Month: June 2020

In 2016, approximately one hundred and sixteen million Americans who were eligible to vote in the Presidential election did not do so.

Meanwhile, each candidate, Trump and Clinton, garnered about 65 million votes, plus or minus a few million. That’s right: almost as many people didn’t vote as those who did. It was a close election, but either candidate would have won in a landslide if a bunch of those 116 million non-participants had picked a side.

Some people are just too lazy or disinterested to vote. Non-participation in elections is common at all levels of government, from the national level all the way down to local (county, city, district, and homeowners’ associations). When I was in local government, the non-participatory level was a pretty steady one-third of eligible voters. I don’t know why that is, but trust me, there are lots of your fellow citizens who just don’t give a shit. They not only won’t vote in person, but they will not avail themselves of voting by mail, either. Go figure.

Let’s assume that shameful percentage holds to this day, i.e. that one-third of our eligible citizenry sat out the 2016 election because…that’s what they always do.

Okay, 56 percent of eligible voters actually voted, meaning that 44 percent did not. Assuming that one-third (33 percent) of our citizenry never vote, that would mean that were were about 27 million eligible voters (the remaining 11 percent) who normally vote in Presidential elections but did not in 2016, probably because they disliked both candidates or did not think their vote would matter.

(The reader might recall that digital “disinformation” was heavily utilized by the Trump campaign and by the Russian government (per the Mueller Report) to dissuade eligible voters from participating in the 2016 election. A good proportion of those 27 million non-participants could be the product of those voter suppression campaigns.)

In 2016, the Presidential election featured two individuals who had a lot of “baggage”: Clinton, who had been in the political arena for three decades and had some not-so-sparkling moments to her credit; and, Trump, a businessman with multiple bankruptcies on his ledger who had transitioned to a know-it-all TV personality.

People who consistently had voted Democratic found real or imagined reasons not to vote for Clinton (her husband; Benghazi; possible shady business deals), as did a legion of Republican “Never Trumpers”, who determined Donald Trump to be inexperienced and morally untethered and could not stomach the blowhard.

For these reasons, a block of the non-participants sat on their hands in 2016…for reasons of principle, they thought.

Another cohort among the non-participants was the dim-witted bunch who fell for the “your vote doesn’t matter” campaign by the G.O.P./Russian agents who may, or may not, have been working in tandem. Their vote WOULD have mattered, as it turned out.

I think the 2020 election, should Donald Trump actually run against Joe Biden, will bring out a wad of those 2016 non-participants who…will not vote for President Trump.

First, there is an upsurge of young people who will be eligible to vote in 2020. Fifteen million of these young citizens turned 18 since the last Presidential election. Younger folks tend to be less conservative than their elders; i.e. more progressive, more open to racial and sexual equality, less hidebound to “old” ideas. Trump will have a problem with this group, which tends to respect science, participate in social protest, and be staring at the likelihood of unemployment in the coming years.

To make matters worse, many popular social influencers are beginning to bag on President Trump. Social media, which worked for candidate Trump in 2016, will probably skin him alive this time around.

Second, Hillary Clinton is not on the ballot in 2020. Those Democrats who held their nose in 2016 don’t have to worry about her anymore, and they certainly are aware of the destruction that President Trump has wrought. Joe Biden is a mainstream Democrat, he stands for democratic ideals, speaks well, and has a discernable moral compass. He was Vice President for eight years under Barack Obama, who was popular with Democrats.

The “Anyone But Hillary” Democrats will return to the Democratic fold in 2020.

Third, the “Never Trumper” Republicans have been vindicated by President Trump’s performance. He is what they thought he was: unqualified, narcissistic, and untethered to traditional G.O.P. policy goals. Trump has embarrassed the “party of Lincoln” by his racist and seemingly fascist behavior and incessant rants. They couldn’t stand him in 2016 and won’t support him in 2020. Some of this cohort will switch parties in 2020.

Fourth, Black Americans did not support Hillary Clinton in 2016 with the same fervor as they did Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012: a lot of African American voters weren’t enthused by Clinton, and many were targeted by the G.O.P./Russian voter suppression effort.

It will be a far different story in 2020. The Black Lives Matter social unrest, ignited by the George Floyd murder by Minneapolis police, has the African American community enraged and stimulated to demand change. Racist Donald Trump represents the “status quo”, and his comments that protesters are “thugs”, “hoodlums”, “communist rioters”, and the like have insured that he will secure close to zero support from this voting bloc. Minorities, including Mexican Americans and Asian Americans, which the President has been fond of targeting with abusive and derogatory tweets, will show up this time around. To make matters worse, influential celebrities like LeBron James, Beyonce, Barack and Michelle Obama, and Dwayne Johnson are turning up the heat on the President.

Trump will be routed in this voting group.

As noted earlier, older Americans tend to be more conservative and be more reliably Republican. These folks voted strongly for Trump in 2016. There will be fewer of them in 2020, because of normal mortality plus the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

And then, there will be an “attitude adjustment” among this voting bloc having to do with President Trump’s flaccid performance re: the Covid-19 pandemic and his continuing seeming indifference to this scourge, which targets older Americans. Many people who have been nominally included in Trump’s “political base” are going to punish the President’s disloyalty to them (i.e. their health) in 2020.

It is, frankly, hard to discern where President Trump might recruit new voters in 2020.

The President’s pre-pandemic economic policies (i.e. igniting trade wars with virtually every nation on earth) were not delivering promised returns to farmers in the Corn Belt, nor with coal miners in Appalachia, nor with manufacturing companies and their workers in the Rust Belt. Tariffs equal lost customers, and Trump’s response (crop subsidies), while helpful economically, are hard to swallow for Midwesterners, who prefer to earn their living. These blue-collar folk voted strongly for candidate Trump in 2016. He’s going to lose some votes with this group the next time around because he hasn’t delivered the prosperity he promised.

The Administration has done its best to un-regulate industry, support gun rights, and protect religious liberty by packing the courts with 200 conservative judges, many of them out-and-out political hacks with no judicial experience. This will be the lasting legacy of the Trump Presidency, a gift that keeps on giving (bad law) for decades. So, the extreme hard-ass Trump political base will come through for their leader who fulfilled this promise.

However, demographics work against this cohort from enlarging any significant amount.

(Having said that, the President probably lost some of his military veteran support this week when it was revealed that the Russian’s put a bounty on American soldiers in Afghanistan (to reward the Taliban for killing them), that the President was briefed on it, and did nothing to his buddy, Vladimir Putin. Not surprising, since Putin helped elect him, but definitely a kick in the pants to the military and our veteran soldiers.)

In summary, with four months left in this election year, things look bleak for the re-election of President Trump. At this point, Joe Biden isn’t really campaigning; he’s allowing Donald Trump the stage to embarrass himself with stupid press conferences, Tweet rants, and Administration missteps. It must be fun for Biden to watch, down in his basement, sipping on his Ensure. Lot’s of laughs.

There are three things going on in America right now: the Covid-19 pandemic; the economic collapse; and social unrest. President Trump has strategically positioned himself on the wrong side of each issue. He’s declared the pandemic a hoax; it’s killed 120,000 Americans already. He promised promised a V-shaped economic recovery; unfortunately, it looks more like an L-shape. And, he sided with cops and police unions in regard to racial disparity in law enforcement and the issue of police brutality; and the beat (and beatings) go on, accompanied by tear gas, truncheons, and illegal chokeholds…on non-violent protesters.

Donald Trump campaigned to “Make America Great Again”. Once elected, he set about demolishing existing treaties and alliances with other countries, bad-mouthing and imposing tariffs on traditional allies, and threatening to pull U.S. funding from international agencies such as the U.N., the W.H.O., and NATO. We’ve basically become an island unto ourselves, with everyone pissed off at us. This week, because of America’s amateurish response to the Covid-19 pandemic, European countries have banned U.S. citizens from visiting their countries. Our self-proclaimed “exceptionalism” has been replaced with universal mockery and contempt.

People who care about our once great country are not pleased at this turnabout in our prestige.

Public opinion polls indicate that Joe Biden is gaining support relative to all three issues, and Donald Trump is losing support. Overall, the President’s job performance, as judged by many polls, is hovering around 40 percent approval…and sinking.

