It was with some bemusement that I heard that Trump was planning to come to South Carolina to receive an award. I expected I would hear a lot about backlash and protests. Then I heard someone saying that even though they don't support Trump, he was glad Trump was getting the award for signing into law the First Step Act.
This whole thing seems to have started with Jared Kushner, who for some reason (maybe having a dad doing time) was focussed on prison reform. Then came Kim Kardashian, and a bunch of tweets about a 63-year-old doing time since 1996 for a first drug offense. This was not about someone caught carrying some dope. This was about cocaine distribution and money laundering, which would go a ways to explain why President Obama did not choose to pardon her during his presidency, although he pardoned 212 and commuted the sentences of 1,715 prisoners. But Donald Trump knows a media opportunity when he sees one.
The chance to one-up Obama along with the how it looked to be the one setting free a little old lady was irresistible. And it worked.
So, I imagine when Jared suggested following it up with prison reform, he jumped at the chance. The result was decidedly a union of strange bedfellows.
We can be glad for this badly needed and long overdue reform. One that would not have been possible with the obstructionist and racist Congress that Barack Obama was stuck with.
But we don't need to shower praise on a man who has done more damage to minorities during his years on earth, and especially since becoming president, than nearly any other American. We should not give him the good press that was, to be honest, his goal.
Donald Trump is a stupid man. But he is fine-tuned to how to divide people. And that is what his visit to South Carolina was intended to do. And he was enabled by the Bipartisan Justice Center and Benedict College.
Donald Trump at Benedict College getting an award for the First Step Act happened because Joe Biden continues to be the first choice of many African Americans in South Carolina. If Trump can sway a handful of voters, that would for him be worth the effort, because Trump lives in a world of spite and revenge. But his advisors know that the PR he got was invaluable. Who could accuse him of being racist after not just signing this reform bill, but for getting an award for it?
For those of us in the cheap seats, this was an award ceremony. But the Trump campaign was in high gear making sure this event was entirely orchestrated to maximize gain and to make absolutely sure there was no fly in the ointment. Behind the scenes, the White House was in total control. Of the over 2,100 attendees, ONLY TEN were students invited from Benedict College, with only seven attending. All the remaining attendees were brought in from elsewhere. The White House refused Benedict College's president's request that more Benedict College be allowed to attend, "insisting that the White House maintain control of organizing the event."
In fact, students were told to stay in their dorm rooms during the event.
STUDENTS WERE TOLD TO STAY IN THEIR DORM ROOMS DURING TRUMP'S TIME ON CAMPUS.
This lockdown occurred on a college campus in South Carolina in 2019. And it occurred while taxpayers funded what was a campaign rally, including attacks on President Obama and Democrats, and the usual brags and lies.
If we allow Donald Trump to control the story, the media, the audience, we are creating the same damn environment that soured voters on Hillary Clinton in 2016. It is good that the First Step Act was passed, and that Trump signed it into law. But we know him. We know he did not do it out of a sense of justice, or compassion for those wrongfully imprisoned. We need now, more than ever, to keep our eyes on the motivation behind everything he does.
Donald Trump doesn't just want to win in 2020. He needs to win in 2020. Because if he loses, what waits for him is a plethora of criminal charges, and if the justice system still works by the time he is gone, very likely a prison sentence. And if the justice system still works, the First Step Act won't save him.
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Monday, September 9, 2019
Don't Blame God
I believe the most offensive comment I have heard regarding Hurricane Dorian was uttered by our own City of Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg. He was being interviewed after Dorian had made his way up the coast. He said that he was... and as he paused I filled in "relieved" but I was wrong. He said he felt "blessed" that the worst of the storm had passed us by. BLESSED.
BLESSED.
Each day, as I watch the devastation that befell the people of the Bahamas, the word echoes in my mind. What hubris! That God would choose to give us a break after wreaking havoc on the people of the Bahamas.
I wonder that we wouldn't rather give credit to science for the path and effects of the storm.
Holy City, my ass.
And for the record, Mayor Tecklenburg, with that comment, for once beats out Donald Trump for tastelessness and insensitivity. Congrats, Mayor.
BLESSED.
Each day, as I watch the devastation that befell the people of the Bahamas, the word echoes in my mind. What hubris! That God would choose to give us a break after wreaking havoc on the people of the Bahamas.
I wonder that we wouldn't rather give credit to science for the path and effects of the storm.
Holy City, my ass.
And for the record, Mayor Tecklenburg, with that comment, for once beats out Donald Trump for tastelessness and insensitivity. Congrats, Mayor.
Monday, June 24, 2019
The Secret Plan to Beat Lindsey
I saw Joy Reid interview Jim Clyburn from his Columbia fish fry over the weekend. He was sounding more wide awake and chipper than usual, I guess since he was at his own big fete, and that made me happy. Then Reid mentioned that he was a supporter of Jaime Harrison, who has announced his intention to run against Lindsey Graham in 2020. Maybe it was my imagination but he gave a teensy tinsy nod and then went on to the next subject.
I have two problems with that. First of all, this is the second time I have seen Clyburn interviewed on MSNBC when he has been asked about the race for senator in 2020, and he has failed to make a big deal out of it. I understand that Clyburn may just not be comfortable with promoting someone that isn't himself -- Harrison tends to have the same quirk -- but the race against Lindsey Graham should be a huge deal. After 2018, even SC should be chomping at the bit to get rid of this Trump patsy. All his crazy flip flops as he chases down Trump's approval and his temper tantrum at the Kavanaugh hearing only magnify the need and the potential for change, especially after all those fearless women took the House last November.
My second problem is that even feminist and advocate of women of color Joy Reid failed to note that there is an actual primary opponent running for the Democratic contender, Gloria Bromell Tinubu. And not surprisingly, Clyburn has also failed to acknowledge this.
I say "not surprisingly" because a number of years ago, Clyburn threw his two cents into the race against Tim Scott, during Scott's first senate election campaign after his appointment to the Senate by his buddy Nikki Haley. In a primary race among two men and one woman, Clyburn asked the woman to step aside and let the guys fight it out. She did not step aside. And she won the primary. The woman, Joyce Dickerson, is a truly dynamic firebrand. She wasn't afraid to go head to head with Scott. But she really didn't get the chance. Not the money nor the true support of the Democratic Party. Clyburn was silent.
