Will On Pence May 16, 2018May 13, 2018 The Republican Party used to offer us competent, accomplished vice presidents like Richard Nixon and George H.W. Bush. Lately? Dan Quayle, Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin, and, now — “Trump Is No Longer The Worst Person In Government” — Mike Pence. (Thanks, Glenn!) . . . Noting that Arpaio was in his Tempe audience, Pence, oozing unctuousness from every pore, called Arpaio “another favorite,” professed himself “honored” by Arpaio’s presence, and praised him as “a tireless champion of . . . the rule of law.” Arpaio, a grandstanding, camera-chasing bully and darling of the thuggish right, is also a criminal, convicted of contempt of court for ignoring a federal judge’s order to desist from certain illegal law enforcement practices. . . . So much more here. Not enough to persuade me Trump’s no longer worst. That is a bar too high. But read it all and decide for yourself?
Mitch McConnell Speaks May 15, 2018May 13, 2018 And here’s what he says: Our nation is indeed at a crossroads. Will we pursue the search for truth or will we dodge, weave and evade the truth? I am of course referring to the investigation into serious allegations of illegal conduct by the president of the United States — that the president has engaged in a persistent pattern and practice of obstruction of justice. The allegations are grave, the investigation is legitimate and ascertaining the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the unqualified, unevasive truth is absolutely critical.” McConnell said that in 1998, on the Senate floor, regarding Kenneth Starr’s four-year, $30 million investigation of President Clinton. Sarah Longwell writes in the Washington Post that “It’s worth listening to this address in its entirety because it is a love letter of sorts — to the rule of law . . .“ It’s worth reading Ms. Longwell’s op-ed in its entirety, because — a Republican — she makes such a clear and compelling case. The only thing she fails to note? That nothing Kenneth Starr investigated was of major national import. Clinton’s potential transgressions — whether they involved the $30,000 real estate deal that began the Starr investigation or lying about the inappropriate sexual affair that ended it — pale beside Putin’s ongoing attack here and abroad, in which Trump is at least, by his lack of interest (heck, it could have been some 400-pound guy on a couch), complicit.
From Greece To Iran May 14, 2018May 10, 2018 I can say so many things in Greek! Or at least, as our Acropolis guide put it (on a different topic), “Much more less than before.” Greece is great, the people are awesome, and if you’re able to come in May, before it gets really hot and crowded, you are lucky dogs indeed. So far, only two complaints: (1) the word for yes is “nai.” Really? Come on, Greece! No! Ne! Nem! Non! Nein! Nyet! It should be the word for nnnnnno — no? (2) There are four different letters for “i.” This is confusing and a waste of resources. Oi! (Or, as we are here right now, Oia!) I brought Alexa. My little Echo Dot. It was much more less hard to link to the wifi in each hotel than I feared, and I’ve been able to listen to the latest Rachel Maddow or Meet The Press at will, sans interruption. Or ask Alexa the distance from Santorini or Mykonos or anything else. From now on, she’s permanently in my travel bag. (For real life, I love the Echo Show, if only because I now can “hear” the lyrics of any song — they crawl up the screen. And also so handy for spelling — admit it: you’re never quite sure how to spell Madeleine Albright. So many possibilities. But say her name and up it comes, along with a thumbnail bio.) So now let’s talk about Iran. Here are the facts, as misunderstood, or else willfully misstated, by Trump. Five things he got wrong. And here, as one correspondent puts it, “an actual President of the United States” on the pull-out. Barack Obama: There are few issues more important to the security of the United States than the potential spread of nuclear weapons, or the potential for even more destructive war in the Middle East. That’s why the United States negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in the first place. The reality is clear. The JCPOA is working – that is a view shared by our European allies, independent experts, and the current U.S. Secretary of Defense. The JCPOA is in America’s interest – it has significantly rolled back Iran’s nuclear program. And the JCPOA is a model for what diplomacy can accomplish – its inspections and verification regime is precisely what the United States should be working to put in place with North Korea. Indeed, at a time when we are all rooting for diplomacy with North Korea to succeed, walking away from the JCPOA risks losing a deal that accomplishes – with Iran – the very outcome that we are pursuing with the North Koreans. That is why today’s announcement is so misguided. Walking away from the JCPOA turns our back on America’s closest allies, and an agreement that our country’s leading diplomats, scientists, and intelligence professionals negotiated. In a democracy, there will always be changes in policies and priorities from one Administration to the next. But the consistent