Without cheating, he can’t win the 2020 election unless some miracle occurs. And it appears that Trump could drag down the rest of the Republican ticket, as well. The Senate could fall into Democratic hands for the first time in quite a while. Heaven forbid.

Time for the 3-Step plan?

After the Cabinet meeting that August morning, President Trump motioned Vice President Pence to stay after the others had left.

Aware that conversations in the Oval Office were recorded, the President said, “It’s a fine day outside; let’s take a stroll, Mike”. And the two walked outside to the White House rose garden where they sat on a bench.

“We’ve got a problem, Mike. My pollsters tell me that I can’t beat Joe Biden in November” the President admitted, visibly upset at having to utter the words. Trump hated losing anything, and not being reelected to a second term would be a catastrophic stain on his legacy that he would be unable to stomach.

“But Mr. President”, interjected the Vice President, “it’s only August…we’ve got three months and plenty of tricks left in the bag.”

Trump waved him off. “Michael, you’ve been a rock for me, but let’s face it…I fucked up the pandemic, I’m on the wrong side of the Black Lives Matter shit, the economy sucks, and we’ve practically bankrupted the country keeping the stock market afloat.”

The V.P. shook his head, and said, “It’s just not fair. Those goddamn Democrats, journalists, and George Soros had it in for us! Things were going so well, and then the wheels came off.”

President Trump nodded and mumbled “Yeah, and Obama undermined us, too. That bastard spied on me. And, the fucking Chinese had it in for us too. It’s amazing that we got anything done.”

Pence thought for a moment. Then said, “We could start a war. Sometimes that works.”

The President responded, “Don’t you think I haven’t thought of that? The problem is that the military hates me right now. They won’t buy it…and those fuckers love to make war!”

The two of them sat there on the bench for a couple of minutes deep in thought, feeling sorry for themselves.

Then Trump announced, “I’m going to develop health issues in a few weeks and will have to decline the Republican nomination at the convention.”

Pence was startled. “Are you okay, Mr. President? I had no idea that you were ill.”

“No, you idiot, I’m not sick!” blurted the President. “I’m going to pretend that I am. My doctor will announce that I’ve got heart problems, my bone spurs are acting up, or come up with some other phony excuse. I’ll get Fox News to sell it”, he said matter-of-factly.

The Vice President was visibly relieved. “Thank God you’re okay!”, he said. “So, what’s the plan, Sir? You know you can count on me to keep a secret.”

That is true, the President thought. Although he’s dumb as a rock, Trump mused, he’s been invaluable to the Administration by lying to cover my ass, lending me religious credentials, and keeping those Republican Party officials out of my hair. My silver haired caddy, he chuckled to himself.

“Look”, Trump said, “I’m toxic right now; I couldn’t get elected dog catcher this November. However, you don’t have all of my baggage. In fact, some private polling that I’ve had done indicates that you could be competitive…with the right running mate.”

“No shit”, Pence exclaimed, imagining the excitement when he told the wife. “I would, of course, do whatever the Party desires…to serve the greatest country in the world.”

What a doofus, thought the President. Pence just doesn’t get it: the job’s not about service, it’s about power and the many lucrative opportunities that it presents to line one’s pocket. Pence has been a “public servant” for decades, and he doesn’t have a pot to piss in, Trump thought, trying to keep a straight face.

“Yes, of course…the country”, the President stated. “We must do what’s best for our democracy”, chuckling under his breath.

Then Trump looked Pence in the eyes and said, “Ivanka”, nodding his head.

The Vice President had a confused look in his face. “What about your daughter, Mr. President? Is she sick too?”, he inquired.

“No, goddamn it, she’s not ill. She’s going to be your running mate!”, Trump blurted out. “We’ll have name recognition, she’s smart, and she looks pretty damn sexy in a tight sweater”, the President bragged.

An offended Pence blushed at the last comment, but kept his mouth shut. This could work, he thought, God willing. But, to have to team up with that pretentious bitch, he thought… God give me strength!

Trump then talked up the game plan for the convention, pledged the monetary support of his big lobbyist buddies, the votes of his political base, and assured the Vice President that Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and the tabloid press would go to bat for him.

“It will be like grease through a goose”, the President assured Pence. “Campaign theme? How about, “Youth Will Be Served”? You’re only 63, so you can harp on “Sleepy Joe” Biden’s age to distract voters from the real issues.”

The Vice President took a second to contemplate what he’d just heard. In the campaign, he would have to distance himself from the Trump personality, but how would he do that with Ivanka on the ticket? Then again, he considered, he would need those MAGA boneheads and…they pretty much bought any bullshit that Donald Trump, Fox News and Limbaugh fed them.

Miracles happen, he thought, saying a silent prayer.

A voice in his head said, “Do it”, and Pence said, “Allright, Donald, I’m in”, committing his pound of flesh to the scheme.

“Great!”, said President Trump, patting his Vice President on the back. “Don’t know what I’d do without you, my Friend!”, he added.

The two of them sat on the bench contemplating the future.

And then, the President said, “Oh, Mike, there’s one more thing that we need to discuss.”

“Yessir, Mr. President. What is it?”, Pence asked.

President Trump fidgeted around a bit, trying to craft just the right way to say what he had to. “Uh, well, we’ve got some cleanup to accomplish before we move too far forward.”

“I’m good with a broom, Sir!”, said the Vice President. “Where do we start?”

I love his enthusiasm and naivete, Trump thought.

“As you know, our Administration has cut a few corners to get things done”, asserted the President. “Some would say that we’ve taken liberties with the Constitution, have violated the rights of many people, and have lined our pockets when the opportunity presented itself”, Trump stated.

It’s too bad, the President thought, that he didn’t have another four years to perfect the art of the governmental grift…he really enjoyed it. I might have become a trillionaire, Trump mused.

Pence shifted uncomfortably on the bench. He knew about a lot of sketchy things that the President and his cronies had done, as did the press and the public, but there was undoubtedly more that he was not privy to.

Just as well, he thought.

President Trump then said, with emphasis, “Pardon”, nodding his head. “We’re going to pardon ourselves before the posse gets too close.”

Okay, thought Vice President Pence, I understand how that works: typically a President, in the final month of his Administration, will pardon criminal acts that celebrities, cronies, and friends have committed, allowing them to skate from justice. Sure, the Constitution allows it, he mused, in a limited way. But, pardoning ourselves? Hmmm, he thought, can we do that?

“I’m listening, Sir”, said Pence.

The President then outlined a two-step plan to the Vice President, contingent on the outcome of the election.

“First,” Trump stated, “in the event that, God forbid, you lose the election, I will pardon my family, my Cabinet members, my lawyers, and anyone else that I can think of for crimes that they committed during our Presidency.”

“What about me?” asked the Vice President, alarmed that his complicity might leave him hanging out to dry.

“Sure, you’ll be covered”, assured the President.

Then, he added, “As a matter of fact, we all need some insurance, particularly if the Democrats take both houses of Congress. They’ll be looking under every carpet and into every crevice.”

Trump then outlined a “Spring cleaning” that would occur between Administrations, where virtually any record of Administration doings would be deleted from hard drives, paper files would be destroyed, and employees bribed. It would be like Trump and his people had never been in the White House.

“Second”, the President told his V.P., “on the last day of my Presidency, I am going to resign, making you, Michael Pence, President of the United States!”

The Vice President was almost brought to tears. He said, “How generous of you, Donald! The wife and family will be so honored and proud…even if it is for one day.” President Michael Pence, he thought, I like the sound of that!

And then, the current President dropped the hammer, “And, on that day, you will pardon me from any crimes that I may have committed in the four years of my Administration.”

Pence swallowed hard. Sure, he thought, there is always a price to be paid, as he recalled Gerald Ford’s unpopular pardon of Richard Nixon. And… does anyone remember Ford for anything but that one act?

Oh, well, he thought, in for a dime, in for a dollar. Give the Devil his due.

“Sure, Mr. President, I would do that for you”, reluctantly stated the V.P., already regretting his decision.

Trump smiled.

“Of course”, he said, “If you campaign hard, and say the right things like I did, you might beat Joe Biden.” The President then added, “Stranger things have happened!”, recollecting his surprise victory in 2016 when the Russians carried water for him.

The President then shook hands with the Vice President and they returned to the Oval Office, whereupon Pence withdrew to his own office to contemplate the day’s events.

