A conversation about what's going on in the world at any given point in time…and what I think about it. Occasionally, guest bloggers may appear. Viewer comments are welcome. Peace! Alpha Heel
We have grown accustomed, if not weary of the seemingly never-ending litany of firsts that former president, and current GOP front-runner for his party’s nomination, Donald Trump, is amassing. It all started innocuously enough. In 2016, he became the first person without either government or military experience to be elected to the office of U.S. President. Yesterday, Trump became the first President or former President to be found liable for sexual abuse and defamation.
Ms. E. Jean Carroll alleged that Trump assaulted and raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store in 1996. A jury of six men and three women reached a unanimous verdict, finding Trump liable on both charges. They did not issue a finding of rape, which Ms. Carroll had also claimed. They awarded her $5 million in damages. For his part, the former President called the verdict a “disgrace, and a continuation of the greatest witch-hunt of all time.” He vowed to appeal.
Over the course of the trial, Mr. Trump opted not to appear in court. Under NY law, that choice was available to him, since it was a civil, rather than a criminal case. He did offer video testimony. During that testimony, Mr. Trump, at one point, mistakenly confused his former spouse Marla Maples with Ms. Carroll. When he was asked to identify individuals in a picture he cited an individual as Maples, who turned out to be Carroll. This was an important SNAFU on a couple of levels. Trump maintained he did not know and had never met Carroll (even though there are photos of them next to each other). He also dismissed the claim, adding that Ms. Carroll was not his type. That dis strained credulity, when he pointed to Ms. Carroll, as someone to whom he had been married.
At the end of the day, after nearly two hours of jury instructions from the Judge, it took only about an hour and a half for the jury to deliberate and reach a verdict. Unanimously!
This was not Trump’s first rodeo. Just a month ago, he was arraigned, and charged with 34 felonies by the Manhattan DA. Last August, an FBI raid at his Mar-A-Lago compound yielded several boxes of classified documents. The States of New York and Georgia have pending cases, with the New York case already on the docket for October. And who could forget, he was impeached? Twice! Last, but not least, the piece de resistance, he was at the center of the insurrection/coup attempt on January 6, 2021.
Please understand, this is not an exhaustive list from the Trump dossier. He didn’t just start being a character, after being elected President. While campaigning, he declared he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue, and not lose any voters. Way, way before, being elected, he bragged about grabbing women by the genitalia, and further editorialized that when you’re a star, they let you do it. There are numerous other pre-election inflammatory comments and deeds, but for the purposes of this post, that’ll do it.
After his election, it didn’t take long for Trump to find his groove. Inauguration Day was January 20, 2017. It was on this occasion, Mr. Trump exclaimed with great, even if misplaced, pride, that his was the largest inauguration crowd ever. There was only one problem with that assertion. The National Parks Service which takes aerial and ground photographs of major crowd events in Washington, DC, especially Presidential Inaugurations, released photos comparing the Trump Inauguration and Obama’s 2009 Inauguration. Based on the pictorial evidence, it was clear that President Obama’s 2009 Inauguration drew a larger crowd. A few days later when Counselor to the President, Kellyanne Conway, defended Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s attempts to validate Trump’s claim, she extemporaneously employed a term of art, when said Mr. Spicer, and by logical extension, Mr. Trump, had cited “alternative facts.” Never mind that an alternative (not a fact) fact is a lie, or an untruth, or generously, a fallacy.
To say Donald John Trump is an atypical politician is not a stretch. Any other pol with a fraction of the issues that Trump has cobbled together would be an afterthought by now. But no, not Donald. According to most recent polling (before yesterday’s decision, he was the leading contender for the GOP nomination. Indeed, after the Mar-A-Lago raid, he got a boost in polling. I don’t expect this instance to land any differently. His supporters know who he is, and they like him, just like he is. Remember, you heard it here first. “Another Day, Another First: As Usual, Not a Good One!”
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Please be aware, this is a reprised post, initially published October 5, 2022. Enjoy…again, perhaps.
For the better part of two years, I’ve told anyone who would deign to listen that the GOP is on a mission, if not single-mindedly, assuredly, first and foremost, to ensure that the anointed one, a.k.a. Donald Trump is held harmless for undertaking myriad shenanigans. If that wasn’t clear after two impeachments, both of which resulted in party impresarios all but laughing Democrats out of the Chamber, the fact that 147 Republicans voted to overturn election results on January 6, eight senators and 139 representatives, should have provided enough persuasion. Alas, for far too many, it did not.
Oh, did I fail to mention that prior to the vote in which 147 Americans elected to protect our democracy, voted to undo it, a violent mob breached the Capitol and threatened the lives of those very officials? I did fail to mention it; and so, did they, in their attempt to overthrow a duly executed election. Fortunately, failure was the GOP flavor-of-the-day. The insurrection/attempted coup failed, the effort to overturn the election failed, the apparent desired assassination of Vice President Mike Pence failed, and most notably, the drive to retain the Magnate of MAGAdom as Commander-in-Chief…failed.
But anyone who’s paid even a modicum of attention to the denizens of TrumpWorld knows they are indefatigable; quit is not in their vocab. And, in the event they thought about it, he’d wave his Svengali-like wand, and they’d be instantly re-energized.
