Democrats move into the spotlight. But I think she was castigated because she told the truth. The truth that American liberals don't want to deal with because they fear it will alienate some members of their own base--those who want more open borders and a permissive approach to immigration."

"What we need," I said, "Is a whole new immigration policy. It needs to be humanitarian and efficient but also has to place limits on who we can admit to the country and need for our economy. That's the hard part."

"We can and should talk more about this because I can't figure out what I would like to see. But in the meantime I agree with you about Trump. You can safely bet your last two dollars that he's hoping for some significant violence along the border to justify a more and more aggressive response by our security forces. Sort of like how Lyndon Johnson jumped on a supposed incident in the Gulf of Tonkin off North Vietnam to justify a major ramping up of our commitment to defeat the Vietcong. My guess is that Trump is looking for his Gulf of Tonkin opportunity to take the focus off Mueller."

"In the meantime," I said, "Back to the snark."

November 26, 2018--National Climate Assessment

I for one want to thank the Trump administration for the sensitivity they showed by not publishing the latest "National Climate Assessment" until the day after Thanksgiving. 

By then at least half the turkey and stuffing I consumed had been digested and reading the report on only a half-full stomach kept me from you-know-what.

The work of 13 governmental entities, now Trump-led science and environmental entities, it is about as pessimistic and depressing as anything on the subject that I have encountered.

There is nothing to feel good about, almost nothing hopeful, and with Trump president for at least another two years, since, catering to his base, he will not agree to do anything that can slow down the doomsday climate clock, truly scary.

Half joking, when there has been a dire UN report or others by groups of concerned scientists, learning more about the unrelenting cataclysmic consequences of climate change, I have quipped, "Well, at least I'm old enough to be dead by then." 

In fact I will be, but now saying this is no longer just a quip.

Evidence of the potential political power of last Friday's release of the National Assessment is the fact that Trump attempted to bury it by having it published on the quietest news day of the year. When everyone is sleeping late, fighting off gastritis, watching football, or shopping  So there was nothing "sensitive" about circulating the report right after Thanksgiving. 

The administration's hope was that by today when things get ginned up again, along with Ivanka's emails, the results of the midterm elections, and Trump's spat with Chief Justice Roberts, it will already be old news. Which to Trump is almost as useful as labelling something threatening as fake news.

But the report about the climate got Rona and me talking more broadly about science. Particularly wondering why so many Americans, including pandering conservative political leaders, do not, as the press puts it, believe in science. "Believe" as if science is something theological. By this it is meant that these people, among other things, do not believe, as opposed to mobilizing actual facts, in evolution, cosmology, or any imputation that humans are contributing to global warming and the resulting storms and massive forest fires.

Some of this lack of belief is in fact theological. Many who do not believe in science believe that we are moving rapidly to Armageddon. A time when the world and all humans will come to the End. 

A striking number do not see these cataclysms to be undesirable but in fact, via highly-selective and distorted interpretations of the Bible, they welcome the eventual Second Coming of Christ and the ultimate Last Judgement when these folks expect they will be ushered into Heaven. 

Thus, the last thing they want is any interference in this divine plan. Particularly by governments or the "deep state," which to many is the work of the Antichrist.

Then there are others who reject science because of their lack of science literacy. They feel excluded from its methods and lessons because, sadly, they know almost nothing about science. Baffled and frustrated by relativity and quantum mechanics, which is understandable, they are even essentially untutored when it comes to knowing anything about Newton's more approachable universe.

Science, then, also contributes to the great educational and cultural divide that separates Americans by educational attainment, culture, and socioeconomics. To passionately reject science is one response by those who have been labeled deplorables or, in fear and ignorance, some claim, cling to guns and God.

And then, ever suspicious of liberals' alleged push to have big government intrude more and more in people's lives, limiting their freedom, many conservative extremists see environmental science as conspiring to tell Americans how to live. From what kind of cars to drive to forcing people to give up incandescent light bulbs. It gets that specific.

And so here we are with many of us feeling fortunate that we will have passed on well before an actual, non-millennialist End. 

But what then about our children and grandchildren? 

Put pushing back against these anti-science forces at the top of your political to-do list. I know it's a long list but . . .

November 21, 2018--IvankaGate

According to a story in yesterday's Washington Post, presidential First Daughter and official senior advisor to the president (her daddy), using a personal account, Ivanka Trump, sent hundreds of emails last year to White House staff and Cabinet officials. 

According to sources, "hundreds" violated federal rules about the dissemination and retention of official papers and correspondence. 

Sound familiar? Do you hear "Lock her up. Lock her up" being chanted in the background? This from rabid Trump supporters who packed themselves into mass rallies during the primary and general election campaigns of 2016-17, the same time Ivanka was using personal email for official business  

If you were paying attention, so must have been Ivanka. And she as well as we knew the "her" bing chanted was Hillary Clinton and the reason Trump claimed that Hillary should be locked up was because, while secretary of state, she used a private email system rather than one provided by the government.

Also like Hillary, Ivanka is now asserting she did not know that by doing so she violated well established rules.

Clearly she wasn't paying attention. Or, more likely, felt that federal rules about official papers did not apply to her or, for that matter, her princely husband, Jared Kushner, also a senior presidential advisor, with whom she shared a personal network or domain.

As might be imagined, the mainstream media are having a field day with this example of blatant hypocrisy. How delicious it must seem to Democrats (very much including Hillary Clinton) who have had to endure Trump's mocking while blaming the former First Lady for all our troubles. He did so as recently as Sunday while trying to deflect probing questions from Chris Wallace on Fox News.