President Trump sat behind his magnificent desk, staring out the window, working through the strategy, looking for any booby traps. I think I have all the bases covered, he thought. The two-step plan would shield him from those pesky Democrats after he left office, he assured himself.

(Then, he could occupy himself cashing in on all of those favors he had dispensed as President, living large, and lending his “expert” opinion on all matters to Fox News viewers. He enjoyed talking, even about things that he knew nothing about. Fox News didn’t care; they just wanted a famous face with a conservative take on issues.)

All plans need to account for contingencies, and Donald Trump’s exit strategy was actually a 3-step plan, not the 2-step version that he had sold to the Vice President.

In the event that Mike Pence actually prevailed over Joe Biden in November, there would be but one step remaining…promoting the newly-minted Vice President Ivanka Trump into the Oval Office.

His daughter was, of course, privy to the plan, as was her husband Jared Kushner. In fact, the smarmy suck-up had suggested it.

Later that morning, Kushner sat down with the President in the Oval Office.

“Good news!”, the President told his son-in-law, “Our transition plan is ready to go, and Vice President Pence is onboard”. Kushner got to his feet, gave his father-in-law a high-five, left the room, and headed for his Senior Advisor’s office in the Executive Office Building.

On the way, he stopped in Lafayette Park to make a call on his burner phone.

At the other end of the call, the voice of Vladimir Putin came on the line, “Jared, how are you?”

“Everything’s well here, Sir”, Kushner excitedly replied. “In fact, Operation Switcheroo has been green-lit by the President.”

The Russian Premier’s face flushed with excitement. The prospect of another four years with a Trump lackey at the helm in America aroused him in an almost sexual way. The help his people had given Trump four years ago had paid off in a thousand ways. To have a chance to continue the relationship, and to continue to undermine America, was a blessing.

“Tell your father-in-law that the hotel deal in Moscow will be approved and we’re donating the land, as well.”, Putin stated, and then added, “I’m also going to throw in that “pee tape” we’ve kept in the vault for the past ten years.”

Oops, Kushner thought, that thing about the prostitute peeing on her “John”, Donald Trump, back in the day…actually happened! HaHa, he thought, he’d have to mention it to Ivanka; maybe they could try it to revitalize their sex life.

“Okay, well, then…so we’re all together on this, Vlad?”, Jared began, “About one month into the Pence Presidency…something is going to happen to our friend, right?” he asked.

Putin mumbled something in the phone like, “You talk too much, Jared!”, hung up, and destroyed his burner phone.

That Trump bunch, he thought derisively. What a bunch of idiots!

But, he grinned, they’re my idiots.

Most Americans know, in their gut, that the economy is in bad shape.

Lots of people are out of work, and the businesses that have reopened are running at partial speed. And, that tepid effect is occurring while the government’s “stimulus” funding has yet to extinguish. Once that sugar high is gone, the grim reality will kick in.

So, why is the stock market doing well? Optimists.

The “market” is made up of investors, big and small, who want to believe that good things are about to happen. They’re gamblers, and, like all gamblers, believe that a slot machine jackpot is just one pull away. Any sign that there’s hope ahead (like a Trump tweet to that effect) is all they need to stay the course.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of “fake news” out there, and investors are known to gobble that stuff up, too.

I recently heard two interviews of David Rosenberg, a well-respected investment analyst who had a long and influential career with Merrill Lynch. He is known as a fairly cautious investor and his “Breakfast with Dave” is widely read by Wall Street pros.

To be honest, I’m not involved in the market and I’m not an economist by any means. However, I find myself agreeing with a lot of what Rosenberg is saying these days…because the evidence is right there in front of my eyes.

The economy was not in good shape before the pandemic. Corporations were feasting on low interest rates, but they were buying back stock rather than investing capital in their businesses. Unemployment was at a historic low, however many of the jobs that have been added in the past ten years were low-paying leisure or service industry jobs. Personal spending was high, but personal savings was low. Consumers were purchasing goods made primarily in foreign lands, so the multiplier effect was limited.

The stock market, which is not really a reflection of the economy, was overheated…i.e. stocks were overvalued…based upon the optimistic feeling that consumerism was on an upward climb. Spending drives the Gross Domestic Product.

The pandemic, and the subsequent quarantines and business shutdowns, basically kicked the legs out from under the teetering economy. Rosenberg feels strongly that America is entering a Depression, not a short-term recession, and that the economy will languish for a considerable amount of time…three years at a minimum.

He pointed out that the Federal Reserve has pumped more money into the 2020 economy to keep it afloat in the past three months than it did in the seven years of the Great Recession (2008-2015). They’ve, once again, bailed out poorly run corporations and…they’re not yet finished printing money.

(I watched an interview today with a well-known economist. He noted that approximately 16% of companies traded on Wall Street were “zombies” before the pandemic. A zombie company is one that is not economically viable, but is still operating, using cheap, borrowed money. The Fed, under Trump, has made this possible. This expert noted that, five months into the pandemic, the percentage of zombie companies is now around 19%. That is, one in five companies are being kept alive not by business but, rather, by government credit.)

Something like 40 million Americans have lost jobs since the beginning of the pandemic. A high proportion of those jobs were in leisure and service industries, and they will be slow to recover in the “new normal” economy where spending will be decreased on vacations, trips to Disneyland and Las Vegas, air travel, and purchasing adult toys, and big ticket items like cars and homes. People are going to prioritize expenditures on food, rent, and basics like clothes for children, utilities, gas for the car, etc.

This economic crash has reminded the working class of the importance of savings: many households live paycheck-to-paycheck and have foundered as soon as their monthly income was disrupted. In the coming years, our wiser citizenry will set aside more cash for “rainy days”, which means less consumer spending, which means a de-energized economy.

Until an effective Covid-19 vaccine is developed and distributed, and the population is immunized (probably 2021 at the earliest) many sectors of the economy are going to be shut down, like big conventions, arena events, and college and major league sports. Colleges and universities may be limited in attendance. All of the ancillary businesses which service these endeavors will suffer.

Bars and restaurants, which employ lots of people, and which consume great quantities of produce, meat, dairy, liquor, paper goods, flowers, etc. will have a very tough time. These businesses normally operate on thin profit margins, so restricting the “crowding” in these establishments virtually wipes out profitability. Even if restrictions are lifted, many patrons will not return until the pandemic ebbs. Accordingly, non-leisure businesses across America will suffer greatly as leisure spending ebbs.

Rosenberg is incredulous about the stock market’s magical resurrection amid the horrible unemployment situation. “It’s pure fantasy”, he says, to think that normalized earnings are not going to be seriously dented by the likely permanent loss of ten million workers. Lots of people will be out of work, and not spending, therefore the impact of that deficit will be multiplied, as there will be fewer dollars circulating in the economy.

Warren Buffet, generally acknowledged as the world’s savviest investor, has substantially backed out of the stock market for the time being, selling 100 percent of his airline stocks. That’s a pretty bleak assessment of the leisure economy.

Rosenberg is similarly advising his clients to avoid stocks and, instead, buy gold.

A problem we have right now, in the panic of the pandemic, is that the government is paying people not to work; i.e. just giving them money. Nothing substantial is being accomplished except staving off the inevitable for a few months. A lot of suffering is coming.

(In addition, the cheap credit infusion by the Fed is propping up the stock market. That’s why the market hasn’t yet collapsed. And, probably won’t. Because the market and the financial system is “too big to fail”; the Fed won’t let that happen. That’s why Wall Street brokers are optimistic…they can’t lose right now.)

During the Great Depression, the government helped people and the country by funding jobs which built infrastructure, like roads, bridges, dams, public utilities, and the like. I don’t hear either candidate talking up a plan for that in June 2020, but I can guarantee you that one will unfold once the election is over and the unlucky winner and his political party has to make lemonade out of sour lemons.

We are part way to a socialistic government right now, with the Federal government carrying the load for failed companies, providing cheap credit to successful ones, and flooding the economy with “stimulus” money to keep Joe Public from starving.

It’s going to get worse before it gets better. The world economy is in the same boat. There are no easy answers.

It must take a lot of guts to want to be President in the face of this catastrophe.

It was another bad week for our Fearless Leader.