In the ensuing 21 months, a lot has transpired. Little, if any of it, surprising. A House of Representatives Committee comprised of 7 Democrats and 2 Republicans and investigated the events of January 6. They have held 8 hearings, and are scheduled to hold one more, most likely its last. The 9th hearing would have been held last Wednesday, but Hurricane Ian ravaged Florida during the week, and the committee delayed the hearing. Thursday, October 13, has been floated as the possible date.
The hearings have been Must-see TV for CNN and MSNBC, and not surprisingly garnered little coverage and scant viewership on Fox. That’s as expected, of course. Trump has endeavored to paint the hearings as a form of political vendetta by his political rivals. He revels as such a dichotomy, and his supporters, surrogates, and sycophants eat it up, hook, line, and sinker.
Never mind that in addition to all the havoc he created, or stoked, related to January 6, the FBI searched his estate in July and found thousands of documents, including more than 100 Classified as Top Secret, that should have been turned over to the National Archives. Trump, or his spokesperson is alleged to have claimed all the documents had been returned. Let’s be clear, they should not have been taken in the first place, a review by the National Archives revealed that a great many documents were still missing.
This led to a visit and subsequent search of Mar-a-Lago by the FBI. Trump and his most ardent defenders maintained, vociferously at some points, that all the Archives staff had to do was ask (nicely< I suppose), and he’d have returned the documents. Interestingly, it turns out, they had been doing just that since early 2020. The effort to follow that tack continued until at least June 2022. At that point, it seemed apparent that the former president had no intention of returning the requested material. In Trump’s divergent approach to responding, he asked a lawyer to tell Archives that all the material had been returned. The attorney, believing this not to be the case declined to make that assertion. Pretty much simultaneously, in other spaces, Trump just audaciously claimed the documents were his. At other times, he argued he had declassified the material…which he said he could do with his mind…simply by thinking about it. And Republicans claim Biden is operating at diminished capacity.
Dean Obeidallah, in an opinion piece, which appeared atcnn.com Monday, argued, “If the GOP wins control of the House of Representatives this November, it will become the “protect Donald Trump from prosecution” caucus. That’s the message we’ve been hearing with increasing frequency from Trump-loving Republicans since August 8, when FBI agents searched the former President’s Mar-a-Lago residence.”
Many in the GOP were incensed by the search. There were immediate calls to “defund the FBI” by some highly vocal GOP lawmakers such as Reps. Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar. Republican candidates for Congress from North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and elsewhere echoed that call – all part of an effort to stop the investigation of Trump.
You probably don’t need to be reminded; this is the same GOP that slammed Democrats for using the term “defund the police” after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. But when it comes to the defense of Trump, hypocrisy doesn’t matter. In fact, it’s likely the order of the day.
Last Thursday – with little media fanfare – the official Twitter account for GOP members of the House Judiciary Committee took matters a step further: During a floor debate on a measure to provide additional funding to the Department of Justice, the account tweeted: “Why would anyone support a bill that gives $140 MILLION to the same Department of Justice that raided President Trump’s home?”
We have gone from some Republicans wanting to defund the FBI to lawmakers seeking to withhold funding to the DOJ, all seemingly to protect their beloved leader.
Republicans have no qualms playing hardball to defund something they don’t approve of. For example, in 2013, Republicans so desperately wanted to defund the Affordable Care Act – President Barack Obama’s landmark health care bill – that they caused a 16-day partial government shutdown.
I have heard for some time that “GOP lawmakers are preparing a buffet of investigations” aimed at the FBI and Democratic members of congress, in response to its investigation of Trump. Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, a member of the Judiciary Committee, told Politico that “we ought to do a deep dive into ensuring that the FBI is focused on organized crime, combating crime, and not witch-hunting Americans.”
“Witch-hunting,” of course, is a reference to any investigation into the GOP’s beloved leader Trump.
A CBS poll released September 25 found that 65% of Republicans respondents said that “loyalty” to Trump is “important.” GOP leaders get that, and as a result, they must defend Trump at all costs – including possibly hampering an investigation into Trump’s possible crimes.
Moreover, certain Republican lawmakers are talking about impeaching President Joe Biden if they regain control of the House. On September 25, speaking about the likelihood of impeaching Biden if the GOP regains control of the House, Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” “I believe there’s pressure on the Republicans to put that forward and have that vote.”
GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz joined the impeachment chorus last week while appearing on a podcast hosted by Steve Bannon, the former Trump adviser who was recently indicted in New York on money laundering and other fraud-related charges. Bannon pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Gaetz said that impeaching and investigating Biden would be high on the agenda of a GOP-led House.
“If we don’t engage in impeachment inquiries to get the documents and the testimony and the information we need, then I believe that our voters will feel betrayed and that likely, that could be the biggest win the Democrats could hope for in 2024, when it really matters to investigate them and to hold them accountable,” Gaetz said.
The Florida Republican added that if his party takes control of the chamber “bill-making” would be “a far, far diminished priority.”