By Tuesday morning, on CNN and MSNBC, chat was all about Ivanka's let-them-eat-cake hauteur. But, on both networks, while gleefulness was universal, Jeffery Toobin, CNN's chief legal analyst, and John Harwood, Washington correspondent for CNBC, on Morning Joe expressed second thoughts. Both claimed that this was not that big a deal. Nor for that matter, retrospectively, was what Hillary did, though both confessed to having spent too much time on the Hillary flap. They cautioned that we should not to make the same mistake again. 

Mika, Joe, and Alisyn Camerota went ballistic. It would be irresponsible to give the story short shrift since is was such an open-and-shut opportunity to get back at the Trumps.

I agree with Joe, Mika, and Alisyn, but perhaps for somewhat different reasons.

Progressives need to take this on aggressively. Not only to get even with the Trump crime family but to demonstrate that like Republicans we are capable of fighting aggressively. 

There is a tendency within the educated, professional class to reason rather than fight. In many instances this is the appropriate option but in most political situations it needs to be more about winning than reasoning.

One reason Republicans have done as well as they have (including electing Trump) is because they have the capacity to battle relentless for things they want to achieve. Like getting nominees confirmed for federal judgeships. Change the rules if necessary. Keep an eye on the goal--winning.

Progressives often lose because they are too quick to be understanding and reasonable.

This is not an argument to emulate Mitch McConnell but to stop being such wusses when it comes to confrontations and political battles. A cold political war is underway and we demur at our peril.

November 20, 2018--Jack's Take

"I know, you think I've been ignoring you"--that had occurred to me--"Well, I have been. Since Election Day." Jack was on the line. 

"How," Jack said. "did Obama put it after the 2010 midterms? That he and the Democrats took a 'shellacking'? Well, that just happened to us. Republicans in general and Trump and his people specifically. As he put it, it was as if he was on the ballot. Which is true. He made the election all about him and try as he might to spin what happened as a big win it was a disaster."

"I agree with this but frankly I'm surprised you are feeling this way. You prided yourself for having been the first person in town to put out Trump lawn signs. And the first person I know who very early on--when he seemed like a joke--to have predicted that not only would Trump win the nomination but also that he would win the election."

"Well let me then be the first Trump person you know to predict that if he runs for reelection (and that is not a certainty) he will lose. Except for two things."

"What pray tell are those?"

"Number one, if you guys nominate Bernie or, number two, you nominate Warren. Two losers. Even a weakened Trump would easily beat either one of them. They're going to win Pennsylvania or Ohio or Michigan or Florida or Wisconsin? States that the ultimate winner needs to carry? Get real. This is not going to happen with a candidate who will be almost 80 in 2020, who's from Brooklyn originally and now from Vermont, a socialist no less? Or a Harvard professor who's from Massachusetts? From my perspective it should only happen."

"I don't entirely disagree with you," I said, "The Dems this time around were really smart about who they ran for Congress. Military veterans, some in the right places who are social conservatives, a few deficit hawks, some who go to church regularly, and others who support the Second Amendment. Up in Maine one of the Democrats running for the House--and who won, Jared Golden--ran a whole bunch of commercials that included video of him on a rifle range."

"Yeah, they ran a lot of Republicans who pretended to be Democrats."

"Not true," I said, "the people I am talking about are mainly Democratic moderates and they appealed to a lot of people who in the past were called 'Reagan Democrats' because for decades they had voted the straight Democratic ticket but switched to vote for Reagan after the Democrats began to run candidates who were too elitist, too liberal, too out of touch with average people. Like Michael Dukakis."

I continued, "But what about the Mueller investigation? What happens if he issues a report that exposes all sorts of criminal activity carried out by Trump and his family?"

"That would be the best thing that could happen to us."

"What?" I was incredulous, "It's only 10:30 in the morning but have you been drinking?"

"No, and I'm taking my meds." He chuckled, sounding like the old swaggering Jack.

"I'm glad to hear that, but deal with the issue--what will happen when Mueller exposes all sorts of crimes--big ones--backed up with  emails and recordings of cell phone calls and the corroborating testimony of Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, and a half dozen others? I fail to see how that could that be good news from your perspective."

"Look, it's obvious that all Republican in Congress and the right-wing media are terrified that if they say anything critical of Trump--forget negative--he will support people when they are up for reelection to go after them in primaries. No matter what he does a core of Republicans, maybe half of them, will stick with him and vote as he tells them to vote. Even, remember, if he kills someone on Fifth Avenue. In other words, Trump would primary anyone who says a critical thing about him. At least that's what has them shaking in their boots." He paused to hear my reaction.

"I need to run in a few minutes so could you speed this up?"

"You're back in New York, the Big Satan, for a couple of days and already you're in a rush."

"Well, I am. I happen to have a doctor's appointment."

"Nothing too serious, I hope."

"I'll let you know the next time we talk. But, please, finish your thought about Mueller."

"Simple--his report will give these quivering Republicans political cover."

"I think I see where you're heading with this."

"If Mueller provides conclusive evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors, Republicans will begin to back away from Trump, claiming their behavior--behavior they look forward to displaying since softening up their rhetoric is the only way to save themselves. They will say, 'What are we supposed to do with this mountain of evidence? Ignore it?' They have no choice but to back away from Trump while absolving themselves of blame. They might even fool enough people to win some primaries, rescuing themselves because by 'reluctantly' (put that in quotes) accepting what Mueller reports they will be able to pretend that they were reluctant Trump supporters all along. It will remove what wind is left in Trump's sails. It will be like hiding behind Mueller's skirt. This is why the ever-slippery Lindsay Graham is sounding as if he is uncoupling himself from Trump. He'll soon be on the lookout to find someone new to cuddle up to."