After flailing about trying to make political hay out of the police brutality protests (i.e. throwing his support behind the police perpetrators), and proclaiming his “law and order” credentials, President Trump issued an Executive Order on the systemic racism in law enforcement controversy. However, like many of his Executive Orders, it was all for show: a few suggestions to local police that are far weaker than Congress and local government are proposing. In other words, the President got some publicity for appearing to do something.

Mr. Trump also moved his upcoming rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma back one day so that it wouldn’t conflict with “Juneteenth” (June 19^th), which is the day that, for 150 years,  Black Americans have celebrated the freeing of the last slaves in the United States (in 1865). Always looking to claim credit for things he had nothing to do with, the President boasted that, moving his rally, he had “made Juneteenth famous”.

(Interestingly, his Administration has issued a proclamation celebrating Juneteenth in each year of his Presidency. If the unofficial Black holiday was unknown, why was it celebrated by the White House?)

Donald Trump is also the blowhard who has claimed, on several occasions, that he “has done more for Black people than anyone since Abraham Lincoln”.

(Then why is it that he can’t get African Americans to vote for him?)

While he was high-fiving himself over his imagined successes with Black people, the President fought a rear-guard action against his former National Security Advisor, John Bolton, whose tell-all book is about to hit bookstores nationally.

Evidently, President Trump is not pleased that Bolton is about to reveal “the Wizard behind the screen” and is pulling out all the stops to keep Bolton’s book from being published. He’s threatened civil lawsuits and criminal charges and has proclaimed that “anything he says to anyone” enjoys Executive Privilege, as in it cannot be repeated without his approval.

“Executive Privilege” isn’t even mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, and court decisions which have invented this legal concept from whole cloth have never taken it this far. However, we’ve never seen a President like this one, who says a lot of things without thinking, says stupid things after being advised not to, and insists that people close to him sign Non-Disclosure Agreements to protect him from himself.

I’m guessing that John Bolton didn’t sign a N.D.A.

A few things have leaked from the proposed Bolton book: Trump seeking China’s help in his 2020 re-election effort; the President being unaware that Great Britain is a nuclear power; that the Commander in Chief gets briefed several times a week by his National Security team but often does more talking than listening; that Secretary of State Pompeo called the President a “dumb shit”; and, that Bolton resigned his position, whereas Trump claims he fired him.

John Bolton’s credibility is somewhat suspect, as he has long been known in Washington D.C. as a conservative “hawk/nut job”, and has perhaps the largest ego in town next to President Trump. Bolton only got the NSA job when Trump got desperate and plucked him from his talking head commentary job at Fox News.

Bolton declined to testify about Trump’s extortion against foreign governments when Congress was engaged in impeachment hearings, but now, with millions of dollars awaiting him when his book is published, Bolton wants to bad-mouth the President.

Actually, the tit-for-tat between Trump and Bolton that we’re now hearing about is not surprising. They are both narcissistic blowhards who couldn’t get along. I’m not buying the book or reading it because, based upon the parts that have been leaked to the Press, Bolton’s “scoops” include information that informed Americans already knew about Donald Trump: he’s a piece of shit, now attested to by another Administration scoundrel.

In other news this week, the President applauded news that some effective treatments for Covid-19 have been discovered by British medical teams, and then when on to ad-lib that these same people had been successful in developing “the AIDS vaccine”.

As most intelligent adults know, there is no AIDS vaccine.

Hard to believe, but this was not the most embarrassing thing that our President said this week. The Supreme Court made two rulings that got Trump riled, the first on sexual preference and the second on the so-called “Dreamers”, i.e. children of illegal immigrants that have grown up in the U.S.A.. Both rulings went against 2016 Trump campaign themes.

First, the Court ruled that employees could not be fired for being Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transsexual, etc. This sent shock waves through the President’s religious base which expects “zero tolerance” in such matters. Trump was livid that “his” Court, the one which he has packed with two hard-line Conservative judges, had the temerity to rule against “him”.

In the second case, a 5-4 majority ruled against the Administration, which was trying to end the Obama-era “Dreamers” program which has permitted children of illegal immigrants to live, be educated, work and thrive in the United States. President Trump has long promised to end this program.

Trump was furious with the Court decision. He described it as a “shotgun blast into the face of people who are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives”, added that, “We need more Justices or we will lose our 2^nd Amendment and everything else”, and finally, “Do you get the impression that the Supreme Court doesn’t like me?”

The President and his party were annoyed by this turn of events because they wanted the Supreme Court to make immigration law, rather than having to do it the old-fashioned way (i.e. according to the Constitution) by working with Congress. The problem with that approach is that Congressmen, Senators, and Presidents have to face the voters, who might hold them accountable for laws which they enact. The President, in particular, doesn’t want to alienate any more people than necessary in an election year.

He doesn’t mind killing people, though.

Tomorrow is the big campaign rally in Tulsa that the President has been looking forward to for several months. It will be held in an arena that holds about 20,000 people.

The rally violates virtually every one of the guiding principles for gatherings issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Social distancing almost certainly will not be possible in the crammed arena. Attendees will be yelling and chanting (and expelling droplets farther and faster than if they were speaking quietly. There might be pressure to not wear masks, as many Trump supporters have mocked the use of masks during the pandemic (as has the President). Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he thinks some people wear them to signal disapproval of him.

That’s right: with highly contagious, inhalable, invisible, deadly germs floating about, Americans are wearing uncomfortable and unattractive face masks not for health reasons (as his own Coronavirus Task Force has recommended) but, rather, to make a political statement.

How did this narcissistic buffoon ever get elected in the first place?

Meanwhile, the President and his Fox News cheerleading section continued to mount an offensive against the supposed “antifa” threat to the Nation. This anonymous group, which has no leaders and has proven to be quite elusive at demonstrations and protests (i.e. law enforcement is having trouble finding any of these terrorists), is but the latest supposedly subversive entity threatening America.

Previous boogeymen identified by the Trump team include: journalists; Never Trumpers; Democrats; liberals; the Dark State; George Soros; Bill Gates; Jeff Bezos; Mexicans; Muslims; the Chinese; the United Nations; the World Health Organization; ex-Cabinet officials who don’t like the President; and, of course, Black Lives Matter folks.

Interestingly, “antifa” means anti-fascist. The United States fought World War II in an effort to defend people from fascists (i.e. far-right, authoritarian ultra-nationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, as well as strong regimentation of society and the economy).

It would be expected that every U.S. citizen and politician, living in our democratic country, would be against fascism, because it’s un-American.

Evidently, Donald Trump and his supporters don’t agree.

Why is that?

In other bad news, the President evidently decided that the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Federal Court was getting close to bringing charges against a couple of Trump lawyers (Cohen and Giuliani) for corruption and obstruction of justice. So, out of the blue, Attorney General Barr announced that the U.S. Attorney (Berman) would be resigning his post, to be replaced by a Trump bootlicker.

Berman announced the next day that he had no intention of resigning and intended to continue his investigations. The next day, Attorney General Barr announced that the President had fired Berman.

When asked about the turn of events, Mr. Trump denied having fired Berman, saying that he leaves matters like this in the hands of the Attorney General.

What a circus!

UPDATE: The big Tulsa rally was held on Saturday night. The President claimed before the event that “we’ve had more than one million requests for tickets”. Alas, the rally was a dud; the Tulsa Fire Marshall said afterward that actual attendance was less than 7,000.

(President Trump was disappointed, exasperated, and angry. I’m glad I wasn’t in Air Force One on the return flight; the language was likely very colorful.)

BTW, the President said to supporters at the rally that “I told my people not to do so much testing” of Covid-19, because “the more you test, the more people turn up positive”.

Gee, what a surprise! (Actually, this attitude/policy was predicted several months ago when Trump was insisting that tests were available, people could get them anytime they wanted, and his Administration was flooding the country with test kits. As he spouted off this horseshit from the press conference podium, his Coronavirus Task Force medical experts blushed in embarrassment.)

(By the way, has anyone seen Drs. Fauci or Birx or Surgeon General Adams lately? I think they may have succumbed to the Covid-19 virus. Or, maybe the President doesn’t want them talking to the public anymore?)

After making his anti-testing gaffe at the Tulsa catastrophe, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McAnany was quick to insist that her boss was only kidding about cutting back Covid-19 testing. Trade Negotiator Peter Navarro made the same claim later that day. When reporters got the chance to question President Trump about it, he declared that he wasn’t kidding.