flouting of agreements that our country is a party to risks eroding America’s credibility, and puts us at odds with the world’s major powers. Debates in our country should be informed by facts, especially debates that have proven to be divisive. So it’s important to review several facts about the JCPOA. First, the JCPOA was not just an agreement between my Administration and the Iranian government. After years of building an international coalition that could impose crippling sanctions on Iran, we reached the JCPOA together with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the European Union, Russia, China, and Iran. It is a multilateral arms control deal, unanimously endorsed by a United Nations Security Council Resolution. Second, the JCPOA has worked in rolling back Iran’s nuclear program. For decades, Iran had steadily advanced its nuclear program, approaching the point where they could rapidly produce enough fissile material to build a bomb. The JCPOA put a lid on that breakout capacity. Since the JCPOA was implemented, Iran has destroyed the core of a reactor that could have produced weapons-grade plutonium; removed two-thirds of its centrifuges (over 13,000) and placed them under international monitoring; and eliminated 97 percent of its stockpile of enriched uranium – the raw materials necessary for a bomb. So by any measure, the JCPOA has imposed strict limitations on Iran’s nuclear program and achieved real results. Third, the JCPOA does not rely on trust – it is rooted in the most far-reaching inspections and verification regime ever negotiated in an arms control deal. Iran’s nuclear facilities are strictly monitored. International monitors also have access to Iran’s entire nuclear supply chain, so that we can catch them if they cheat. Without the JCPOA, this monitoring and inspections regime would go away. Fourth, Iran is complying with the JCPOA. That was not simply the view of my Administration. The United States intelligence community has continued to find that Iran is meeting its responsibilities under the deal, and has reported as much to Congress. So have our closest allies, and the international agency responsible for verifying Iranian compliance – the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Fifth, the JCPOA does not expire. The prohibition on Iran ever obtaining a nuclear weapon is permanent. Some of the most important and intrusive inspections codified by the JCPOA are permanent. Even as some of the provisions in the JCPOA do become less strict with time, this won’t happen until ten, fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five years into the deal, so there is little reason to put those restrictions at risk today. Finally, the JCPOA was never intended to solve all of our problems with Iran. We were clear-eyed that Iran engages in destabilizing behavior – including support for terrorism, and threats toward Israel and its neighbors. But that’s precisely why it was so important that we prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Every aspect of Iranian behavior that is troubling is far more dangerous if their nuclear program is unconstrained. Our ability to confront Iran’s destabilizing behavior – and to sustain a unity of purpose with our allies – is strengthened with the JCPOA, and weakened without it. Because of these facts, I believe that the decision to put the JCPOA at risk without any Iranian violation of the deal is a serious mistake. Without the JCPOA, the United States could eventually be left with a losing choice between a nuclear-armed Iran or another war in the Middle East. We all know the dangers of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. It could embolden an already dangerous regime; threaten our friends with destruction; pose unacceptable dangers to America’s own security; and trigger an arms race in the world’s most dangerous region. If the constraints on Iran’s nuclear program under the JCPOA are lost, we could be hastening the day when we are faced with the choice between living with that threat, or going to war to prevent it. In a dangerous world, America must be able to rely in part on strong, principled diplomacy to secure our country. We have been safer in the years since we achieved the JCPOA, thanks in part to the work of our diplomats, many members of Congress, and our allies. Going forward, I hope that Americans continue to speak out in support of the kind of strong, principled, fact-based, and unifying leadership that can best secure our country and uphold our responsibilities around the globe. Wrong to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords, wrong to pull out of the TransPacific Partnership, wrong to pull out of the JCPOA. America is diminished by these mistakes. On climate, fortunately, many states and corporations are ignoring Trump and striving to meet the Paris goals anyway. On the TPP, hopefully, there seems to be some talk about our joining it after all. And on Iran — well, we’ll see. Iran itself seems to be saying it may not kick out the inspectors and restart its nuclear program just because one of the several signatories to the deal has pulled out. Let’s hope they retain that posture until our country returns to its senses.