"I can see all of this happening. But why, from your perspective, is this good news? With your boy, Trump being brought down?"

"Here's the dirty little secret." Jack lowered his voice as if not wanting to be overheard. "Because Trump is being exposed as a loser. His whole thing has been to present himself as a winner. Remember during the campaign he kept saying, 'There will be so much winning you'll get tired of winning?'"

"I remember that."

"Well, after Election Day and the Mueller report he won't be able to get away with saying that anymore. Seeing nearly 40 Republican seats in the House flip to Democrats doesn't look like winning. Especially to Republicans in Congress who care only about their version of winning--getting reelected. Wait and see what will happen to Republican senators up for reelection in 2020 if they stay rafted up with Trump."

"But you already have him either not running in two years or if he does defeated by a Dem other than Sanders or Warren. So you have me totally confused about what you think or would like to see happen. Not what Republicans in general or members of Congress are up to. Let me put it to you directly--do you want Trump to be reelected or defeated? Or maybe just disappear?"

Half ignoring me, Jack said, "After last Tuesday there's blood in the water and everyone in Congress knows that. The Mueller report will just be the clincher. But crucial nonetheless since the Republicans can use it to justify their own independence from Trump and will not need to depend on riding his coat tales."

"But," Jack continued, still hushed, "Here's the secret--Trump will lose even to Elizabeth Warren."

"What?" It's that bad for him? I thought you said she or Bernie would lose? Now I'm totally confused."

"To tell you the truth I was trying to make myself feel better. I wasn't thinking things through. I was trying to begin to reconcile myself to a very unpleasant situation. The prospect of Warren or Sanders in the White House."

"But, remember me and my lawn signs," Jack said, "In the prediction business I have a pretty good track record. Though next time around things won't turn out so good."

"Again, what are you predicting? We're on the phone but I can feel you smiling. Like you're playing with me. And now I have to go, without enough time to be able to figure out what you're saying about your own position."

"Good luck with the doctor," he said, laughing and hanging up.

November 19, 2018--Ice Storm

For a moment late last week it did feel as if the world was ending. It didn't, but perhaps we got a preview.

In the West, mainly in California, it felt that the entire state was being consumed in flames, with hundreds, perhaps thousands incinerated. It felt literally hellish. 

Some of the millennialist persuasion, always alert to signs of the End, claimed that it was in fact the (upper case) End and that the Antichrist was in our midst (someone other than Hillary Clinton this time) and the Rapture was imminent.

And in the East, not nearly as deadly or terrifying, the entire region was shut down in tri-state gridlock that was the result of a paralyzing snow and ice storm. Though "only" 6.4 measurable inches fell in New York City, a city that both never sleeps and prides itself in shrugging off 20-inch blizzards, this time, as the storm struck at rush hour, we more than blinked.

Commutes that typically take up to two barely endurable hours, on Thursday evening stretched from five to 10 hours. Yes, 10. There was a 20 car collision on the westbound side of the George Washington Bridge that took more than 12 hours to untangle. After an hour or two of frustration, sitting stalled in cars, commuters realized they were hopelessly stranded and that they would soon run out of gasoline and as a result would not have heat, they abandoned their cars and did who knows what or went who knows where.

Even in solid-as-a-rock, New York City, even in our shady West Village, half the trees either lost main branches or collapsed entirely under the weight of the ice and snow. There were cars that were abandoned near midnight on our block between Broadway and University Place. Trapped between fallen trees. At least they were only blocks from various subways that thankfully continued to run. If the subways had shut down without notice, I can't begin to imagine what would have happened. Even in the secular Big Apple I suspect that there would have been more than a few conversions to Evangelicalism.

Even if neither coast provided hints of a biblical ending it did offer more than a glimpse of how our country, the world is collapsing under the weight of overpopulation (rarely mentioned as it urgently should be), overconsumption, climate change, and the related collapse of infrastructure. 

Driving from Maine to our city home we got a full taste of the latter. 

I generally hate the FDR Drive which runs north-south along the East River, but because of the aggressive flow of traffic that didn't allow me to shift lanes we wound up swept onto it, forced to go south on the FDR at 125th Street. (Confession--I did not as yet have my NYC driving chops and for the city was driving too passively.) This last few miles took almost an hour of tense stop-and-go driving. Not helped by the lack of lighting in the half dozen tunnels one has to negotiate, not aided by white lines to help keep everyone in lane, and with a road surface that felt it was built and not maintained for a hundred years. Only a modest exaggeration.

"Worse than a third world country, what a way to welcome visitors to the city," I muttered to Rona, with whom, as a result of the driving tension, I was already spatting.

She grumbled something at me and that was our last exchange in 40 minutes of mounting aggravation.

In fact, they have been working on the FDR for almost as long as I have been driving (about 50 years) and rather than things improving the road surface it is getting worse and about to collapse entirely.

Two weeks later (actually, a couple of days after the storm with fallen trees and limbs still not removed from our street), we needed to take the car to the VW mechanic in Brooklyn for its annual inspection and assorted repairs. 

We took the Manhattan Bridge between Manhattan and Brooklyn. As with the FDR, they have been working on the road surface for more than three decades and since traffic was slowed because of volume and potholes, we were able to catch closeup views of the road surface as we inched along. 

It is sad to report that in spite of all those years of effort in many places the potholes are so gouged out that one can see the East River flowing beneath the bridge.

