A Tale of Two Americans

Today, I ran across two items with the same underlying theme. They essentially describe the differences between the “left” and the “right.” (Note that I didn’t say between the Democrats and Republicans because while I identify as a Democrat, there are sleazy and selfish people in my party, and there are a (very) few decent people in the GOP.)

One item was in traditional media. I read it in the Dead Tree version of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The other was from “new media”, a Facebook video from Jon Favreau’s company, Crooked Media.

The Inquirer article described the effort by ICE to purchase a warehouse in Berks County, Pennsylvania, where they want to establish a concentration camp for undocumented people and other “troublemakers.” Two Republican state senators from that area are mentioned, and one is quoted as remarking,

“𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑎𝑥 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡…”

Remarkably (and to no surprise), that Republican lawmaker did not mention the mistreatment of the detainees, nor did he mention the issue of these camps becoming a breeding ground for infectious diseases, as has been the case at other camps. His only concern was the dollar impact, not the human impact.

Favreau’s piece (link below) similarly compares the lack of compassion shown by those in power with that of those working to make America more inclusive. He compares remarks by two men with very similar backgrounds. One is Vice President JD Vance, and the other is a California man, George Reyes, who was tortured and illegally imprisoned by ICE while he was on his way to his job.

We live in an America where those in power, primarily white, male, heterosexual Christians, have the attitude of “I’ll take mine, and FU to everyone else”, while the compassionate majority realize that in order to live in a “more perfect union” we need to look out for our brothers and sisters, our neighbors and co-workers, and everyone else around us. America will never be great if it is run by the Trumps. Bezos’s, Bessents, and Lutniks. America will be great if our essence comes from people like George Reyes. Watch the video, and I guarantee you will be impressed by Reyes’ remarks.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1KVi6maeB8/

Why I Support Steve Fulop for New Jersey Governor

Six Democrats are competing for the party’s nomination for New Jersey governor, leading up to the November election. However, vote-by-mail ballots for the June 10 Primary are now being sent out. So this is a good time to outline my reasons for supporting Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop as our next governor.

I can discuss (and have discussed) the reasons why I am not supporting any of the other five candidates. But I won’t do that in this post. Rather, I will stick to the positive reasons why Mayor Fulop is the best candidate.

Political power and the ability to get things done depend on a governor’s understanding and experience in the unique quagmire of New Jersey politics. But there are two sides to “getting things done.” Over the years, New Jersey has been riddled with party bosses who have controlled who gets on the ballot, the design of the ballot to favor their candidates, and the patronage to their significant contributors - all at the expense of ordinary people.

Steve Fulop has been an outsider with respect to party bosses ever since he challenged Robert Menendez for the Democratic nomination for Congress in 2014. His campaign is unconventional in that it is mostly run by his grassroots volunteers and a lean campaign staff.

When considering who to support in the Primary, I sent a question on a topic that I am concerned about to his website, expecting a pro forma email response from a staffer. Instead, the next morning, my phone rang, and it was Mayor Fulop himself calling to explain his position on that topic. We probably spent about 30 minutes on the phone on that and other issues. Later, I learned that my experience was not unique and that some of my friends have also had similar interactions with him.

I was also impressed by a major career decision that he made in 2001. He was on a fast track working for Goldman Sachs, where the potential for a very lucrative career was his for the taking. But when the 9/11 attacks occurred, he quit that job and joined the Marine Corps and served in Iraq.

When he returned, he entered a career in public service - first as a Jersey City councilman and later as a three-term mayor. He understands the intricacies of the interface between local government and the state bureaucracy. This will serve him well as governor.

I see many similarities between Steve Fulop and Senator Andy Kim. Both are exceptionally smart, humble (or at least as humble as a politician can be), and are not bullshitters. Both have shown that they can get the job done even while other powerful entities work against them. And like Andy Kim, Steve Fulop is a mensch.

What Could Have Been

Of course, it's worse than we thought it would be. The Trump administration's number of unconstitutional, illegal, and mean-spirited actions has exceeded most people’s expectations.

Decent people, American patriots, will spend the next four years acting as a bulwark against the actions perpetrated by The Felon and his cowardly GOP enablers. And we’ll spend the next decade or two undoing the damage we could not prevent over The Felon’s term. Unfortunately, this means that America will make little or no forward progress toward the dream of a diverse and inclusive nation. Right now, America is moving backward, which will continue as long as our system of checks and balances remains neutered.

I’m a realist. If Kamala Harris had won, the Republican majority in Congress would still be fighting for unaccountable corporations and an extreme right-wing agenda. They would make President Harris’ job extremely difficult, and their hold on the corporate media would still spew their evil propaganda - especially against a woman of color. But even in the worst scenario of a Harris presidency, America would not be sliding into a fascist oligarchy. So what should we do?

First, the demonstrations at legislators’ offices should continue unabated. If the mainstream media continues their policy of “both-sidesism”, at least the protesters will bring the massive turnouts against the fascist regime to the forefront. Second, it is critical to flip the House (where budget resolutions are introduced) and the Senate (where high-level appointments are confirmed). But Democratic control is not enough. We need to elect courageous legislators and eschew DINOs like Manchin. We need to elect good Democrats at the state level where election laws are enforced and where equality legislation can partially counteract the draconian Musk agenda. This does not mean everyone should knock on doors and carry protest signs. But it DOES mean getting your apolitical friends and neighbors more involved - getting them to write or make calls to legislators, donate to good Democrats, and attend town halls.

We’re all in this together, and as my favorite Senator often tells us, “Apathy is the opposite of Democracy.” Even if you’ve never been involved before, now is the time. If not for you, then for your children and grandchildren.

