Week 59: Attack of the Scalia Clone (February 5, 2017)

Dear Readers,

The election may have been three months ago, but there’s still a ton of political news. Reminder that newsletters and more are always available at http://www.electreport.blogspot.com

Trump Defends Putin’s Violent History

Every once in awhile, we are treated to a Trump quote so outlandish even his own party can’t bother to defend him. On the O’Reilly Factor, Trump was asked about Putin, and specifically his history with killing people. Trump’s response, “There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country is so innocent?” Immediately, Mitch McConnell took to CNN to denounce Putin (though, of course, he had no trouble voting for Putin’s bud Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State), and Senators Ben Sasse (R-NE) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent tweets saying that American politicians never order the death of journalists. Indeed, the only Republican unwilling to denounce Trump over this was Vice President Pence, who, as with many times before, refused to admit Trump said something he said.

Gorsuch

Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court is in, and it’s Neil Gorsuch, from Colorado, often described as a “Scalia clone.” Gorsuch is young, well-qualified, and very conservative. He’s earned praise from Republicans for his opinions and Democrats for his devotion to the job. He describes himself as an “originalist,” believing the Constitution is an unchanging document with stable meaning. He shouldn’t have a problem getting the 52 Republican votes he needs to be confirmed, but Democrats will probably fight his nomination as long as they can.

Immigration EO Overturned

Trump’s controversial executive order, which stopped immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations, has been temporarily blocked. The state of Washington went to court against the order, and district judge James Robart, a Bush appointee, decided to block major parts of it. The DHS stopped enforcing it yesterday, and suspended visas have been reactivated by the State Department. The government has appealed Robart’s decision, and will fight for the executive order.

Trump Supporters Protest Factually Accurate Advertisement

The Budweiser Super Bowl advertisement championed the life of Anheuser-Busch founder Adolphus Busch, a German immigrant. Trump supporters have decided that the ad was “political” and want to boycott Budweiser products. Yes, Budweiser, who last summer rebranded their beer America, are apparently too political for Trump supporters like Fmr. Rep. Joe Walsh, who tweeted “Budweiser has a right to get political & support illegals, and we have a right to boycott Budweiser. That's America.” Also, some Trump supporters turned off the TV to protest the Lady Gaga halftime show.

This Week in World Elections

Liechtenstein: The Progressive Citizens’ Party held on to their plurality over the Patriotic Union. This doesn’t matter.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to reply and comment.

Week 58: Weak (January 29, 2017)

Dear Readers,

It’s been a week and stuff’s already going crazy. Reminder that newsletters and more are always available at http://www.electreport.blogspot.com

Executive Orders Galore

“I don't think he even tries anymore. I think he just signs executive actions," -Donald Trump (on Barack Obama), December 2015

Trump’s been getting busy since inauguration day with executive orders. An anti-ObamaCare order, a protection against illegal immigration, and a dumb order literally placing in law the old saying “repeal two regulations for each new one.” But the most important and controversial order was the Executive Order "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States," making good his campaign promise for a Muslim ban. The text of the order bans entrants of the country from Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan. It’s still unclear whether this affects green card holders, but the fact that it might is still terrifying.

Naturally, this order prompted tons of protest and a lawsuit from the ACLU. It’s estimated nearly 400 travellers have been affected already. In addition to being anti-immigrant and generally awful, the perpetrators of the 9/11 attack were from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, and Lebanon - all nations conspicuously left off the bill, and all nations in which Mr. Trump has business interests. It’s a little fishy...

Indeed, many Americans (and some Brits, Canadians, and Belgians) showed up at airports in 33 different states to protest Trump’s executive order. The largest was at Kennedy Airport in New York, but there were organized protests from Bangor to San Diego, and everywhere in between. It will surely not be the last protest, and Trump clearly knows we’re watching his every move.

Trump Swaps out Attorney Generals

Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, unwilling to act in favor of the administration’s new executive order, has been fired and replaced with Virginia AG Dana Boente. The White House went on a tirade against Yates in which they said "Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration." Now, Boente is a registered Democrat, and this does follow a letter by Yates saying “At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities, nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful,” but it still shows what frightening power Trump has.

Bannon

Steve Bannon (as Chief Strategist) has been placed on the US National Security Council as of yesterday. Moved off of the council are the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence. This is a disturbing turn that replaces important roles with an inexperienced anti-Semite who has too much power over the president as it is.

Also in the Cabinet, the senior State Department officials’ period of transition has come to a premature end. Let me explain: Generally, state department officials will stay on for a short amount of transition time so somebody is left to ease the new secretary in. However, Trump waved these administrators away before Tillerson has been confirmed and before they’ve even picked a deputy!

Also noted:

-Trump’s Holocaust Remembrance Day statement went out of its way to not mention Jews or the Jewish faith.

-Trump has continued to say he’ll launch investigations on illegal voting

Thanks for reading! Feel free to reply and comment.

