Politics

PRETEND YOU’RE A DEMOCRAT

John Merrow Uncategorized , , , ,

No, scratch that. Imagine instead that you’re Chuck Schumer,  the Minority Leader of the United States Senate, a distinguished statesman who has served in the Senate since 1999, representing New York State.  A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Senator Schumer also served nine terms in the US House before winning his Senate seat.  

Now imagine that you’ve inserted yourself into the Senate race in Maine, first urging the Governor, age 78, to run.  That fizzled out, and when the nominee, Graham Platner, was forced to step aside, Maine’s Democrats nominated Troy Jackson, a veteran politician.  Almost immediately, Jackson said he wasn’t a fan of Senator Schumer and wouldn’t vote for him as the party’s leader.  “The Democratic Party needs to have a different approach — getting people back in the party, getting working-class, everyday people back in the party — and I don’t believe it’s going to happen with Senator Schumer,” he said.

So what now? Remember, you’re role-playing as Senator Schumer, the savvy  veteran politician. Perhaps you would immediately issue a statesman-like statement, something like:  

“I want Troy Jackson, and everyone in Maine, to know that, even if he doesn’t support me, I support him. I want everyone to know that I will do all that I can to see that he’s elected.  Once he wins, he will have a chance to get to know me, and perhaps he will change his mind.  That’s in the future. What matters now is gaining control of the Senate and the House so we can stop Trump and his cronies from robbing us blind, stop Trump from turning America into a fascist nightmare.”

Schumer didn’t say anything like that, not even close.  Instead, he behaved like a disgruntled 7th grader, saying the politician’s version of “Well, if he won’t support me, I won’t support him. So there!!”   His office tried to paper over the tantrum, but the incident perfectly encapsulates what’s wrong with the Democratic party in 2026.   

Troy Jackson isn’t the only disaffected Democrat who wants new leadership.

And many big donors have figured out that the rot at the top includes the Democratic National Committee, which is broke. It has about $16.3 million in cash but owes $18.5 million. Meanwhile, the Republicans are awash in cash.

So, what’s a good Democrat to do?  Well, you have options….

One option is Act Blue, which allows you to select which candidates you wish to support.

Another is Emily’s List, which supports pro-choice candidates.

Another (and perhaps more promising) option that we recently discovered is WAY TO WIN, which describes itself as a ‘strategic donor collaborative and strategy hub’ that uses new media to build coalitions.  Way to Win’s focus now is on retaking the House, and its specific attention is races in the south and southwest.  It’s data-driven, and its leadership comes across as smart and committed.  Please take a look….and, if you are as impressed as we are, donate and spread the word.

Remember, despair is not an option; nor is sitting on your hands until November. 

Turning Back the Clock

John Merrow Uncategorized , , , ,

Two years ago my son, Josh, gave me a fascinating birthday present, this clock that runs backward.  He engineered it himself, working with a cheap battery-powered wall clock.  He told me that he got it right on his third try.

Here’s a photo, taken this morning.  The clock reads 1:16

Underneath the clock is the ‘certificate of authenticity’ that accompanied Josh’s gift, which reads: 

THIS IS AN AUTHENTIC ‘HENCEFORTH ELECTRO-MECHANICAL SERIES 3’ TIMEPIECE. THERE IS NO NEED TO SET IT, AS IT IS ALREADY SET TO ITS OWN TIME.

TO FULLY ENJOY THE BENEFITS OF YOUR TIMEPIECE, IT IS ADVISABLE TO REMOVE, COVER, OR DISABLE ALL OTHER TIME-KEEPING EQUIPMENT IN THE AREA IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO ALREADY.

SHOULD THERE BE A PROBLEM, ONE OF OUR TECHNICIANS WILL ARRIVE JUST BEFORE IT OCCURS. YOU HAVE PLENTY OF TIME!’

“Turning back the clock” is a perennial fantasy, brought to life vividly in Jack Finney’s 1970 novel, “Time and Again,” and in “Back to the Future,” the memorable 1985 film starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd.  Both of those plots involve a child’s parents meeting and falling in love, but I’m interested in having readers fantasize about world events, not personal ones.  

So, here’s the question: If you could turn back the clock, what would you change, not in your personal life but in the larger world?  Not big stuff like dropping the second A-Bomb or assassinating Hitler or Stalin, but small events that, done differently, would have had a profound impact on our lives.

No doubt some of you have already thought about having Fred Trump wear a condom!

Me, I’d somehow convince President Reagan not to do his deal with Rupert Murdoch that did away with the ‘fairness doctrine’ that required equal time on TV and radio for different points of view.  That deal has given us Fox, NewsMax, MS Now, and all the unbalanced crap that pollutes our airwaves. 

And I would have George W. Bush first read and then take seriously the FBI warnings that the ‘foreign-appearing’ men who were taking flying lessons weren’t interested in learning how to land the planes.  That probably would have prevented 911.

I’d change at least three votes in the Senate if I could. 1) I’d have Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a medical doctor, abide by his Hippocratic oath and vote against confirming Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services; and 2) I’d have Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa vote against confirming Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense and 3) (going back to Trump’s first term) I’d give Senator Susan Collins the courage to vote against sending to the full Senate the nomination of Betsy DeVos to be Secretary of Education.