Can someone in the Administration get the story straight?

The Covid-19 pandemic is full-bore spiking in many states, deaths are now above 120,000 and our President…has moved on to more important matters like organizing rallies and bad-mouthing BLM protesters as “thugs” and “terrorists”.

We got word today that our new puppy “Bonnie” will be arriving from Ohio this weekend.

There are going to be some big changes around the house. The little dog is going to drive Booger and Baby nuts, for starters. They will be looking for places to hide and nap. Normal routines, like ball playing, food begging, walks to the local park, and wrestling on the backyard grass area will be disrupted by the little devil. We may have to serve meals separately for a while, as the puppy will likely want to encroach on the other dogs’ food dishes.

Bonnie will be watched 24/7 for the first month. She will spend her time playing, learning basic commands, and napping in her crate. We will need to demonstrate to her when and where to pee and poo. Booger and Baby will help with that instruction.

There’s going to be some jealousy, for sure. Booger is used to sacrifice, but Baby is an attention hog. The new puppy will encroach on her “cuddle time” with yours truly. I’m thinking that Charlie can cuddle with Bonnie when we watch TV, Baby can curl up next to me, and Booger can relax on her own couch in the living room.

I will take Bonnie to the local park for on- and off-leash training. It is fairly private in the back part and will give us some room and privacy to try a few things. It is important that I quickly train her to sit, wait, stay, and come. Lots of treats will be gobbled up as good performance is rewarded.

Life as we know it will change on Saturday. I hope everyone gets along, including Charlie and I.

We are also in the midst of a home improvement. A general contractor named “Adam” is closing in the west side of our patio to reduce glare and wind. He will also be designing some niches where we can put up an outside TV and some décor stuff.

Charlie has become friendly with Adam and has secured him as a bookkeeping client for Jonathan. As Alec Baldwin said, “Coffee is for closers”, and my wife is definitely one of them. She could sell ice cream to Eskimos.

Our “trash can enclosure” got completed this past week. This is a fenced-in area to the side of our house that keeps the trash can out of sight and, most importantly, not baking (and stinking) in our garage. We used two “moonlighting” vendors to do the project: a fence guy and a paver brick guy. It came out nice, and looks like it has always been there.

I am gradually increasing my golf play. I go to the practice range several times a week, trying to resurrect what used to be a decent swing. Old age and rust have taken their toll, for sure. Yesterday, I took a lesson from a guy named “Ryan”. He corrected a few stupid things I was doing and also talked me into a few changes with my equipment. My club grips need to be enlarged, he said, and my club shafts should be “Regular” not “Stiff”.

Accordingly, my sweet wife said, “Buy some new clubs for Father’s Day”, and I ordered them!

Today, I played with some friends at the local “Conestoga Golf Club”. I had never played there before, and I played like it on the first nine, shooting a 50. However, I shot 40 on the back nine, as some of Ryan’s tips finally sunk in. There’s hope, I think.

There are 8 golf courses here in Mesquite (population 20,000), and I’ve now played four of them over the past 6 weeks. I am hoping to post some scores and develop a handicap so I can play in some tournaments with my friend “Al”, who is a scratch golfer. My son Jonathan has played in some tournaments with him and they’ve had a good time.

Did I ever mention that it is windy in the desert? Well, it is, and sometimes it blows pretty hard. Two days ago we lost a vertical cacti (Palo Verde?) that snapped in the wind. So, I replaced it with a low lying one called a Fire Barrel, which is about the size of a human head and is native to the local desert.

Charlie and I are going to St. George, Utah tomorrow. That is our nearest big town, about 40 miles north on I-15. We’re going to hit a bike shop, an optometrist, a window treatments shop, Costco and maybe top it off by a nice lunch at the Black Bear Diner. It will be our last big outing for awhile, because after Saturday, we’ll be stuck around the house watching and training our little BonBon.

Oh, Boy, here we go again!

Different day, same old shit.

Another black man murdered by a police officer. Shot him in the back, twice, as the victim was running away from a possible misdemeanor incident (fell asleep drunk in a parked car). The incident was videotaped, and it is apparent that the officer was not mortally threatened but, simply, lost his temper. He could have let the perp run away; the cops already had his car. Another senseless tragedy, another husband and father cruelly gunned down. Another community enraged with corresponding protests and riots.

The American public, regardless of race, is fed up with this stuff.

Until law enforcement is taken to task for wanton excessive force, the problem will continue. Our cops need to understand that their job is to “serve and protect”, not administer punishment. And they need to help society weed out the troublemakers among their militaristic fraternity. Until that occurs, they are all complicit.

This type of behavior by law enforcement has been going on all over the Nation for 150 years. All minorities have seen their civil rights violated repeatedly while White folks enjoy the protection and peace of mind that taxpaying citizens deserve and pay for. We Caucasians have pretended that all is well, that bad guys deserve street justice, and that complaints about police conduct are exaggerated by crooked defense attorneys.

We’ve been lying to ourselves for generations, looking the other way, and buying into the myth that minorities are…not quite as human as we are. It’s a convenient, subtle racism that infests every nook and cranny of American society. The broken law enforcement and criminal justice systems are but a couple of manifestation of that ugly truth. We are all complicit in this travesty…for not paying attention, for swallowing bullshit fed to us by dishonest politicians, and inventing excuses.

In the past few weeks, in the aftermath of the several brutal incidences of white-on-black violence that have shocked the Nation, I have heard a number of people try to rationalize the bad behavior of the police by prefacing their pro forma indignation over the tragedies by adding…”but George Floyd was a bad guy”, or something to that effect. In other words, something in his past made him a damaged human being…so “maybe he deserved being choked to death, just sayin’”.

A good friend of Charlie and I made some lame excuse like that yesterday when the subject of the nationwide protests came up in conversation. Both of us blanched at the voiced rationalization, realizing at once that we were in the presence of another Caucasian dolt who has drunk the Kool Aid that the “law and order” types and police unions have been serving up for decades. Yeah, we all fell for it (us White guys), gobbling up the “Dirty Harry” philosophy of policing…that we civilians just don’t understand what’s going on out on the streets, and need to leave it to the “experts”. We could sleep well at night, knowing that the Thin Blue Line had our backs.

All of that was, of course, before cellphones with cameras.

Now it is all too common to see, up close and personal, what it means to be a Black man in America at the mercy of law enforcement. It is not a pretty sight, it is wrong, and it is un-American.

I’m ashamed. We can, and must, do better as a society. I must do better.

Law enforcement misdeeds are the primary focus right now, but other important aspects of systemic racism are also being lifted up for public inspection by the protestors, journalists, and politicians. As it turns out, racism has been in evidence, “in plain sight”, for quite a while.

I have spoken on this subject in previous blogs, i.e. “The Lost Cause” of the Confederacy. It astounds me how effective this political propaganda campaign was in shaping public attitudes after the Civil War. Traitors became heroes, victims became demons, and outlawed slavery morphed into Jim Crow racism…the South lost the battle but, somehow, won the war. It is hard to understand how Americans fell for this re-invention of history. Yet, they allowed it to occur.

Anyway, the recent furor is forcing Americans to look carefully at institutional racism. For example, there are hundreds of statues in public places throughout America glorifying Confederate officials and military officers. The descendants of once-enslaved people must walk by those civic memorials every day. What kind of message is that statue sending those citizens? That there was something honorable about fighting to retain slavery? That seems to be the not-so-subtle message…in-your-face racism, courtesy of the “Lost Cause” folks, with seal of approval by your local government officials.

Those statues are now coming down all over America, and not just in Southern towns and cities. It will be interesting to see how long similar statues survive in the Capitol rotunda in Washington D.C. If you’ve ever been there, you will recall that the traitor, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, is memorialized there. Why? Whose idiotic idea was that? Who approved it?

Similarly, numerous military bases in the southern states are named after Confederate military officers. These supposed “heroes” took up arms against the Federal government that they had sworn to protect and defend. Why would that government later honor them by naming a United States military installation in their honor? It beats me.

There is a groundswell of resentment against racism and the ol’ Confederacy right now. Demands have been made to re-name those bases. Congress seems to be of a like mind, but President Trump, who delights in always going against the tide of popular opinion, has been adamant in opposition.

