October 30, 2019--Nancy

In a government of incompetents--executive and legislative--there is one shining exception: how the House of Representatives has been handling the impeachment process.

Actually, how Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is managing the investigation.

It easily could have been a fiasco. Three or four committees of the House competing with each other for the lead role in conducting hearings would have sown more confusion than light. The public by now, with short attention spans, would have tuned out and drifted back to watching sports and Dancing With the Stars on TV. 

Trump would be tipped back in his Barka Lounger, puffing on a victory cigar while the rest of us would be left to dread what it would be like to have another four years of Trump, Fox News, Republican senators, and Rudy Giuliani.

But under Pelosi's firm direction we have seen a manageable procession of witnesses who, in the aggregate, are producing a narrative that is coherent and almost certain to lead to the impeachment of Trump and a trial in the Senate.

It is considered unlikely that the Republican-controlled Senate will vote to turn Trump out of office. Acknowledging this, allow me to spin a fantasy--

The aggregated evidence of how Trump's behavior has imperiled our national security is so compelling that before Thanksgiving he is impeached by the House. New evidence emerges that his high crimes and misdemeanors are so felonious that 20 GOP senators vote to expel him. This, along with all Democratic senators, is enough to turn him out of office. 

Mike Pence becomes president and as in the past we do not have a Vice President. (For example during the second term of the Nixon presidency.)

The House Intelligence Committee continues its work, this time with Pence under the microscope. Evidence accumulates quickly that he was even more directly involved than Trump in impeachable behavior when it came to pressuring Ukraine to dig up dirt about the Bidens. 

As a result he is impeached and voted out of office, again by the Senate.

We thus do not have a president until the next in line is sworn in.

The 25th Amendment on presidential succession requires that when there is neither a sitting president nor vice president--the Speaker of the House becomes president.

This means Speaker Nancy Pelosi becomes president.

We would finally have a woman serving as our commander-in-chief. A tough and competent one at that.

October 29, 2019--Just In From Thailand

With all that's happening, I won't fault you for not keeping up with the latest about the Thai king, Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayava Trangkun, and his consort, Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi.

Or should I say ex-consort.

It can get a little complicated in Thailand when it comes to consorts so let me attempt to clear up any confusion you may have, including how to spell their names.

What follows was reported in the New York Times. 

The royal consort of the king of Thailand was stripped of her title just months after she was given the rare designation, accused in a statement from the palace of disloyalty and trying to supplant the queen.

The king, who ascended the throne in 2016 on the death of his father, had appointed a royal consort less than three months ago, on his 67th birthday, and only two months after he married his fourth wife. 

The former consort who was a major general was also stripped of her military rank and decorations. She had previously been known as Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, which means loyal to King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

In August, the website of the Royal Household Bureau posted dozens of photos of her, including one of her in an airplane cockpit wearing a camouflage-printed sports bra and another aiming an assault rifle while clad in combat gear and holding the king’s pet poodle.

The king is seldom seen in public and is said to spend much of his time in Germany, where he maintained a residence before ascending the throne. He is one of the world’s richest men with a fortune estimated to be worth at least $30 billion.

The consort appointment came soon after the announcement that King Maha Vajiralongkorn had married his fourth wife, Queen Suthida Vajiralongkorn Na Ayudhya, a former flight attendant.

Both Queen Suthida and then-General Sineenat participated in the king’s coronation, a $30 million affair that took place in May.

But after the king and queen married, Ms. Sineenat pressured the king not to install the queen but to make her queen instead, according to the palace statement.

Other offenses included being “insubordinate to the king and queen,” showing a “lack of gratitude” and “causing the royal household staff to be discordant.”

Many Thais see the monarch as a demigod. And Thailand has a law that makes it a crime to insult the king, queen, heir apparent, or regent. Such a crime is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

I doubt if the former general will do any jail time but she clearly needs to find a way to earn a living.

The king and his former consort

October 25, 2019--Relocating

We're heading to NYC and thus I will suspend postings until Monday. There's a lot to do between now and then. Of course, if Trump abdicates, I will get back on line in half a second.