And now we have another dynamic woman who has stepped up against Lindsey Graham. Gloria Tinubu is a former economics professor and a former Georgia state legislator. She is speaking for those who have been left behind because of racial injustice and the failures of the government to address economic inequality.
Tinubu has experienced being overlooked by the Democratic Party machine, local and national, before. She is not likely to get financial support, or even acknowledgement, by the South Carolina Democratic Party, or the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, or, of course, from big Congressional honcho Jim Clyburn. Unless we make waves.
Write and tweet the SCDP and the DSCC. Let them know you expect a fair primary fight. Tell them to put both candidates front and center. I am tired of our senate candidates being the best kept secret in South Carolina, and I hope you are too.
If you believe it takes a woman, a strong, smart woman, to defeat misogynist Lindsey Graham in 2020, please help spread the word. Follow Gloria Bromell Tinubu on Facebook and Twitter, meet up with her on her website, gloriaforussenate.com. Share, contribute, and help in any way you can.
I can be fairly certain, after years of hearing about how we are turning blue, that unless our party leaders put our candidates front and center, and do it now, the only thing that will be turning blue is our mood after the next election. I have suggested that the best way to generate publicity right now is by planning events for both candidates, forums, meet 'n' greets, debates, where both candidates engage each other AND the public. You know, like the presidential candidates have been doing for months.
Or, they can follow the old playbook and support the guy who will attract the most money in lieu of excitement. We know how that will turn out.
I have two problems with that. First of all, this is the second time I have seen Clyburn interviewed on MSNBC when he has been asked about the race for senator in 2020, and he has failed to make a big deal out of it. I understand that Clyburn may just not be comfortable with promoting someone that isn't himself -- Harrison tends to have the same quirk -- but the race against Lindsey Graham should be a huge deal. After 2018, even SC should be chomping at the bit to get rid of this Trump patsy. All his crazy flip flops as he chases down Trump's approval and his temper tantrum at the Kavanaugh hearing only magnify the need and the potential for change, especially after all those fearless women took the House last November.
My second problem is that even feminist and advocate of women of color Joy Reid failed to note that there is an actual primary opponent running for the Democratic contender, Gloria Bromell Tinubu. And not surprisingly, Clyburn has also failed to acknowledge this.
I say "not surprisingly" because a number of years ago, Clyburn threw his two cents into the race against Tim Scott, during Scott's first senate election campaign after his appointment to the Senate by his buddy Nikki Haley. In a primary race among two men and one woman, Clyburn asked the woman to step aside and let the guys fight it out. She did not step aside. And she won the primary. The woman, Joyce Dickerson, is a truly dynamic firebrand. She wasn't afraid to go head to head with Scott. But she really didn't get the chance. Not the money nor the true support of the Democratic Party. Clyburn was silent.
And now we have another dynamic woman who has stepped up against Lindsey Graham. Gloria Tinubu is a former economics professor and a former Georgia state legislator. She is speaking for those who have been left behind because of racial injustice and the failures of the government to address economic inequality.
Tinubu has experienced being overlooked by the Democratic Party machine, local and national, before. She is not likely to get financial support, or even acknowledgement, by the South Carolina Democratic Party, or the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, or, of course, from big Congressional honcho Jim Clyburn. Unless we make waves.
Write and tweet the SCDP and the DSCC. Let them know you expect a fair primary fight. Tell them to put both candidates front and center. I am tired of our senate candidates being the best kept secret in South Carolina, and I hope you are too.
If you believe it takes a woman, a strong, smart woman, to defeat misogynist Lindsey Graham in 2020, please help spread the word. Follow Gloria Bromell Tinubu on Facebook and Twitter, meet up with her on her website, gloriaforussenate.com. Share, contribute, and help in any way you can.
I can be fairly certain, after years of hearing about how we are turning blue, that unless our party leaders put our candidates front and center, and do it now, the only thing that will be turning blue is our mood after the next election. I have suggested that the best way to generate publicity right now is by planning events for both candidates, forums, meet 'n' greets, debates, where both candidates engage each other AND the public. You know, like the presidential candidates have been doing for months.
Or, they can follow the old playbook and support the guy who will attract the most money in lieu of excitement. We know how that will turn out.
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
The Spirit of 2020
There was a time, in the 70's, when I could always find a job that paid a living wage, with health benefits, vacation, retirement. Then corrupt Nixon got canned which led to narcissistic but pure-of-heart Jimmy Carter, an ineffectual president, fucked over by OPEC, embarrassed by Iran, wearing a sweater and telling us to turn down the heat. We remember the gas lines and the cost-of-living skyrocketing. That scared us so much that we let corporations steal our unions out from under us, giving up guarantees and hard-won benefits in order to keep our jobs, which we ended up losing anyway -- sound familiar?
Turns out the republican brain trust had been waiting in the wings, or under their rocks, all along; they knew we would tire of honor over promises of the good life. And they gave us plenty of empty promises, and an actor to make them convincing. Ronald Reagan told us it was morning in America, but what he really meant was "mourning in America," and that is what we got. Mortgage rates up to 16% with scams a-plenty to make our mortgages affordable. A tax cut that he promised would trickle down -- a promise that never seems to get old, a con that works every time, and never, ever trickles down.
After the trickle down free-for-all of the Dubya years, when we nearly fell over the cliff, we at least recognized Sarah Palin as an idiot and rejected her hate (back then we still rejected overt bigotry). What still puzzles us is that we had eight years of an economy improving despite every republican trick in the books (and some that weren't), and we still elected a bloviating con artist.
Today I struggle to get by spending most of my meager savings on insurance -- home, car, health -- and repairs on old stuff I can't afford to replace. We keep hearing that most of us don't have $400 for an emergency, but billionaires convinced us that their families should not have to give up a penny in inheritance tax, making it sound like we were taking food out of the mouths of their children while they in fact were cutting food stamps and Medicaid to those who were truly in need. The further irony being that the reason so many of us today are in need of basic services is that the wealthy fixed the system decades ago.
Our children live in financial insecurity like many of us have never known. It was our fear that allowed us to compromise and give up the rights we grew up with. It was anger over having lost those rights that allowed us to swallow and even bigger con.