Why? Because his political base is in the Southern states…who like to cling to old fashioned ideas like “The Lost Cause”. It wasn’t that long ago when our President defended White Supremacists as “good people”. (That sounds a lot like the 99 percent of cops that are good, but watch one of their fellow officers, the 1 percenter, choke a citizen to death and say and do nothing to stop it.)

Signs of the times: NASCAR, the stock car racing circuit, which is super popular in the South, agreed this week to ban the display of Confederate flags at its events.

Also, HBO Max screenings of “Gone With The Wind”, the 1939 classic Civil War classic, will henceforth be preceded with a blip adding historical context of the “Lost Cause” campaign. Also, Johnson and Johnson, the makers of Band Aids, announced that their bandages will now come in a range of colors, rather than just Caucasian beige.

Yes, these are all small things, but they’re a start at unwinding the tangle of racism that envelops our society.

Are you listening, President Trump?

Next on the civil rights’ activist agenda: G.O.P. voter suppression efforts in the 2020 election.

Republican operatives have made a sport of disenfranchising Black voters in recent elections. Gerrymanders, reducing polling places, making registration harder, limiting voting hours, making poor people drive 30 miles to their polling place, locating polling places in police stations, and attempting to limit absentee voting are but a few of the insidious tools. Tape recordings have documented G.O.P. agents bragging and laughing about their treachery. Nothing is more racist than minimizing African American influence in elections. It is common practice in the South and in some Northern states, as well.

As a result of the recent societal upheaval, mayhem, and soul-searching, there will be a microscope focused on the 2020 election process. This isn’t deterring President Trump, who is keeping up a steady drumbeat against absentee voting in 2020; he is determined to minimize voting, which is odd for a leader of a democratic nation…isn’t it?

One important benefit of the current maelstrom is that the young people of America seem to be energized, much like our generation was during the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement back in the day.

In 2016, almost 42 percent of our voting-eligible population did not vote. That is, about 100 million citizens didn’t vote for either Trump or Clinton, who each tallied around 60 million votes. Roughly one-third of those non-voters were younger than 30 years of age, and about 40 percent (including some of those young folks) were minorities.

If a significant portion of that non-voting cohort enters the 2020 fray, there could be a massive change in the electoral outcome from 2016.

Let’s pretend that the folks who liked/disliked Trump or Clinton stays the same, and the portion of the non-voters who disliked both remains the same, it would only take a few million additional “energized” young angry White activists and minority (previously non-) voters to swing results in five or six states.

Both the Senate and House, plus the Presidency, could go Democratic.

If any substantial progress is going to be made on racial equality and re-imagining our law enforcement and criminal justice systems, it is unlikely to happen under the leadership of Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

I think that those angry, previously non-participating eligible voters are saying, “Enough already”.

We will see in November.

(BTW, President Trump is going to start doing his big campaign rallies beginning this weekend. Attendees will be required to sign liability releases that protect the Trump campaign from any lawsuits that might otherwise be brought in the event that an attendee catches Covid-19 while yelling, screaming, and jostling with the other tens of thousands of attendees…who won’t be wearing face masks in deference to their Supreme Leader.)

Having decided to forego our annual RV sojourn to Oregon and California due to the pandemic, Charlie and I are hunkered down at our estate in Mesquite, Nevada…trying to keep cool.

It isn’t even Summer yet, and we’ve seen a number of days in the 100 to 107 degree range. “Yeah, but it’s a dry heat!” Humidity is indeed low, perhaps 11 percent, so maybe 105 degrees feels like 100. Big deal…it’s still HOT.

Speaking of scorchers and dealing with that, I installed a misting system on my outdoor pergola/patio area based on advice from my Yuma/RV buddy Dan Quinn. It WORKS. Praise the Lord, we can actually lounge in our patio on a hot day in partial comfort. The dogs like it, too.

On the subject of our canine friends, we are still awaiting delivery of our Boston Terrier puppy “Bonnie” from the breeder in Ohio. She is now nine weeks old and weighs over three pounds. Our neighbors know about the impending family addition, so a bunch of Charlie’s girlfriends organized a doggie baby shower the other day at a friend’s house. It was a surprise to Charlie and she loved it. Even though she’d had four sons many years ago, she’d never had a baby shower. So, it was quite special, even though the “baby” was already born and everyone had a photo of her.

It will be interesting to see how Bonnie fits into the Manning pack. I’m sure Booger will be a great “mother” to her and will teach her how to be a good dog. She will also appreciate the fact that Bonnie will spend a lot of time playing with Baby, giving her 12-1/2 year-old bones a break. Baby is probably going to be worn out by Bonnie, who will be looking for a place to hide and nap after hours of continuous play. It’s going to be a circus for a while.

We had a freak windstorm last week that wreaked havoc here in Sun City Mesquite. The winds were well in excess of 60 mph for a few hours and many trees were snapped or uprooted. Our 15-foot Peruvian Mesquite in the front yard got blown over, and a three-inch thick wood tree stake holding up our African Sumac in the backyard snapped off at ground level. Patio furniture was thrown all over our yard. It was a mess. People who have lived here for a long time say that it was the worst windstorm they’ve ever experienced here.

Partly because of exposure to wind, we had decided awhile back to partially enclose the patio adjacent to our French doors (into our great room). Yesterday our general contractor “Adam” arrived to start that job. It will cost $4,300 and will be stuccoed on the exterior to blend with the rest of the house, and on the interior side (patio side) there will be a TV wall with some niches for plants and décor items. Hopefully, I can use that outdoor area to watch football games, do some exercise, and maybe practice my golf swing while watching instructional videos.

Pandemic-wise, things have been loosening up a bit here. In a community of 20,000 people, we have supposedly had 25 cases of Covid-19 with no deaths. A high percentage of the folks who live here are high-risk elderly who are careful. The city’s three casinos opened this week, so it will be interesting to see if the coronavirus infections spike in Mesquite. Most people we know don’t go to the casinos except to eat a nice meal at one of the upscale restaurants. Hopefully, none of them will bring the bug back to the neighborhood.

We have no plans as of this minute to do a big RV trip in the next three months. We have some neighbor friends (the Howa’s) who have an RV and who want us to do some sort trips with them. We might do that if we can find a cool place to stay within a day’s drive; i.e. Kanab, Zion or Heber, Utah. It’s also possible that we might go to So Calif to see friends and relatives. But, everything depends on the pandemic and that potential “second wave”. If that begins to happen, we won’t be going anywhere or doing anything. I have a right hip replacement surgery scheduled for October 5^th, so I’ve got to stay healthy.

Even if that operation cripples me, or I catch Covid-19, I will find a way to get to the polls on November 3^rd and vote against the Antichrist. So help me God.

Keep cool out there and be safe.

This week President Trump, in defending overly aggressive policing and denying that there is systemic racism in law enforcement, made the statement that “99 percent of police officers do a great job”.

I’m not sure where he got that statistic but I would agree that the vast majority of law enforcement officers are conscientious public servants who try to do what’s right. I am happy that they are out there protecting me and mine.

However, the remaining one percent (if that’s all it is) represents the problem that our society is concerned with today: overly aggressive, targeted police actions which too often result in brutality against minorities.

Recall the old saw, “One bad apple spoils the bunch”. What this means is that one person’s bad behavior can affect a whole group of people, influencing them to engage in the same bad behavior. That can include doing the bad behavior, excusing the bad behavior, and/or covering up the bad behavior.

If a culture exists in a police department that promotes looking the other way when a rogue officer misuses his shield to abuse the public, or helping coverup that behavior, or pressuring authority so that no reprimand or criminal punishment is forthcoming, then the impact of the Bad Apple/One Percent is magnified exponentially. That is, the bad apple has spoiled the bunch: the whole department is soiled.

One percent doesn’t sound like much, right? That’s why President Trump used that microscopic number, so that he could minimize the issue, marginalize the victims (“not a big problem”), and pander to his “law and order” boosters.

However, one percent of anything can be significant.

Take for example the criminal element in American society. I’m not aware of the exact percentage, but let’s say that one percent of our population are criminals, i.e. apt to do things like burglary, robbery, assault, white collar crime, rape and murder. That one percent has a significant impact on our country.  As a matter of fact, law enforcement agencies and corrections facilities eat up an estimated $200 billion in local budgets dealing with this small fraction of our population.