October 24, 2019--I'm Worried

We make it a habit to watch Nicolle Wallace's show, Deadline, every afternoon on MSNBC. It's usually smart talk with interesting guests who manage to make all sorts of bad and troubling news lively and even enjoyable.

Wednesday in Washington was the day in which Bill Taylor, former ambassador to Ukraine gave his riveting testimony to the House impeachment committee. It amounted to a scathing indictment of the president. It was also the day when Trump claimed that the impeachment investigation was a "lynching."

At the end of the hour, Rona asked me what I thought.

"Not bad," I said.

"Just that?" Rona said, hearing my flat comment.

"I thought it was a little boring."

"Boring! Considering everything that happened today, how important it was to the future of our country, and your takeaway was that it wasn't entertaining enough? This is not an entertainment." 

"What can I tell you. That's what I felt."

"We don't have the luxury of seeing what's going on as entertainment. We're talking life and death. In Syria literally. And then metaphorically here. In America what we're witnessing is about the possible end of American society as we've come to know it."   

"I know you're right, but . . ."

"I'm sorry to be jumping on you this way, on our anniversary yet, but . . ."

"No," I said, "I deserve the chastisement. Now more than ever we have to weigh in, press on the process, and do everything we can to resist. It's serious business. As serious as anything we've been forced to face as a people. I'll do better."

"I hope so," Rona said, "Because I'd be worried if people are getting bored and running out of gas. There's a long way to go."

October 23, 2019--Trump Doth Protest Too Much

First it was, "No collusion. No collusion" repeated endlessly by Trump as he attempted to squirm out of the charge that he colluded with the Russian in an attempt to rig the 2016 election.

I'm sure some wonk blogger came up with the exact number of times Trump robotically invoked it. Many hundreds of times for certain.

Now we have, "No quid pro quo. No quid pro quo." Again being used by Trump endlessly as he attempts to escape from the charge that he colluded with the Ukrainians in an attempt to get them to dig up dirt on the Bidens. Until they agreed to do so, he ordered that the military assistance approved for them not be forthcoming. A classic example of quid pro quo. A coercive version.

Beyond revealing what's on his mind and about what he is obsessing, these incantations are in effect confessions--what's most on his mind is what he best knows to be the truth. He is tormented by the fact that he did collude; he did engage in a quid pro quo with the Ukrainians.

And thus we have, "No collusion. No collusion" and "No quid pro quo. No quid pre quo."

An unravelled Trump is incapable of exhibiting restraint. He, ironically, is also incapable of not revealing the truth while he spends so much time and energy on lying about and denying it. 

The deepest truths, in other words, find their way to the light.

October 22, 2019--Jack Sputtering

Jack, alone, was slumped in a booth, seemingly talking to himself when we arrived at the Bristol Diner. 

Rona poked me and mouthed that maybe we should leave him alone. 

She whispered, "I think he's unraveling."

"If he is then maybe we should sit with him."  She nodded and led the way. 

"What's up Jack? You seem all out of joint?"

"I'm sick of those assholes."

"Who might they be?" Rona asked.

"Senators."

"Senators?" I said, "All of a sudden you care about them? I thought all that interested you was your president."

"That's my point."

"I'm not following you," I said. "Though I assume you're bent out of shape about the Republican senators."

"You assume correctly."

"I don't see why you're so down on them," Rona said, "They've rolled over for him. They'd be among those who wouldn't care if he shot someone on Fifth Avenue. All they're interested in is covering for him so he doesn't sic his base on them. Primary them, for example. They'll do anything to get reelected and believe if they cover for him, if they look the other way he won't come after them."

"It may surprise you," Jack said, "that I agree with most of that. They're a bunch of slimy hypocrites."

"Of course they're hypocrites. But I'm not getting your problem with them. As Rona said they're protecting him. I assume that's what you'd want them to do. Protect him from the Democrats."

"My problem is that these senators don't care about him but only about themselves. They'd throw him under the bus if they thought they could get away with it. This means the protection they provide is very thin and that makes Trump vulnerable."

"From your mouth to God's ear," Rona said. "I am hoping, to be honest, that they do throw him under the bus. My fantasy is that Pence becomes president. As bad as I think he would be he'd be like a breath of fresh air."

"His own people hate Trump and that scares me."