From Republicans enacting laws barring women from controlling their own bodies to GOP bans on books to the cruelty of how certain GOP governors have treated Latino immigrants seeking a better life, the election will give voters the opportunity to accept or reject such extreme policies. And now, we have another issue to add to the mix: the GOP’s threats to defund or hamstring law enforcement if it pursues Trump.
Anyone who believes that Trump is above the law should obviously vote Republican in November. But for countless Americans who believe that all of us – including the rich and politically connected like Trump – should all be treated equally under the law, the choice is equally clear.“(Protect) Trump or Bust: The GOP Agenda!”
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Last week, Fox News reached a $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems Corporation. This week, without explanation, the anchor of the media conservasphere announced it was parting ways with the Dark Knight of the right-wing news realm.
Some folks will want to debate where there was a cause-and-effect level of connectivity between the two events. I’m here to posit, it simply doesn’t matter.
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Really short post today. Not a whole lot to say. The conservative spin machine will tell you Fox didn’t settle, Fox didn’t lose, Fox didn’t admit any wrongdoing, and a host of other less than creative untruths, all in an effort to gaslight you, and retain some semblance of ability and reason to feel good about themselves. Don’t fall for the okie doke.
Here’s the official statement from Fox Corporation on the matter of its settlement with Dominion Voting Systems Corporation:
“Fox Corp. just released a statement: “We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems. We acknowledge the court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects Fox’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.”
On the face of it, that’s a paragraph filled with gobbledygook. But, amid the blarney, are 13 words that tell a compelling and succinct story. Those words?
‘We acknowledge the court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.’
Yes, if you fell off a turnip truck, of just landed from another planet, or have been Rip Van Winkling for the past 20 years, you might have no idea what any of that meant.
But, if you’ve lived in the United States of America for the past 3 years, and you have been at all tuned into the Big Lie…The 2020 Election was stolen from Donald Trump by dark forces aiding Joe Biden, let by the villainous Dominion Voting Systems, and machines designed to turn Trump votes into Biden votes…you know exactly what it means.
It means the court determined Fox and Company were complicit in defaming the voting company, and Fox acknowledged…the court was right.
Mic drop: case closed!
One more thing. Some folks will not be satisfied with this result. They believe it did not go far enough. They would have preferred to have seen Dominion force the issue, go to trial and demand individuals, e.g., the Murdochs, Carlson, Hannity, Ingraham, Pirro, etc., take the stand and admit, under oath, that they knowingly and with malice, defamed Dominion. Even though several members of Team Fox had admitted in inter-office communications, they knew Trump’s claims were bogus, and Rupert Murdoch acknowledged in earlier court proceedings he knew this, but didn’t opt to stop it, the burden of proof was high, probably too high, to be confident they could meet that standard to the satisfaction of 12 jurors. Conversely, Fox Corp. was likely averse to parading its a-list staff to the stand, where they’d have to admit many truths that Fox fandom has established it does not want to be forced to hear. Six weeks of that would probably have cost them more than the $787.7 settlement. Meanwhile, Dominion will have to find some solace in being gifted three-quarters of a $billion. Woe is them, I guess. “787.5 Million Reasons Fox Lost: Don’t Expect Them To Admit It!”
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Nashville has been abuzz the last couple of weeks; in the opinion of many, for the wrong reasons. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the Nashville school shooting that took place on March 27, 2023. At the time I opted not to express the array of grisly details accompanying yet another too frequent horrific mass shooting tragedy. This post revisits, in a tangential way, that event.
After a shooter killed three 9-year-old students and three adults at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville, three Tennessee Representatives, Justin Jones, Gloria Johnson, and Justin Pearson, staged a demonstration on the State House floor in Nashville, calling for gun reform and leading chants with a bullhorn.
According to Jones, he and the other lawmakers had been blocked from speaking about gun violence on the House floor, saying their microphones were cut off whenever they raised the topic. Following their demonstrations, Republican House Speaker Cameron Saxton called their actions “unacceptable” and argued that they broke “several rules of decorum and procedure on the House floor.”
Last week, three resolutions were filed seeking the expulsion of Jones, Johnson, and Pearson. All three had already been stripped of their committee assignments, following the protest. The resolutions, filed by Republican Reps. Bud Hulsey, Gina Bulso, and Andrew Farmer, alleged the lawmakers “did knowingly and intentionally bring disorder and dishonor.”
Moreover, Tennessee GOP Caucus Chair Jeremy Faison told CNN that the caucus believed the issue did not need to be considered by an ethics committee, and accused the two Justins (Jones and Pearson), of having a “history” of disrupting floor proceedings.
He asserted, “It’s not possible for us to move forward with the way they were behaving in committee and on the House floor.”
Not surprisingly, the Tennessee Democratic Party chair, Hendrell Remus, called the move a “direct political attack” on the Party.
He added, “Their expulsion sets a dangerous new precedent for political retribution. The day that a majority can simply expel a member of the opposing party without legitimate cause threatens the fabric of democracy in our state and creates a reckless roadmap for GOP controlled state legislatures across the nation.”
For context, it’s worth noting, the Tennessee House had only expelled two other representatives since Reconstruction…which warrants its own conversation…but not today. The move does require a two-thirds majority vote of total members. In Tennessee, as in several other State Legislatures, Republicans just happen to have a Supermajority.
