All Lives Matter October 30, 2015 From a speech by FBI Director James B. Comey at the University of Chicago Law School, Oct. 23 (thanks, Mel): Part of being clear-eyed about reality requires all of us to stare—and stare hard—at what is happening in this country this year. And to ask ourselves what’s going on. Because something deeply disturbing is happening all across America. I have spoken of 2014 in this speech because something has changed in 2015. Far more people are being killed in America’s cities this year than in many years. And let’s be clear: far more people of color are being killed in America’s cities this year. And it’s not the cops doing the killing. We are right to focus on violent encounters between law enforcement and civilians. Those incidents can teach all of us to be better. But something much bigger is happening. Most of America’s 50 largest cities have seen an increase in homicides and shootings this year, and many of them have seen a huge increase. These are cities with little in common except being American cities—places like Chicago, Tampa, Minneapolis, Sacramento, Orlando, Cleveland, and Dallas. In Washington, D.C., we’ve seen an increase in homicides of more than 20% in neighborhoods across the city. Baltimore, a city of 600,000 souls, is averaging more than one homicide a day—a rate higher than that of New York City, which has 13 times the people. Milwaukee’s murder rate has nearly doubled over the past year. And who’s dying? Police chiefs say the increase is almost entirely among young men of color, at crime scenes in bad neighborhoods where multiple guns are being recovered. That’s yet another problem that white America can drive around, but if we really believe that all lives matter, as we must, all of us have to understand what is happening. Communities of color need to demand answers. Police and civilian leaders need to demand answers. Academic researchers need to hit this hard. What could be driving an increase in murder in some cities across all regions of the country, all at the same time? What explains this map and this calendar? Why is it happening in all of different places, all over and all of a sudden? . . . Nobody says it on the record, nobody says it in public, but police and elected officials are quietly saying it to themselves. And they’re saying it to me, and I’m going to say it to you. And it is the one explanation that does explain the calendar and the map and that makes the most sense to me. Maybe something in policing has changed. In today’s YouTube world, are officers reluctant to get out of their cars and do the work that controls violent crime? Are officers answering 911 calls but avoiding the informal contact that keeps bad guys from standing around, especially with guns? I spoke to officers privately in one big city precinct who described being surrounded by young people with mobile phone cameras held high, taunting them the moment they get out of their cars. They told me, “We feel like we’re under siege and we don’t feel much like getting out of our cars.” I’ve been told about a senior police leader who urged his force to remember that their political leadership has no tolerance for a viral video. So the suggestion, the question that has been asked of me, is whether these kinds of things are changing police behavior all over the country. And the answer is, I don’t know. I don’t know whether this explains it entirely, but I do have a strong sense that some part of the explanation is a chill wind blowing through American law enforcement over the last year. And that wind is surely changing behavior. Part of that behavior change is to be welcomed, as we continue to have important discussions about police conduct and de-escalation and the use of deadly force. Those are essential discussions and law enforcement will get better as a result. But we can’t lose sight of the fact that there really are bad people standing on the street with guns. The young men dying on street corners all across this country are not committing suicide or being shot by the cops. They are being killed, police chiefs tell me, by other young men with guns. Lives are saved when those potential killers are confronted by a strong police presence and actual, honest-to-goodness, up-close “What are you guys doing on this corner at one o’clock in the morning?” policing. All of us, civilian and law enforcement, white, black, and Latino, have an interest in that kind of policing. . . . If what we are seeing in America this year continues, we will be back to talking about how law enforcement needs to help rescue black neighborhoods from the grip of violence. All lives matter too much for us to let that happen. We need to figure out what’s happening and deal with it now.