"Hate him?"

"If you were a Republican senator . . ."

"What a nightmarish thought," Rona said.

"If you were a Republican senator wouldn't you hate him? I don't mean express that openly. No one in their right mind who wants to remain in the Senate or run for president in four years would openly criticize him. As I said, they depend upon him to get reelected. So they show support for him and he reciprocates. Talk about quid pro quo."

"But I don't get the hate part. Why do they hate him?"

"They, all senators from both parties think of themselves as being members of the world's most exclusive club. There are only 100 senators, and they pride themeless on their independence and like to pretend they're above the grimy fray. In their own minds they're statesmen and compare themselves favorably to members of the House where representatives are comfortable doing whatever their leaders tell them to do. For example, how to vote. Look at how powerful Nancy Pelosi is. If she says jump, they jump. These days she even has AOC under her thumb. She housebroke her. Pun intended."

"I'm with you so far," Rona said.

"So how do you think it makes senators feel when they find themselves jumping when Trump tells them to do so? Or when Trump's lackey Mitch McConnell tells them to jump? Not too good, right?"

"I imagine not," Rona said.

"If true, then, a whole lot of Republican senators are not feeling very good about themselves. They're not the independent-minded big shots they like to think they are. They're a bunch of lackeys too. And politically and psychologically that can be dangerous for Trump. It means support for Trump in the Senate is thin because it was coerced and therefore is ready to explode or collapse. If Romney or Lindsey Graham, both still wanting to be president like half the senators do, were to pull the plug on their support for Trump, his presidency could come crashing down. Again, because most of the Republican senators hate him for what he has turned them into. How he has diminished and humiliated them. They know he has contempt for them. He doesn't even make the effort to pretend to pay attention to them much less take them seriously."

"This is quite an indictment," I said, "Sorry, though, for the indictment reference."

For the first time that morning Jack smiled.

October 21, 2019--Jack Tomorrow

Relocating yesterday, returning home got in the way of my having the time to finish the Jack piece. But it will be completed and posted tomorrow.

October 18, 2019--Weather Bomb

They say a bomb cyclone, or explosive cyclogenesis, struck the Northeast. Very much including here in Maine where we have been without power for two days. So it has not been easy for me to get something written and posted. But "they" say it will be "only" a couple of more days before it's restored. We'll see. 

If we get lucky (and that's what it will be) I hope on Monday to be able to pass along another Jack story. It seems he's obsessing about senators. Republican senators. This one you have to hear. 

October 17, 2019--Lindsay In 2024

Trump's favorite golfing partner is the ever slippery Lindsay Graham. 

Just when it looked as if the senator from South Carolina was about to sign up for a death-do-us-part role as the president's chief apologist and poodle (he loves those midnight Air Force One flights to Mar-a-Lago) he seemed to discover a backbone and has been scathing in his criticism of Trump's impulsive decision to withdraw American troops from northern Syria, abandoning to torture and death our formerly staunch ally, the Kurds.

But then I remembered that Graham sought the Republican nomination for president in 2016. He never rose about one-percent land and was the butt of numerous Trump jokes--his favorite was referring to him as a "nut job" and "the dumbest person I know." He even outed him--not what you're thinking--when he gave out Graham's personal cell phone number.

I suspect Lindsay has been seething ever since, waiting for his moment to rise again, to get even. 

This might be that time.

Lindsay is not so dumb as to not sense when there is blood in the political water. With Trump and his administration approaching freewill, sensing Trump will not be around after next year, Lindsay is thinking 2024, when he, in his own mind, would be the frontrunner for the nomination. He would be only 69, young as things go these days. And then he would have his own Air Force One.

October 15, 2019--Life Expectancy

When a couple of years ago a neurologist told me that the tremor I was experiencing in my right hand was not an "essential tremor" but evidence of Parkinson's Disease, I asked him how long it would be before I turned into Michael J. Fox.

He asked how old I was. I told him and with a dismissive wave of his hand said I didn't need to worry. 

When I asked why, he said because at my age, before the symptoms became severe, I would be dead.

I told him that I then had something to look forward to. 

He asked what that was. 

I told him to being dead.