It’s now 36 minutes later, but on Josh’s clock it’s 36 minutes earlier!! 

Alas, as Omar Kayyam wrote, 

“The Moving Finger writes, and, having writ,

Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit

Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,

Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.”

While we cannot change the past, much of what will happen tomorrow is subject to our control.  So if you, like me, are unhappy with the direction that Trump is taking our country, get involved.  Support the ACLU and groups that are working to protect voting rights.  Write postcards. Donate to promising political candidates.  

The clock is ticking….

“86-47”? HELL, YES

John Merrow Uncategorized , , , ,

Some of Trump’s allies and supporters say that the expression “86-47” is a call to assassinate President Donald J. Trump. As you no doubt are aware, Trump’s Justice Department has persuaded a grand jury in North Carolina to indict former FBI Director James Comey simply because he posted an image of seashells organized to read “86-47.”

However, a scant amount of research turns up dozens of examples of “86-47” that have nothing to do with killing Trump.  However, quite a few “86-47” references do involve Trump and his administration.

One involves Jesus.  That’s right, Jesus Christ had his own “86-47” moment when he expelled 86 money-changers from the Temple, and the oldest was 47.  Will this uncomfortable historical fact awaken Trump’s (supposedly) Christian supporters who have yet to notice that Trump and his family are running a 24/7 grift that has brought them billions? Don’t bet on it!

Here are some more non-Trump ones: 

  1. Because the World Cup is now being contested, recall that one year the great Ronaldo, wearing jersey number 47, scored 86 goals. His “86-47” moment.
  2. Kobe Bryant once scored 86 points in 47 minutes in an NBA game. His “86-47” moment.
  3. The New York Mets once made 86 errors over a 47 game stretch.
  4. Earlier this month I biked 86 miles to celebrate my 85th birthday. And when I was 47 I caught a 16 pound, 9 ounce bluefish from the shore, the largest caught on Nantucket that entire summer. That’s my own “86-47” moment.

Now let’s talk about the Trump Administration.

 “86-47” applies to Trump’s infamous ICE, because 47% of ICE new hires have  IQ’s of 86 or lower.  It could be worse: suppose 86% of ICE had IQ’s of 47 or below?!?

When he was 47, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who brought the charges against Comey, was arrested for going 86 miles an hour in a school zone. 

The Trump Administration’s severe cuts in foreign aid for nutrition and health care are causing an estimated 86 deaths every 47 minutes; most are children and pregnant women. Take a bow, Trump and Marco Rubio, for your “86-47” accomplishment.

The undistinguished podiatrist who wrote multiple evaluations of Trump’s supposed bone spurs that allowed him to dodge the draft for several years was 47 when he wrote the first diagnosis. He died mysteriously in ‘86. An odd “86-47” moment.

The draft slot that Trump should have filled was, over the years, filled by 86 young men, 47 of whom were wounded, some fatally, in VietNam. Take a bow, Trump, for that “86-47” moment.

The Epstein Files have at least one “86-47” moment that may involve Trump.  According to unconfirmed sources, Epstein boasted that he and a few of his friends had ‘interesting, complicated, and memorable’ sex with 47 different young girls 86 times during the month of June, 1989. Was one of those friends DJT?

One more “86-47” moment, this one in the Oval Office. In early April the 47th President of the United States told 86 lies in a mere 47 minutes, on subjects ranging from the 2020 election, windmills, solar power, Gavin Newsom, Mexico and the Wall, Iran’s nuclear capacity, Hunter Biden, mandatory gender-altering surgery for children in Blue states, Jeremy Raskin, immigrants eating cats, his intelligence, and his sexual prowess. 

That particular “86-47” moment says to me that we can and must “86-47” Trump in the forthcoming elections, which we can do by supporting Democrats, supporting the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other organizations that are working to protect the vote, and by making our voices heard.

Perhaps it’s time to “25th” our neo-fascist, corrupt President by invoking the 25th Amendment. JD Vance couldn’t possibly be worse, could he? (written with fingers crossed).

What I Know about YOU (and why that’s a problem for Democrats)

John Merrow Uncategorized , , , ,

I believe I know a lot about most of the people reading this, and, even if I’m just mostly right, I think Democrats are in big trouble.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but….

1. Unlike more than 80 million adult Americans, you go to the polls. Regularly.

2. Unlike the majority of adult Americans, you read for information and pleasure.

3. Unlike the roughly 25% of Americans who either ignore the news or get their information from a single source, you get your news from multiple sources, including at least one newspaper.

4. Unlike about 80% of US households, you own stocks, bonds, and other investments.

5. Unlike more than 25 million Americans, you have health insurance.

6. Unlike an estimated 42 million Americans (many of them children), you do not go to bed hungry.

7. Unlike more than 25% of US households, you are not living “paycheck to paycheck.” That is, you are not just an accident or a serious illness away from financial disaster.

8. No one in your immediate family is living paycheck to paycheck.

9. Nor are any of your close friends living paycheck to paycheck.

10. While perhaps many of the people you interact with on a casual basis are living on the edge of a fiscal cliff, you are not aware of their painful reality. Like too many of us, you do not feel their pain.