Unless things change, my children will never know financial security. They will work hard and never have time for their families, even though they won't be able to afford good quality child care. They will never be able to take their eyes off the ball that is their next paycheck. They will see their children receive education that offers less than I had back in the 50's and 60's, when fear of Russian exploration led to a surge in funding for better schools, better teacher training and salary, critical and creative thinking, sports, music and science. In other words, quality of life. They will worry about health care because the wealthy continue to work to snatch it away. The cost of necessities will continue to skyrocket, the poor will be taxed so the rich can get richer. And the rich will scorn the struggling middle class while learning bigger and better ways to con us with flattery and fear.
Our Democratic politicians have tried everything to turn this tide. Everything, that is, but the hard stuff. But that is about to change... if we let it. We have for the first time in decades people standing up who aren't afraid to fight to right those economic wrongs, and they now control the House of Representatives. Proof that Americans aren't afraid to vote for dramatic change. It was the young generation who saw how bad things continued to get under the whispered lies that compromise will keep them safe.
My generation was once fearless. Some of us still are. But we have been lulled into complacency by the battles that we won long ago. We have been the frog in the pot of water that doesn't see that he is incrementally being cooked to death. We keep hoping that if we don't rock the boat we won't get our lives stolen away.
What is utterly ironic is that it was the bright-eyed fearlessness of young women that won us the House in 2018, and now, facing 2020, we are hearing the mantra of the need for "safe" candidates. That is indeed the sign of insanity, or maybe just of desperation, when we keep insisting on doing what hasn't worked before.
Women in the House, women of color, Muslims, LGBTQ, people we thought were unelectable. And yet I am hearing the sighs and watching the wringing of hands over who is electable. You know who isn't electable? Donald fucking Trump. And yet because he was fearless we let him lie his way into the White House. I'm hearing qualms over being too extreme. You know what is too extreme? The republican party under Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump.
It's time to stop being afraid. It's definitely time we stopped allowing the enemies of the people to define us and frighten us. Proposals to clean our atmosphere and give health care to all are not extreme. Plans to fund and improve education are not extreme. A living wage is not extreme. Building bridges that don't collapse and hospitals in rural towns, that is not extreme. Protecting the rights of people of color, and making women's health care private is not extreme.
The opposite of all of the above is what is extreme. What the next election is about is protecting us from the extremists. It is about democracy.
Turns out the republican brain trust had been waiting in the wings, or under their rocks, all along; they knew we would tire of honor over promises of the good life. And they gave us plenty of empty promises, and an actor to make them convincing. Ronald Reagan told us it was morning in America, but what he really meant was "mourning in America," and that is what we got. Mortgage rates up to 16% with scams a-plenty to make our mortgages affordable. A tax cut that he promised would trickle down -- a promise that never seems to get old, a con that works every time, and never, ever trickles down.
After the trickle down free-for-all of the Dubya years, when we nearly fell over the cliff, we at least recognized Sarah Palin as an idiot and rejected her hate (back then we still rejected overt bigotry). What still puzzles us is that we had eight years of an economy improving despite every republican trick in the books (and some that weren't), and we still elected a bloviating con artist.
Today I struggle to get by spending most of my meager savings on insurance -- home, car, health -- and repairs on old stuff I can't afford to replace. We keep hearing that most of us don't have $400 for an emergency, but billionaires convinced us that their families should not have to give up a penny in inheritance tax, making it sound like we were taking food out of the mouths of their children while they in fact were cutting food stamps and Medicaid to those who were truly in need. The further irony being that the reason so many of us today are in need of basic services is that the wealthy fixed the system decades ago.
Our children live in financial insecurity like many of us have never known. It was our fear that allowed us to compromise and give up the rights we grew up with. It was anger over having lost those rights that allowed us to swallow and even bigger con.
Unless things change, my children will never know financial security. They will work hard and never have time for their families, even though they won't be able to afford good quality child care. They will never be able to take their eyes off the ball that is their next paycheck. They will see their children receive education that offers less than I had back in the 50's and 60's, when fear of Russian exploration led to a surge in funding for better schools, better teacher training and salary, critical and creative thinking, sports, music and science. In other words, quality of life. They will worry about health care because the wealthy continue to work to snatch it away. The cost of necessities will continue to skyrocket, the poor will be taxed so the rich can get richer. And the rich will scorn the struggling middle class while learning bigger and better ways to con us with flattery and fear.
Our Democratic politicians have tried everything to turn this tide. Everything, that is, but the hard stuff. But that is about to change... if we let it. We have for the first time in decades people standing up who aren't afraid to fight to right those economic wrongs, and they now control the House of Representatives. Proof that Americans aren't afraid to vote for dramatic change. It was the young generation who saw how bad things continued to get under the whispered lies that compromise will keep them safe.
My generation was once fearless. Some of us still are. But we have been lulled into complacency by the battles that we won long ago. We have been the frog in the pot of water that doesn't see that he is incrementally being cooked to death. We keep hoping that if we don't rock the boat we won't get our lives stolen away.
What is utterly ironic is that it was the bright-eyed fearlessness of young women that won us the House in 2018, and now, facing 2020, we are hearing the mantra of the need for "safe" candidates. That is indeed the sign of insanity, or maybe just of desperation, when we keep insisting on doing what hasn't worked before.
Women in the House, women of color, Muslims, LGBTQ, people we thought were unelectable. And yet I am hearing the sighs and watching the wringing of hands over who is electable. You know who isn't electable? Donald fucking Trump. And yet because he was fearless we let him lie his way into the White House. I'm hearing qualms over being too extreme. You know what is too extreme? The republican party under Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump.
It's time to stop being afraid. It's definitely time we stopped allowing the enemies of the people to define us and frighten us. Proposals to clean our atmosphere and give health care to all are not extreme. Plans to fund and improve education are not extreme. A living wage is not extreme. Building bridges that don't collapse and hospitals in rural towns, that is not extreme. Protecting the rights of people of color, and making women's health care private is not extreme.
The opposite of all of the above is what is extreme. What the next election is about is protecting us from the extremists. It is about democracy.
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
The Way Forward
Dems, don't be afraid. Don't be disconsolate. Be angry. Be unified. Defend our media and our elected officials.
The Trump crime family, with Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy and of course Donald at the helm, have had 3 weeks to plan an attack to offset all the investigations. They are going after Dems in Congress and the media with renewed energy after the partisan and highly censored Barr "report." We need to be more outraged and energized than ever.