3.9% Unemployment: Does The Truth Matter? May 11, 2018May 8, 2018 Already, with a title like that, I have people angry. Of course the truth matters but why do you think YOU know the truth and we don’t? Or so I imagine the very large, very red-faced man to my right at the Acropolis would have responded, had we talked. I hadn’t noticed him at first. He was taking a photo of his family. I was taking a photo of two Korean women and a man who had handed me their iPhone. As I do with almost all foreigners, I apologized for Trump. “I’m sorry!” I wailed (and of course it’s true: I am). They laughed and I got a good picture. But the very large, very red-faced man to my right said — off into the distance, not at me or anyone in particular, but wanting to be heard — “He’s amazing, actually.” The Koreans and I, and my friends, turned to look who had said it. “Hurray for America!” I said loudly to all, with a smile, as in — Well, see? We Americans can disagree, yet all love our country. That was all there was to it . . . but it was “a moment.” As my friends and I walked back downhill (having learned a lot about the Acropolis), we imagined that if we had engaged the very large, very red-faced man and his family in conversation, it would have been lively. Does it not bother him that the President constantly lies? Does he believe lying is okay? Does he want his kids to think so? Does it not bother him the President treats women as he does? Is a bully? A braggart? Stiffs his creditors? Condones torture? I imagine he would dismiss all that as fake news. Yet aren’t some things indisputably true? Even if people have disputed them? The earth is round, not flat. Smoking causes cancer. There ARE no witches. Dumping millions of tons of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere affects the climate. Far fewer people came to the Mall to attend his Inauguration than the previous two. These things are just true. Also true (you can see it on tape): he said he would “absolutely” release his tax returns if he ran for president. “I will never lie to you,” he said. You can see that on tape as well. But of course he lies nonstop. Most of us know that, no? Why do his supporters not care? Watch Seth Myers on Giuliani and Trump. Wow. And now check out: How Trump’s false claim about African American support happened — a case study in how easily things go south, how easily tens of millions are misled. But mainly, I wanted to finish the week hailing the low unemployment rate — it’s wonderful to see the improvement — but putting it in context. The rate is now the lowest it’s been since 2000, when Bill Clinton, a Democrat, handed George W. Bush an economy that had added 23 million new private-sector jobs and a budget deficit that had been turned into a surplus. After eight years, Bush, a Republican, handed Obama a plunging economy and an exploding deficit. Obama, a Democrat, averted global depression and – despite unprecedented Republican obstruction – handed Trump an economy that had taken the unemployment rate down from 10% to 4.8% with 75 consecutive months of private sector job growth and deficits low enough that the National Debt was finally once again SHRINKING relative to GDP. Trump and his Republican Congress took that and – not least by borrowing heavily to give the wealthy a tax cut – kept those 75 consecutive monthly unemployment gains going. At a slightly lower rate than in Obama’s last year. Those are the facts. The headline could be: “Trump maintains Obama job pace with the aid of massive new deficit spending.” Trump spins it as an enormous accomplishment. The economy was HORRIBLE until he took office, with the true unemployment rate, he told us, more like 24% or even, he’d heard, “as high as 42%.” And we will absolutely see his tax returns if he runs for president, and all 22 women are lying, and he didn’t make fun of the disabled on national TV, and the very large, very red-face man at the Acropolis — who I expect is in many ways, like most Trump supporters, a fine fellow — thinks all this is an amazing improvement over the swamp we had in Washington, and the carnage we had in our streets, before Donald Trump (and Ryan Zinke) rode into town. At least now, thanks to Trump, everybody has “great health care at a tiny fraction of the cost.” Have a great weekend.
Modern Living May 10, 2018May 8, 2018 Not sure I want to spend $30 million to live in Dubai. But these imagined wind-powered buildings, with independently rotating apartments, are pretty cool. Two minutes. (Thanks, Mel!) And if that caught your interest, here’s a YouTube on the world’s “20 Most Futuristic Buildings.” Greece is amazing, but a glass-domed igloo under the Northern lights in Lapland (transfer at Helsinki, bring warm clothes), looks pretty amazing, too.
Free Toolkits, Wildly Overpriced Drugs May 9, 2018May 8, 2018 Last Friday, I offered this free voter registration toolkit. Today, if you run a nonprofit — or know someone who does — this free toolkit. The former could save our democracy, if enough young people use it to help shape their future. The latter . . . well, I just look for any way possible to enhance the value of your subscription. Like American Express platinum, trying to justify the $550 annual fee. “One $85 TSA pre-check credit every four years!” That alone is worth $21.25 a year if you remember to use your Amex to renew your pre-check! (Which lasts 5 years, so really $17 a year.) Looking for a wonderful movie you may have missed? Victoria and Abdul. Saw it on the plane. Looking for a really nice Athens Hotel, with rooftop bar views of the Acropolis and the best included breakfast you will ever have? It’s called the Fresh Hotel. But mainly, in case you missed “60 Minutes,” Sunday, you’ve got to see or read this — “The Problem With Prescription Drug Prices” — and scream bloody murder for as long as it takes to get it fixed.