Which also means that, like many too many of us, you don’t understand why they don’t care about voting or why, if they did go to the polls, they voted for Trump.

11. Unlike about 90% of US households, you either own a second home or have close friends who do. Or both.

If even half of these assertions are accurate, you are in the top 10% of US households.

Simply put, you’re part of the ruling class.

Now, if you’re an old-fashioned Republican, you’re embarrassed about the state of your political party.

If you’re a Democrat, you’re appalled, but you’re also hopeful that, because President Trump seems to be self-destructing, Democrats are likely to regain control of the House and Senate this November.

All Democrats have to do, you’re thinking, is run against Trump. Just promise to take his name off the Kennedy Center, remove all the tacky gold from the Oval Office, and scale back the East Wing monstrosity.

Stick with “identity politics,” reassemble the old coalition of labor, minorities, and progressive whites, work hard to prevent Trump’s minions from suppressing the vote, and then we can “get back to normal.”

But that’s where all of us— you and everyone like you (including me)—are flat out WRONG, because “normal” is what got us into this mess in the first place.

Think about what we accept as “normal” in the richest country in the history of civilization: 25% of households living paycheck to paycheck, 80 million adults not voting, 25 million Americans without medical insurance, and 42 million of us going to bed hungry.

Et cetera, et cetera.

Do you really want that? And if you don’t, why would you support candidates who do?

Democrats desperately need a vision of what America can become, and a road map of how we might achieve it.

Here’s one suggestion, offered for debate: Democrats must stand for the public good and for personal freedom. The former means supporting public libraries, public schools, public parks, public transportation, and more. “Personal freedom” means codifying a woman’s right to choose and banning assault weapons, for openers.

A stronger social safety net is more important than ever in an economy about to be upended by Artificial Intelligence. Meantime, the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 per hour since 2009. Raise it!

Higher taxes on wealth are absolutely necessary in an economy in which the top 1% control more than 30% of America’s total wealth.

Reversing Trump’s disastrous cuts in science, medicine, education, and renewable energy and regaining the world’s trust have to be high priorities, but, above all, Democrats must be loud and proud FOR a fair America.

“Mr. President, I have a Question…” (and a book you should read)

John Merrow Uncategorized , , ,

In his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump boasted about his actions to lower prescription drug prices. “I’m also ending the wildly inflated cost of prescription drugs.  Other presidents tried to do it, but they never could…. I got it done. Under my just-enacted ‘Most Favored Nation‘ agreements, Americans, who have for decades paid by far the highest prices of any nation anywhere in the world for prescription drugs, will now pay the lowest price anywhere in the world.”

The result of this program, Mr. Trump said, “is price differences of 300%, 400%, 500%, 600% and more, all available right now at a new website called TrumpRx.gov.” 

He’s made this absurd (and mathematically impossible) claim before. In May he said that  the “most favored nation” policy is going to reduce the price of prescription drugs by 1,000% or more. Here’s what he said in late August: “We have something coming up, favored nations, where I’m going to be reducing drug prices by 1,400 to 1,500%.” More recently:  “We’re gonna be reducing drug prices down to a level that nobody – not by 20%, 30% – by like 1,000%. Because, you know, we’re paying sometimes 10 times more than other nations, and we’re not doing it anymore.”  And a few days later: “We have something else called ‘favored nations,’ where I’m going to be reducing drug prices by 1,000% – by 900, 600, 500, 1,200%.”

Two days after the State of the Union speech, I had the opportunity to ask him about these remarkable (and mathematically impossible) price reductions. The occasion was a ‘gaggle,’ kind of an unofficial, impromptu press conference that occurs when Mr. Trump stops to chat with the press while he’s walking to his helicopter or to a meeting.  We all raise our hands and wave them, trying to catch his attention.  He likes gaggles because he can walk away at any time.

Here’s what happened:

“Mr. President, Mr. President, Mr. President,” I called out, waving my hand wildly. 

“Ok, you,” he said, pointing at me.  “You, the tall guy with the white hair. Aren’t you kind of old to be racing around with all these young reporters?”

ME: Trying to keep up, sir.  I want to ask you about your program to reduce prescription drugs.

TRUMP: It’s great.  And you’re gonna benefit.  You and other seniors.  600%, 700%.   What drugs do  you need?  Viagra, I’ll bet.

ME:  Sir, here’s my question: Suppose someone weighed 200 pounds and lost 10% of his weight.”

TRUMP: 200 pounds?  I’d take that in a heartbeat.  If he lost 10%, that’s 20 pounds, so he’d weigh 180.

ME: What if he lost 50% of his weight?

TRUMP: Then he’d weigh only 100 pounds.  What’s the point here? What’s that have to do with drug prices?

ME: And if he lost 100% of his weight?  What would he weigh?  

TRUMP: (stares angrily and shakes his head)

ME: And could he lose 200% or 300% of his weight?

TRUMP: You know what, you’re a pain in the ass. A troublemaker.  Who do you report for?  That’s it. I’m outa here.

That exchange did not happen.  I made all that up, of course, but isn’t it curious that not one reporter seems to have questioned Trump about his shoddy math, his mathematical illiteracy? This is a man who drove a half dozen casinos into bankruptcy, after all.