Don't just write to like-minded friends, send letters to the editor, contact the news media, and keep calling our elected officials. We got Paul Ryan convinced he needed to spend more time with family, we need to put the pressure on Graham and Scott. We need to keep saying the truth. We need to be unified and angry. Mueller knew Trump was trying to shut him down, so I believe he did what he did in order to keep the investigations going. Don't let Trump and his mafia discourage you.
Trump is going to play all his greatest hits at his rallies. So educating everyone you know about his lies is essential.
Lindsey Graham has gone from telling truth to power (when he was running against Trump) to being no more than his golf caddy. We need to keep at him about his own lies and hypocrisy.
Let no manipulation by the Trump minions go unchallenged.
I received an email from Kevin McCarthy yesterday, stewed about it for awhile, and then composed this letter for The State:
Yesterday I received an email from "Kevin McCarthy -- Republican Leader." In it he claims that the case is closed -- no collusion. He says that Democrats' behavior has been "irresponsible." Then he concludes that "For the good of the country, it is time we moved on."
This completely partisan missive was sent to me via House Communications email.
I believe most Americans are sick of these mean-spirited, divisive attacks. Our tax dollars are paying for what amounts to a 2020 campaign run from Congress and the White House; this is undemocratic and morally repugnant.
Lindsey Graham, who once spoke the truth about President Trump, has sold out for a standing invitation to Mara Lago. His hateful rhetoric mirrors that of Trump.
Attorney General Barr has kept his promise to protect the president by keeping most of the report hidden, and Mitch McConnell refuses to allow the Senate to vote to demand that the full report be made public.
While McCarthy is saying that "for the good of the country, it is time we moved on" Donald Trump is seeking revenge on Democrats in Congress. We just can't tolerate this hypocrisy and the threat to the citizens of our democracy that it represents.
Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott must insist that Attorney General Barr release the full Mueller Report immediately rather than be implicated in the obstruction of justice that has been going on for far too long.
The Trump crime family, with Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy and of course Donald at the helm, have had 3 weeks to plan an attack to offset all the investigations. They are going after Dems in Congress and the media with renewed energy after the partisan and highly censored Barr "report." We need to be more outraged and energized than ever.
Don't just write to like-minded friends, send letters to the editor, contact the news media, and keep calling our elected officials. We got Paul Ryan convinced he needed to spend more time with family, we need to put the pressure on Graham and Scott. We need to keep saying the truth. We need to be unified and angry. Mueller knew Trump was trying to shut him down, so I believe he did what he did in order to keep the investigations going. Don't let Trump and his mafia discourage you.
Trump is going to play all his greatest hits at his rallies. So educating everyone you know about his lies is essential.
Lindsey Graham has gone from telling truth to power (when he was running against Trump) to being no more than his golf caddy. We need to keep at him about his own lies and hypocrisy.
Let no manipulation by the Trump minions go unchallenged.
I received an email from Kevin McCarthy yesterday, stewed about it for awhile, and then composed this letter for The State:
Yesterday I received an email from "Kevin McCarthy -- Republican Leader." In it he claims that the case is closed -- no collusion. He says that Democrats' behavior has been "irresponsible." Then he concludes that "For the good of the country, it is time we moved on."
This completely partisan missive was sent to me via House Communications email.
I believe most Americans are sick of these mean-spirited, divisive attacks. Our tax dollars are paying for what amounts to a 2020 campaign run from Congress and the White House; this is undemocratic and morally repugnant.
Lindsey Graham, who once spoke the truth about President Trump, has sold out for a standing invitation to Mara Lago. His hateful rhetoric mirrors that of Trump.
Attorney General Barr has kept his promise to protect the president by keeping most of the report hidden, and Mitch McConnell refuses to allow the Senate to vote to demand that the full report be made public.
While McCarthy is saying that "for the good of the country, it is time we moved on" Donald Trump is seeking revenge on Democrats in Congress. We just can't tolerate this hypocrisy and the threat to the citizens of our democracy that it represents.
Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott must insist that Attorney General Barr release the full Mueller Report immediately rather than be implicated in the obstruction of justice that has been going on for far too long.
Don't worry about how you say it, just say it. We know who the criminals are and what crimes they have brazenly committed. We don't have to be afraid. And we won't allow ourselves to be silenced.
Being outraged got us the House of Representatives in 2018. The people who stepped up and are now representing us reflected our own feelings: they were fearless and they were outraged. They believed in our country and they were not going to be distracted by fear of not winning. When they spoke what was on their minds, they found out that the majority of Americans felt the same way. We were just waiting for someone who wasn't going to hide in fear to say it.
So spread the word. Share my blog. It may be an example of passion over literary worth, but boy, it's how I am feeling.
I took this picture in DC on January 21, 2017. It couldn't have foretold better what was going to happen to our country after Donald Trump got his tiny, greedy hands on it. He goal is to control everything. My goal is to leave him with one last enterprise:
Sunday, February 10, 2019
So Many Rabbit Holes... #2
The insanity in Virginia is changing faster than I can write about it. This blog post would have been very different had I written it just yesterday. And the path through the weeds and down this rabbit hole are even more convoluted than what I blogged about a few days ago.
As briefly as I can possibly put it:
Governor Ralph Northam attempted to answer a question about Virginia's new abortion bill, which would roll back restrictions on a woman's right to an abortion where there are risks to the woman or likely severe fetal abnormalities. Northam, apparently not a really smooth talker, stumbled in his response, giving right wing media and politicians the opening to portray the bill as in support of infanticide.
Never willing to stop at mere distortion of facts, the right wing media dug up -- excuse me, investigated -- a tip by an anti-abortion activist, found and published the now infamous yearbook photo of someone in blackface standing with someone in KKK garb. The esteemed publication was Big League Politics, and I urge you to check out the article as well as the ads. I, myself, will be clicking to see what that object is that I should stick in my ear to cure my tinnitis. In other words, not the Washington Post.
But apparently, the yearbook page and photo exist. The predictable result was that Northam was immediately pressured by Dems across the country, and especially presidential candidates, to resign. And then... one day, Northam was apologizing for the photo, the next day he was saying it wasn't him. This is what I think happened:
Northam, a good guy who is a good governor, was a med student in the 80's. Strange times. Michael Jackson was a phenomenon, that we all remember by now. But there was also Neil Diamond in The Jazz Singer, which is a lame remake of Al Jolson's 1927 performance in the original. In neither were blackface an insult, although by the 80's I have to say, "What on earth were we thinking???" By now we understand so much more about the times when blackface was intended as an insult and how any blackface can bring back the bad old days. We white folk mostly cringe when we hear about blackface, as we should.
