Author: Celeste Crouch

Once the word got out that the Russians effectively abused Facebook to interfere  in the 2016 election, and later that Facebook experienced a security breach which impacted millions of Americans, the potential dangers connected with mega-technology companies began to seep into Americans’ thinking.

However it was the latest news that Facebook engaged in a huge, cosmic PR effort to hide their sins and re-burnish their golden image which caught even more people by surprise.  It appears that Facebook went to great lengths to protect their reputation as a company which only worked to benefit society. They did not want to have their reputation sullied by evidence that they in fact, had the wherewithal to wreak  a great deal of harm as well.  

The New York Times revealed that Facebook embarked on a calculated effort to mitigate their offenses and re-burnish their image as a company whose only goal was to bring people together. They engaged in opposition research to shake -up their major critics. And they obfuscated their answers as to how they bungled the monitoring of the Russians and were negligent in protecting the accounts of their members.

Facebook had a great deal to lose if Americans began to demand that there needed to more controls on social media. The government was already demanding to know more about Facebook’s apparent laxness.. If investigations turned up more missteps, the government could bring on restrictions which would decrease profits. 

This article is not the expose article on Facebook’s cover-up tactics. It rather  takes a more philosophical look at social media and what it may and may not be doing to the values like trust and hard work.we hold dear. It prompts readers to weigh what is gained by social media and what perhaps is lost in the bargain.  It does not provide the answers, but it does make the reader think.

Enjoy!
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/opinion/facebook-zuckerberg-investigation-election.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion-columnists&action=click&contentCollection=columnists&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront

The argument that Nancy Pelosi is over the hill and out of touch and therefore should not be elected as Speaker of the House is completely without merit.. This argument is devoid of some of the most salient principles of what constitutes effective leadership. A good leader needs a honeymoon period to learn the ropes and gain the trust of the members. The Dems do not have the luxury of time to break in a new speaker. They have  just  two years to put together significant legislation and complete thorough investigations on all the ethical and constitutional missteps of the Trump Administration. A brand new speaker could easily trip up, not mesh with large segments of the members and blow the whole two years. 

Nancy Pelosi is brimming with institutional history. She knows her members and she obviously grasps the ins and outs what it takes to be an effective speaker.  Since Trump took office, she has kept the Dem members in line and focused. (Some have characterized the job of speaker as not  unlike herding cats.) For this mid-term election, she helped  orchestrate one of the finest comebacks a party has experienced in decades. Two-hundred and eighteen members won seats in the House under her leadership. And she garnered this success despite the headwinds of a  healthy economy blowing in her face. Would a brand new speaker manage to come even close to her record?

In addition, the new Dem members (36 to date) are going to need a guiding hand.  Pelosi has the experience and leadership skills to give them direction and  help them build a healthy record to run on two years hence. It would be demonstrably more difficult for a new speaker to provide that kind of assistance.  Hence the freshmen members might become more vulnerable in their re-election bid in two years.  Even worse, Dems could lose their majority position in 2020. This is not the time to become experimental, Dem members.

And finally and most importantly the Dems have a track record of taking a good thing and mucking it up. That is what this latest kerfuffle could end up doing.  Why some upstart Dems are even considering the idea of installing a new speaker after the job Pelosi just completed defies logic. She is a five star leader and the next two years are critical. 

She should be given a standing ovation for her success and voted in as Speaker without delay. Those engaged in this mini-rebellion should realize that at this particular moment in history, tradition and an unbroken stream of leadership outweighs all ideas of how a new face might sweep out the cobwebs.  That notion, and it will come,  will have to wait for a more propitious time. 