The Political Opportunism of Tammy Murphy

 The First Lady of New Jersey, Tammy Murphy, is challenging three-term Congressman Andy Kim in the June 2024 Senatorial Primary. This is a prime example of raw political power (supplied by the Governor), nepotism, and political payoffs.

The Governor still has almost two years left in his term (he is then term-limited) and wields tremendous political and patronage power. Consequently, the New Jersey political bosses are all in for the Governor's wife, while those politicians with integrity like former Congressman Tom Malinowski support Kim.

But guess who else supported Kim? None other than the governor's wife, Tammy Murphy. Even before Kim won his first term, Tammy Murphy was actively promoting his candidacy. The only thing that caused her to change her mind was the seduction of political power.

Here's a very short video - an extract of a speech she gave in Burlington County, NJ, in October 2018 where she lauds Kim.

"We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." - Benjamin Franklin

 Ever since the end of World War II, the United States has been more-or-less in a constant state of armed conflict somewhere in the world. (Thank you, President Biden for working to stop this foolishness). But unless you have a loved one in the military, most Americans have been pretty complacent about these wars because they garner no inconvenience upon them. Sure, a large portion of their taxes go to the military budget, but many Americans would rather rail against their taxes feeding the hungry or educating their offspring. The point here is that endless wars are not an inconvenience for most Americans.

Similarly, for the past century, Americans (granted: along with China) have been at the forefront of destroying the Earth through the burning of fossil fuels. But unless their homes have been destroyed by forest fires or floods, this has been a minor inconvenience for them.

This has not always been the case. During World War II, my parents’ generation sacrificed a lot. Many enlisted in the military to fight fascism. The inconvenience of rationing was a price most were willing to pay toward that end.

But the thing that most exemplifies the change from “community” to “selfishness” has been Americans’ reaction to the pandemic. Fueled by right-wing (i.e. fascist) propaganda from outlets like Fox “News”, even among those Americans affected by the virus, many remain anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers.

My hope for 2022 is an epiphany among that one-third of Americans such that they realize that their actions are deleterious to society as a whole. It’s a false statement to posit that America was built on rugged individualism. Our continued good fortune depends on working together, respecting ALL of our fellow Americans, and - yes - occasionally sacrificing for the greater good in order to provide safe and prosperous lives for our children and grandchildren.

Repairing Our Presidential Elections - Without Making them Worse

Some of us would say that we have been living in a political nightmare since Donald Trump was inaugurated and that if he wins a second term, that nightmare would be orders of magnitude worse.

But there’s an even more scary scenario that could happen, based on a case that the U.S. Supreme Court recently adopted.

Imagine that in November, once again Donald Trump loses the popular vote and even loses the Electoral College to his Democratic opponent by a small margin - say three electoral votes. After the individual states certify their results, the end of the Trump nightmare is not assured. I would not put beyond his cabal to bribe, coerce, or otherwise force three Democratic members of the Electoral College to change their votes and give Trump a second term.

Do you think this is outlandish? I don’t. After all, Trump and his abettors stole a Supreme Court seat from Barack Obama. What’s to prevent them from stealing the presidency? Arguably, his party stole the 2000 election by shutting down the vote counting in Florida.

While some states prohibit “faithless electors”, in other states members of the Electoral College are free to thwart the will of their voters. In the past, some faithless electors have been fined while others have prevailed in court cases. If this nightmare scenario were to come to pass, I have no doubt that today’s Supreme Court would vote in favor of Trump. Their rationale would be in line with their strict interpretation of the Constitution where the Founding Fathers inserted the Electoral College as a bulwark to provide additional judgment on the outcome.

So what’s the solution? Many people have proposed a direct popular vote where the candidate with the most votes wins. But this approach has inherent problems, also.

Given that the popular vote is easier to manipulate than the electoral vote, unscrupulous state officials could jack up the numbers to give their states more influence. Voter suppression would become an even more powerful tool when raw vote totals determine the outcome. 

What’s even more egregious is that a candidate whose support is not universal could win. For example, in a five-way race, a candidate who receives slightly more than twenty percent of the popular vote could conceivably win the presidency.

So if we are to adopt a national popular vote, it should come with safeguards and fairness.

Ranked-choice voting would help ensure that candidates whose policies most align with that of the electorate have a better chance of winning. Federal monitoring of presidential elections is essential to ensure complete and accurate vote counting. Restoration of the Voting Rights Act should be a priority. And as in any election, unless and until we can demonstrate that machine voting is 100% hacker-proof, paper ballots should be mandatory.

By implementing a national popular vote with appropriate safeguards and ranked-choice voting, we can help ensure that the will of the people is heard every four years and it will allow us to sleep better.

Thoughts on Impeachment

Republicans are fond of positing that the attempt to impeach Donald Trump reverses a legitimate election. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Certainly, the legitimacy of the 2016 election is in question. That indeed is part of this Constitutionally-mandated inquiry. The legitimacy comes into question when you consider the aiding and abetting of foreign interference and the rampant voter suppression that was done by Trump and his cult political party. And while the fact that Trump badly lost the Electoral College vote is not part of the impeachment consideration, it certainly raises questions about our electoral process in general.

The Republicans’ point about overturning an election is equally as specious. Does anyone of either party think that the Democrats are doing this in order to install Christian evangelist and homophobe Mike Pence in the Oval Office? Impeachment is just as much a part of the U.S. Constitution as the Electoral College. The current impeachment is a textbook case of what the Founders feared and how to remedy the situation. By not impeaching, the House of Representatives would be shirking their oaths of office.

I have no issue if Republicans want to try to defend Trump on his record or on facts. But obfuscating the process with falsehoods is immoral and Anti-American.