There is a lot to digest here. Some of it said, some of it left unsaid. First and foremost, the GOP Caucus chair, and the Republican Party members who authored the Resolution spoke about disorder, dishonor, and disruption. Where’s Jesse Jackson when you need him? The King of alliteration would certainly have added another D-word: Distraction. The Republican House Supermajority, by choosing to create a spectacle, and lean into the theatrics of expulsion of two Democratic House members, created a distraction from the issue that led to the imbroglio, in the first place: mass shootings.
Second, conservatives frequently recoil whenever the topic of race emerges as an audible theme in conversations on the public square. Yet, they all too frequently create environments in which not mentioning race would be tantamount to malpractice. The expulsion example is just such a case. Three representatives were engaged in the protest: two Black men, and one White woman. All three were cited for their behavior. Each member was voted on individually. The Black men were expelled; the White woman was not.
Mr. Faison claimed the two Black men have a history of being disruptive. The fact is, they were cited for this protest, not for their historical actions. In this instance, any effort to parse the behavior of the three members results in a distinction without a difference. The action sounds very much like a case of UNS, Uppity Negro Syndrome…a popular practice of putting a Black man or woman in their place…because they’ve gotten out of their lane, too big for their britches, too smart, too loud, too successful, or some other excess, such that the comfort of some assembly of White people is compromised. A course correction is deemed in order. In this case, expulsion.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting Gloria Johnson should have been expelled. Representative Johnson is an ally. There was no reason to expel her…or to expel Representatives Jones or Pearson. The GOP Supermajority was flexing, another way of saying, feeling themselves.
Somewhere along the way, the stigma of being called, or thought to be racist, came to be deemed more onerous than doing or saying racist things. When you think about it, what a genius strategic design. If one can make the penalty steep enough for characterizing certain racist words or acts as racist, even though they are, people will, to promote comity, avoid calling out the behavior, thus freeing folks to commit racist acts, without fear of pushback or punishment.
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An arraignment is usually the first court hearing in a criminal case, following an arrest. Now that we have dispensed with the definitional part of this discussion, on to the particulars. Yesterday, Don Trump, the Elder, was arraigned in a Manhattan court room. He faced 34 felony counts and pled not guilty to all charges. This is where I stipulate, that Mr. Trump, as any other defendant, is presumed, not just, not guilty, but innocent (there is a difference), until proved guilty.
Mr. Trump claims, and his real supporters swear, he is innocent, and that he is the victim of an evil liberal cabal, executing an overtly politicized agenda against him…and more importantly, the millions of conservatives he represents.
Though the front door of this case makes it appear to be about paying off a porn star, an allegation with copious and detailed supporting evidence, the 34 counts he is charged with relate to falsifying business records under Article 175 of the New York Penal Law. There is a lot of minutiae beneath all the legalese undergirding the charges against Trump. I won’t even attempt to explain it all, but a modicum of clarification is apropos. First, this does not imply Trump committed 34 different crimes. Rather, the indictment lists 34 felony counts under one New York statute. Each count signifies a separate instance of alleged misconduct, but not a different type of crime.
That is not by any means meant to suggest this bundle of counts is one big distinction without a difference. For example, just to tease out one instance, were Mr. Trump to be convicted of the felony bookkeeping fraud charge, he would face up to four years in prison for each count. Surely, we can agree, there is nothing insignificant about such an outcome. It is in the judge’s discretion to impose consecutive sentences, which would mean, Mr. Trump, if found guilty, would have to the counts, one after another.
Conversely, the charge does not carry a mandatory prison sentence. Even if convicted on all counts, Trump would not necessarily face jail time. As a first-time offender (technically, anyway), with no criminal record, legal experts say, it is uncertain whether the former president and 2024 White House candidate would be sentenced to prison if convicted.
If you are pro-Trump, you will probably want to read that again. If you are anti-Trump, you won’t want to, but you probably should read that again. It would behoove you to get accustomed to the possibility of that outcome, even if Trump is convicted.
That brings me to my next point. There is a segment of the geo-political sphere who fully embraces the notion that Trump is innocent. Full stop. He has used the flaming populist rhetoric that has served him so well since the 2015 onset of his initial quest to gain the presidency, to fan the flames of vitriol aimed at Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, his investigators, and anyone even remotely associated with prosecuting the case against him. On the prosecutorial side, despite the contention of Trumpers to the contrary, the D.A., the Grand Jury, and everyone involved have proceeded slowly, cautiously, and with great rectitude, in an effort to ensure that Trump’s rights, real and imagined, are not trampled.
In theory, this is a good thing. Because in theory, we are all equal under the law, and as such, none of us would want to be consumed whole and spit out by the all-encompassing “system.” But hold on, wait a minute. That’s just not the way it is. In fact, it’s not even close. The reality is, no president, or former president has ever been imprisoned. In fact, Trump, just being arraigned was precedent-setting. Moreover, consider how long it has taken to get this far. I don’t want to suggest this matter is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, but color me hella surprised, if this dude is convicted of anything stemming from this case, and flat stunned, if he goes to anyone’s jail, not even Club Fed.