Here is an article from Donna Edwards in The Washington Post who served under Pelosi and provides an up close and personal account of what she thinks about Pelosi’s effectiveness. It is an eye- opening article.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/democrats-you-still-need-nancy-pelosi/2018/11/16/41a95746-e9bc-11e8-bbdb-72fdbf9d4fed_story.html?utm_term=.4c19f27696f2

David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker. is noted for his skill at capturing the essence of complex stories and laying it all out in exquisite prose. In this piece he takes on Trump’s latest rage and highlights the many examples of the incivility and boorishness he has showered upon European leaders, the press and Bob Mueller to name just a few. Some of his tweets in the last few days border on the incoherent as well as inane  He appears to have lost all vestiges of equanimity. (This morning he appears to be a tad more self-contained.) 

With all the evidence Remnick provides, it appears that the country is being led by an increasingly unstable man who perhaps for the first time in his adult life  has run out of options to control the narrative. His story is getting darker and more bleak. And Mueller looms large in his rear view mirror.
 He purportedly has spent the last three days in the White House huddling with his lawyers trying to answer Mueller’s written questions. He has had these questions for 2 weeks.. It is not a stretch to speculate that he simply is bereft  of answers which will not be incriminating. He however has characterized the questions as “easy”. 

And despite the intransigence of McConnell to move forward to protect Mueller, more and more Americans are catching on to the emotional drama that is being acted out in the White House. Like a stone in one’s shoe, Trump wants to extricate the aggravation Mueller presents. The choice of Whitaker is his latest telling attempt to get rid of the discomfiting investigation.

No matter. The Trump story is moving inexorably to a  conclusion. And Americans have to bank on the soundness of the Constitution,  the wisdom and integrity of our government leaders and  judicial system to lead us out of this historic crisis.

Please check out the Remnick article. He is a joy to read.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/trumps-rages-and-the-case-for-optimism

There was another mass shooting eight days ago – this time in a country bar in California. It occurred the day after the election and thus was not given the coverage it deserved.  However, thanks to the election results and exit polls, it has become increasingly clear that the majority of Americans have turned the corner and are now serious about gun control. 

For political messaging, the NRA has used letter grades as a way of registering office holders’ and candidates’ commitment to the  anti – gun control position.. An A grade is given to those who have demonstrated with their votes and statements their allegiance to the NRA and the notion of unfettered access to guns. Accordingly, an F grade means the lawmaker wants more gun control laws. The NRA also likes to keep alive the outrageous suggestion that the real intent of gun control advocates is to confiscate guns from all  gun owners

Well the NRA and those A grade candidates  got a rude awakening on election day.  According to this article in the Washington Post  78%  of those with premier NRA rankings did not win – with three races still to be called. Gun safety advocates with those F grades next to their names  and unabashedly anti -NRA, positions,  won their  races.

So along with all of the other good news percolating around the country for the Resistance is “these  times they are a changin” about gun control.. The NRA’s toxic message of  “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people” is not resonating with as many Americans as in the past..  More and more  Americans appear to be ready for rational gun safety policy. They have become tired of gun fanatics dominating federal and state law legislation with their anti-gun control propaganda. And they are increasingly sickened by the continued blood bath of mass shootings.

An interesting side note to this phenomena is the story of Lucy McBath in Georgia. Her son was murdered in a parking lot by a gunman who did not like the music he was playing. As a result of his murder, Lucy McBath became ane an ardent gun safety advocate. Next she challenged her district’s House incumbent who was an A list member of the NRA.  McBath won that race and now heads  to her seat in the House knowing that a majority of her constituents are ready for common sense gun laws to be enacted. . Let’s think of her when we consider making time for gun safety advocacy.

One quick action step is to give our members of Congress a call to say that gun safety measures should be at the top of their legislative priorities. If you are pressed for time, make sure that you reach Jack Bergman’s office so that at least he gets the message. Tell him that his stance on gun laws is now a minority opinion and 2020 is only two years away.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-midterm-results-were-a-mandate-for-congress-to-act-on-guns/2018/11/14/41cf2c28-e79b-11e8-b8dc-66cca409c180_story.html?utm_term=.8886084ea407

Since last Tuesday’s election, Donald Trump has had a no good, horrible, very very bad week. When he went to bed on Tuesday night, Nov. 6 he was cheered by the returns which appeared to be going the GOP’s way. However, since that happy bedtime moment, it has all been all downhill  for Trump.  
Starting the morning of November 7, the Dems have been steadily  picking up House seats  They picked up three more seats today and Steve Kornacki reported that the Dems might be able to pick up 40 seats altogether. Kyrsten Sinnema won her Senate race in Arizona and will the first Dem Senator to win there since  1976.