Unfortunately, mathematical illiteracy is not restricted to the current president of the United States.  Most schools do a lousy job of teaching most of our kids math.  Basically our children are taught and tested on math they will never use, which means we do not teach them what they need to know to survive and prosper and enjoy.  Instead of learning how to estimate and to judge probabilities, the difference between correlation and causation, and the paradox of the everpresent ‘Prisoner’s Dilemma,” children learn that they “can’t do math” and-worse yet–to hate math.  

Obviously, it’s tragic and dangerous when the President of the United States is mathematically illiterate, but in fact millions of adults get scammed out of billions of dollars because they don’t understand how numbers work.  They get misled by politicians and hucksters, with disastrous consequences all around.

(Here’s a personal example.  Someone in my own family, in his declining years, was persuaded to sign an expensive and unbreakable 25-year contract to rent solar panels on his home in Florida.  I’ll bet you have your own stories to tell.)

There is a way forward.  We can demand that our schools rethink how they teach mathematics.  And now there’s a terrific road map,  a wonderful new book, “Aftermath.”  In addition to the clever title, it has a subtitle that tells what awaits you:  “The Life-Changing Math That Schools Won’t Teach You.”  (Its official publication date is March 24, but you can pre-order at your local bookstore, B&N and Amazon.)

“Aftermath” is highly readable, clever and entertaining, but also immensely informative.  The author, Ted Dintersmith, is someone my wife and I have known for a dozen or so years.  Joan met Ted through his support of the African Leadership Academy, whose Board she served on; I met him through his support of High Tech High, the wonderful school in San Diego started by an American hero, Larry Rosenstock.  

I’m by no means the only fan of “Aftermath.”. Steve Levitt, the co-author of ‘Freakonomics,’ has this to say: “In the age of AI and data, we badly need to rethink the way we teach math in U.S. schools. Ted Dintersmith has joyfully illustrated how we can pull the subject out of irrelevance in the eyes of our students–a must read for teachers and parents alike.” 

Scratch that: I hope you will buy five or six copies of  “Aftermath” and put them in the hands of your local school board members.

Surviving “The Great Aggression”

John Merrow Uncategorized , , , ,

Your parents and/or your grandparents lived through The Great Depression.

We are now living in “The Great Aggression,” an unprecedented assault on our democratic republic by Donald Trump and his army of thugs, enablers, sycophants, Christian Nationalists, and neo-Nazis.

It seems obvious that these people do not believe in democracy. Full stop.

Unfortunately, at this point, it’s an open question as to whether “The Great Aggression” will do more lasting damage than The Great Depression did.

The Great Depression began on October 28th and 29th, 1929 (“Black Monday” and “Black Tuesday,”) when the New York Stock Exchange fell by 13% and then another 12%, eventually losing the 2026 equivalent of $350 billion, destroying the lives of millions of Americans, and triggering a world-wide depression that lasted for years. In time, the Dow Jones average fell an astonishing 90%.

But problems had been festering for years, with rampant speculation, wildly overvalued stocks, and a growing income gap between the super rich and the rest of America.

“The Great Aggression” began in earnest after Donald J. Trump was inaugurated for the second time on January 20, 2025. However, one could argue that it actually began on January 6, 2021, when Trump urged his followers to overthrow an election he had lost and prevent the peaceful transfer of power.

At this moment, the most visible evidence of “The Great Aggression” is the physically aggressive behavior of thousands of ICE agents, masked, armed, and seemingly eager to engage anyone within reach. ICE and the Border Patrol have more than 3,000 agents in Minneapolis alone, a city whose police force numbers only 600. American citizens have died, including two who, the videos indicate, were murdered. What’s more, thousands of American citizens.have been attacked, arrested, detained, and deported.

But any list of aggressive attacks on accepted standards of decent behavior by Trump and his followers and enablers must also include:

Gutting FEMA, the Consumer Protection Bureau, and the Forest Service;

Breaking up families of those seeking asylum;

Ordering National Guard troops into Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, DC, and elsewhere;

Shutting down USAID, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Radio Free Europe;

“Clawing back” or refusing to distribute money authorized by Congress to support state and local organizations, including public schools;

Renaming the Kennedy Center after himself;

Summarily dismissing most Inspectors General, whose responsibility it is/was to maintain the integrity of federal agencies;

Firing hundreds in the FBI and IRS;

Flouting judicial orders;

Attempting to fire Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve, and bringing charges against Fed Chief Jerome Powell;

Weaponizing the US Justice Department and the FBI with transparently specious judicial actions against New York State’s Attorney General, Letisha James, and former FBI Director James Comey;

Slow-walking of the Congressionally-mandated release of the Epstein Files.

You undoubtedly have your own list.

(And here is more: Brooks/Friedman,

We survived the Great Depression largely because of federal jobs programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Works Progress Administration, and other national efforts that created work opportunities for millions. In other words, the federal government saved us. (World War II also played a part in the economic recovery.)

This time, however, the federal government IS the aggressor. Because it is the source of the problem, help must come from elsewhere.

Help will not be coming from the United States Congress, because it has neutered itself.