$200 billion. That’s a lot of taxpayer money. In fact, law enforcement can be the largest line item in a local jurisdiction’s annual budget.

In Minneapolis, Minnesota the police department’s budget for this year is about $190 million.

Several weeks ago, Minnesota P.D. officer Derek Chauvin choked to death a black man while being videotaped. The black man, George Floyd, was suspected of passing a counterfeit $20. Three fellow P.D. officers stood by as Chauvin asphyxiated Floyd with his knee against the victim’s throat…for 8 minutes and 56 seconds. Chauvin stared at the videographer with a look of empowered satisfaction, as if he was doing the Lord’s work.

The Police Chief and the County District Attorney attempted to sweep the officers’ misdeeds under the rug (this is where the concept of systemic rears it’s ugly head), but the State intervened after an enormous public outcry.

Chauvin and the other three have been charged with the murder and aiding and abetting the crime. They may or may not be convicted, as police officers often escape punishment, because the legal system protects them.

If that occurs, it would not surprise anyone if full-scale rioting broke out in Minneapolis and other American cities…on a larger scale than we witnessed over the past few weeks. The damage to people and property that could be done by an enraged public could be staggering, like it was in the 1965 Watts Riots and the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, both reactions to police brutality against African Americans.

However, regardless of what happens with the criminal charges, a civil lawsuit against the City for “wrongful death” will certainly be filed by the family of George Floyd. And it will succeed and be very costly to the City. Punitive damages will be probably be in the tens of millions of dollars.

There are 800 sworn officers in the Minneapolis P.D. If the bad apples who work there only account for one percent of that total, then we should expect 8 overly aggressive actors like Derek Chauvin to be employed there. That’s right: he’s probably only one of several racist hot-heads dealing with the public on any given day. That’s scary.

Those “cowboys” represent a lot of liability for the citizens of Minneapolis, not to mention the terror that they inflict upon the unfortunate minority citizens of Minneapolis. The damage that those “one percent” can wreak on people’s lives and city budgets is significant.

This is why the argument that “99 percent are good guys” doesn’t cut it.

And, besides, the culture that produced Derek Chauvin, nurtured his aggressive tendencies, and enabled him to hurt people at his whim, with no interference from other officers on the scene, involves the other 99 percent. They may be good guys back in their own neighborhoods and at church on Sunday, but they are bad cops when they participate in a department which looks the other way or covers up misdeeds. By not opposing the felonious acts of their partner cops, they become complicit as a department.

That is why the City Council of Minneapolis is considering “defunding” the Police Department…whatever that means. The City can’t afford to move ahead in a “business as usual” manner, either politically or financially. The Police Department has brought this situation on itself, and now City leaders have the unenviable task of trying to make wine out of water.

The Police Chief, the police union, and the rank-and-file had better come up with a legitimate plan to right the ship ASAP. They need to clearly denounce racial injustice and police brutality toward minorities and identify what specific steps that they will take to change the culture in the Police Department.

If they don’t, I suspect that the City Council will reduce the Department’s budget by 20 percent, for starters. It wouldn’t surprise me if they doubled that cut.

Twenty percent of $190 million is $38 million. That’s probably what the George Floyd wrongful death civil litigation will cost the City of Minneapolis.

Because of that supposed “one percent”.

It was a typical Sunday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Washington D.C. Father Seamus O’Flanagan was hearing confession that morning and had just about finished that chore when a large man in a blue suit with a red tie climbed into the confessional booth opposite the priest.

After being greeted by O’Flanagan, the man spoke:

“Good morning, Father.

As a new member of the faith, this will be my first confession. I hope you have some time available because I have many sins to confess.

Basically, I’m a liar. I’ve been that way as far back as I can remember. I can’t seem to help myself in this regard and I will even lie when telling the truth would serve me better. God forgive me.

First of all, I have claimed to be a Christian for many years. That’s a lie. I also vowed (in holy ceremonies) to be hold sacred the bond of matrimony, but failed to uphold those promises because I cheated on my wives. In fact, I slept with a porn star as my wife Melania was delivering our newborn son Barron. I can’t seem to keep my hands off of good-looking women. God forgive me.

I’ve publicly announced that my father Fred gave me a million dollars to start my business career in real estate. That was untrue, as he actually gave me upwards of $100 million. I lied about this to make me look more successful on my own. God forgive me.

On many occasions in business I’ve cheated and defrauded vendors and investors, have unfairly treated tenants of my properties, and have illegally evaded my fair share of State and Federal taxes. I seem to have a fixation on money and can’t seem to control my impulses to obtain it regardless of the methods employed. God forgive me.

Probably because I am untrustworthy, I have a problem trusting others. And, because I am unwilling to take advice from others, I make my own decisions and, if they’re bad ones, I blame others. I can’t remember the last time I acknowledged a failure of my own making, and there have been many. God forgive me.

I decided to run for President not because I wanted to serve the public and protect democracy but, rather, because it would boost my ego. For some reason, that is the driving force in my life; I just can’t help myself. Everything thing I do is predicated on the idea that it will garner me personal praise. God forgive me.

In order to become President, I concocted a bunch of tall tales about my opponents and slurred previous occupants of the White House as incompetents, fools, and anti-Americans. I also partnered up with racist and religious extremists to demean and vilify minorities, poor people, immigrants, and non-Christians. I continue to do it to this day. God forgive me.

As President, I have continued to lie to the American public about virtually everything that I’ve done while in office. I have fired many good people in my Administration who dared to disagree with me. I have schemed to achieve my political goals by ignoring or manipulating the “separation of powers” intent of the U.S. Constitution. Although I am the President of all Americans, I feel it necessary to use my office to reward those who helped elect me and those who praise me and punish those who object to the way I conduct myself in office. God forgive me.

I have recently used my authority to squelch protestors who have dared to demonstrate against my Administration, using heavy-handed force and pepper spray to disperse Americans who were legally and peaceably exercising their right to free speech. I have Tweeted that the protestors are “rioters”, “left-wing Antifas”, and thugs not because this is so but, rather, because I’m embarrassed about the commotion on the streets in Washington D.C. and all over the country and how that might hurt my re-election chances. God forgive me.

And, as far as the issue of systemic racism in the law enforcement and criminal justice systems in our country, I know that to be the case but don’t really care about it because those people don’t vote for me anyway. I know that this is wrong and unfair, but racists, the Second Amendment crowd, and the “law and order” community helped get me elected and I am beholden to them. Again, I have put my interests before those of my God and my country because I am a narcissist who thinks only of his own glory. God forgive me.”

The priest had listened carefully to the man. He recognized him and, like all Americans, he knew what he was dealing with…a man without a soul or conscience, who probably just needed some cheering up after another bad week. Or it could be another scam by the Master, the priest thought. I hate this part of my job, he mused, shaking his head.

Father O’Flanagan looked at the congregant through the confessional screen, and was about announce forgiveness and the requisite acts of contrition, when a bright light overwhelmed the interior of the church and a high-decibel voice boomed down upon the two men in the confessional booth:

“Get the Hell out of here, you piece of shit, and don’t come back!”

Donald Trump wet his pants as frantically scrambled to exit the confessional, and he and his campaign photographer practically fell over each other as they unceremoniously fled down the aisle, out of the church, past the Secret Service agents, and into the waiting limo.

“Step on it!” the President shouted.

The George Floyd murder at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department has quickly morphed into a nationwide outpouring of outrage, anger, and soul-searching.

Actually, I think the mass outpouring of emotion regarding racial injustice was caused by the proximate videotaped incidents of (a) the Floyd spectacle, (b) the videotaped Ahmaud Arbery shooting in Georgia, and (c) the videotaped attempt to “swat” a black man by a white woman in New York’s Central Park. Rarely have three related, nationally reported outrages occurred this close together…all of them videotaped…where there is little doubt that the events were racially motivated.

I can’t image a single American adult who, upon watching these three incidents on TV, doesn’t feel shame and disgust at the travesties. Even the most heartless among us knows, deep in their souls, that this white-on-black behavior is evil. Even though he wouldn’t admit it, I’m sure President Trump cringed when watching these videos. Some things are beyond the pale.