Frank Rich On Roy Cohn / DJ Trump May 8, 2018May 7, 2018 Wouldn’t that be great? If he had decided to become a DJ in later life — DJ Trump — instead of the greatest danger America and the world have ever faced from the Oval Office? Oh, well. But if he hasn’t already resigned (I’m in Greece, so might have missed the news), treat yourself to Frank Rich on Trump Mentor Roy Cohn, who — I’m embarrassed to say — went to my high school (some years ahead of me, though we had some of the same teachers) . . . who was close friends with two of my close friends (“we know, we know — but he’s so funny and throws such great parties and knows so many cute boys!”) . . . and whom I met just once, briefly, with those two friends at a large gay party in Miami (it was uncomfortable). Oh, God. How did it ever come to this? PS – Don’t miss Cohn’s telephone operator’s tidbits in the addendum at the bottom of the story. Two-sentence anecdotes on people like Gloria Vanderbilt and George Steinbrenner. Hysterical.
From The Cradle Of Democracy May 6, 2018May 4, 2018 If all goes according to plane, I’ll be gawking at the Acropolis as you read this. I was too young to see them build it, and then Athenian democracy died (and then Roman democracy died), but have always wanted to visit. As I write, Trump has lied, or otherwise mischaracterized the truth, more than 3,000 times since taking the oath of office. Add in his spokespeople, like Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Rudolph Giuliani, and its thousands more. Giuliani likened the FBI agents who raided Michael Cohen to Hitler’s stormtroopers, even though he himself was not there to witness the raids. Michael Cohen characterized them as professional, courteous, and respectful. It is horrifying how casually the President and his people lie. How thoughtlessly — or deliberately — he plays into people’s fears. (Crime is dramatically down over the quarter century before he took office.) How he encourages their worst instincts (e.g., praising the “many fine people” carrying tiki torches in Charleston). This is How Democracies Die. Do Republicans care? “Obama lied too,” they retort. But the New York Times found Trump told 103 separate untruths in his first 10 months (repeating one 20 times still counted as just one), versus just 18 in eight years for Obama — “an average of about two a year for Obama, 124 a year for Trump.” Another contrast? Obama would generally stop saying things once he learned they were untrue. Trump dismisses all this as fake news. The elitist New York Times? The Washington Post? NBC? CBS? “Enemies of the people.” It’s the National Enquirer and Fox we should look to for the truth. And Devon Nunez and Rudolph Giuliani and Vladimir Putin. And to Trump himself, of course. Trump, who kept a book of Hitler’s speeches by his bedside. The other book to read, along with How Democracies Die — and Jonathan Chait’s compelling analysis of how the Republican Party has changed — is Madeleine Albright’s Fascism: A Warning. Click here.
It Only Gets Better (By And Large) May 4, 2018May 3, 2018 Want to empower teenagers to register other teenagers to vote? Here’s the toolkit! Spread it far and wide. In New York May 16? Come hear Seth Sikes at 54 Below. His 13th appearance, if I’m counting right — and an all new show. “The Songs That Got Away.” It’s certainly safe to come: crime hasn’t been this low in New York since 1951. The change from the Seventies and Eighties is dramatic. In fact, most stuff worldwide has gotten better, by and large, even though gradual good news affecting billions rarely rates a headline — where an explosion killing six always does. You likely know all this — “keep an eye on the trend lines, not just the headlines” goes the advice — but in case you’re not already persuaded . . . or just want to feel good about something this weekend . . . enjoy Steven Pinker’s TED Talk.
Trans Military May 3, 2018May 3, 2018 Here’s a crazy notion. America: a land where ALL are equally welcome to serve their country if qualified. Heel-spur Trump says no to that. The indispensable New York Times says yes. Another crazy notion: giving pilots taxiing at the gate 360-vision so they’re less likely to bump into things. Per this press release, Dresden Aerospace and GKN Fokker Services have partnered with WheelTug to do just that. So while some holders of WheelTug’s parent seem to have given up . . . understandably, given the interminable slog . . . selling their shares most recently at $4.81 (I’ve long argued $100 might better value its risk/reward) . . . I’m encouraged to see players, arguably closer to the industry and with more skin in the game, signing on to its vision. Not crazy at all: come May 16 to hear Seth Sikes at 54 Below, if you’re in New York. His 13th appearance, if I’m counting right — and an all new show. “The Songs That Got Away.”