CommentsGELFAND’S WORLD--In this series of year ending reviews, we've hardly veered from the twin themes -- intertwined as they are -- of Donald J Trump and the Covid-19 pandemic. Here are three more related issues that are joined at the deep level.
The first topic is that of the difficulties currently being endured by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which has suffered a serious loss in public respect even as it has had to deal with political interference in the way it has tried to deal with the pandemic.
The second topic, possibly of grave interest, is the story that just came out this weekend: Discussions at the highest levels involved the president introducing martial law and ordering a replacement presidential election. This story was ostensibly reported by White House insiders, who claim that in an Oval Office meeting, the convicted felon -- now pardoned -- Michael Flynn suggested that the president put the United States under martial law and have the Pentagon hold a replacement presidential election in the swing states that he lost.
The third topic is the massive exposure of our secrets to Russian intelligence presumably due to the lack of interest at the highest level of government.
I offer both a diagnosis of the problem as well as a prescription to remedy the problem should it come to that.
A Diagnosis
The CDC problem was as obvious as it was unsusceptible to rational remedy. In Donald Trump's universe, anything that makes him look bad is to be fought vigorously. Anyone who contradicts him is to be attacked. And then, after Trump begins the attack, the rest of the right-wing noise machine joins in. On 60 Minutes this weekend, it was revealed that public trust in the CDC has descended into the thirty percentile range. Is there any question that this loss in public esteem is due to all the attempts to politicize its functioning -- now recognized by the public -- and along with that politicization, the attacks on its reputation?
Secondly, we have Trump's continuing refusal to believe in Biden's victory. Once again, it's a blow to Trump's reputation and personal vanity. Over the weekend, we heard of a White House conversation in which it was suggested that Trump impose martial law and order new elections in swing states. As in so many other things, Trump, when asked about it, denied it, but he has a record of denying things one week and doing them the next. As the weeks have gone by, it has become clear that much of the congressional leadership has been waiting for a chance to recognize the Biden victory, but we're not seeing that recognition in the president himself.
And now, suddenly, we have learned of the Russian incursion into our computer control systems at all levels of industry and government. We have been put at risk in terms of our utilities and our military security.
In normal years, anything like the Russian incursion lands on the president's desk. It's all about Harry Truman's comment that "the buck stops here," a wry joke about the fact that by the time an issue got to him, there was no further passing of the buck. And we have plenty of reason to blame Trump for much of what happened. We should rem ember that Trump has engaged in a threefold process of weakening American security: He simultaneously kissed up to Putin, fired or did not rehire a large number of critical people, and when he did hire, made sure to put in sycophants and toadies of the worst order (think of Bill Barr or Betsy de Vos). Under Trump, our government and its alliances have been made weaker.
To borrow the old term, the ship lacks a rudder when it comes to important elements of national security. But there is leadership, albeit of a malign and dishonest form, when it comes to denying the result of the 2020 election.
In short, Trump's inability to deal with any personal failure, stemming from his malignant narcissism, is now a danger to our republic. To the extent that Trump will continue to attempt to interfere with our lawful functioning and the now-settled election result, we may have to do something even this late in his term. For example, any further attempt even to speak publicly about imposition of martial law is a danger to our liberty. Any attempt to actually engage in such activity is to do damage to our liberty.
A Remedy
To dust off the old phrase, Enough is Enough. There may be a few people who want to remain in denial about Biden's win, but it is clear that at the highest congressional levels, senators understand that Joe Biden will be inaugurated on January 20, 2021. We are yet to hear that concession from Donald Trump. He continues to act weirdly. Some of our people like to think that this is just his eccentricity, a refusal to play the game as it were, but when it reaches the level where Joe Biden was forbidden access to national security briefings due to Trump's delusional ranting, it becomes a problem for the country as a whole. We got past that part, but this week we have suddenly heard of the martial law story and our nation's utter failure to deal with Russian meddling.
This week, rumors have been circulating that White House staff are concerned about Trump's mental state, with some news reports putting that word "delusional" directly in their mouths. Who is to say that Trump won't attempt to establish martial law and with it, write an executive order to hold repeat presidential elections in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, and perhaps Arizona? It would be an attempt at a military coup (to repeat what so many others have already pointed out) but it would have a following, and it would do great harm to our democracy.
There is a simple way to solve this problem. All it takes is 19 Republican senators with just enough courage to put country before party -- even to do so secretly -- and to agree with Democrats in congress that this shall not be allowed to continue.
The leadership (presumably Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi) should tell the president that any further violations of the Constitution on his part will result in his immediate impeachment. The Democrats should be prepared to do so on a day's notice. And here is the important part: McConnell should tell the president that there are at least 19 Republican senators prepared to vote with the 48 Democrats to remove him from office. And that they are ready to convene and to carry out the impeachment and removal trial that same night.
And that will be that.
A project for the progressives
Some of you may recall that I don't much like the term "progressive" because to me, it is a fallback term for Democrats who got scared away from calling themselves liberals after Ronald Reagan turned the word into an insult. But there is a new generation who seem to like the word, so I guess I will have to learn to live with it. They have a progressive caucus in the congress and right here in the California Democratic Party. I assume they have lots more copies of that caucus all over the country.
Well, they took a big hit just the other day and many of them don't even know it yet. You all remember congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, she who has even earned her own three letter designation as AOC. She is a bit of a spunky type, having gotten to congress by defeating an incumbent Democrat, and having been a leader (at least at the moral level) for the Green New Deal.
You progressives might want to read the article by Eric Loomis which you can find here and titled "Centrist Dems sure hate the left side of their caucus."
In brief, AOC asked to be appointed to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. This would have been a natural for her. More to the point, there should be someone of her ideological position on that committee, as she represents the views of millions of voters who helped to carry Joe Biden over the line.
But as you will see in Loomis' scathing piece, the Democrats turned her down. Instead, they inserted a last-minute candidate who is, if anything, from the conservative side of the Democratic Party.
So, here's a project for you progressives, and for such groups as Indivisible: Call for the House Democrats to reverse themselves on this decision. A few hundred thousand emails and petition signatures might be enough to do the job.
(Bob Gelfand writes on science, culture, and politics for CityWatch. He can be reached at [email protected])
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