How Republicans Could Win In 2016 October 29, 2015October 28, 2015 By the time you read this, the Republicans will have again showcased their leaders in the race to run the country and the world. Here are five ways Republicans win: By having the better candidates or the better policies — although in my view, the former is unusual and the latter, rare . . . . . . or through voter suppression (examples here!) . . . . . . or with multi-trillion-dollar whoppers (“by far the vast majority” of his proposed tax cuts, candidate George W. Bush told us, would “go to people at the bottom of the economic ladder”) . . . . . . and via gerrymandering (how else can it be that a state like Florida, which leans Democratic in the popular vote, is overwhelmingly Republican in its legislature and its Congressional delegation?) . . . . . . and dark money. That last — dark money — appears to be how they unseated North Carolina Senator Kay Hagen, as suggested in Tuesday’s New York Times. (“A New Low In Campaign Finance.”) It seems that a dark money group raised $4.7 million to support her opponent, 98.7% of it from a single mystery donor. Which makes a little bit of a mockery of the $2,700 limit on individual donations to a candidate, and the stringent disclosure requirements that adhere thereto. If I give $2,700 to Kay Hagan, it’s disclosed promptly. If someone else gives $4.6+ million to defeat her, it is not. Hurray for the Bush-41-Bush-43-tilted Supreme Court that gave us such decisions as Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, and McCutcheon (which latter raised the cap on federal contributions, never mind unlimited “dark money” contributions, from $123,000 per individual every two years to more like $5.5 million). Still, all Democrats have to do to win is register and vote. I have high hopes.
Trust No One October 28, 2015October 27, 2015 Not even your annuity salesman! I know it comes as a shock (well, maybe not so much if you’ve read my book) — I mean, he’s so nice! and you went to college with his sister! — but now comes a report quarterbacked by Senator Elizabeth Warren . . . “Villas, Castles, and Vacations: How Perks and Giveaways Create Conflicts of Interest in the Annuity Industry” . . . that . . . it is perfectly legal for some advisers to steer customers into complex financial products that will earn the highest rewards, perks and prizes for the advisers – even if they are bad options for their customers. Research suggests that this loophole costs Americans an estimated $17 billion every year. That’s $17 billion taken out of the pockets of retirees by unscrupulous advisers who are more interested in collecting fees and prizes for themselves than helping families build real security. Thirteen of the 15 major annuity providers investigated acknowledged providing these incentives. Which would be okay if the sales person were straigtforward. “I recommend you go with this one. It may not offer the best value; but in addition to my commission — which on annuities is big, and why I’m reocmmending them in the first place — if you buy this particular annuity I also stand a really good chance of getting an all-expenses Carribbean vacation. So what do you say?” But this is not how annuities are generally pitched. Don’t forget to watch the Republican debate tonight.
Follow-Ups: Barney, Hillary . . . October 26, 2015October 29, 2015 Today is Monday already? How did THAT happen! OK . . . so this is for what’s left of it but also for Tuesday because (a) there’s enough here for both and (b) I’m a rebel. BARNEY Showtime (free trial!) premiered “Compared To What: The Improbable Journey of Barney Frank” Friday. The Boston Globe titled its review: “Getting Beyond Neatness: A Look At Barney Frank, In All His Rumpled Glory.” . . . The story has a neat heroic arc, as Frank, after decades of feeling lonely and fighting tirelessly for the public good, finally finds a happy private life. Some of the best material in “Compared to What,’’ which is directed by Sheila Canavan and Michael Chandler, looks at Frank in his latter days in the House and after his retirement. We see him in a comfortable, low-key relationship with Jim Ready, and we see footage from their 2012 wedding, the first gay nuptials by a sitting member of Congress. The service, which appears to have been as lacking in fussiness as the couple, was officiated by then-Governor Deval Patrick, who had Frank and Ready pledge to love each other “on MSNBC or on Fox’’ and “in Congress or in retirement.’’ It’s a sweet denouement. . . . The filmmakers emphasize Frank’s adult life, but there are a few notes about his childhood in New Jersey and the way the murder of Emmett Till in 1955 Mississippi mobilized him politically. There are also a few illuminating interviews with Frank’s roommates from his Harvard years, with one admitting he had a crush on Frank. Those interviews attest to the consistency of Frank’s irascible, practical, suffer-no-fools personality. It is Frank, though, who summarizes himself best of all in the film: “Patience, in my judgment, is not a virtue.’’ Last week, as part of the launch for the film, Gawker hosted Barney and some friends for a Q & A — join the 80 members of the audience and watch it all here — in which it was revealed, among other thngs, that Barney can’t smoke weed so he eats it. Personally, I think edibles are a terrible idea. Anyone who can’t inhale should either “vape” — or wait until it’s sold in capsule form with clearly metrics and warnings. Not in delicious cookies and candies that pose all sorts of potential risks if anyone accidentally leaves them out. And while I’m on my soapbox, I think pot should be legal for adults everywhere, but that we should drastically restrict any advertising/marketing/promotion. Sure, adults should be allowed to smoke cigarettes – but was it a good idea to let Philip Morris et al addict billions of people around the world to the leading cause of preventable death? Sure, adults should be free to consume alcohol, but that doesn’t come without a lot of costs, tragedies, and downsides. Weed is almost surely the least harmful of the three — tobacco, alcohol, or marijuana — yet it pretty well markets itself. It really doesn’t need advertising, promotion, sampling, product-placement in movies, etc. We want adults to be free to pursue their own happiness — but do we want smart marketers with giant budgets working to have as many people as possible stoned as much as possible? I don’t think so. (And wouldn’t it work to the advantage and credibility of those of us who advocate enlightened drug policy to be kind of prudish when it comes to edibles and to marketing/promotion? A sort of sensible middle ground more people and politicians can accept?) HILLARY Doug Schneller: “Further to your column Thursday, and in case you haven’t seen it, this is an excellent Newsweek summary/primer delving into the actual facts about Benghazi and debunks the various theories alleging a vast conspiracy. For those who don’t like or trust HRC — or who see the Kenyan socialist as illegitimately holding the presidency — I suspect a careful analysis of the facts may be unpersuasive. Nevertheless, for those who are willing to plow through the article, I think it becomes hard to believe that HRC is culpable. It’s almost as if Gowdy’s committee is trying to score political points! Seriously: enough already (I know I’m preaching to the choir). If Gowdy et al. are going to persist in this Kabuki theater, the GOP should at least pick up the tab and pay for the obvious political advertising.” (And this from Daily Kos regarding Sidney Blumenthal, Svengali and evil genius.)
More Benghazi October 23, 2015October 23, 2015 I spent most of the day watching the hearings. I wish everyone could have . . . although the country is so polarized, I imagine not a lot of minds would have been changed. And the people who haven’t already formed a strong opinion, and thus remain persuadable, are probably the least likely to have watched. In case you missed yesterday’s post, or gave up before clicking the link to the Clinton Foundation / Rwanda story, here it is again. I know I went way over my allotted time. Oh! And, as mentioned, you might want to watch COMPARED TO WHAT: The Improbable Journey of Barney Frank, free at 9 tonight as part of a 30-day trial, even if you don’t normally get Showtime. Have a great weekend. In this crazy alternative-universe world the opposition party has created . . . I’d like to say the “loyal opposition” party but am not sure that applies . . . . . . a world in which Senate leader Mitch McConnell makes the President’s failure his #1 priority and then, years later, asserts in prepared remarks that “by any standard Barack obama has been a disaster for our country” (only in an alternative universe can averting global depression be considered a disaster, not to mention so many other standards*) . . . . . . a world in which John Kerry, who served bravely in Viet Nam, is mocked for his military service while George W. Bush, who avoided service, is given a pass for that by the G.O.P. (see the Truth about this, starring Robert Redford as Dan Rather) . . . . . . a world in which Al Gore is mocked for saying he invented the Internet, even though (a) he never said it and (b) “no other elected official,” in the words of the two guys who kind of did invent the Internet, “has made a greater contribution over a longer period of time” . . . serious, important work on this he did as early as the Seventies, long before it was sexy, during which period Bush describes himself as having been “young and irresponsible”** . . . . . . a world in which we are told that tax cuts for the rich will mainly benefit the poor . . . . . . and that climate science is a hoax . . . . . . in this crazy alternative-universe world, we have the eighth Benghazi investigation. Four Americans died! We should have eight hundred investigations! (Or at least 56, like the 56 votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act.) And believe me, they won’t be motivated by politics! You can watch Secretary Clinton’s testimony live all day today. Or you can read here, free, the chapter in Hard Choices that lays it all out. But what I really hope you may find time to read — because the Republican tactic is to attack our candidates on their strengths to try to turn them into weaknesses — is this not-entirely-laudatory description of the Clinton Foundation’s work, with a special focus on Rwanda. Because what it says to me is that, in a fiendishly complicated world filled