It is important to note, while this case is currently front and center, there are others in the wings:
In January, the Trump Organization was fined $1.6m for tax fraud
A Georgia grand jury has left potential charging decisions in the hands of local prosecutors
The Legal Defense Fund is suing Mr. Trump and the RNC for attempting to overturn a duly executed and certified election
A federal judge has allowed 3 lawsuits from members of the US Capitol and DC Metropolitan police forces to move forward
Mr. Trump also faces an ongoing suit related to sexual harassment charges
New York AG Letitia James has filed a $250m lawsuit against Trump and 3 of his children
There are others, but perhaps the most threatening case is a DOJ, special counsel-led investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents and materials
Familiar as he is with legal proceedings, Mr. Trump saw many, if not most of these cases coming, a mile away. He had the prescience to become an early declared candidate for president, no doubt anticipating using his candidacy as a shield against potential legal action, much as he used the Oval Office during his presidency. We’ll see how that works out for him. In all fairness, it’s served him well so far. “Arraigned in Manhattan: Don’t Believe Your Lying Eyes!”
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Same dastardly deed, different destination. On Monday of this week, a Tennessee resident morphed into a murderous predator, gunning down six people at a Nashville elementary school: including three 9-year-old students, and 3 sexagenarian staff members.
I could detail the particulars of this case, at least the ones that are known, as the investigation is still unfolding. But not this time. I’m not going to discuss in any further detail, what happened in Nashville.
Ultimately, Nashville is not the point. This matter is an instance of an oft repeated saga that is known for many predictable outcomes, including, but not limited to…unspeakable grief, countless utterances of thoughts and prayers, a surreal political Tango, filled with sound and fury, signifying nothing. There will be anger, anguish, and anxiety, remorse, reticence, and regret, faux indignation, fraught conversations, and fatigue. Most of all, there will be a whole lot of denial that guns are in any way responsible for the spiraling contagion that is gun violence in America.
The political polar opposites are locked in an intractable battle, one side arguing from a logical premise, backed by well-reasoned points, and predicated on voluminous research, while the other stands on a zealous adherence to belief that no matter how many people, children, the elderly, and every age group in between, die from gun violence, virtually every “American” has a right to gun ownership, right up to, and including, until they kill someone. In fact, unless one lives in Chicago (the city most often mentioned when defending that position), or some other urban (Black) community, there is no compunction about collecting and owning as many firearms as possible, mass murders notwithstanding.
I believe in the Second Amendment, and I have no fundamental issue with gun ownership. I have a permit to purchase a handgun, and a Concealed Carry Permit (CCP). I get it. At the same time, I am a proponent of additional common sense gun reform measures. I believe the two positions, believing in the right to own a firearm in general, and in supporting responsible gun ownership, and provisions for obtaining a gun, are not mutually exclusive. Two things can be true at once.
So, in case there was any doubt, this is an opinion piece. In my opinion, the level of access to guns in America, Second Amendment notwithstanding, should be more restrictive than it is now. The killing fields, also know as Anytown, USA, are negatively impacted by the too easy access to guns. The ready default of conservatives is frequently, it’s not a gun problem, it’s a mental health problem. The duplicitous nature of this argument is revealed when many of the same pols who make that argument refuse to support measures to deny gun access to persons shown to be demonstrably mentally ill. Stop the charade; please, before the madness comes to your town (in the event it hasn’t already done so). “Nightmare In Nashville: Another School Shooting!”
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For months prior to the November 2022 Election that catapulted the GOP to a razor-thin majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, many GOP House members presaged their intentions to launch broad, full-scale investigations into Democrats due to their weaponization of governmental agencies and institutions. The most ardent far right members of the Republican Caucus in the House fought to and succeeded in extracting an array of concessions from Kevin McCarthy amid his quest to secure the Speaker’s gavel. One of their top demands was that he provide robust funding and sweeping jurisdiction to a special committee to investigate their claims of pervasive bias in the federal government against conservatives.
Interestingly, the first public hearing of the new Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, back on February 9, produced virtually nothing in the way of new evidence about government misconduct, or of targeting the right. Rather, most of the forum focused on reiterating old, mostly debunked grievances about how former President Donald J. Trump and others have been treated by federal law enforcement officials, Democrats, and the news media.
The proceeding was so devoid of even right-wing worthy news that Fox News cut away and declined to carry most of it. Anchor John Roberts said, before cutting away, “We’ll get back into it for anything newsworthy.”
Fast forward roughly 6 weeks; it looks as though the GOP has not only figured out what the weaponization of the federal government is, but in the service of the Party’s de facto leader, Donald Trump, has decided to do just that.
Mr. Trump’s GOP allies in the House are doing what the former president taught them to do – use power to try to keep his legal threats a bay.
Last week, without evidence, Trump said he could be arrested Tuesday (yesterday/he wasn’t). Nevertheless, in response to his symbolic cry for help, some would call it a dog whistle, his cohorts and cronies have been using their new House majority to demand Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s testimony and to thwart his investigation relating an alleged hush money payment to an adult film star before the 2016 election. It looks, feels like an extraordinary attempt to influence an open grand jury investigation.