His firing of  Jeff Sessions and selection of the lowlife Matt Whitaker for acting Attorney General  has blown up in his face. Even GOP lawmakers have been criticizing this appointment especially after news  that Whitaker has significant connections to a company currently being investigated by the FBI for fraud.  In addition Whitaker’s previous public comments about the Mueller investigation are prejudicial and as a result many are calling for Whitaker to recuse himself from the Mueller investigation. 

Trump’s trip to Paris was a huge flop. He was ignored by the leaders of the European countries. He was caught smiling only once,  when Vladimir Putin stepped up to shake his hand. He took a pass on honoring the American soldiers who last their lives in France during World War I  And this tribute was ostensibly the reason for this trip. (A Trump spokesperson announced that the reason Trump did not attend was that it was raining. Later reports indicated that he was upset that there was not tent at the ceremony and did not want to get his hair wet.   Upon returning home, Trump also declined to participate in any of the traditional rituals held for Veterans Day which previous Presidents had always engaged in.. In fact, there were plenty of clips all over cable news shows showing Obama  giving speeches and laying wreaths on other Veterans Days despite inclement weather that Trump got to watch.

So what was Trump doing instead of fulfilling his responsibilities as Chief of State? He was holed up in the White House in his bathrobe, in a dark, bitter, petulant, angry snit, His foul mood was so monumental that even his closest aides were hiding out hoping to avoid having to deal with him. 

So what does this temper tantrum reveal about the character of this man? Of course it reveals what the Resistance has been saying all along -that Donald Trump is an empty shell of a man. He does not care about policy, or politics nor can he even muster a simple reverence for the office he holds.

He has only one passion – and that is his daily unrelenting drive for adulation and adoration  to keep his gaping insecurities at bay. He seems to be devoid of all empathy and concern for others. Just think of his comments re the fires in California. He castigated the state officials about their poor forest management and threatened to withhold all federal monies. He did not utter one word of solace to the families who had lost loved ones or support for the thousand of fire-fighters who were working round the clock to get the fired under control. In his press conference, he was mean and ugly and ultimately pulled the press pass of Bob Acosta for being a “terrible person and rude” His behavior became more unhinged as the week progressed.

Trump is falling apart over an election comeuppance he should have seen coming. Instead, in his irrational world, he thought that his cheering base in all of those campaign stops  must have been an indication that the GOP would win. He was thus totally caught off guard by the huge blue wave.
 The Resistance has to stay on high alert. The  dragon always fights fiercest when mortally wounded. And this dragon still has the power of his office to use against his enemies.

Here is an article from Daily Kos which discusses Trump’s huge missteps in the last week.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/11/14/1812821/-Trump-is-finally-revealing-himself-as-the-sick-incompetent-joke-we-all-knew-he-was

It is a pleasure to read Kevin Drum in Mother Jones especially when he gets on a roll. And by that I mean he starts expounding on a topic that he obviously has strong feeling about and his sentences just seem to flow off the page.  The title of the article  is “15 Reasons why the Democrats crushed the Republicans this week.”You will enjoy reading the article perhaps as much as Drum had in writing it. 

Drum delivers a whole host of good news about what happened to the Dems in the days following the election. By contrast, the GOP had a very bad week and are are acting as though the rug is being pulled out from under them. The Dems won the House, picked up seven governorships, and may be down only 52 -48 in the Senate when all the votes are counted. And of course the Florida governor and senate races are still up for grabs.