Nor is it likely that help will be coming from federal Courts. Even though a huge majority of US District Court judges have ruled against Trump, “his” Supreme Court justices almost always do what he expects them to do.

No, help must come from within, from our own resolve to save our democratic republic from the fascists, the Christian nationalists, the white supremacists, and the just plain greedy bastards who are driving “The Great Aggression.”

Those who lived through the Depression had no way of knowing when or how it would end, but most kept the faith.

Like them, we have no way of knowing where we are in the timeline, or how this will end.

However, we do know several things for certain:

1) If we despair, we lose.

2) If we succumb to “Outrage Fatigue,” we lose.

3) If we dismiss this as a kerfuffle because, after all, our investments are doing well, we lose.

4) If we think that winning the November elections will solve the problem, we are deluding ourselves, because many of Trump’s people are determined to prevent us from voting. As Robert Kagan, a historian and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said on a New Yorker podcast recently, “There is no chance in the world that Donald Trump is gonna allow himself to lose in the 2026 elections, because that will be the end of his ability to wield total power in the United States.”

So HOW do we end “The Great Aggression” and save our country?

  1. Support each other;
  2. Give generously to the ACLU;
  3. Donate to organizations that are working to protect voter rights, such as The League of Women Voters, the Legal Defense Fund, the Brennan Center for Justice, and organizations in your own state (do a Google search) ;
  4. Let leaders like Senator Chris Murphy and Representative Jamie Raskin know that you have their backs;
  5. Write letters, make phone calls, march, and speak out.

Despair, complacency, and silence cannot be options, not if we want to live in a free society.

Donald Trump, The Epstein Files, and “60 Minutes”

John Merrow Uncategorized , , , , ,

Fans of ‘Sesame Street” will remember this song:

“One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn’t belong. Can you say which thing is not like the others before I finish my song?”

On “Sesame Street,” three vegetables and a fruit might appear on the screen, or perhaps three birds and a fish. The challenge for pre-schoolers is to identify the outlier, the object that clearly did not belong in the group.

However, in the case of Donald Trump, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and “60 Minutes,” the three do belong together because the curious, controversial, and largely unexamined relationship betweenTrump and Epstein stretches back more than 35 years. Recently “60 Minutes” had a 90-minute interview with Mr. Trump, the perfect opportunity to ask him why the Epstein Files haven’t been released.

So, of course, any journalist worth his/her salt would have to ask Trump about the Epstein Files. Except the “60 Minutes” Correspondent Nora O’Donnell did not.

O’Donnell asked Mr. Trump more than 70 questions, several of them more than once, but she never asked Trump about the Epstein Files.

How newsworthy are the Epstein Files? Well, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson shut down the House on September 19th and sent members home for more than six weeks, rather than risk a floor vote on releasing the Epstein Files. He has refused to swear in a duly-elected Representative from Arizona because he knows she will vote to release the files, and that might be enough to pass the resolution.

Johnson is, of course, protecting President Trump. But was O’Donnell protecting him? And, if so, why?

It’s possible that she and her bosses at “60 Minutes” agreed in advance not to bring up the Epstein Files. We may never know, but one passage in the extended interview indicates the existence of some sort of agreement. What do you make of this interchange, toward the end of the session?

NORAH O’DONNELL: Do I have the opportunity to ask you two more questions?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: If you want, if it helps–

NORAH O’DONNELL: Okay. Okay. Two more questions–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: That means they’ll treat me more fairly if I do– I want to get– It’s very nice, yeah. Now is good. Okay. Uh, oh. These might be the ones I didn’t want. I don’t know. Okay, go ahead.

“These might be the ones I didn’t want,” Mr. Trump blurted out. Is it reasonable to infer that CBS and Trump’s people had an agreement?

A few minutes later, this interchange took place:

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I can’t say, because– I can’t say– I’m not concerned. I don’t– I’d rather not have you ask the question. But I let you ask it. You just came to me and you said, “Can I ask another question?” And I said, yeah. This is the question–

NORAH O’DONNELL: And you answered–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don’t mind. Did I let you do it? I coulda walked away. I didn’t have to answer this question. I’m proud to answer the question.

It’s important to note that “Off limits” is not inherently wrong. An interviewer might agree in advance to not ask questions about the subject’s personal life, marriage, children, and so forth. But under no circumstances should a journalist ever agree to avoid controversial (and potentially embarrassing) subjects.

If that means not getting the interview, so be it. And maybe that becomes a story in itself!

The full transcript of the Trump-O’Donnell interview consists of 18,567 words, of which I’d estimate that at least 15,000 were uttered by the President. He blusters, he talks over O’Donnell, and he lies about the rate of inflation, the 2020 Presidential election, and the wars he has stopped, among other things. She doesn’t fight him on these, but that’s more understandable and even forgivable than not asking about the Epstein Files, because Trump is a steamroller who ignores whatever he chooses to.

In the interview Trump mentions former President Joe Biden 42 times, often modifying his name with the adjective ‘worst.’ That obsession probably deserved a question from O’Donnell, but that didn’t happen either.