In short, it appears the House GOP appears to be using the exact same tactic they accuse the Biden Administration, Bragg, and any other Trump investigators of doing – weaponizing the powers of the government to advance a partisan political end.
House Republicans are not alone. While Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan are among the lower chamber’s elite who’ve stepped up to run interference for Trump. Both are clear beneficiaries, satellites in the Trump orbit. But even his newest favorite political adversary, Ron DeSantis, along with January 6 foil, Mike Pence, have joined the fray, attempting to besmirch the investigation…while issuing an ever-so-slight admonishment of their rival. After making a perfunctory diss about the scope of the investigation against Trump, DeSantis pivoted. The Florida governor took a jab atTrump, noting, he didn’t know anything about “paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair.” Pence was less direct.
Not surprisingly, Trump was not amused. He responded with a vicious screed, full of unsubstantiated innuendo about Ron DeSanctimonious’ (sic) personal life. Suffice it to say, the exchange is apt to be just a prelude to the sparks that may be ignited in the pending campaign for the GOP nomination. “TrumpWorld: The Best Defense Is A Good Offense!”
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Dominion Voting Systems has filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News. The suit is one of at least two that have consumed more than a little of the conservative news outlet’s time and attention of late. Smartmatic, a global election technology company, headquartered in London, lodged its suit in February 2021. In their opening statement, Smartmatic noted, “The Earth is round. Two plus two equals four. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 election.” As kids like to say, before dropping the mic, “facts!” The $2.7 billion defamation suit initiated by Smartmatic has been greenlighted by a New York court. So, while Dominion’s suit is underway, and the subject of this post, stay tuned. There’s more to come.
Let me premise this discourse by stipulating the obvious, Donald Trump is not the cause of the great American culture schism. The issues that divide us are as old as the nation itself. But let’s not kid ourselves, the former president most certainly played a role in our having arrived at the space we currently occupy. His willingness to fan the flames poor White discontent, along with his reluctance to disavow White nationalists and their ideology provided a not at all subtle signal to culture warriors. Thank you very much 45.
But I digress. Mr. Murdoch, alas, has found himself in court, where his responses are under oath. As such, all the cutesy doublespeak, spin, and half-truths that just seem to be a part and parcel to the conservative media ecosystem, are off the table.
Shortly after Election Day 2020, Rupert Murdoch knew the hosts on his prized Fox News Channel were endorsing lies from then-President Donald Trump about election fraud.
Of course, that was just the appetizer. The entrée was he did nothing to intervene.
In fact, the controlling owner of the jewel of Murdoch’s enterprises opted to sidestep the truth, allowing his network to run with a narrative that the big lie for truth, in order not to further anger Fox’s Trumpcentric audience by confronting their sensibilities with more election facts. After all, the network had already left its audience, and Donald Trump confused, incredulous, and down-right mortified by calling Arizona for Biden before any other network.
When Mr. Murdoch was asked whether he could have told Fox News’ chief executive and its stars to stop airtime to Rudy Giuliani – a key Trump campaign attorney peddling election lies – he assented, and answered, “I could have, but I didn’t.”
That picture emerged in evidence presented this week in court, based on evidence presented by Dominion. Conversely, Fox Corporation is arguing that the parent company and its executives are wrongly being held responsible for reporting on the baseless assertions of a president and his advisers.
This is where I pause to note that even Fox News attorney are not arguing with the assertion that Trump and his associates were making baseless claims about rampant voter fraud and stolen elections. Please, all conservatives who either still believe, or at least, who are still arguing that point, take note of the posture/position of folks who have seen the test questions, and who know the answers…Trump’s allegations did not happen…as if the more than 60 lost or dismissed lawsuits filed by Team Trump weren’t big enough clues. Plural.
Fox called Dominion’s stance “extreme, citing free speech concerns, calling Dominion’s legal position “a blatant violation of the First Amendment” that would prevent journalists from basic reporting. While my non-legalistic interpretation of that statement is, Fox basically argued that the freedom of speech clause essentially means, their network is free to tell lies to their viewers…with no repercussions, Dominion took a more strategically nuanced tack. They introduced the Fox Unplugged, or you might say, in their own words.
Under oath, the senior Murdoch confirmed the suggestion by a Dominion lawyer that Fox was “trying to straddle the line between spewing conspiracy theories on one hand, yet calling out the fact they are actually false on the other.”
Asked by a Dominion attorney whether “Fox endorsed at times this false notion of a stolen election,” Murdoch demurred, saying, “Not Fox, no. Not Fox. But maybe Lou Dobbs, maybe Maria [Bartiromo] as commentators.”
The lawyer pressed on. Did Fox’s Bartiromo endorse it?
Murdoch’s reply: “Yes. C’mon.”
Fox News host Jeanine Pirro? “I think so.”
Then-Fox Business Network host Dobbs? “Oh, a lot.”
Fox News prime-time star Sean Hannity? “A bit.”
Pressed whether they endorsed the narrative of a stolen election, Murdoch finally gave in: “Yes. They endorsed.”