To be honest, had there not been a video record of these disparate events, most Americans would not have paid much attention to them. That’s the way it is: most people don’t pay attention to this kind of thing because it doesn’t affect them personally and they can’t relate to the injustice. When was the last time a White person died in a chokehold from a policeman?

With people of color, stuff like this is all too commonplace. They must deal with this reality every day in their neighborhoods. Parents must be terrified when their adult children walk down the street or drive a car. It’s bad enough that they must fear criminals, but they must also watch out for law enforcement predators.

How can this unjust situation be changed? Is it even possible?

At this moment in time, society’s revulsion at the past weeks’ events suggests that there may be momentum building toward meaningful change. American outrage in the 1960’s culminated in the Civil Rights Act. I know because I lived through those momentous times.

But that landmark legislation didn’t solve the problem of racial injustice and systematized police brutality. It should have, but it failed.

Why?

The Civil Rights Act is Federal law, while community law enforcement is local. “Law and Order” is administrated in neighborhoods and city business districts. It is tailored to the tastes of the citizens who vote for city councilmen, mayors, Sheriff’s, District Attorneys, and Judges.

These local elected officials are beholden first to the citizens who elect them, by the local ordinances (laws) in place, by controlling State laws, and, lastly, by Federal policy guidance. Local elected officials meet with the public every week, people know them, and they can be reached by a phone call. I know this all too well, as I served for three years as the senior administrative aide to a County Supervisor. Local government is where “the rubber meets the road”.

It is also non-partisan (i.e. no political party affiliation), so actual issues get addressed while political posturing is lessened.

Federal government, on the other hand, is remote. The officeholders are typically seasoned political party hacks whose public service idealism quickly fades once they get to Washington D.C. Federal officials all come from somewhere, but they are strangers in their own home towns (because they are never there) and they are virtually impossible to reach, because they are so insulated by staff. Accountability is low, and their priorities are kissing up to lobbyists and getting re-elected. Meaningful policy discussion of significant local issues like policing and equal treatment in the judicial system is a non-starter in Washington D.C. Heartfelt speeches (“thoughts and prayers”) are made, photo ops are occasioned, and nothing meaningful is accomplished.

In the end, the resolution of police brutality and unequal criminal justice system treatment falls on each local community: locals must deal with the mess that they created and have allowed to fester.

To resolve issues that divide communities, we need individuals who are willing to listen, do what is right, and correct mistakes when they are made. It’s that simple.

“Business as usual” got us to this place. Local officials have taken too much advice on “law and order” from partisan political gasbags and the law enforcement and criminal justice folks. They both work to promote fear, rather than community tranquility. Blaming the downtrodden for urban decay and crime, and allowing heavy-handed policing to make non-minority citizens feel more secure is standard procedure.

As a society, we have allowed the police to not just investigate crimes and arrest suspects, but to also impose “street justice” when a message is deemed necessary to be sent. And, so, we find instances of brutality occasioning misdemeanor offenses such as driving with a broken taillight, breaking curfew, jaywalking, and having the moxie to object to rude police language in front of loved ones. Sometimes these minor issues end with someone being shot, usually a minority.

Law enforcement officers are authorized to use deadly force in very limited and specific circumstances. The fact of the matter is that chokeholds, baton beatings, and discharge of firearms are used all too commonly against minority citizens but rarely against White folks. It is not that non-Caucasian people commit more crimes or are more violent but, rather, that the police feel enabled to act like this by their public masters.

Who is to fault? Well, we citizens elect the City Councils, and those electeds hire and fire Police Chiefs, who implement policy (supposedly) established by the City Councils. We citizens also elect the District Attorney, who prosecutes defendants, and we also elect the Judges in or jurisdiction.

If there is a culture of racial disparity in law enforcement and criminal justice outcomes within our City or County, then we voters are complicit in the problem. “You get what you vote for.”

Compounding the problem is the power of law enforcement unions. I have yet to hear of an instance where a police union came out against an officer or group of officers who have obviously misused their authority. On the contrary, the union usually makes the case that such officers be given the benefit of the doubt, even in egregious cases. Police Chiefs normally abhor taking sides against an officer and the union; it’s a no-win situation for them.

Some jurisdictions, in light of recent events, are adopting local policies which restrict their law enforcement officers from using chokeholds, tear gas, rubber bullets, and deadly force except in the most dangerous situations. That’s a start.

However, another thing that should be considered is the mandatory use of “body cams” by all law enforcement officers responding to a call. Many, if not most, jurisdictions have the equipment in their police cruisers and quite a few officers have them in the field. All too often we hear of an incident where an officer was equipped with a body cam but had it turned off. That is just too convenient, because the version of what happened often boils down to what the victim of police violence testifies versus the “word” of the officer and his partner. So, it’s two to one in favor of law enforcement right from the get-go.

The recent instances of police misconduct have caught the public’s outraged attention only because bystanders videotaped the encounters. Without that “eyewitness” testimony, there would be no evidence of police brutality.

So, I believe that every jurisdiction that employs law enforcement officers needs to (a) purchase body cams for all officers, and (b) make it mandatory that such a device is records every event when a police/citizen encounter occurs.

The “I forgot to turn on my body cam” excuse should not be tolerated by any Police Chief or their boss, the City Council. Police unions will gnash and wail, but this is the centerpiece of the jurisdiction’s accountability program. When the body cam is in use, it will be pretty clear who did what to whom and why.

If law enforcement officers are thus held to a higher standard of behavior, they will evolve. Less gratuitous violence will engender less reciprocal violence. If fear and apprehension over interactions with policemen can be lessened, minorities will be less jumpy, will run from police less often, and may be more willing to help law enforcement resolve crimes within their neighborhoods.

This will take time. Black Americans have been subjected to aggressive policing since the Civil War, so the mess that White America has created will take time to clean up. Attitudes don’t change overnight.

But, we need to try.

(UPDATE: Just as I was about to post this blog, there was news again this morning from Minnesota. It appears that the City Council of Minneapolis has decided to “defund” its Police Department. It remains to be seen how that defunding takes shape, but it appears that the intent is to remove some funding for cops on the beat and re-appropriate it to community programs that attempt to bring people together rather than to stigmatize them.

This is an interesting development. The City Council has been unhappy with its Police Department leadership for quite a while, it appears. The Police Chief has been resistant to change and that attitude has filtered down to the rank and file. The George Floyd murder was just the latest police brutality event. The officer who committed the crime has been reported 18 other times for misconduct and has never been charged with a crime or fired. This reflects upon the Police Chief and the District Attorney and the law enforcement/criminal justice culture that they have engendered in Minneapolis.

This “defunding” decision, which I’m sure was a last resort to get the attention of the Police Chief, his troops, and the Hennepin County D.A., will have repercussions all over the Nation. It shows that a jurisdiction which is serious about reversing the systemic racism in law enforcement/criminal justice can effect change if it uses its “nuclear option”: money.

For some reason, I’m visualizing Cher in Moonstruck when she slaps Nicolas Cage in the face and shouts, “Snap out of it!”. That’s the effect that the City Council intends with this bold move.

Police unions are going to hate this, as is Donald Trump and his band of MAGA flagwavers. The President campaigned on the trite “law and order” message, and personal style in business and in governing features aggressiveness, bullying, and gratuitously violent rhetoric and vindictiveness against perceived opponents.

Donald Trump has had his knee on democracy’s neck for three years now and he seems to enjoy it, like Officer Chauvin taking down George Floyd. Bullies like Trump and police unions want more, not less, power and will fight any attempt to hobble them, democracy be damned.

I can see this latest development giving paranoid, far-right, militaristic wackadoodles an excuse to flex their muscles. President Trump goaded some of them into showing up at last month’s “Re-Open the Economy” demonstrations in combat gear and toting long guns. The intent was to intimidate the Governor of Michigan. It worked, to some extent.

Guys who like to play with guns and boast about how “we have more bullets than the other side” are going to be very uncomfortable with the idea of “defunding”. They will probably (with help from President Trump) manipulate this racial injustice issue into a perceived threat against their Second Amendment rights (gun ownership) and go on the warpath.

“Law and Order” will become a big issue in the 2020 Presidential campaign, perhaps overshadowing Trump’s inept response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic recession.

It’s time for another “Hail Mary” pass!)