(Incidentally, Laura Ingraham, not a journalist but a Fox commentator with her own nightly program, recently interviewed Mr. Trump. Again, no mention of Jeffrey Epstein or the Epstein Files, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she agreed to whatever conditions Trump’s people demanded.)

I learned the hard way about interviewing politicians. It was late in 1974, and I had just been given my own program on National Public Radio. Because I was focusing on education, my producer suggested an hour about Pell Grants, the federal government’s program of financial assistance for low income college students. “Interview Senator Claiborne Pell, the force behind the Pell Grants,” he suggested, and so I called up the Senator’s office to request an interview. “Sure,” an aide told me. “Just send over the questions.” Because I hadn’t studied journalism and was new to Washington, I didn’t know enough to refuse that request. I wrote up some questions and faxed them over. When I showed up to interview the distinguished Democrat, he simply read off the answers to my questions. I’m not sure he ever even made eye contact!

Here’s the lesson: whenever the person you want to interview wants to keep some subjects off limits, or wants your questions in advance, the only response is some polite form of NFW.

“60 Minutes” was once the flagship of CBS News and (with the PBS NewsHour and “Frontline”) a gold standard of American journalism, but it seems to have sold its soul.

The so-called ‘Main Stream Media’ has lots to answer for in its failure to hold (first Candidate and then President) Trump to account for his lies, and in its failure to question the mental acuity of President Biden. This is, I think, the final straw. “60 Minutes,” RIP…..

HOW TO DEFEAT TRUMP

John Merrow Uncategorized , , , ,

Donald Trump has inadvertently handed anguished Democrats, angry Independents, and disappointed Republicans the key to defeating MAGA and taking control of the House of Representatives and perhaps the Senate in the 2026 Midterm elections.  

While I hope you will keep reading, here’s the key: support public schools (and other public institutions as well).

 About 6 weeks ago, Trump ordered his Education Department to withhold nearly $7 billion in funds for public schools, money that had been appropriated by Congress.  

The outcry was immediate, loud, and non-partisan.  Republicans made just as much noise, maybe more, than their Democratic counterparts.   And it worked!  Three weeks later, the Education Department announced it was releasing the funds.

As the savvy education reporter Jennifer Berkshire noted, “And just like that, the Trump Administration has released the billions in funds for public schools it had suddenly, and illegally, frozen earlier this summer. The administration’s trademark combo of chaos and cruelty has been stemmed, at least temporarily. That Trump caved on this is notable in part because his hand was forced by his own party—the first time this has happened in the endless six months since his second term began.”

There is, as Berkshire notes, a ‘cross-class alliance’ that supports public schools, which close to 90% of students attend, in Red, Blue, and Purple states.  Republicans in Congress eagerly push vouchers (chits to allow students to attend private schools), but those efforts have been soundly defeated in state legislatures for years.  The best example is Kentucky, a deeply Red state whose voters last November soundly rejected a voucher proposal, 64.8% to 35.2%.  

Another savvy analyst, David Pepper, has been watching, and his insights are worth your while.  Here’s a sample:  “10 GOP Senators stood up to the administration’s freezing of $6 billion funds for public school programs across the country. Yes, GOP politicians who are silent on almost everything were willing to call out the freeze, which was crippling public schools every day it lasted, and demand it be ended.

They actually defended the programs in a public letter: ‘This funding goes directly to state and local districts, where local leaders decide how the funding is spent, because as we know, local communities know how to best serve students and families…These funds go to support programs that enjoy longstanding, bipartisan support like after-school and summer programs that provide learning and enrichment opportunities for school aged children which also enables their parents to work and contribute to local economies. …. Withholding these funds will harm students, families and local economies.”

Too many Democrats seem to be running against Trump and his assaults on our democracy. Too much energy is being wasted examining the plusses and minuses of potential Presidential candidates like Andy Beshear, J.B. Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, Jamie Raskin, Josh Shapiro, Wes Moore, Pete Buttigieg, and Reuben Gallego. 

The first priority has to be articulating its First Principles, and I suggest that the first of these should be THE PUBLIC GOOD: That means strong support for all things public:  public education, public libraries, public transportation, public parks, public health, public safety, public spaces, and public broadcasting.  Democrats must be the party of the Common Good.

But a second pillar must be Individual Rights.  Because the fundamental rights that are guaranteed in our Constitution are often subject to interpretation, debate, and even violent disagreement, Democrats must be clear.  Free speech, freedom of worship, habeas corpus, and other fundamental rights are not up for debate, and nor is a woman’s right to control her own body.  

Health care is a right, and Democrats must make that a reality.  

Conflict is inevitable–think vaccination requirements–and Democrats should come down on the side of the public good.  

Because Americans have a right to safety, Democrats should endorse strong gun control measures that ban assault weapons that have only one purpose–mass killing. 

We can and should argue about other First Principles, but Democrats must take control of Congress and begin the arduous tasks of stopping Trump and rebuilding America.  While the Trump regime continues to be a disaster for a majority of Americans and for our standing across the world, it’s not enough to condemn his greed and narcissism, even if he goes to prison.  Let’s first acknowledge that Trump tapped into serious resentment among millions of Americans, which further divided our already divided country.  