So when Northam was asked about the photo, which he hadn't yet seen, he recalled the time he performed as Michael Jackson in a talent show in med school, and he cringed. Then he apologized, profusely.
Then he saw the photo, and he was confused. I believe he knew that it wasn't him, not the guy in blackface or in the KKK robe. He had nothing to do with the photo being placed on his page (come on, people, we know it's not the students who put their own photos on their yearbook pages). But in his denial, he was trying to be honest. And it comes out just as clumsily as his statement about the abortion bill. Guilty of tripping over his tongue? Absolutely. Guilty of being a racist? I say no.
Then, amid the pitchforks and torches, came word that his proposed successor, Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax had been accused of sexual assault in 2004. And then another woman came forward. Now we had a Brett Kavanaugh deal, with three important differences. Fairfax is a Democrat, and he is African American. And there was no beer involved.
As Rick Perry might say, "Oops."
The interviews on CNN and MSNBC were fun to watch, as Dems began to rethink everything from their demand to have Northam step down to whether they had been premature in demanding Al Franken's resignation without benefit of a hearing. Sadly, I heard a well-respected black man give the Kavanaugh defense, saying there was no way to prove the allegations, and so we would have to take Fairfax's word that he was innocent.
You know what? Way back before a lot of you were born, when a woman was raped, the rapist more often than not got away with it, because rapes just don't happen in public (unless it is with a group of like-minded buddies, as with Kavanaugh). And if it did happen, we were told, it was with the consent of the woman -- whether she knew it or not -- because she was asking for it with her body language, her clothes, or her very presence. And you know what else? That remains true today.
We were all patting ourselves on the back with the success of the #MeToo movement when Kavanaugh came along to remind us all in a very eerie way that Clarence Thomas could indeed happen again.
SNL had some fun with the blackface thing.
And I would like to say, mockery is just about where we should be when we talk about Michael Jackson impressions in the 80's. Let me repeat: the KKK pic was horrific, and any blackface at all should not be happening today.
So, as far as Northam goes, let us keep in mind that what he did (and I am assuming he did not star in the KKK pic, which was abhorrent) was not illegal, just dumb.
But what Fairfax is being accused of is illegal. He is asking for an investigation, and I welcome that... except that if he is guilty, and it happened privately, how many others will have to come forward before he is required to step down? And let us not forget that we are not talking about criminal charges, but what we demand of our government leaders.
There is a lot of grey area to mine when the talk is of sexual assault. Who of us women have not felt coerced but gone along with the pressure to engage in a sexual act? Who of us women have felt shame and anger in retrospect and done nothing about it, because we know we will be seen as complicit and shamed even further?
When Dr. Christine Blasey Ford stepped forward, her greatest fears came to pass. She was viciously attacked by those in authority, she and her family threatened, and Kavanaugh heralded as the victim, finally being confirmed to the highest court in the land.
We really have to ask ourselves why one women, much less two, would want to walk into that same scenario with another popular political leader. All they can expect is denial and attacks on their integrity, while having to revisit the experience that has been haunting them in private, but now in public.
We Democrats need to get our priorities straight, and fast. We can't be led by oppo research or the media's obsession with the shiny object. We have all done something in our past that embarrasses us to this day. We all have skeletons in our closets. Now we need to put them in perspective.
There is a difference between donning blackface to impersonate Michael Jackson and forcing a woman to have oral sex. That means, in this case in Virginia, that we have to take a look at our biases about race and sex. Acknowledge that sigh of relief in urging Northam to resign because we had what appeared to be a good black Democrat waiting in the wings. How about next time some nastiness is leaked about one of our own, we start off by demanding an investigation rather than immediate resignation? And how about if we work on gaining some perspective into the severity of the "crime"?
We can't honestly talk about giving criminals a second chance when we rush to toss someone out of office (or out of the race) as soon as some dirt surfaces. And we need to have a solid footing about right and wrong, stupidity versus crime.
Right now we have a sexual predator in the White House. We have had a racist, the KKK variety, as attorney general, and one who has let it be known that he plans on taking his Senate seat back in 2020. Those are the lines that need to be drawn.
And we need to continue to remind journalists and commentators of the difference. We cannot allow them to draw false equivalence and focus on inanities while crimes are being committed by those in office.
We learned a painful lesson in 2016, and we have been paying for it for too long. We need to insist that our political leaders and candidates be judged on moral character and actions and not youtube videos and yearbook photos. We need to focus the media instead of following it down the rabbit hole. To mix my metaphors, when the right wing tosses a bone to the media, and we chase after it, it become a grenade with which we will only end up blowing ourselves to smithereens.
Don't let it happen again.
As briefly as I can possibly put it:
Governor Ralph Northam attempted to answer a question about Virginia's new abortion bill, which would roll back restrictions on a woman's right to an abortion where there are risks to the woman or likely severe fetal abnormalities. Northam, apparently not a really smooth talker, stumbled in his response, giving right wing media and politicians the opening to portray the bill as in support of infanticide.
Never willing to stop at mere distortion of facts, the right wing media dug up -- excuse me, investigated -- a tip by an anti-abortion activist, found and published the now infamous yearbook photo of someone in blackface standing with someone in KKK garb. The esteemed publication was Big League Politics, and I urge you to check out the article as well as the ads. I, myself, will be clicking to see what that object is that I should stick in my ear to cure my tinnitis. In other words, not the Washington Post.
But apparently, the yearbook page and photo exist. The predictable result was that Northam was immediately pressured by Dems across the country, and especially presidential candidates, to resign. And then... one day, Northam was apologizing for the photo, the next day he was saying it wasn't him. This is what I think happened:
Northam, a good guy who is a good governor, was a med student in the 80's. Strange times. Michael Jackson was a phenomenon, that we all remember by now. But there was also Neil Diamond in The Jazz Singer, which is a lame remake of Al Jolson's 1927 performance in the original. In neither were blackface an insult, although by the 80's I have to say, "What on earth were we thinking???" By now we understand so much more about the times when blackface was intended as an insult and how any blackface can bring back the bad old days. We white folk mostly cringe when we hear about blackface, as we should.