Fox denied its executives played any role in broadcasting false claims, and argued there was no evidence showing the Murdoch’s involvement. In response Dominion laid out the Murdoch’s hands-on role after the election, introducing emails and other communications reflecting deep involvement by the Murdochs and other Fox Corporation senior executives. Detailed memos showed the elder Murdoch’s concern that Fox was getting killed by CNN after it called the election for Biden on November 7th.
On Nov. 8, Rupert Murdoch sent an email saying that Fox News was “[g]etting creamed” by CNN. Under oath, he later said that he, Scott, and Lachlan Murdoch held “a long talk” about “the direction Fox should take” that day in response to the falling ratings. They decided together to give play to Trump’s baseless assertions. “[T]his was big news,” Murdoch said in his deposition. “The President of the United States was making wild claims, but that is news.”
At the end of the day, the courts may be the great leveler. In an environment where there are consequences for dissembling, rather than telling the truth, even the powers behind the great Fox News may be motivated to be truthful. In this case, “Murdoch Throws Fox Talent Under The Bus: They “Endorsed” 2020 Election Lies!”
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(Disclaimer: This post appeared originally on June 29, 2011 and was reprinted on July 2, 2014 (https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2014/07/02/mens-health-a-compelling-quality-of-life-issue/). It contains references that are graphic in nature, and which may be considered offensive; reader discretion is advised. The initial catalyst for posting this information was my 2011 Colonoscopy. I had a second procedure in 2014, a third in 2017, and a fourth last year. But this is not about that. Yesterday, I had my Annual Physical; my last scheduled before the onset of my septuagenarian era. Today seemed like a perfect time to reprise this post).
A Colonoscopy, is the endoscopic test of the colon and the distal part of the small bowel with a camera. The procedure is recommended for men over age 50, on a periodic basis; every 10 years if no irregularities are found, and more frequently if non-benign polyps or other issues arise during the test. In my previous tests, the results indicated non-benign polyps were found. Subsequently, I was scheduled for a follow-up after 3 years, as a regular sequential step in my Annual Physical regimen. That is a precautionary measure, not any kind of alert or scare. That is as it should be.
I am delighted to end the suspense, as it relates to my most Colonoscopy. And the one before that. My tests revealed normal mucosa, and no arteriovenous malformation, diverticula, polyps, masses, evidence of colitis or any other abnormalities. That’s about as good as it gets. Given my previous history, my next exam is scheduled for 5 years from now instead of three. I’m moving in the right direction. Perhaps if I garner comparable results next time, I can earn the 10-year periodic exam.
This is not intended to provide a blow-by-blow of either my procedures or of my physical. I am addressing the overarching need for men to get serious about and take better care of their/our health. Consider it a public service. I have observed both anecdotally and from numerous data streams, men in general and African American men, are notorious for neglecting our health. There are too many reasons to enumerate, but a few include:
Distrust of doctors (Some black men still reference the Tuskegee Experiment)
Fear…of doctors, of medicine, bad news, of pain, of surgery, of anesthesia, the unknown
Unawareness of early warning signs
No regular doctor
Lack of health care benefits (African Americans are more likely to be Unemployed or Underemployed, and therefore less likely to have insurance)
Misplaced priorities (some men take better care of their homes and/or cars than they do their personal health)
Good intentions: bad execution (Many of us “intend to” schedule an appointment to see a doctor, but don’t)
Procrastination (Delay, delay, delay)
Superman complex (The perception that one is young, healthy, and totally bullet proof)
We are on a super-secret suicide mission (No, we just act like it)
Those are 10 of my own very unscientific, totally straight off the top of my head reasons. After setting them to paper, I decided to look for an expert opinion…OK; I checked to see what a doctor thought. Not surprisingly (to me anyway), there was a fair amount of overlap.
Dr. Sharon Orrange, Assistant Professor of Clinical General Internal Medicine at the University of Southern California has weighed in with what she believes are “The 10 Real Reasons Men Don’t Go to the Doctor.” Since she actually practices medicine, I will allocate more weight to her opinion than mine…though keep in mind, I do have the inherent advantage of being a man. Dr. Orrange’s10 most compelling (or real, as she puts it) reasons are:
You are afraid we will put our finger up your butt. We will, especially if you are over 40 or have any complaints related to your bowel movements. Yes, you get a rectal exam after the age of 40 once a year for a feel of your prostate and so we can check your stool for microscopic blood that you can’t see.
You are afraid we will examine your balls. We will if you are 40 or younger. The peak age for testicular cancer is 18-40 so guidelines recommend you get a once-a-year testicular exam. Don’t worry it won’t hurt at all.
I feel FINE. I am glad you feel fine, but you can feel FINE with high cholesterol, high blood pressure and elevated blood sugars. Your mother or wife won’t feel fine when they are taking care of you after you have a stroke. Don’t wait until you feel awful to come see us.
Going to the Doctor is a chick thing. Many of you feel this way but remember we live longer than you do. If doctor visits are a chick thing well, then, nursing homes are a guy thing. You must get over this. It’s true, the waiting room magazines are not for guys but when you come see us you will see that many of the medical assistants, doctors, phlebotomists, and medical records folks are men. Real men go to doctors.