The challenge is to work to bring us together, to make ‘one out of many’ in the always elusive ‘more perfect union.’  The essential first step is to abandon the ‘identity politics’ that Democrats have practiced for too long.  Instead, Democrats must support policies that bring us together.  Here are five suggestions:

1) Adopt sensible and realistic immigration policies that welcome newcomers who arrive legally but close our borders to illegal immigration. 

2) Adopt fiscal and monetary policies to address our burgeoning national debt. This should include higher taxes on the wealthy, emulating Dwight Eisenhower. 

3) Rebuilding America also means rebuilding our alliances around the world.  Democrats should support NATO and Ukraine, and rejoin efforts to combat climate change. 

4) Urge states and local school districts to beef up civic education in public schools, teaching real history, asking tough questions.  At the same time, federal education policies should encourage Community schools, because research proves that schools that welcome families are more successful across many measures. 

5) Bring back the draft for young men and women and offer a deal to those who volunteer for two years of (paid) National Service. In return, they get two years of tuition or training credits at an accredited institution.  They may serve in the military, Americorps, the Peace Corps, or other helping organizations.  One may teach or work in distressed communities, or rebuild our national parks, or serve in other approved capacities.  JFK famously said “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”  Let’s ask BOTH questions.    (Perhaps National Service should be mandatory, but that’s a long row to hoe, and we should begin with a voluntary program.)

But the key to defeating Trump and saving our democratic republic from his vainglorious and petty fascism is support for public education and other vital public enterprises.  

“Bought and Sold” (revisited)

John Merrow Uncategorized , , , ,

(I originally posted this about 6 months ago, before Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” slashed taxes for the very rich while cutting services for many less fortunate Americans, before Trump began his erratic embrace of tariffs, before ICE began grabbing thousands of non-white and ‘foreign-looking’ people off the streets, and before Trump persuaded the Republican-controlled Congress to claw back the money it had appropriated to support public broadcasting, and before…et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I think it’s even more relevant today, and I think it’s long past time for Democrats to leave their circular firing squad and embrace everything that is in the public good: public transportation, public parks, public schools, public health, and more.)

For the sake of argument, let’s assume that your family’s wealth is roughly average, which means that you’re worth about $1 million, a big jump from 2019.  “Both median and average family net worth surged between 2019 and 2022, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve. Average net worth increased by 23% to $1,063,700, the Fed reported in October 2023, the most recent year it published the data. Median net worth, on the other hand, rose 37% over that same period to $192,900.”

So if you are the average American, you are a millionaire, but before you get too excited, you are worth roughly 1/600,000 of what Elon Musk is worth!

I’m talking about the same Elon Musk who spent $300,000,000 to buy the last presidential election and, as it turns out, to purchase our government.  Three hundred million dollars is a fortune for nearly everyone else, but for Musk it was chump change.

Suppose you ( just barely a millionaire) had spent the same portion of your wealth that Musk did.  $300 million of his estimated worth of $600,000,000,000–SIX HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS– is .0005% 

And .0005% of your fortune is $500!

Maybe you’re richer, worth $3 million.  Well, 5 thousandths of 1 percent of your $3M is $3000.   

Even if you’re really rich–worth $30,000,000–your ‘Musk equivalent cost’ is still chump change, $30,000.

That’s right, we sold our country for a pittance.  And as I see it, those who willingly and wittingly bought into the MAGA line have also sold something–their souls. (Those Trump voters have been misinformed and miseducated by the Fox/right wing media machine for years deserve sympathy, not condemnation.)

Those who sell themselves are, to put it crudely, whores.  And those who sell themselves for .0005% are CHEAP WHORES.

That’s where America is right now, in the hands of greedy megalomaniacs, power-hungry opportunists, and vengeful white Christian nationalists.

How do we escape their grasp and recapture our country?  I suggest at least five courses of action: 1) support the ACLU and other organizations that are filing lawsuits, 2) join forces with anyone who supports local public institutions like schools and libraries, 3) support Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who take public stands against MAGA, 4) support independent journalism wherever you find it, and 5) stand with those the Trump Administration is attacking (which now includes Lutherans and Catholics who are supporting compassionate services for immigrants).

It’s long past time for liberal Democrats to stop focusing on sectional interests like gender, race, and immigrant status and pay attention to the needs of a shrinking middle class suffering from growing income inequality.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders sounded the warning back in 2017, when he urged everyone to “understand that absolutely these are very difficult and frightening times. But also understand that in moments of crisis, what has happened, time and time again, is that people have stood up and fought back. So despair is absolutely not an option.”

If we don’t work together, MAGA will eventually come for you, and for me, and all of us!

OK WE’RE AGAINST KINGS. WHAT ARE WE FOR??

John Merrow Uncategorized , , , ,

More than five million demonstrators in about 2000 communities stepped forward to declare their opposition to Donald Trump, on June 14th. “No Kings Day” was also Trump’s 79th birthday, Flag Day, and the anniversary of the creation of the American army.

So now we know what many of us are against, but the central question remains unanswered: What do we stand FOR? What do we believe in?

Just as FDR called for Four Freedoms, the Democratic party needs to articulate its First Principles.  I suggest three: “The Public Good,” “Individual Rights,” and “Rebuilding America after Trump.” 