So when Northam was asked about the photo, which he hadn't yet seen, he recalled the time he performed as Michael Jackson in a talent show in med school, and he cringed. Then he apologized, profusely.
Then he saw the photo, and he was confused. I believe he knew that it wasn't him, not the guy in blackface or in the KKK robe. He had nothing to do with the photo being placed on his page (come on, people, we know it's not the students who put their own photos on their yearbook pages). But in his denial, he was trying to be honest. And it comes out just as clumsily as his statement about the abortion bill. Guilty of tripping over his tongue? Absolutely. Guilty of being a racist? I say no.
Then, amid the pitchforks and torches, came word that his proposed successor, Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax had been accused of sexual assault in 2004. And then another woman came forward. Now we had a Brett Kavanaugh deal, with three important differences. Fairfax is a Democrat, and he is African American. And there was no beer involved.
As Rick Perry might say, "Oops."
The interviews on CNN and MSNBC were fun to watch, as Dems began to rethink everything from their demand to have Northam step down to whether they had been premature in demanding Al Franken's resignation without benefit of a hearing. Sadly, I heard a well-respected black man give the Kavanaugh defense, saying there was no way to prove the allegations, and so we would have to take Fairfax's word that he was innocent.
You know what? Way back before a lot of you were born, when a woman was raped, the rapist more often than not got away with it, because rapes just don't happen in public (unless it is with a group of like-minded buddies, as with Kavanaugh). And if it did happen, we were told, it was with the consent of the woman -- whether she knew it or not -- because she was asking for it with her body language, her clothes, or her very presence. And you know what else? That remains true today.
We were all patting ourselves on the back with the success of the #MeToo movement when Kavanaugh came along to remind us all in a very eerie way that Clarence Thomas could indeed happen again.
SNL had some fun with the blackface thing.
And I would like to say, mockery is just about where we should be when we talk about Michael Jackson impressions in the 80's. Let me repeat: the KKK pic was horrific, and any blackface at all should not be happening today.
So, as far as Northam goes, let us keep in mind that what he did (and I am assuming he did not star in the KKK pic, which was abhorrent) was not illegal, just dumb.
But what Fairfax is being accused of is illegal. He is asking for an investigation, and I welcome that... except that if he is guilty, and it happened privately, how many others will have to come forward before he is required to step down? And let us not forget that we are not talking about criminal charges, but what we demand of our government leaders.
There is a lot of grey area to mine when the talk is of sexual assault. Who of us women have not felt coerced but gone along with the pressure to engage in a sexual act? Who of us women have felt shame and anger in retrospect and done nothing about it, because we know we will be seen as complicit and shamed even further?
When Dr. Christine Blasey Ford stepped forward, her greatest fears came to pass. She was viciously attacked by those in authority, she and her family threatened, and Kavanaugh heralded as the victim, finally being confirmed to the highest court in the land.
We really have to ask ourselves why one women, much less two, would want to walk into that same scenario with another popular political leader. All they can expect is denial and attacks on their integrity, while having to revisit the experience that has been haunting them in private, but now in public.
We Democrats need to get our priorities straight, and fast. We can't be led by oppo research or the media's obsession with the shiny object. We have all done something in our past that embarrasses us to this day. We all have skeletons in our closets. Now we need to put them in perspective.
There is a difference between donning blackface to impersonate Michael Jackson and forcing a woman to have oral sex. That means, in this case in Virginia, that we have to take a look at our biases about race and sex. Acknowledge that sigh of relief in urging Northam to resign because we had what appeared to be a good black Democrat waiting in the wings. How about next time some nastiness is leaked about one of our own, we start off by demanding an investigation rather than immediate resignation? And how about if we work on gaining some perspective into the severity of the "crime"?
We can't honestly talk about giving criminals a second chance when we rush to toss someone out of office (or out of the race) as soon as some dirt surfaces. And we need to have a solid footing about right and wrong, stupidity versus crime.
Right now we have a sexual predator in the White House. We have had a racist, the KKK variety, as attorney general, and one who has let it be known that he plans on taking his Senate seat back in 2020. Those are the lines that need to be drawn.
And we need to continue to remind journalists and commentators of the difference. We cannot allow them to draw false equivalence and focus on inanities while crimes are being committed by those in office.
We learned a painful lesson in 2016, and we have been paying for it for too long. We need to insist that our political leaders and candidates be judged on moral character and actions and not youtube videos and yearbook photos. We need to focus the media instead of following it down the rabbit hole. To mix my metaphors, when the right wing tosses a bone to the media, and we chase after it, it become a grenade with which we will only end up blowing ourselves to smithereens.
Don't let it happen again.
Thursday, February 7, 2019
So Many Rabbit Holes... #1
Apparently, I blinked and when I opened my eyes I saw that Elizabeth Warren had apologized for her insensitivity to Native Americans. Let me just summarize this situation the way I see it:
When Elizabeth was a child, her mother told her she had some Native American blood. I imagine it was a point of pride. So when it came to indicating her heritage, Warren later included Native American.
Scott Brown, who is an idiot, had nothing else to run on against Warren in 2012, so his oppo researchers learned that she had included this detail when applying for a job at Harvard. It was such a moronic attack, and given that Warren was running on intelligent and important issues, that she easily won.
Of course, idiot-in-chief Donald Trump, who can't resist the opportunity to mock a woman, began the highly insulting (to Native Americans) taunt of "Pocahontas" when referring to her. Popular with his really ignorant base, who thought it was really clever and hilarious, the taunt became a standard line.
Circus showman Trump promised $1 million to charity if a DNA test "shows you're an Indian." Sick of the taunts and knowing how hard it is for Trump to part with a penny, she took him up on it. Which SHE WOULD NOT HAVE DONE IF SHE DID NOT BELIEVE SHE WAS PART NATIVE AMERICAN.
Now, the test found "strong evidence" that Warren has a Native American ancestor, which should have been solid enough proof that her claim was valid. But not only did Trump turn it around to his ugly needs, but the Native American community joined in.
Elizabeth Warren has been a hero for working class Americans and minorities throughout her life and her political career. Instead of recognizing this for the manipulative attack that it is, the argument became over whether she had the right to claim Indian heritage without the proper "blood quantum" amount. Which term was brought into use by the federal government in the first place, and not by Native American tribes. Into the weeds, and through to the rabbit hole.