He didn't smile. In his business I suppose it isn't easy to have much of a sense of humor.

Thinking the other day about the intersecting curves of my slowly-developing PD symptoms and my age, in other words how I was doing on the dying scale, I thought to quantify it and so I looked up my actuarial life expectancy--how much longer I have to live.

For a white man my age it is 7.82 years. 

Not that bad, I thought, but then again, if I look back 7.82 years to 2011, as I did, it seems as if that was but yesterday.

Obama was in his second year as president--that was a good thing--and Osama bin Laden was killed--another good thing. Also, it was the year of the massive earthquake in Japan, the resulting tsunami, and the death of North Korean tyrant Kim Jung-Il. 

Domestically, in January, Gabby Giffords was shot, The King's Speech won the Academy Award for best picture, and the Packers defeated the Steelers in the Super Bowl. The Dow Jones average closing price was 11,958. Today it's 26,842.

Get what I mean? Doesn't it feel like just yesterday?

As you can see, I got carried away with this. 7.82 years. I couldn't get it out of my mind. It seemed like an OK number, but . . . King's Speech? Didn't we see that only two or three years ago?

I know life expectancy calculations are the heart and soul of how insurance companies operate. If they get it right, they make money. If not, their bottom line is effected. So traditionally considered, life expectancy is a big deal.

As I struggled with this, I wondered if this is the right way to think about life expectancy--not actuarily, calculating how much time is left, but to ask what I should expect from life. How am I doing in the living, not dying business.

Some days fine when the sunsets are especially vivid because I open myself to seeing them in their full display.

Or when dinner is particularly savory, again if I slow down and let myself experience the flavors and textures that way.

When I concentrate enough to hear the inner dynamics of a Beethoven string quartet. When I revisit some of Hemingway's stories and tune in again to his muscular prose. When the heat crackles in the pipes. When the birds, not anxiety wake me. 

When I notice how wonderful Rona looks in her red sweater. If I take the time to see even though I am colorblind and red often looks like dull gray to me. But in those moments when Rona fires my imagination and passion, red blazes and life is good.

If I manage to live this way, 7.82 years, or the time that remains for me, seems like just the right amount. 

October 14, 2019--Columbus Day

I'm being little lazy today but will be back tomorrow with a piece about life expectancy.

October 11, 2019--Everything to Hide

If Trump and his administrative henchmen have nothing to hide, why are they hiding all requested and subpoenaed documents and refusing to testify before Congress?

If they had nothing to hide, all they would need to do to end the impeachment investigation is turn over their papers to the various congressional committees, show up to answer questions, and in their testimony demolish their opponents' accusations and arguments.

It would be simple. But the answer is obvious--they have everything to hide.

October 10, 2019--"Render Unto God and Trump"

Yesterday I wrote about Trump's Messianic impulses. Not just that he panders to and uses Evangelicals for his own political purposes, but also that he appears to believe he may be The One.

Encouraging him in this delusion are preachers such as Jerry Falwell and cynical professional Christians such as Ralph Reed, who is the chairman of the Georgia Republican Party.

According to POLITICO, Reed argues in a book due out before the 2020 general election that American Evangelicals “have a moral obligation to enthusiastically back” the president.

According to the book's description, the original title was Render to God and Trump, a reference to the biblical verse, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” The message from Jesus in Matthew 22 has been used to justify obedience to government--or in the case of Reed’s book, to Trump.

Regnery Publishing confirmed the book’s existence but said the title is For God and Country: The Christian Case for Trump. The publisher declined to comment on the reason for the title change.

Reed, who once said Trump’s comments about women in the leaked “Access Hollywood” tape were low on his “hierarchy of concerns,” belongs to an informal group of evangelical leaders--including Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell Jr., Robert Jeffress and Paula White--who support and advise Trump. 

They have claimed that his entry into politics was divinely inspired and have equated him to biblical figures such as Queen Esther; and frequently cite Scripture to justify his most controversial policies and behavior--actions that other religious scholars and leaders have found cringeworthy.

About that, sadly true.

October 9, 2019--Great & Unmatched Wisdom

There have been reasons to be concerned about Trump's narcissism. There have been reasons to be concerned about his out-of-control ego. There have been reasons to be concerned about what it means when he refers to himself, often in the first person, as a "very stable genius."