 THE PUBLIC GOOD: Democrats must take our nation’s motto, E pluribus unum, seriously, and they must vigorously support the common good.  That means supporting public libraries, public parks, public schools, public transportation, public health, public safety, public broadcasting, and public spaces–almost anything that has the word ‘public’ in it.

INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS: Because the fundamental rights that are guaranteed in our Constitution are often subject to interpretation, debate, and even violent disagreement, Democrats must be clear.  Free speech, freedom of worship, habeas corpus, and other fundamental rights are not up for debate, and nor is a woman’s right to control her own body.  

Health care is a right, and Democrats must make that a reality.  

Conflict is inevitable–think vaccination requirements–and Democrats should come down on the side of the public good.  

Because Americans have a right to safety, Democrats should endorse strong gun control measures that ban assault weapons that have only one purpose–mass killing. 

REBUILDING AMERICA AFTER TRUMP:  The Trump regime was and continues to be a disaster for a majority of Americans and for our standing across the world, but it’s not enough to condemn his greed and narcissism, even if he goes to prison.  Let’s first acknowledge that Trump tapped into serious resentment among millions of Americans, which further divided our already divided country.  

The challenge is to work to bring us together, to make ‘one out of many’ in the always elusive ‘more perfect union.’  The essential first step is to abandon the ‘identity politics’ that Democrats have practiced for too long.  Instead, Democrats must adopt policies that bring us together, beginning with mandatory National Service: 

National Service: Bring back the draft for young men and women to require two years of (paid) National Service, followed by two years of tuition or training credits at an accredited institution.  One may serve in the military, Americorps, the Peace Corps, or other helping organizations.  One may teach or work in distressed communities, or rebuild our national parks, or serve in other approved capacities.  JFK famously said “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”  Let’s ask BOTH questions.  

Additionally: 1) Urge states to beef up civic education in public schools, teaching real history, asking tough questions.  At the same time, federal education policies should encourage Community schools, because research proves that schools that welcome families are more successful across many measures.

2) Rebuild Our Aging Infrastructure: This is urgent, and it will also create jobs.

3) Adopt fiscal and monetary policies to address our burgeoning national debt. This should include higher taxes on the wealthy, emulating Dwight Eisenhower. 

4) Adopt sensible and realistic immigration policies that welcome newcomers who arrive legally but close our borders to illegal immigration.

5) Rebuilding America also means rebuilding our alliances around the world.  Democrats should support NATO and Ukraine, and rejoin efforts to combat climate change. 

In addition to adopting Three “First Principles,” Democrats must act NOW to ensure that the 2026 elections are free and fair. Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, is concerned about this.  In an email he wrote: “For me, the essential question for my party is this: do you think this political moment is frenzied but still normal, and thus our job is to use our tried and true political tactics to make Trump as deservedly unpopular as possible so that we win back levers of power in 2026; or, do you think this moment is without precedent, and that Trump’s assault on democracy is so serious that all our work must be directed not toward winning the 2026 election, but making sure there is a free, fair election in 2026?”

Murphy is launching a fund to support citizen-led, grass roots, state and regional efforts to protect the vote.  American Mobilization will provide money and logistical support, Murphy promises. The first $400,000 is going to three organizations: the Committee to Protect Health Care, the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition for Action, and Project 26 Pennsylvania. He explains, “The Committee to Protect Health is organizing doctors and nurses to protect Medicaid in Michigan, Louisiana, and Utah, and Georgia Youth Justice and Project 26 are organizing young people, including college students, to join the fight.”

It’s worth supporting Senator Murphy because Trump presents a genuine and serious threat to our democratic republic. Democrats have to fight.

In a column in the New York Times, David Brooks argued that we are in a ‘world-shifting’ time, and that Democrats haven’t realized how they are being left behind.  In other words, sharpening their message won’t cut it.  He writes, “This is not about policies. Democrats have to do what Trump did: create a new party identity, come up with a clear answer to the question: What is the central problem of our time? Come up with a new grand narrative.”

The three non-negotiable requirements for Democratic success are 1) First Principles that articulate a clear set of core beliefs, 2) Effective messengers, and 3) Mastery of the medium(s) that conveys the message.  Call it the 3M concept: message, messenger, and medium.  Right now too many Democrats are spinning their wheels on #2 and #3, instead of figuring out what they stand for.  

Rebuilding America also requires looking forward, because AGI, artificial general intelligence, is both an existential threat and a huge promise.  At a minimum, AGI will be a job-eliminator in ways we cannot even imagine, and that reality must be addressed.  If we cannot create enough new jobs, what will adults do with all that free time? 

And Ukraine’s drone attack deep into Russia must also be seen as another new reality.  We are now vulnerable in ways we never imagined, now that an ordinary freight truck can be converted into an aircraft carrier.

These are perilous times, the worst possible time to have a shallow narcissist in the White House, enabled by Fox News ‘personalities’ and other toadies in positions of power.

But that’s our reality until the 2026 elections, when we can begin to retake control of our destiny and begin to repair America and our standing in the world.  

Just SAYING “No” to kings won’t cut it.  Organize, register to vote, register others, contribute to the ACLU, and speak up and speak out.