Meanwhile, the media has taken this on, as though Hillary's emails had never led to the election of Donald Trump and mea culpas all around. No more talking about raising the working poor by taxing the wealthy, or about regulating Wall Street. Now she can count on at least one question by some imbicile about her heritage.
Shortly after the test results hit, I tuned in to a talk show on NPR. The guests were Native American and they were all having a go at Warren, postulating about the meaning of "blood quantum" and whining about how Warren had insulted their heritage. Then a caller -- a Native American woman -- said that Elizabeth Warren had been a strong and uncompromising voice for women and minorities, and this silly misstep wasn't going to make her less of a Warren supporter. Before I could let out a cheer, the moderator asked the geniuses in the studio another question about tribes and blood quantum identity TOTALLY IGNORING THE CALLER'S COMMENTS.
Are we so gullible that we will continue to turn on our own, so desperate to be politically correct that we don't recognize the virus in the messaging? Once again, republicans have been able to toss in the grenade and watch as Democrats jump in after it.
When I first heard the comment that Warren should not run for president because she had too much baggage, I thought my head would explode. Baggage??? Warren is the most straightforward and honest person in politics. Period. The only baggage she has been carrying has been that thrust on her by the media, who once again is passing it on for the Fox News crowd.
We have got to stop this. Tweet MSNBC and CNN whenever they start to wander toward those rabbit holes. Remind them that their job is to talk about real issues, not rumors and questionable or false attacks. Write letters to the editor and make phone calls.
We lost an amazing if imperfect candidate in 2016. She would have been as good a president as Barack Obama, an amazing if imperfect president. We have lost members of Congress and solid candidates because republicans know how to avoid the issues with really ugly oppo research and we continue to chase after it.
Meanwhile, there is a pussy grabber in the White House, one who openly mocks Native American dignity as he attacks a U.S. Senator, locks up children and lies about immigrants. And waiting backstage is our former attorney general, also a former member of the KKK, who is contemplating a run to retake his Alabama Senate seat in 2020.
Let us not get distracted. Not again.
When Elizabeth was a child, her mother told her she had some Native American blood. I imagine it was a point of pride. So when it came to indicating her heritage, Warren later included Native American.
Scott Brown, who is an idiot, had nothing else to run on against Warren in 2012, so his oppo researchers learned that she had included this detail when applying for a job at Harvard. It was such a moronic attack, and given that Warren was running on intelligent and important issues, that she easily won.
Of course, idiot-in-chief Donald Trump, who can't resist the opportunity to mock a woman, began the highly insulting (to Native Americans) taunt of "Pocahontas" when referring to her. Popular with his really ignorant base, who thought it was really clever and hilarious, the taunt became a standard line.
Circus showman Trump promised $1 million to charity if a DNA test "shows you're an Indian." Sick of the taunts and knowing how hard it is for Trump to part with a penny, she took him up on it. Which SHE WOULD NOT HAVE DONE IF SHE DID NOT BELIEVE SHE WAS PART NATIVE AMERICAN.
Now, the test found "strong evidence" that Warren has a Native American ancestor, which should have been solid enough proof that her claim was valid. But not only did Trump turn it around to his ugly needs, but the Native American community joined in.
Elizabeth Warren has been a hero for working class Americans and minorities throughout her life and her political career. Instead of recognizing this for the manipulative attack that it is, the argument became over whether she had the right to claim Indian heritage without the proper "blood quantum" amount. Which term was brought into use by the federal government in the first place, and not by Native American tribes. Into the weeds, and through to the rabbit hole.
Meanwhile, the media has taken this on, as though Hillary's emails had never led to the election of Donald Trump and mea culpas all around. No more talking about raising the working poor by taxing the wealthy, or about regulating Wall Street. Now she can count on at least one question by some imbicile about her heritage.
Shortly after the test results hit, I tuned in to a talk show on NPR. The guests were Native American and they were all having a go at Warren, postulating about the meaning of "blood quantum" and whining about how Warren had insulted their heritage. Then a caller -- a Native American woman -- said that Elizabeth Warren had been a strong and uncompromising voice for women and minorities, and this silly misstep wasn't going to make her less of a Warren supporter. Before I could let out a cheer, the moderator asked the geniuses in the studio another question about tribes and blood quantum identity TOTALLY IGNORING THE CALLER'S COMMENTS.
Are we so gullible that we will continue to turn on our own, so desperate to be politically correct that we don't recognize the virus in the messaging? Once again, republicans have been able to toss in the grenade and watch as Democrats jump in after it.
When I first heard the comment that Warren should not run for president because she had too much baggage, I thought my head would explode. Baggage??? Warren is the most straightforward and honest person in politics. Period. The only baggage she has been carrying has been that thrust on her by the media, who once again is passing it on for the Fox News crowd.
We have got to stop this. Tweet MSNBC and CNN whenever they start to wander toward those rabbit holes. Remind them that their job is to talk about real issues, not rumors and questionable or false attacks. Write letters to the editor and make phone calls.
We lost an amazing if imperfect candidate in 2016. She would have been as good a president as Barack Obama, an amazing if imperfect president. We have lost members of Congress and solid candidates because republicans know how to avoid the issues with really ugly oppo research and we continue to chase after it.
Meanwhile, there is a pussy grabber in the White House, one who openly mocks Native American dignity as he attacks a U.S. Senator, locks up children and lies about immigrants. And waiting backstage is our former attorney general, also a former member of the KKK, who is contemplating a run to retake his Alabama Senate seat in 2020.
Let us not get distracted. Not again.
Saturday, January 26, 2019
The Nixon Pardon
I just heard an interview with Julian Castro from December in which one of the great guys from Pod Save America asked if he would have pardoned Richard Nixon. This is because Castro has announced that he is running for president in 2020, and we all know that Trump in stripes is on all our minds. Castro analyzed cautiously as Democrats are wont to do. He started off saying that he "wouldn't be inclined to pardon Donald Trump," adding that "nobody is above the law." Then he began the equivocation thing where he thought that some have thought that at the time Ford pardoned Nixon it may have been the right thing for the country to, you know, move on.
First of all, Nixon committed some egregious crimes. That he was the President of the United States should make him more culpable rather than less. That Ford would pardon him gave him privilege that those of us lacking money and power just don't have. That set a pitiful example, reinforcing criminals with deep pockets and powerful attorneys and turning the slippery slope into an avalanche. It was wrong. The country was not better off for having let a criminal go free because he had been a criminal with power.