Doing something about infrastructure is more than a subject for political oneupmanship. We will see that aspect of it played out as soon as the Democrats take control of the house. It is more about taking care of some of society's essential assets. What would happen to NYC, for example, to in fact the nation, if both the FDR and Manhattan Bridge collapsed? As I feel certain one day not too far from now they will. What will workers do if their commutes routinely require 4-5 hours each way? When every day is like last Thursday?

Extrapolate this across the country and, what with the incessant fires, perhaps the Preppers have it right and the End is approaching.

November 15, 2018--Trump Agonistes

In Trumpworld every day provides the opportunity to encounter something so bizarre that it can be said that we never witnessed such behavior before. 

His funk in Paris last weekend is a case in point. 

He clearly didn't want to be there for the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War One. To make matters worse, it was on the very same weekend he had in mind for his own Soviet-style military parade in Washington replete with nuclear missiles trundling down Pennsylvania Avenue.

In France he cut out on events, including one in a drizzle at an American military cemetery. He also didn't show up for other scheduled meetings and left a day early to, some cynics said, get back to the security of his White House bedroom and Fox News 24/7.

It was speculated in the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post that he is unraveling as the Mueller probe is closing in on him and some of his closest advisors, likely including members of his family. (Which son or son-in-law will be the first to flip and agree to become a Mueller witness?)

It didn't help, the press speculated, that the full extent and implications of the results of the recent midterm election finally dawned on Trump and he had no spin handy to deflect from the trouncing he and congressional Republicans experienced. 

It finally became clear to him that the Democrats, who will control the House, will immediately launch investigations of his potentially criminal conduct both before and while serving as president. So assuming he is able to shut down the Mueller investigation (even his new best friend Lindsay Graham says he won't be able to) Adam Schiff and other committee-chairs-in-waiting are licking their legislative chops

Is it any wonder that he hasn't been able to sleep and wants to hide in his bedroom with the blankets pulled up over his head.

And so it was not only in Paris that he withdrew from public view but back in Washington too.

He apparently was so shut off from the world outside his bubble that his wife, Melania, who couldn't get his attention on a matter of some urgency to her, felt she had to plant stories on Fox News, knowing he was watching, to elicit a response.

The strangest was the leak from her office earlier this week about deputy national security advisor, Mira Ricardel. Apparently still smarting from some of the fiascos associated with her trip last month to "shithole" countries in Africa (which was really more about showing off her tropical wardrobe than anything smacking of diplomacy), Mrs. Trump, who never met her, blamed the whole mess on Ricardel who, she claimed, didn't arrange appropriate seating for accompanying journalists and, I am certain, her junketing tag-along New York friends, she tried to talk to her husband about it but he was so tuned out that that didn't work and so the First Lady had her spokesperson issue a public statement saying Ricardel no longer "deserved the honor" to work in "this White House."

When the statement was broadcast on Fox News Trump finally noticed it and apparently just now arranged for some flunky to get Ricardel to pack up her stuff and await "another assignment." An assignment of the same sort, I assume, they arranged for Omarosa.

Melania Trump On Safari

November 14, 2018--Amazonia

Most writers are so routinized that they often have fetishes about their writing instruments. 

The pens and paper they use, the typewriters they pounded on or still write with, and more recently their computers and word-processing software.

For example, Paul Auster will use only his Olympia SM9, Maya Angelou exclusively wrote with an Adler Meteor 12, and Philip Roth an Olivetti Praxis 48.

When it comes to pens and paper, Stephen King uses a Waterman Hemisphere; J.K. Rowling, as is her wont, formulated her initial Harry Potter ideas on paper napkins; Jack Kerouac (when he wasn't typing On the Road on a continuous roll of paper--Truman Capote once famously put Kerouac down by quipping he wasn't a writer but a "typist") wrote with a modest Bic Cristal pen; and a major piece in last Sunday's New York Times Style section noted that writer Ben Schott (whoever he is) uses only Jinhao pens (whatever they are--I assume something very fancy and expensive to qualify for mention in the glitzy Style section).

I confess to being equally compulsive.

When not typing on my MacBook Pro, I have insisted for more than four decades that I can only function on yellow legal pads with a Pentel Rolling Water, Roller Ball, Cushion Ball pen with black ink and a medium (.80 mm) tip. 

Since I periodically wake up shaking with anxiety that Pentel will soon stop making them, when most stressed, I order pens by the dozens and have stocks of them sequestered in both New York and Maine.

But there is a problem with this--I recently discovered they do not last forever but dry out after a few years. So it is a race in time to see what will expire first--my pens or me.

Nonetheless, I noticed recently that since my New York supply was down to just a few dozen I ordered a couple of boxes (12 in a box) to replenish my stash, holding my breath that they might no longer be available.

Reflexively, I went to Amazon and was relieved to find that they were available, but thought, before ordering them, that maybe I should shop around to see who was offering the best deal. Almost always that would be Amazon and what with Prime free shipping, why even bother. But being responsible I did.

Amazon was selling a box of 12 for $10.55, but Office Supply was offering the same thing, not on sale, including free shipping, for only $8.60, a nearly two dollar savings. So how could I say no. 

I didn't and ordered them from Office Supply. They arrived in less than two days, though it was hardly urgent as I already had at least a three-year supply.

While waiting for the Pentels to be delivered I thought about Amazon's business model. 

I know a little about this as we own a number of Amazon shares. In fact, in our mix of financial instruments and investments, it's the only individual stock we have since we prefer index funds. It has been good to us as well as to other early investors so I am a little worried that by talking about this I may spook my favorite investment. 

This of course is ridiculous. 