Week 57: Alternative Facts (January 22, 2017)

Dear Readers,

Donald Trump has now sworn in as president. Reminder that newsletters and more are always available at http://www.electreport.blogspot.com

Trump’s Inauguration

This friday, Donald John Trump was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. His inaugural concert featured such legendary musicians as 3 Doors Down and Toby Keith. An estimated 10,000 people attended, while 400,000 attended Obama’s. Trump’s inaugural address, the shortest since Carter’s in 1977, described the “American carnage” under President Obama and copied a line from a speech by Batman villain Bane. The crowd of about 200,000 people was lower than the average of 692,000 and much lower than Obama’s total of 1.8 million. However, Trump’s Press Secretary Sean Spicer denounced this as a lie, somehow, at a press conference, during which they made no mentions of...

...The millions of people protesting at women’s marches around the country, as the biggest protest in United State history. While Trump later tweeted about it (and contradicted himself), it’s clear where the new administration’s sights are focused - proving they’re the best, not actually addressing the needs of the American people.

Another thing Donald thought it was influential enough to tweet about was the amount of people watching the inauguration on TV - 31 million, he said, better than Obama 2012! News flash, Mr. President - nobody cares about a second inauguration. Less people watched this than watched any president's inauguration in many, many years: more people watched Jimmy Carter in 1977!

Trump’s Cabinet Confirmations

The first two members of Trump’s cabinet were confirmed this friday. General James Mattis was confirmed 98-1 for Sec. of Defense (the lone dissenter was Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and John Kelly (for Homeland Security) was confirmed 88-11, with all eleven dissenters being Democrats. Dates haven’t been set for the rest of the cabinet, but the only ones who I could see possibly being rejected are Tillerson and Mnuchin, so it doesn’t really matter.

Alternative Facts

Remember when I talked about Sean Spicer denouncing the facts about the crowd size? Well, Kellyanne Conway (Trump’s campaign manager/Counselor to the President) had an airtight defense for that:

“You’re saying it’s a falsehood. And Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts to that,”

Now, enough has been written about this that I don’t need to go into depth, but in English we have a word that means “alternative fact.” It’s called “lie.” The term itself recalls images of 1984, or Stalinist Russia. And the ramifications are very large - if the government has the authority to define facts, then that paves the way for a totalitarian state.

No, Donald, Don’t Take the Oil

While addressing the CIA this week, President Trump repeated a bizarre claim that the US should have stolen Iraqi oil during the Iraq War (which he was opposed to, remember?). Even more troubling, he stated that “OK, maybe we’ll have another chance.” It’s likely for the Iraqi government to see this as a declaration of war, which is bad for obvious reasons. In addition, this entire claim violates international law and makes no sense. He says that if we had taken the oil, ISIS would never have been created, which is obviously false - for starters, ISIS has existed in some form or another since 1999, before the Iraq War.

Donald Trump Will Not Release Tax Returns Ever

Well, of course. Kellyanne Conway has stated that Trump will never release his tax returns - not even an excuse about being under audit (even though that still would fall below Richard Nixon’s ethical standards), just a straight up denial. What does Donald have to hide? Clearly something. For now, we should assume the worst and use that to slander him because that’s exactly what Paul Ryan would be doing to Hillary Clinton right now in an alternate universe, anyway.

This Week In World News

Canada: PM Justin Trudeau is in a huge conflict of interest scandal over a vacation he went on to the island of the Aga Khan, a major Canadian donor and billionaire. It’s not the first time this has happened to a world leader, as Bahamian Prime Minister Earl Deveaux was forced to resign over a similar scandal. On the one hand, Trudeau has a more important job than Deveaux did. On the other hand, the Aga Khan is a family friend of the Trudeaus. It’s unclear how this story will go over.

Thanks for reading! Remain vigilant and keep your eye on the administration, and don’t forget to reply and comment!

Week 56: Really Bad Television! (January 15, 2017)

Dear Readers,

The Trump inauguration is only five days away, and politics is just as important as ever. A reminder that all newsletters (and more) are available at http://electreport.blogspot.com.

Trump Cabinet Confirmation Hearings

This week, work began on the confirmation hearings for the president-elect’s cabinet picks.

Attorney General-designate Jeff Sessions: Surprisingly, the Sessions hearing wasn’t all bad. Sessions does have a questionable record on civil rights, and that remains a huge issue, but in his hearing Session vowed to oppose a Muslim registry. He even vowed to respect Roe v. Wade, it being federal law. However, his positions on women’s rights, voting rights, and, most importantly, sentencing and prisons, remain deeply worrying. Another worrying thing is an exchange he had with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). Whitehouse asked him whether “a secular person has just as good a claim to understanding the truth as a person who is religious.” Session said that he was “not sure”. This is strange and, frankly, not a good attitude for an important cabinet member to have.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson:  Tillerson faced lots of heat on his potential conflicts of interest. The person grilling him over this was, surprisingly, Marco Rubio (R-FL). Tillerson also tentatively opposes a Muslim registry, believes in gender equality, and thinks climate change is real. However, he lied about his lobbying against sanctions, doesn’t care about addressing climate change any time soon, and clearly doesn’t think poorly of Putin.