But as the impeachment inquiry presses in on him, as he is entrapped, including by himself, there are even more reasons to be concerned.

From one of his Tweet on Monday, as evidence of his capitulation to Turkish President Erdogan reached a crescendo and we abandoned our Kurdish allies, it appeared that he is now seeing himself in old testamental, messianic terms.

He wrote-- 

"As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey."

Trump the thunderer. Very scary.

October 8, 2019--John Allan: Any Sense At All

John Allan said, "You make me sound smarter than I am."

We were having breakfast together at the Bristol Diner.

"You mean in the blog I wrote last week about Trump's Australian connection?"

"That's the one. I was the one who posed the question that got us going but you put words in my mouth. Not that that upset me. I liked the words and thoughts you assigned to me."

"He does that all the time," Rona chimed in, "He claims it's the way he gets closer to the essence of a situation."

"I didn't make stuff up the other day. You said almost everything I attributed to you."

"'Almost everything?' I'm not sure I see that as journalistic."

"It isn't," I said, "I'm not a journalist. I see myself as an essayist."

"What pray tell is that?" playing with me, John said.

"I know this will sound pompous but I seek the truth in things. Which means I often have to extract it from ambiguous and incomplete information."

"I get that," he said, "So tell me how that worked the other day when we were talking about Australia because it still sounds as if you make stuff up."

"First of all, you're not the best witness as to what was said, what even you yourself said. No one is. I mean about what they say. No one is a human tape recorder, capturing  exactly what they said. And then there are the subtle inferences that are often best communicated via body language and gestures and nods and winks. You're really good at the latter. You're about the best winker and shrugger I know. It's like a private language of yours."

"That makes sense to me, "John said, "And I do like that, but still I'm a little uncomfortable with your methodology. Particularly when it comes to me." He sent me a broad wink.

"Let me tell you a story--"

"Not another story!" This time John didn't wink.

"I know. I can be tedious with some of my stories. But I think you'll like this one. It's about finding truth in discourse. Though putting it this way makes it sound more profound than it is."

"Actually," John said, "this story sounds promising."

"It was told to me by a colleague and friend, Sir Claus Moser, who I worked with in some of the Ford Foundation's work with expanding higher education opportunities for low-income students. He led that effort for Great Britain but before that was head of development for the British Museum and before that was the secretary to the British cabinet. In that role, among other things, he was responsible for preparing the minutes of cabinet meetings."

"Where is this headed?" John asked, "I've got to get to the office."

"I'm almost done," I said. This time Rona rolled her eyes.

"He told me there are three ways to prepare the minutes. 'Since recoding devices weren't allowed, first, you can do your best to capture as precisely as possible exactly what members said. Then, you can do that and add a little editing. For example, to clean up the grammar and syntax. Finally, you can do what I did--write what members would have said if they had any sense at all.'"

"I do like that," John said. "And I take your point. Now I have to get to work."

October 4, 2019--Benghazi Redux

At taxpayer expense, I am sure, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife are galavanting around Italy, visiting diplomatic hot spots such as the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. And yes having a private audience with the Pontiff. 

He also may or may not meet up with Bill Barr, our Attorney General, who is also in Italy, also with his wife. I think more to chow down than carry out Trump's agenda for him--to get dirt on how the hated Mueller investigation got gong. 

The impeachment inquiry spotlight is moving on to the two cabinet secretaries, and I am certain they are happy to be hidden away for the moment in the Hassler. As far from Trump as possible, who in the meantime is again in Florida playing golf.

Did I miss the memo that it's already Spring Break?

When Pompeo finally gets home I have an idea about how to reward him for his loyalty and service to the country. Something that he can include on his resumé as he prepares in four years to run for the presidency. Of the United States--

Now that he has been caught in a baldfaced lie--after denying that he was in fact listening in on Trump's infamous July 25th phone call with the president of Ukraine he was compelled to admit he was and as a result will certainly be called to testify before Adam Schiff's impeachment committee. 

When he does so, I have just the person who should interrogate him, who deserves to do so--Hillary. Yes, that Hillary.