But with Chaos Theory suggesting that just one butterfly flapping its wings has an effect on things on the other side of the world couldn't I, by flapping my mouth, unleash global, macro-economic forces? Again, I know this is just the anxiety-ridden me talking.

The founder and CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, seemingly the world's richest man (unless Vladimir Putin is), wants Amazon to become America's "everything store." He appears to be well on his way to realizing this goal. In fact just yesterday Amazon announced the location of its second multi-multi billion dollar corporate headquarters, joining the original one which will continue in Seattle. This move is so vast that they will split this new headquarters into two halves with one located in Long Island City, across the East River from Manhattan, and the other in Arlington, Virginia, adjacent to Washington, DC.

I know that many hate Amazon, feeling it already is an exploitative  monopoly and that its predatory practices have contributed to the decline of brick and mortar businesses, including independent bookstores. 

Though Amazon is valued at nearly $1.0 trillion, up to 10 percent of its employees are on food stamps and another large percent work part time or seasonally. Thus the company takes advantage of business regulations that enable it to get away with not providing benefits  Though just recently Amazon moved to pay all employees, including those who work for Whole Foods, at least $15 an hour.

So Amazon is riddled with contradictions. Like many capitalist enterprises.

But then there is Amazon and my Pentels.

The fact that on this small-ticket item Office Supply figured out a way to undersell the Bezos' behemoth suggests that perhaps Amazon is not on track to take over the world. 

Could this, like the chaotic butterfly, mixing metaphors, be a straw in the wind? If Office Supply can figure out how to sell pens cheaper than Amazon why can't they and others figure out ways to sell virtually everything cheaper and thereby give Amazon some well-needed competition?

I know, my stock. But, for the sake of the world, I'm OK with whatever happens to my Amazon. But about the Pentels, I'm not negotiable.

Philip Roth at His Olivetti

November 13, 2018--Pour It On Mr. President

I know this sounds counterintuitive but I welcome the appointment of Matt (The Hulk) Whittaker to be acting attorney general.

I love the idea that he is totally unqualified to hold that office for even a day. I love the fact that he is somehow implicated in a scheme to defraud clients who were paying a company for which he was an official a fee to secure patents they never received. (Sound familiar?) I especially love that he has been a flunky for Trump for at least two years and seems eager to do his bidding, including and perhaps especially shutting down the Mueller investigation. 

I love this since even firing the special counsel will not thwart the investigation, only further sully Whitaker and Trump by piling on additional counts of obstruction of justice. With Democrats about to control the House, this guarantees that Mueller's report in one way or another will become public and lead to Trump's impeachment. If the Pentagon Papers leaked out so will the ultimate Mueller report. 

And I love the fact that Trump is in open warfare with journalists, acting like a bully and in the case of black women exposing his deep racism. Wouldn't it be great, I am thinking if he would ban a few more from the White House.

To keep his opposition motivated, the worse the better.

On the international front, I like the way Trump behaved over the weekend in France at the gathering of world leaders to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

It was perfect that he arrived late and left early. (As did his best friend and handler, Vladimir Putin.) Since the gathering was not about him, he saw no purpose in being there and was not shy about letting everyone take note of his petulance. 

I can't tell you, though, how happy I am that he did come to Paris and am overjoyed that he didn't show up for a memorial gathering at a cemetery for American soldiers killed in action, claiming that since it was drizzling he would have to be driven to the site rather than helicoptered in and that it was too foggy even for that.

I suspect that the real reason Trump skipped the ceremony was because if he got wet his orange-dyed face might run. Also, in his twisted cosmology, as a perverse commander-in-chief, he deems men killed in action "losers," not unlike John McCain was a loser because he was captured. He likes only winners such as himself who couldn't hold onto the House of Representatives. 

I do not need to speculate what veterans might be feeling about this draft dodger who didn't serve in Vietnam because he got five deferments and allegedly had a bone spur in one of his feet. But if as a result fewer vets vote for him in 2020, so much the better.

Do not worry that the alliances he is undermining can never be reestablished. Quite the contrary. Our true allies know the problem is Trump, not America nor the American people. Days after he is defeated two years from now French, German, and English leaders will be be on the first flight out to meet with the president-elect to begin the reconciliation process.

The more Trump does things of this kind the better it is. And so I say, bring it on. 

Please Mister President, keep up your outrageous behavior because the more you do things of this kind the more likely it is that you will not be reelected. Keep up the hissy fits and white supremacist talk because the more you behave this way the more likely you lose.

That's the next prize to keep eyes on. We did good work last week in regard to the House and local elections around the country, but that was the intermediate prize. The big one is now teed up.

Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker

This is my 3,500 blog posting. The first one appeared August 26, 2005.

November 12, 2018--Next Day

I will be back on Tuesday.

November 9, 2018--Thank A Veteran

Remember how it was during and after the Vietnam War? So many of us protesting LBJ and the war looked with anger at all who were involved. Including soldiers who were drafted to serve, who did not volunteer, and who came home, frequently grievously wounded physically and psychologically. They often were spat upon rather than thanked for their sacrifices. And then there were the more than 58,000 who didn't come home.

Now we have a volunteer military but the wars we have asked our young people to fight are once again godforsaken. It is good to be able to note that for the most part civilians are genuinely thankful for their service and find ways to express that.

I will try to do so again this weekend.

November 8, 2018--A Note To Some of My Liberal Friends

I have been hearing from a number of friends that they are disappointed with the results of the midterm election.

That though Democrats regained control of the House and all that that will allow, Stacey Abrams lost the governor's race in Georgia and in Florida not only did Andrew Gillum not win the governorship but also incumbent Democrat senator Bill Nelson failed to be reelected  But to many of my friends, equally disappointing, Beto O'Rourke in Texas failed to unseat Ted Cruz.