with misery, poverty, disease, and corruption, where not every effort does succeed and not every choice is without trade-offs, the Clintons (and for that matter the Carters and Al Gore) have dedicated their lives since leaving the White House to truly large, important things for humanity. Yes, you can nit pick and find flaws . . . but I just don’t see the same passion and accomplishment in the post-White House lives of Nixon, Ford, Reagan, the Bushes, Spiro Agnew, Dan Quayle, or Dick Cheney. For my money, we get more bang for the buck having Democrats in the White House — and yet more bang still after they leave. I expect we will see the same from Barack Obama and Joe Biden as well. I remain enthusiastically neutral among all our fine Democratic candidates — Lincoln Chafee would be a far better President, in my view, than any of the Republican candidates — and will do my best to defend any of them when I think they are being unfairly attacked, as Hillary has been over Benghazi. And whichever one becomes the nominee, you know whom he or she should tap to run with? This amazing guy. *This site is also interesting; it lists 309 accomplishments. **The one time I met former President Bush — who is undeniably charming and well-meaning — I asked whether he remembered a friend of mine who I had been led to believe was a close friend of his at Yale. In an instant it was clear he did not, but did not want to hurt anyone’s feelings, and without missing a beat he said, “Well, was he drunk for four years? I might have!”
Benghazi And All That October 22, 2015October 21, 2015 In this crazy alternative-universe world the opposition party has created . . . I’d like to say the “loyal opposition” party but am not sure that applies . . . . . . a world in which Senate leader Mitch McConnell makes the President’s failure his #1 priority and then, years later, asserts in prepared remarks that “by any standard Barack obama has been a disaster for our country” (only in an alternative universe can averting global depression be considered a disaster, not to mention so many other standards*) . . . . . . a world in which John Kerry, who served bravely in Viet Nam, is mocked for his military service while George W. Bush, who avoided service, is given a pass for that by the G.O.P. (see the Truth about this, starring Robert Redford as Dan Rather) . . . . . . a world in which Al Gore is mocked for saying he invented the Internet, even though (a) he never said it and (b) “no other elected official,” in the words of the two guys who kind of did invent the Internet, “has made a greater contribution over a longer period of time” . . . serious, important work on this he did as early as the Seventies, long before it was sexy, during which period Bush describes himself as having been “young and irresponsible”** . . . . . . a world in which we are told that tax cuts for the rich will mainly benefit the poor . . . . . . and that climate science is a hoax . . . . . . in this crazy alternative-universe world, we have the eighth Benghazi investigation. Four Americans died! We should have eight hundred investigations! (Or at least 56, like the 56 votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act.) And believe me, they won’t be motivated by politics! You can watch Secretary Clinton’s testimony live all day today. Or you can read here, free, the chapter in Hard Choices that lays it all out. But what I really hope you may find time to read — because the Republican tactic is to attack our candidates on their strengths to try to turn them into weaknesses — is this not-entirely-laudatory description of the Clinton Foundation’s work, with a special focus on Rwanda. Because what it says to me is that, in a fiendishly complicated world filled with misery, poverty, disease, and corruption, where not every effort does succeed and not every choice is without trade-offs, the Clintons (and for that matter the Carters and Al Gore) have dedicated their lives since leaving the White House to truly large, important things for humanity. Yes, you can nit pick and find flaws . . . but I just don’t see the same passion and accomplishment in the post-White House lives of Nixon, Ford, Reagan, the Bushes, Spiro Agnew, Dan Quayle, or Dick Cheney. For my money, we get more bang for the buck having Democrats in the White House — and yet more bang still after they leave. I expect we will see the same from Barack Obama and Joe Biden as well. I remain enthusiastically neutral among all our fine Democratic candidates — Lincoln Chafee would be a far better President, in my view, than any of the Republican candidates — and will do my best to defend any of them when I think they are being unfairly attacked, as Hillary has been over Benghazi. And whichever one becomes the nominee, you know whom he or she should tap to run with? This amazing guy. *This site is also interesting; it lists 309 accomplishments. **The one time I met former President Bush — who is undeniably charming and well-meaning — I asked whether he remembered a friend of mine who I had been led to believe was a close friend of his at Yale. In an instant it was clear he did not, but did not want to hurt anyone’s feelings, and without missing a beat he said, “Well, was he drunk for four years? I might have!”