You are embarrassed to talk about what’s going on with you. The bright red blood on the toilet paper when you wipe, the red itchy rash in your groin and on your feet, the problems you have at times getting a boner, getting up at night a few times to pee, we hear it all the time. You are not alone, and our job is to show you how common this is and help fix it for you.
You don’t find the office hours convenient. I get this and urge you to find a doctor who is accessible and can work around your office hours. Seriously though. The average guy watches 16 hours of TV a week, you can come for a 30-minute visit once a year and maybe a couple of follow-up visits as needed.
Going to the Doctor is giving in to your nagging wife. I had a patient who gave his wife for her 20th anniversary a copy of his Lipitor prescription, thinking this was a GIFT to his wife that he was taking care of his medical issues. It is true; women rightly do nag their dads, brothers, and husbands to go to the doctor because they are tired of square dancing with women at the assisted living facilities.
You don’t realize we are here for prevention. You don’t have to be sick to come see us and if you establish a relationship with us, you have easy access when you do get sick. Once a year we can touch base with you to discuss age-appropriate screening, which we KNOW, helps keep you well.
You don’t have a relationship with a physician. If you are not attached to a regular physician by the age of 40 you are more likely to get in trouble. Unlike women who need annual pap smears and contraception, you haven’t had to see someone regularly from the age of 18-30. Find someone your friends use or enlist your partner’s help to find someone that might be a connection. You want someone accessible and younger physicians are much more likely to e-mail so look until you find the right match.
You think we will pick on you for your habits. Drinking a 12-pack on the weekends, not exercising, and eating bad foods, among other things. These things are not as uncommon as you might expect. We will put you on a long leash and let you pick and choose the habits to get rid of as needed.
If you are a Doctor Dodger, the reality is, it is of little consequence whether your reasons for doing so more closely resemble Dr. Orrange’s list or mine. If your recalcitrance leads to a preventable heart attack, some form of cancer, or a stroke, you will have contributed directly to reducing your quality of life, as well as that of your family members. Such actions could also lead to premature death. It really is pretty simple; fear, embarrassment, death (sooner rather than later)…pick one dude!
Let’s be clear here, human beings are not immortal. Psalms 90:10 advises us: “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Proponents of the Bill MaherSchool of Thought dismiss such biblical advisory as akin to magic, wizardry, or witchcraft. But I am reasonably certain even Mr. Maher concedes that we all will die. Moreover, I “wouldn’t” bet the farm that he has no regular physician, regardless of his rationale.
The point of seeing healthcare professionals on a regular basis is not to live forever; none of us will. Rather, the idea is to leverage the best possible existence out of our all too brief time here on earth.
As most of us know, women live longer than men. Once upon a time, this was largely attributable to the rigors of backbreaking manual labor, and long before that, due to the results of men losing too many battles with the lions or other members of the Wild Kingdom, in the quest to determine who would eat…and who would be dinner.
Neither of those historical tableaus aligns with today’s American reality. No, the underlying contemporary contributory factors for those of us now living in the USA are that poor exercise habits, irresponsible dietary choices, too much smoking and drinking, and eschewing regular checkups and prevention screenings combine to lead to a lower quality of life (health wise), and ultimately, to a shortened lifespan; on average five years less than for women.
Based on CDC research, Heart Disease and Cancer, the top two causes of death in the United States in 2007, led to nearly twice as many deaths as the cumulative totals of causes 3 through 10. In fact, the number of deaths attributable to HeartDisease alone, (616,067), nearly equaled the total for causes 3 through 10 (667,589).
It is important to recognize that the relative death rate for men is higher than that for women for all causes listed in the Top 10. While there are hereditary factors that contribute to individual proclivity to develop Heart Disease, a timely and committed change in lifestyle in concert with an appropriate medical remediation, prevention, and/or maintenance strategy can help most men (and women) live a relatively normal life.
In a departure from my previous posts on the subject I am compelled to add that in addition to whatever periodic schedule one adheres to for his or her Colonoscopy, one should also schedule an Annual Physical. I had mine yesterday, and as with the Colonoscopies, the metrics were good. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to institute a regimen to monitor and promote positive health consequences. This is where I could make a call to arms for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) or healthcare reform. But I’ll leave that for another day. This pitch is for men…and women who have men they care about in their lives. Of course, women require Colonoscopies too. But as I noted elsewhere in this post, as with most medical matters, they already do a much better job than men. I enthusiastically urge all of you to do everything within your power, individually and collectively, to do the right thing for your own health, and for the health of those whom you love. Schedule your physical. Do it for anyone whom you love…or who loves you.
In summary, this post is a cry for help on behalf of men. Perhaps, more aptly stated, it is a call for men to step up and help themselves. As a general rule, ours is an interdependent society. That means, someone, somewhere relies upon you. So men, I urge you to unite on behalf of a cause that is intuitively selfish, but intellectually selfless. I entreat you to recognize this undeniable truth; “Men’s Health: A Compelling Quality of Life Issue – Vol. IV” Yes, this is a cause that requires you to think of (and act) for yourself first. But in doing so, your wife, or significant other, your children, your siblings, your parents, your friends, your co-workers, your career, your civic association, your fraternity, and yes, your state of mind, will all benefit.
I’m done; holla back!
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