Certainly it would have been wonderful if they had come through and thus I share their disappointment. But it concerns me that as a result some friends are disappointed with the overall results.

"I'm spoiled," one friend said, "I'm greedy and want to win everything."

I get it but is the best way to think about the results? 

It would have been exhilarating if they had won, but electoral politics is not about generating exhilaration. It is about electing people who share our values, have the ability to set needed agendas, win, and then (the hard part) are skillful enough to carry them out.

When I heard about this unhappiness I attempted to push back, saying we have to keep our eyes on the prize. In this case the prize is not only diminishing Trump (this week's election has already begun to do that) but to thwart the worst of his plans and (even more important) reduce his 2020 reelection chances.

And now with Jeff Sessions fired and who knows what else Trump will do in a panic to save himself, Democrats controlling the House is even more of an imperative and very good news.

I argue to my friends that politics is the art of the possible, not the perfect, and to be effective one needs to be able to compromise, set longterm goals, be strategic-minded, persist, and accept the reality that almost everything we contribute to accomplishing not only takes too much time to achieve but, even when we do, will never be fully satisfying. It is often frustrating. It's the grinding nature of the process.

My late friend Flash put it this way. He used to say when we saw this tendency among the people with whom we were working (most were progressives), "Though understandable and based on good intentions, when seeking to bring about change it is imperative to avoid the tendency to be satisfied only with the perfect solution. Unfortunately, since we never can achieve that we run the risk of winding up frustrated and ultimately powerless. Feeling pure may make us feel good about ourselves," he would add, "but if we are seeking to make as much a positive difference as possible, being satisfied only with the ideal we run the danger of rendering ourselves ineffectual."

In some circumstances this could feel as if he was calling for compromising in advance (it can have elements of that) but I continue to think at its heart it is true.

Thus, with all the disappointments, Tuesday's election may turn out to be historic. 

Trump had us on the road to an American version of autocracy. If he (yes he) had maintained control of the House, one more essential check built into our constitutional system would have been blunted and an even more emboldened Trump would have felt empowered to chip away at an accelerated pace at the protections thankfully hardwired into our constitutional system.

That we voted successfully to resist this is the headline from Tuesday, not that Beto and the others lost. In fact, looked at it another way he and they might be thought of as actually having won. 

Frequently, in a process that takes years to culminate, blazing trails and coming close is not only essential--it is often the most difficult part--but also can include elements of exhilaration.

The implications and complexity of this are worth more thought. 

November 7, 2018--The Economy, Stupid

Briefly since I was up all night listening to the election results--

First, I did pretty well with my predictions. 

Beto O'Rourke did lose by about three points (which for a Democrat in Texas is remarkable) and one would think that would end any talk about his president possibilities in two years, but last night on MSNBC there was chat about his running and in this morning's New York Times speculation about his potential candidacy.

Then, by far the biggest headline from the evening's results was the Democrats winning control of the House of Representatives. By a somewhat bigger margin than predicted by most. Adam Schiff, who will become chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, essentially announced that in January there will be wide-ranging investigations of Trump and his minions, including demands that they have access to his tax returns. 

The takeover of the House by Democrats will also assure that Mueller's eventual report will see the light of day. Even if Trump fires everyone associated with the investigation Schiff and his colleagues will have the power to subpoena it and make it public. 

And, one bonus from Schiff's ascension, is that we won't have to pay attention anymore to the departing chairman, Trump funky Devin Nunes.

On the Democratic side there did not appear to be any stars waiting for 2020 to be born. Perhaps Gavin Newsome, who will become California's governor might turn out to be credible. I know nothing about him (all talk about California presidential candidates have thus far centered around Senator Kamala Harris), but as my father would point out if he were still around--he has "presidential hair."

Finally (and then back to bed) though James Carville's insight when it comes to national elections is that it's always the economy, stupid, that was not true last night. It was about healthcare, healthcare, healthcare and immigration, immigration, immigration. And, yes, concern about Trump's abhorrent behavior. A full 30 percent said to vote against him was a major reason why they turned out.

Thinking about going forward, it will be important to see how many white women and young people voted, for whom, and by what numbers. Because by 10:00 am today the 2020 election moves to center stage.

November 6, 2018--Final Predictions

While people are still voting and before there are any results, to distract myself here are a few predictions and speculations--

The numbers in the Senate will remain the same with the GOP continuing to hold a one-seat majority.

Arizona and Texas will flip from Republican to Democratic with Beto O'Rourke emerging as the brightest new Democrat star. By Thursday, no, by tomorrow he will become the frontrunner for the 2020 presidential nomination and two years from now will defeat Mike Pence.

Obviously, this means that Donald Trump, for one reason or another, will not serve out his first term. Early next year he will declare Mission Accomplished and turn the keys to the Oval Office over to Pence.

In the House we will see a real "wave election." Still stung for getting 2016 wrong (no one predicted Trump would win, including Trump himself), pollsters and media pundits are being very conservative this time in analyzing the data and making projections. The consensus going in is that the Democrats will eek out just enough flipped seats (they need 23) to take control. I suspect they will do much better, winning close to 50 currently Republican-held seats.

As it should be, this will be the headline. 

Anticipating this, Trump in recent days has been saying he's been concentrating exclusively on the Senate. There are too many seats in the House for him to pay attention to, he said, and thus he won't be surprised if the Democrats take control of the House. "We'll work it out," he has been saying. 

Since he's all about winning, "losing" the House will be what will motivate him to not run in 2020. Better to declare victory than try to deal with losing.