Secretary of HUD Ben Carson: Doctor Carson is being quoted as saying "It will not be my intention to do anything to benefit any American.” However, this is an intentionally fabricated quote. Instead, Carson actually said "It will not be my intention to do anything to benefit any American, particularly. It's for all Americans, everything that we do." It’s a terrible thing for journalists to misquote him just to make fun of him, and anybody who hates fake news should not let people get away with this. However, Carson is still a strange human being who made it a major part of his campaign last year to prove that he did, indeed, try to stab someone, even though the claim is disputed.

Another Week in the Life of Donald Trump

First, Trump held a strange press conference in which he repeatedly lied, revealed his main priorities for being president are building a wall and repealing ObamaCare. This was Trump’s first press conference since late July, and it did little to clear very much up. Also, this:

“Trump falsely claimed that there are “96 million really wanting a job and they can’t get [one].” There are roughly 96 million people not in the labor force, but that includes retirees, students and others who don’t want jobs. Only 5.5 million of them want work.”

Then, Donald Trump announced Rudy Giuliani for a big role in cybersecurity - presumably, he’s only filling the position until Barron Trump gets older: “I have a son—he’s 10 years old. He has computers. He is so good with these computers. It’s unbelievable.”

He also decided to wish everyone a happy Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend by viciously attacking civil rights icon and Presidential Medal of Freedom winner John Lewis (D-GA), by calling him “all talk, no action.” Yes, John Lewis, who was nearly killed at the march on Selma, helped organize the March on Washington, and has served in Congress for 30 years, is definitely “no action.”

And to top it all off, he continued his vicious tirade against a great American enemy - Saturday Night Live! “.@NBCNews is bad but Saturday Night Live is the worst of NBC. Not funny, cast is terrible, always a complete hit job. Really bad television!”

Donald certainly has his priorities straight! He’ll attack John Lewis and Alex Baldwin, but not Vladimir Putin!

Obama’s Farewell Speech

This Tuesday, President Obama gave his farewell speech. An uplifting speech that brings back memories of his 2008 campaign and the optimism of his earlier years in office, it was a great moment. Obama has under a week left in office, and it will be sad to see him go. He also later gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to VP Joe Biden.

Republicans Move to Dismantle Affordable Care Act

There isn’t much to report on this, but the Republicans in congress have begun to take the steps necessary to dismantle ObamaCare. I’ll write more about this if and when they complete the process.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment.

Week 55: 'Ethics' (January 8, 2017)

Dear Readers,

The Trump inauguration is a couple of weeks away, and politics is just as important as ever. A reminder that all newsletters (and more) are available at http://electreport.blogspot.com.

Upcoming Dates

Inauguration Day of our 44th* President: 12 days from today

* Why 44th? Isn’t Trump the 45th president? Well, I find it ridiculous that we count Grover Cleveland twice just because he lost and got elected again four years later. He doesn’t get to be two separate people. If we’re measuring individual terms, then Trump is number 58, which makes just as little sense. But we’re not (except in Cleveland’s case apparently), so it’s 44 or 58. Your choice.

Swearing In Of Congress and Most Governors

Our new congress is present in Washington. And guess what, hijinks have ensued. On January 2nd, at the very end of their term, the good people of the House GOP voted to severely cut down the Office of Congressional Ethics. What could go wrong? Well, surprisingly, president-elect Trump released a tweet against the House GOP’s actions, and they agreed to do away with the plan. The plan, even before Trump’s tweet, was notably opposed by Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy, members of the Republican House Leadership. Trump’s decision is an odd one, but I see it as a message to the House that he’ll be checking their work and keeping them on their toes.

In the North Carolina governor’s seat, albeit with slightly less power, Roy Cooper (a Democrat) has already signed a large increase to Medicaid that will give healthcare to hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians and possibly oppose President Trump’s future rulings. Of course, the Republicans in the legislature are fighting it already (even though most of those helped by the bill are Republican voters).

Boris Johnson?

Recently spotted in New York is Boris Johnson, who is reportedly talking with Trump’s team about foreign policy. Johnson is the British Secretary for Foreign Affairs, so this does make some sense, especially coming hours after Trump tweeted that he looks forward to meeting Theresa May, but considering that Johnson is also known for his xenophobic demagoguery, it is amusing to see them both as great leaders of foreign policy.

Trump Supporters Don’t Care About Russia Hacks

The New York times recently published a collection of interviews with Trump supporters in Indiana and Louisiana. The findings are that these Trump supporters don’t find the big deal in the Russian election hacks. And while, yes, it may not have made a discernable difference, the idea that any foreign power can creep into our free elections and do whatever they want should give anyone a slight amount of fear. These reports indicate more than anything that some Trump supporters will believe Trump and fake media more than the news and facts. So to any Democrat who thinks we can hold Joe Donnelly’s Indiana Senate seat in the midterm elections, I’d want to be careful.

Thanks for reading! Sorry that this one was short - things are about to get interesting, though. Feel free to comment!