Things To Watch This Week October 21, 2015October 21, 2015 There’s the Barney Frank documentary premiering at 9pm this Friday on Showtime — COMPARED TO WHAT: The Improbable Journey of Barney Frank. How far we’ve come. If you don’t get Showtime, stream it for free as part of a free trial? (Full disclosure: I helped a little to get this made. And that photo of Barney and the fawn? Taken in my back yard. The deer clearly has no idea who Barney is.) There’s A SINNER IN MECCA that you can now buy or rent on iTunes. It’s not a load of laughs, but 11 of the 13 Rotten Tomato critics give it a thumbs up. (Full disclosure: I helped a little to get this made.) There’s the BENGHAZI HEARING Thursday (the eighth Republican investigation of this tragic event, designed, in the words of almost-House-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, to erode Hillary’s poll numbers) that you can watch live on C-SPAN. (Full disclosure: though enthusiastically neutral among all our fine Democratic candidates, I agree with Bernie.) And there’s STEVE JOBS, which you can see today at a theater near you, and which I absolutely loved. The acting is great; the dialog is unmistakably Aaron Sorkin; and the story — well, depending on our ages, we’ve lived through part, much, or all of it. Again: how far we’ve come. I am 10 years old. I am clueless, but have been taken with four classmates to some after-school workshop where we are told we will that day make our own computers. We are each given a little piece of peg board, some wire, switches, flashlight bulbs, a battery, and a shared soldering gun. It was explained that if we did it right, we could make a computer that would add 2 + 2. And I think I succeeded with mine, sort of — without in any way grasping the larger point. Now, no longer 10 but still largely clueless, I am at Monday’s 10:30 am showing of STEVE JOBS as my iWatch discreetly vibrates. A glance at my wrist reveals a message from Apple! (I am not making this up.) My iPhone 6S Plus has been delivered. Can you imagine my grandmother living through the transition from horse-drawn carriages to automobiles and airplanes? To radio, to car radios, to television? To antibiotics and . . . air conditioning? Well, eight years ago there were no smart phones, and thus no apps, and thus no modern (post-modern?) life as we know it. Eight years. And it’s only speeding up. I remember getting a “review copy” of the $2,500 Mac because there was a chance I would write about it or help adapt my DOS-based “Managing Your Money” software to run on it. (Friday, I got an email that began: “I’ve been using MYM on the Mac since 1989 and continue to do so, even though the last OS it would run under was 10.4.11, about 10 years ago. I have to continue to buy used computers to run it on and for spares.”) I remember meeting Steve Jobs late one night in the lobby of the building whose elevator we would share once he moved in. (He never did, but spent three years renovating it and actually footed the bill for to upgrade that elevator so it would run more quietly.) We chatted briefly about the building, Apple, and my software. That minute or two was the sum total of our entire lifelong contact — but what an impact he has had on the way I live. All for the good. Loved the movie. What a time to be alive.