In 2009, President Obama made the same mistake with the criminals in the banking industry that led us to the brink of financial catastrophe. For many, many of us, it wasn't just the brink. People lost their homes and their jobs. Small businesses went bankrupt. And after the government bailed out the financial behemoths, they gave themselves raises, and went back to business as usual. Not a single Wall Street criminal did time for those crimes. And yet we teach our children that it is wrong to steal, and that they have to follow the law.
In 2009, President Obama made the same mistake with the criminals in the banking industry that led us to the brink of financial catastrophe. For many, many of us, it wasn't just the brink. People lost their homes and their jobs. Small businesses went bankrupt. And after the government bailed out the financial behemoths, they gave themselves raises, and went back to business as usual. Not a single Wall Street criminal did time for those crimes. And yet we teach our children that it is wrong to steal, and that they have to follow the law.
Within the Trump administration, we have had the good fortune of being able to see, under a magnifying glass, the incredible corruption that is corporate and political America. Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan have been rewarded for descending to depths that we have not seen in our lifetimes in this country -- and in Congress that is not a high bar. Trump's cabinet of deplorables has been a pageant of criminality; not only did he choose those with the same sleazy moral values as he, but once in the White House they also demonstrated the belief that they were more important than their positions, they were above the law and could rightfully plunder what had been the people's government.
On the other hand, Trump and his band of pirates had no compunction about attacking and accusing others in order to detract from their own ugly acts. Flynn led the chant "lock her up" in 2016, and Trump (who rarely smiles) would break into his creepiest, smuggest grin whenever the crowd of misfits at a rally would bring it out. Ah, they learned so well. Add to that accusing President Obama and other leaders in that administration of ridiculous crimes, promising he would send Hillary to jail, challenging the FBI to investigate idiotic and paranoid charges; all serving the dual purpose of smearing those better than him and distracting the public via twitter rants with help from the media from his own horrendous actions.
The tweets accusing Obama of wiretapping his office and phones led to weeks of diversion, happily obsessive pondering by the media, hours of wasted dollars and time by the FBI, who I believe were frankly scared to just say, "that's ridiculous." You know, you have to follow procedure whether what Trump says is crazy or not. But apparently Trump has the First Amendment right to tell whatever damn lies he wants. Except that when the president tells a lie, it really is tantamount to yelling "fire" in a crowded building, which is against the law.
Back to the pardoning of the criminal. Donald Trump has committed crimes that Tricky Dick could only wish he had been able to get away with. As a candidate -- and since -- he has colluded with foreign governments, making deals that jeopardize our sovereignty for the sole purpose of personal gain. He has made comments which purpose is to fuel hatred and attacks toward pretty much anyone or any group that he envies or sees as a threat. Hate crimes have increased dramatically against minorities. Most recently, Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen has postponed testimony to Congress out of fear of threats he has received, directed not just to him but to his family.
The President of the United States as crime boss.
Should we impeach? Just the fact that we keep hearing the media asking this question makes me shudder. The process is there to be used if needed. I can't think of any better reason than the criminal who now resides in the White House. Should Donald Trump be indicted?
With Donald Trump's blessing, the weaselly former attorney general went after people who smoked marijuana and those who had lived peacefully in this country for decades. When it came to people who were just trying to get by, Jefferson Sessions brooked no excuse. Trump, modeling his administration after his hero, Richard Nixon, touted himself as the "law and order" president.
So why should the "law and order" president not have to do time for his crimes? Damned if I know.
We have had too many years of bogus congressional committees and investigations. Media morons like our own Chuck Todd will no doubt compare our efforts to seek justice to those of the Devin Nunes republican party. That is like Donald Trump blaming "many sides" in Charlottesville. It is that false equivalency that put Trump in the White House, with phony investigations on Benghazi and emails creating the appearance that Hillary was guilty of ... something.
Pursuing justice does not make us an unruly mob. We should not be investigating Donald Trump and his cronies out of revenge, but in order to see justice done. More important, we need to do all we can to stop the crimes that he is committing on a daily basis. Whether it is private meetings with Vladimir Putin or business deals with Saudi Arabia and China in return for favors, or attempts to intimidate or influence witnesses in government investigations, Donald Trump needs to be held to account.
Donald Trump, as is true with all bullies, sees forgiveness as weakness. When he gets away with something, he brags about it and goes on to commit crimes ever more flagrantly. Donald Trump allowed to continue to break the law is Donald Trump creating more harm and chaos, with more manic rallies and bigger lies and attacks. That is the way of the despot, and Trump has shown through words and deeds his willingness -- and delight -- to rule as a third world dictator.
This week Nancy Pelosi finally put a stop to a Trump tantrum that was damaging the country. That is the example we need to follow in reigning in and putting an end to the abuses of this terrible administration and president.
Investigations and impeachment because that is the right thing to do. And no pardon, because a hardened criminal should have to do his time.
We have had too many years of bogus congressional committees and investigations. Media morons like our own Chuck Todd will no doubt compare our efforts to seek justice to those of the Devin Nunes republican party. That is like Donald Trump blaming "many sides" in Charlottesville. It is that false equivalency that put Trump in the White House, with phony investigations on Benghazi and emails creating the appearance that Hillary was guilty of ... something.
Pursuing justice does not make us an unruly mob. We should not be investigating Donald Trump and his cronies out of revenge, but in order to see justice done. More important, we need to do all we can to stop the crimes that he is committing on a daily basis. Whether it is private meetings with Vladimir Putin or business deals with Saudi Arabia and China in return for favors, or attempts to intimidate or influence witnesses in government investigations, Donald Trump needs to be held to account.
Donald Trump, as is true with all bullies, sees forgiveness as weakness. When he gets away with something, he brags about it and goes on to commit crimes ever more flagrantly. Donald Trump allowed to continue to break the law is Donald Trump creating more harm and chaos, with more manic rallies and bigger lies and attacks. That is the way of the despot, and Trump has shown through words and deeds his willingness -- and delight -- to rule as a third world dictator.
This week Nancy Pelosi finally put a stop to a Trump tantrum that was damaging the country. That is the example we need to follow in reigning in and putting an end to the abuses of this terrible administration and president.
Investigations and impeachment because that is the right thing to do. And no pardon, because a hardened criminal should have to do his time.
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