Democracy 2024: # 48

This week saw the passings of past governmental trailblazers, a political debate between a Presidential candidate of one party against a non-candidate (at least for now) of another party, and some dubious history being made on Capitol Hill. It is pretty difficult to tie it all together, but in this age of social media, people certainly were able to express opinions. All of this occurred in the serious shadow of a continued world turmoil and a "broken truce." There is not really much to be said about any major developments in the Presidential race itself, but next will see another Republican debate. While it will take place on a cable news network that many people may not even know how to locate, it could have serious implications, at least in terms of who can lay claim to be the Republican candidate in second place entering the new year.

A few days ago, Henry Kissinger died at age 100. He had an enormous impact on American foreign policy in the post World War II era. A refugee of Nazi Germany, who later fought for his adopted country in World War II, Kissinger went on to become the first Jewish Secretary of State and leaves behind a complicated legacy. Voices on the left took delight in his death and that speaks volumes about them and any claim they may have to be better people than MAGA acolytes. It is pretty sad to find glee in the passing of one of the dwindling number of World War II veterans and at a time where anti-Semitism is as rampant as perhaps any time in our nation's history, Kissinger's death was an opportunity for Jew-haters, especially on the far left to find another outlet for their vitriol.

To be sure, Kissinger's record is worthy of historical examination and criticism. Personally, I think history justifies the approach of the Reagan Doctrine as opposed to the Nixon/Kissinger approach of detente, but it is always a bad look to immediately look to stomp on someone as soon as they die and their families and loved ones are grieving. Kissinger may have made mistakes or advocated some bad ideas but there should not be any dispute that he served his country the way he thought best. Some of the claims made against him, in attempts to paint him as some sort of genocidal monster are clearly exaggerated or lacking the proper context. While the current Secretaries of State and Defense issued respectable statements honoring Dr. Kissinger, the White House waited a good while, before releasing a statement by President Joe Biden that had definite elements of shade. The political pressure on Biden from the left, including members of his own Administration, made it very hard for him to say anything truly nice about the death of an historic American personality. Many of these people probably were sure though to want to justify or excuse the legacy of Fidel Castro, a brutal dictatorial murderer and terrorist, when he died several years ago.

 

I realize that I forgot initially to mention the passing of retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor at the age of 93. Thankfully, there was less evident vitriol over her death. In 1981, Ronald Reagan nominated her to become the first woman on the Supreme Court and she also had a full and accomplished life. When Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away in 2020, which was obviously a major news story, I was hoping that Americans would not forget that Justice O'Connor was the first to break the barrier.

The chasm among Democrats especially on foreign policy is very real and represents a problem for the party in the short-term and perhaps an even bigger one in the long-term as it relates to the United States relationship with Israel. I have been noting how confrontational and visible left-wing anti-Israel protesters have been over the past couple of months. This past week they took the opportunities to try to interrupt such things as the National Christmas Tree Lighting (many have mentioned that is quite an odd way to stick it to the Jews) as well as protesting during the literal funeral procession for Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. May Mrs. Carter rest in peace of course. There is also some irony in that as a former President, Jimmy Carter had made some anti-Israel comments he would later have to walk back. The general theme continues to be that these people waving Palestinian flags are going to tick off a lot of Americans across the political spectrum. If they truly wanted to be pro-Palestinian, they would be protesting Hamas and not Israel. 

Thankfully, two American hostages, including a 4 year old girl were released as part of the deal this past week. Other Americans, including a woman remain. Hamas started firing rockets into Israel after the talks of an extension broke down, so the situation is still very bad. Israel will need to continue to do whatever it has to do to wipe out Hamas, but we should never forget the innocent people who remain held in brutal captivity by terrorists, nor should we forget the innocent victims who are collateral damage in this war, because Hamas wants them to be. The news that Israel had some idea of the intentions of Hamas over a year ago are not all that surprising, and in some ways mirror the intelligence failures in this country before September 11, 2001.There will be a lot of questions for a long time regarding those who have been responsible for protecting Israel, but for now, the main focus needs to be on fighting the war.

Briefly, I want to address the situation of Rosalynn Carter's funeral in which former First Lady Melania Trump made a rare public appearance, as she joined all other living First Ladies (along with current President Biden and former President Bill Clinton.)  On one hand, it was a bit odd to see a Trump actually in a room with the Bidens (and sitting directly in front of Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband.) Trump critics (of which I am definitely one) went a little nuts though in attacking Melania for wearing a gray coat when all the other First Ladies were wearing black saying she deliberately did so as a sign of disrespect. Personally, I think what she wore was appropriate for a funeral. Then, there were photos that came out showing that Hillary Clinton also wore gray to Barbara Bush's funeral and before that Nancy Reagan actually wore white to Betty Ford's funeral. Mrs.Carter herself wore beige to the funeral of Richard Nixon. So, all these people who wasted keystrokes attacking Melania Trump for her outfit probably should feel a bit silly, at least without having done the proper research.