I’m Back October 20, 2015October 19, 2015 Does anyone have a poll of what we Americans think of “Europe?” I’d love to see it — especially if there are cross tabs breaking it down by party. My guess is that Republicans, and especially Tea Party Republicans, are more likely to feel disdain for Europe. Better still if it’s broken down between people who’ve been there versus people who have not. My guess is that those most disdainful of the way Europeans live have, perhaps, never been there? Europe turns out to be rather nice. Anyway, I’m back. Nice here, as well. Here’s another free way to enjoy music: pick any year from 1960 to 2013 and have at it. Who put a nickel into this new season of Saturday Night Live? You obviously saw a clip of the opening “Democratic debate,” with Larry David playing Bernie — is there anyone in America who hasn’t? — but the whole show was notches above average. I remember watching the very first SNL four decades ago and, for years, most of the ones that followed. But it was often hit-or-miss; and eventually I stopped watching much. This season, so far, it seems smarter and more consistently funny than ever.
Boehner On Guns, Hawking On Mars October 19, 2015October 18, 2015 John Boehner on gun-safety: Here. Asked about whether or not it’s time for Congress to reconsider the research ban on gun violence it instituted on the Centers for Disease Control, House Speaker John Boehner deflected, admitted that Republicans will do nothing to stop gun violence, and said if Democrats want to complain about it, they should have done something when they were in the majority. . . . As a reminder, Senate Democrats did try, with the bipartisan Manchin-Toomey bill, to do something, by extending background checks to gun shows and Internet sales. Republicans killed it with a filibuster. Then there are the bills Democrats introduced in the House that were shuffled off to committee, never to be heard from again. . . . Remember: John Boehner is the Speaker being ousted, more or less, for being too moderate. As for the entirely immoderate, Jim Burt writes: “We really, really need to push back against rhetoric such as Ted Cruz has been spouting about people keeping guns for the purpose of defending against tyranny, which he defines, it seems, as legislation enacted by majority votes, approved by courts, and supported in the polls by large majorities of people. Such rhetoric needs to be painted as the unpatriotic ravings of radical extremist malcontents – which it is.” “I don’t think the human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space.” — Stephen Hawking, 2001. Terraforming, kids! You heard it here first. (Or maybe not; but it was new to me.)
Inventing The Stoplight October 16, 2015 So maybe you’ve wondered why stop lights are red and green — the two colors color-blind people can’t tell apart. That and other mysteries explained here. Three unimportant but amusing minutes. Hey: I’m on vacation. In Berlin, no less! Changed a lot since last here, summer of 1963. Today we’re gonna try to find CheckPoint Charlie. I assume they’ve memorialized it in some way, along with remnants of the wall; it was very real indeed when my 16- and 17-year-old fellow travelers traversed it. The train from Amsterdam to Berlin had everything modern, sleek, courteous, quiet, and terrific — but no wifi? Hey, what’s up with that, DB Bahn? In Amsterdam, we went to Rembrandt’s house. He paid 13,000 guilders for it — what we he thinking? — and after 20 or so years there went bankrupt under the burden of the mortgage and upkeep. Neither Suze Orman or I ever would have allowed it, had he sought our counsel, but Suze was not alive then. All his stuff was sold off and he moved into a rental apartment. But while he was there? Amazing to see the box-bed in which he actually slept. Apparently, the Dutch thought that if they slept lying flat, blood could rush to their brains in the middle of the night and kill them, so they all slept half sitting up, meaning that the box beds had to be only about four feet long — and were. Seriously. We saw the spot Rembrandt actually ate his stew; the spot he actually painted; the top-floor studio where his apprentices painted; the entry-room where he displayed and sold his own work and that of other masters. (In addition to painting, the man ran an art gallery.) We saw the room where his assistants made the day’s paint . . . the master would declare the two or three colors of the day — if they were going to paint trees, they’d make a lot of green . . . blending dirt (for brown) or ground lapis lazuli (for blue) into linseed oil on a large flat stone in a process that a cheerful Dutch woman demonstrated and let us try. (She showed us some linseeds, as well.) You can see much of it here. And Amsterdam, here. But I warn you: when you do, you will want to visit. And you should! The Dutch — like the Scots — could not be more wonderful. Have a great weekend.