In early January the Democrats, who will control all House committees, will begin a judicious number of investigations. To launch too many will make it look as if there is in fact a witch hunt going on, that the election to Democrats was all about the opportunity to overturn the 2016 election. 

These congressional investigations, where the Dems will have subpoena power, will focus on Trump's finances. Especially his business dealings with the Russians. The Mueller report, which will be submitted within the month, will cover the same ground, and with both dominating the discourse it will make Trump crazier than anything else that might be revealed about him. In a panic he will fire Attorney General Sessions, Rob Rosenstein, and Mueller himself. 

But this will not impede the House's work. The genie is coming out of the bottle and it will lead to Trump's downfall. Giving up the presidency will not stall this momentum much less end the investigations.

Most important, tomorrow's results will be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency and will ultimately lead to his own more personal decline because there is so much corruption and criminality waiting to come to light that even he, as nimble as he has been at surviving (his whole life has been about wiggling out of trouble) will not be able to squirm free. After decades, his luck is finally running out.

This is why people today are voting in record numbers: it is to say to him--"Enough."

Unpacking the polling data later this week we will discover that ten percent of his supporters will have either stayed home, not voted because they can't bare to vote for Democrats, or held their noses and pulled the lever for those who opposed Trump.

Republican survivors in Congress who have been among his enablers will begin to abandon ship. All they care about is having power; and with Trump now a liability, they will cut and run. Even Lindsay Graham will be looking for another macho man to suck up to. 

In addition, there is considerable pent-up schadenfreude that needs to and will be expressed. 

My final prediction is that all will begin to turn out for the best, The system will have been shown to work. That's a very big thing.

November 5, 2018--What Are We So Afraid Of?

It is not inappropriate, the day before the most consequential midterm election in memory--perhaps in all of American history--to explore the power of the defining political issue--Fear.

This time around, we really do have nothing but fear itself to fear.

Fear is the central theme, the emotion being evoked by the defining presence in the campaign--Donald Trump, who has nationalized the process. 

Rather than this election being about Congress, which by definition is what midterm elections are--they occur midway through a president's term of office, usually his first term, by its nature it is about 435 separate House of Representatives and this year 35 separate Senate contests--Trump has turned it into something different, something unprecedented. 

Because of Trump's behavior--daily or twice daily rallies, endless political tweets and interviews--this midterm is a version of a presidential reelection campaign. In this case, Trump is seeking something resembling reelection (or minimally a vote of confidence) after fewer than two years in office. 

He has absconded with the electoral process and has tried to make it all about him. 

I suspect he has succeeded. 

Instead of the Democrats having an outside chance to pick up two or three Senate seats (and thus regain the majority), as a result of Trump's endless campaigning the Republicans are likely to flip a couple of seats and thus hold onto the majority, and rather than a Blue Wave that would see Democrats flipping 50 seats in the House, it looks as if 30 is more likely (which thankfully is just enough to regain the speakership).

This is the conventual wisdom. But I worry since this also feels like deja-vu all over again, Remember how "everyone" thought Hillary would easily defeat Trump in 2016? 

Retrospectively we know that fear then was also something Trump was perversely skilled at stoking.

This time, he has focused on the alleged threat represented by a so-called "caravan" of Central Americans heading north through Mexico toward the U.S. border. Taking his talking points from Fox News, Trump, without foundation, tells those attending his rallies that not only do the marchers include "very tough people, "M-13 gang members, but also how many are infected with exotic diseases, including leprosy (which though not easily contagious sounds very frightening and, for the Evangelicals in his base, is the disease most frequently mentioned in the Bible).

Caravans of asylum-seekers are not new. There have been any number of them over the years. Most recently, in April, on Trump's watch, 1,500 headed toward San Diego. About 300 made it. Only 14 were arrested. Almost all others were mothers with young children. Objectively not much of a threat but rich fodder for demonologizing.

The current caravan is estimated to be larger. Still 800 miles from the border, based on the April numbers perhaps 700-800 will reach U.S. Customs at about Christmas time. Impartial observers report that as in the past most are mothers with children.

Nonetheless, this minimalist threat is enough to incite Trump's most fervent followers. His order to send up to 15,000 U.S. troops to join the 20,000 border patrol agents in defense of the border (which is illegal for the military to do) is a fearful over-deployment of resources. But it does contribute to fear about the magnitude of the threat. It is thus more a political than a tactical move. After Tuesday, no matter the results, expect this military ploy to evaporate from the headlines.

More disturbing, what has happened to us? To Americans? Why have we become so fearful? How can it be that this caravan of women and children is enough to paralyze more than a third of the population?

Have Americans who responded so bravely to real threats such as the attack on Pearl Harbor and on 9/11 the World Trade Center, become such wusses that we need the Army to protect us from women and children in flip-flops marching 1,000 miles to seek asylum?

For a depressing number of Americans the answer appears to be yes.

November 2, 2018--Back Monday

I will return here on Monday. Between now and then everyone who cares about the future of America needs to help get out the vote.

November 1, 2018--Ivan ("Flash") Kronenfeld

We were an unlikely couple who met on Staten Island. 

Flash, a street person who had worked since childhood as a longshoreman on the fruit and vegetable piers on the Hudson River where high-rent Tribeca is now situated. Before dawn each day, with a hand truck, moving bushels of foodstuffs from freight cars to huge walk-in refrigerators and freezers. He was so good at this, he worked so hard and fast, that the other men dubbed him "Flash."