On Thursday night in Georgia, Red State Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida debated Blue State Governor Gavin Newsom of California live on Fox News. In this debate, DeSantis was aided by conservative host Sean Hannity.Many political junkies watched this event, and I caught most of it, although it does feel a bit pointless, since neither man are likely to be running in any general election next year, despite the fact that DeSantis is a current candidate and many feel Newsom is waiting for a chance to sneak in and run for President himself, even as early as this cycle.

I do not think we will actually see a Biden vs. Trump debate next fall and I will talk about why as we get closer to the sad reality of such a matchup,so this was a pretty wild event, even without a studio audience, in which the two Governors fought over the conditions of their states and what the various political philosophies could mean for the country as a whole. Both men probably accomplished what they wanted,but also showed political weaknesses.

Yes, this was very much a "biased" debate with Hannity and his pre-production graphic packages deliberately meant to needle Newsom and help make the case for DeSantis. The Governor of California should hardly have been surprised by that after agreeing to such a debate. As much as I dislike DeSantis and found myself in the position of "rooting against" him, Newsom made it impossible for me to really root for him. Facts are facts and it does seem as if things are going better overall in Republican dominated Florida than they are in liberal California.Newsom tried to laugh off all the problems facing his state and struggled to answer direct questions. He did a better job of needling DeSantis personally and reminding him of how he is way behind Trump. He further got under the Florida Governor's already think skin by using Trump like talking (false) points that claim that DeSantis was basically a liberal during Covid.

During this encounter, Newsom defended Biden and Harris at every turn, but seemed a bit unconvinced in what he was actually saying in their defense. DeSantis tried to ignore Trump altogether, which of course is not going to do much for his current political campaign. Both men may be more articulate and overall better communicators than Trump or Biden, but Newsom came off as too slick and DeSantis as too much of a jerk. I will say that DeSantis had some pretty good talking points slamming California and Newsom that he pulled off well, but again, it will not really help him against Trump. Amusingly, the debate was supposed to be extended,as Hannity cut to a commercial saying that both candidates had agreed to keep going, but when he came back from a commercial break, they were gone, and the collection of talking heads were on to offer "analysis." According to reports, during the break Mrs. Newsom ran on stage and said that the debate was over and her husband had to leave.

 

Next, I am returning to add that after the debate, I saw some sarcastic remarks online about if this event would bring about other debates between Red State and Blue State Governors such as a Greg Abbott vs. Kathy Hochul showdown, maybe this time on MSNBC. My suggestion would be Jim Justice vs. JB Pritzker on the Food Network.

 

Yesterday, the first openly gay Republican ever to be elected to Congress as a non-incumbent became the first Republican to ever be expelled from the House of Representatives. All but two Democrats voted to kick out George Santos of New York while close to half of Republicans joined them. A previous attempt had failed, but after the report of the Ethics Committee, many votes had changed since last month. Interestingly, the House Republican Leadership said they were going to vote no in kicking out their Member, and it looked like the vote would fail again, but alas, it passed with a good deal of votes to spare. Just like that, Santos, with his trench coat on, walked out of the House Chamber and said "to hell with this place." He became the first ever House Member ever to be expelled, who had not already been convicted of a federal crime or who was part of the Confederate effort against the U.S. government during the Civil War.

 

Let me say, I do not at all feel sorry for Santos who is a complete fraud and embarrassment. I have long said he should resign. Still, I feel that actually voting to expel him sets a bad precedent that may be abused by one side or another in the future. Santos is charged with crimes, but not yet convicted. He is already a disgraced back-bench nobody in Congress who recently announced he would not even attempt to seek a second term. They could have censured him and moved on while continuing to call on him to resign.

The hypocrisy is rife. Nearly all Democrats voted to kick him out as he stands indicted but not convicted yet very few Democrats are calling for Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, a far more powerful figure, charged with more egregious crimes than spending money on botox and OnlyFans, to be kicked out of the Senate. For the record, while Menendez should resign in my view and definitely not be given any access to classified information, he should not be forced out before a conviction either.

As for all the Republicans who wanted Santos gone because of his legal problems or the personal embarrassment he causes them, it is odd for their to find their principles here when they support or express resignation to the concept of Donald Trump being nominated for President again. A President of the United States is different than an outgoing freshman Congressman and what Trump is charged with is also far more serious than what Santos may face time for. So, the whole episode is ridiculous. Maybe one day George Santos, or "whomever he is", will get an actual reality show.