The kerfuffle between Trump and Bob Acosta during a press conference resulted in Acosta losing his press pass. Trump comes off the dust-up looking even more nasty and overly defensive. Some reporters  are suggesting that the altercation was set up in advance by the Trump team to get rid of Acosta and scare the rest of the media. Whatever the intent , Trump is looking and sounding more irrational and pugnacious.

Lets enjoy our good news – starting with the election. And let Drum’s prediction about 2020 start you off on a high note  this week.. Enjoy the article.
.https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/11/15-reasons-why-democrats-crushed-republicans-this-week/

The appointment of Matt Whitaker as the acting Attorney General is an outright assault on the integrity of the Justice Department and an insult to all Americans who believe in the rule of law.  Why? Because it turns out Matt Whitaker is lacking the premier credentials required for the position, has prejudiced himself re the Russia investigation and also is under FBI investigation as a possible criminal in a business fraud case.

Trump chose Whitaker because he is loyal supporter and could function competently as a hatchet man. Trump needed someone to install as Attorney General who would take over the Mueller investigation and one way or another shut the probe down. Trump was in a rush to get someone in place  before the new House majority started their own investigations in January. Trump eschewed the proper vetting for this appointee and now is facing the downside of moving too fast.

This appointment is considered by judicial scholars to be the  worst appointment a President has ever made for the position of Attorney General. Brett Stephens, columnist for  The New York Times, discusses all of this and manages to include other reasons why Whitaker should not be in charge of the Mueller investigation. .Trump now realizes that in fact his choice of Whitaker  was in fact a disastrous one. Trump when asked about Whitaker and his possible involvement with business fraud responded “I don’t know the guy.”  Just 29 days ago, Trump is on the record reportedly saying that he knows Whitaker and “he is a great guy.”

After reading Brett Stephens’ article, please consider calling our members of Congress, Gary Peters. Debbie Stabenow and Jack Bergman (their numbers are below)  to tell them that pressure should be put on the Congress to demand that Whitaker go through the confirmation process and recuse himself from the Russia probe.. In addition, we need to tell them to act now in passing HR 3771/S 1741, the Special Counsel Integrity Act, and S 1735/HR 3654, the Special Counsel Independence Protection Act. These bills, if passed, would protect Bob Mueller from being fired.

Action item for today:

Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings has asked the House Oversight Committee to “immediately begin conducting a review of President-elect Donald Trump’s financial arrangements” [because] “Mr. Trump’s unprecedented secrecy and his extensive business dealings in foreign countries raise serious questions about how he intends to avoid conflicts of interest as president.” 

Call Congressman Jason Chaffetz, the Chairman of the House Oversight Committee. Try either of these numbers: 202.225.5051 or 801.851.2500 (direct). You can also leave a message. The 202-225-5051 number is taking a tally as of 1:36PST on 11/21. 

Sample Script: “Hello, I am a constituent calling to let the House Oversight Committee know that I support the request for a review of Donald Trump’s potential conflicts of interest. Donald Trump never released his tax returns and I am very worried about his potential conflicts, including ties with foreign governments. I urge Chairman Chaffetz to investigate Trump’s financial dealings, they could post a threat to our national security.” Or better yet, come up with your own wording.

This article (click here), sent to me by Jill Webb, is uplifting AND action specific.  The article is written by Nickolas Kristof of the NYTimes who is known for his inspirational and persuasive writing.  Read his 12 action steps and feel better today.  There is a role here for all of us, to stand up against discrimination, show empathy for those who are suffering, and nurture hope that love will win out over hatred.

For now, here is one specific thing you can do today support the causes of fairness and justice. Click here to read the article “Elizabeth Warren Fills the Democratic Void” in Politico. 

Then send an email here to her office saying you support her agenda and want her to continue her aggressive responses to Trump’s untenable positions.

In Warren, we have a brilliant and compassionate woman stepping up to lead the Democrats.