Me? Superficially, a smoother sort. Over-educated since high school in undergraduate and graduate programs at Ivy League Columbia, I was at the community college on Staten Island in large part to rebuild my resumé so that I could one day find my way back to the Ivy League, to get away from the stigma of being on the staff of a two-year college. Half a college of the type that someone once described as a high school with ashtrays. At the time, for me that about summed my situation.

In 1976, I wrote a book about this, Second Best. The title alone reveals in large part how initially I regarded my fallen circumstances. For a variety of reasons (among them that I didn't have the most developed academic chops) I found myself in collegiate purgatory.

But then I encountered Flash. 

We were initially unaware of each other. It was the tumultuous 1960s and we were working in separate orbits at Staten Island Community College (SICC). We had been hired and encouraged by the brilliant educator president, William (Bill) Birenbaum, to break the traditional molds that were hindering our largely first-generation students from either moving on to solid careers or transferring to four-year colleges where they could complete their undergraduate educations. The drop-out rate hovered near 50 percent.

Bill hired Flash to draw upon his street smarts in order to relate directly to the submerged, not fully embraced hopes and aspirations of the college's predominantly working-class students, to invent institutional ways to help them discover and make the most of their capacities.

Bill teamed me with Flash, thinking I could add my collegiate experiences to the mix so that together, for the students, from working with Flash, there would be a visceral and familiar connection while from me there would flow the possibility of their receiving help in making strategic academic choices.

Street and campus, our version of town and gown. As I said, we were an unlikely couple.

Birenbaum got to know the brilliant and accomplished Flash when he was chancellor of Long Island Universitiy's downtown Brooklyn campus. Bill was seeking ways to relate to the local Bed-Stuyvesant community and when he learned of and visited a remarkable day care center Flash had established in the neighborhood he lured him into joining his LIU team that was working to forge programmatic connections between the college and the Bed-Sty community. This also involved working with Bobby Kennedy's Bed-Sty Restoration Corporation, which was working to improve the local housing stock and attract businesses to locate plants there in the middle of then forgotten Brooklyn.

What happened next is a long story. 

In brief, Birenbaum was fired because the LIU board of trustees saw the college's future in building academic strength so it could compete for students with Brooklyn College, NYU, and Columbia and not get its hands dirty working directly with "the people." 

Students, largely led by Flash (Bill made him enroll in addition to having a job at the college), went on strike and shut the place down for weeks while Birenbaum ran the college from exile at the bar of Juniors Restaurant across Flatbush Avenue. The situation made all the papers and Birenbaum became such an attractive celebrity educational leader (it was the 1960s and charismatic Bill gave great quotes) that the City University hired him to serve as president of an unlikely place, Staten Island Community College. 

He accepted only if Flash agreed to move with him so that together they could seek ways to connect SICC to the local community. Bill said, including to me when he recruited me--"Community colleges are where the action is."

His charge to me (I was not given tenure at Queens College and thus was happy to get a phone call from Birenbaum) was to work with Flash and a few other "radical" educators he was hiring "to break all the windows and let the fresh air in."

We proceeded to do so. Not literally of course.

At SICC I became an educator with a lifelong devotion to working with so-called non-traditional students. This largely because of my association with Flash. Acknowledging him in Second Best, I wrote--

We've been through so much together it would take a chapter to sort out where his ideas begin and mine end. Suffice it to say I've learned more about learning from him than anyone else.

In endless conversations and long days and evenings of working together that lasted almost 10 years, we spoke about how most of the college's students arrived "cooled-out" by their families and previous schooling, effectively encouraged to lower their aspirations--"Don't overreach; be realistic; since you're not that smart, forget medical school; think about becoming a medical technician; forget law school; maybe think about becoming a paralegal, or (for the girls) working in a law office."

Flash said, "We need to be in the 'heating-up' business. In fact, part of the heating-up process is to talk with students about how they have been cooled-out. That the circumstances they find themselves in are not all their own fault." 

He called this a "political education" as it was about power--how one can come to lose it, yield it, and how gaining it--primarily over oneself--is necessary in order to come to be realistic in new ways--empowered, strategic, ambitious, mobilized. Anything then becomes possible.

To talk with students this way, to see them raise expectations for themselves, it was essential that Flash and I come to realize we needed to raise our own expectations--for ourselves as people and educators. He would always say personal change must proceed social change. We have to model that for our students if we are to be of transformative assistance to them.

As one example, since our heating-up students began to allow themselves to think about medical and law school as well as ambitious plans for themselves post SICC, almost all came to think about transferring to four-year colleges and universities.

To meet this increasing demand and to demonstrate what can be possible once mobilized, Flash and I travelled the country to strike transfer arrangements with more than two dozen highly selective institutions, including Amherst, Yale, Vassar, Mount Holyoke, UC Berkeley, Antioch, Oberlin, and my old Columbia as well as Brooklyn and Queens Colleges.

We told the receiving colleges that we would prepare our students for success--we would work on strengthening their academics as well help them deal with the inevitable cultural issues involved with leaving Staten Island to complete studies in otherwise alienating places such as New Haven or northern California.

The colleges would agree to hold up to 10 places for the students we would recommend and offer them full scholarships. As a consequence they would become more socio-economically diverse.

It worked! 

Over the years hundreds of our students transferred successfully and at most only half a dozen left the program. Everyone else graduated and we did in fact have a number who went on to law school. (None to medical school, but some did become psychotherapists!) 

Who I am, who I became is in large measure the blessed, magical result of encountering Flash (to know him is to have encountered him). His voice and ideas will forever be in my head. I know he has more to teach me.

Happy trails Flash, Ivan. Wherever you now are it is by definition a much more interesting place.