In 2015 Pompeo was a member of Congress and on the House committee that interrogated Hillary Clinton who had been secretary of state when our diplomats were killed in Benghazi. She was questioned for more than eleven hours, most aggressively, most mean-spiritedly by Congressman Pompeo.

Schiff is apparently planning to have most of the questioning of witnesses done by staff and outside council. Like what the Rodino committee did during the Watergate hearings.

Why look any further than Hillary? She qualifies--she's a lawyer and God knows would have the motivation.

I'd pay to be there.

October 3, 2019--Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. Here's a picture of me on my 35th. Believe it or not I was in the midst of writing a book. I still do a lot of work in bed.

This was taken by my ex-wife, Lisa. Good photo, failed marriage. But we're still close friends.

October 2, 2019--What's Up With Australia?

Before we could sit, John Allan said, "What's up with Australia?" His face with his new beard made him look cherubic. His eyes were as lively as I had seen for some time. He looked as if he had shed ten years since we had coffee with him just a few days ago.

"What's up with you?" I asked. 

"I was taking a shower and listening to NPR and they seemed to be talking about Australia. Is anything going on down there?" He was grinning and winking.

"I think I know what you're referring to," I said, "Trump."

"Right you are," John said, clapping his hands, now smiling playfully, "Remember George Papadopoulos? A low-level Trump operative who was stirring around looking for dirt about Hillary for the 2016 election? He somehow managed to meet with a high-level Australian diplomat in London who told him the Russians had stuff that could undermine Hillary's campaign. Including, I think, that the Ukrainians had their hands on a server that held thousands of her emails."

"I'm with you," I said, sliding into the booth.

"So, according to NPR Trump recently asked his cultural conservative pal, the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, who rose to prominence by leading the effort to close Australia's borders to refuges and immigrants, Trump asked him if he would help Attorney General, Trump's poodle, Bill Barr, who was traveling the world to gather information about the origins of the Mueller probe."

"He can't give that up," Rona said, "Even though he dodged the Mueller bullet, he's still obsessed with it."

"He never can let go of anything, especially anything critical of him," John said. "Even the smallest things. But that's just the beginning of the breaking news. All afternoon on Monday, beginning about 4 o'clock, there was one bombshell after another. First, we learned that Rudy was subpoenaed by three House committees to turn over to them documents about his Ukraine-related dealings."

"Next," Rona said, "we heard that Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, was on the line during Trump's call with Ukraine president Zelezney. The 'do-us-a-favor' call that may turn out to be the smoking gun that brings Trump down."

"Then," John said, "there was the breaking news that Barr is on an undisclosed worldwide trip to gather dirt about his own FBI and the CIA. Specifically what they did to undermine Trump and help bring about the Mueller investigation. Barr's in Italy now."

"From the look of him," I said, "he's spending most of his time in trattorias."

"Nasty, nasty," John said, enjoying every word and tidbit of news and gossip, "We could go on," he said.

"I think it's the beginning of the end," Rona said. She's not prone to be optimistic about these matters.

"That's why you're looking so energetic and youthful," I said to John, "It's not just your beard." 

"I got some sleep and woke up at two in the morning, not as usual to anxiasize, but to see if there was any new news since I had gone to bed."

Rona said, "Speaking of sleep, I heard from my sister that my brother-in-law, for the first time in more than two years, had a good night's sleep."

October 1, 2019--2018 Midterms

If one needs evidence about the importance of voting, look no further than the 2018 Midterms.

If people hadn't turned out the Democrats would not have gained control of the House of Representatives and if that hadn't occurred we wouldn't know about Rudy Giuliani freelancing in Ukraine; we wouldn't have learned as we did yesterday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on the line in July when Trump attempted to get the Ukrainian president to come up with dirt about Joe Biden and his son; and we wouldn't have heard about Attorney General Bill Barr's intentional mischaracterization of the Mueller Report and all the other scut work he has done to protect and cover for his president.

And who knows what breaking news there will be today.

So, if you know of anyone who says they are not planning to vote unless Bernie or Mayor Pete or Elizabeth Warren or Joe Biden is nominated, take them aside, put an arm on their shoulder, and remind them of this.