No Holds Barred

Attorney General William Barr (below) testified before the House Judiciary Committee this past Tuesday, and I'll give him this much - despite fears to the contrary, he showed up.

But as to the question of whether the Democrats or Barr and his fellow Republicans made the case for Barr's heavy-handed response to people demonstrating against racial injustice,  his recommendation against a seven-to-nine year jail sentence for Roger Stone, or the Russia probe investigation, I fear that Barr and his congressional allies may have made the better arguments - mainly by lying and obfuscating at loud volumes and with righteous indignation.  Barr defended his recommendation on Stone's prison sentence, citing his age, and he maintained that force from the civilian government agents in Portland was necessary to protect the courthouse from the more violent elements of the demonstrations, whose rights to free speech he supported so long as they were peaceful.  And GOP members of the House Judiciary Committee backed him up with their spins on the issues, as well as displaying  eager anticipation of the report on the Russia probe investigation. 

The Democrats landed some effective punches, such as Representative Jerrold Nadler (NY) citing the mothers, veterans and public officials that make up many of the peaceful demonstrators against racial injustice, as well as Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (TX) going after Barr for not hiring any black aides while trying to sound sanctimonious in invoking the recently deceased John Lewis (still lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda during the hearing).  Democratic Representative Joe Neguse (CO) even got Barr to suggest that former New York District Attorney Geoffrey Berman resigned without knowing it, a preposterous idea.  But Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) and his opening salvo in the form of an eight-minute montage video that contrasted TV news reporters and commentators talking about "peaceful demonstrators" with scenes of violent confrontations seemed to overshadow all that.  And why not?  It had more noise and chaos than another famous eight-minute montage, "Revolution 9."

Take this, brother, may it serve you well.

Democratic Representative David Cicilline (RI) countered Jordan's video montage with one of his own, showing still pictures from the same demonstrations featuring peaceful protesters.  Too bad one of those still pictures - which aren't as effective as videos - showed one demonstrator holding up a sing with an obscenity on it.

It was left to CNN's Jake Tapper to point out that Jordan had marshaled and edited clips for his video selectively without offering the comments from reporters and commentators about peaceful demonstrators in their proper context, with Tapper showed the original news clips to illustrate that these reporters and commentators, some of whom were Tapper's coworkers, were saying that the demonstrations mostly peaceful but turned violent when provoked by federal agents.  Yes, but how many people are going to pay attention to Jake Tapper? Jordan's' tactic was slimy propaganda but smart politics.

Hopefully, a few days or so will shed more light on how evasive and arrogant Barr and his Republican defenders were and make them look more preposterous than they already do.  But for Trump supporters - still comprising two-fifths of the electorate, making them a dangerous, large minority - evasion and arrogance are badges of honor. 

Black Days In July

Not Detroit in 1967, as Gordon Lightfoot called it, but Portland, Oregon in 2020.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently sent special agents to "protect" federal offices and property in Portland against racial-justice activists whose demonstrations have mostly been peaceful.  The agents have been anything but that, arresting and detaining protesters with brute force.  Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Oregon Governor Kate Brown have been demanding that the feds pull their special forces out of the city, but Trump - wanting to burnish his "law and order" credentials with his base in advance of the presidential election- has obviously chosen to ignore their requests.  The acting Homeland Security Secretary - whoever that is - has said that state and local leaders have no right to tell DHS how to do its job.

It doesn't matter that Oregon - like every other Pacific Coast state except Alaska is solidly Democratic . . . except that Trump wants to demonstrate that he can lay down the law where Democratic governors appear to be - appear to be, that's the big disclaimer - unwilling or unable to.  That is the entire point.  Somehow, I don't think demonstrations outside U.S. Government buildings Dallas or Nashville would get the same heavy-handed response from the feds, because local officeholders sympathetic to Trump wouldn't need them.  And now he plans to send DHS agents to other Democratic-run cities; he's already announced plans to send DHS agents to Chicago.  And in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot (who has nothing to do with Gordon Lightfoot) has suddenly decided to cooperate with the federal government, apparently being under the misconception that she can prevent tit from acting out its worst excesses.

Black days in July . . . Rose City madness . . . Remember in November.      

We All Live With Yellow Vests

Is Paris burning?

Protests in Paris and elsewhere in France have been going on for over a month to protest President  Emmanuel Macron's economic reforms, including a higher tax on gasoline and diesel fuel meant to cut down on carbon emissions from automobiles by having people use them less.  The protesters have been wearing the yellow vests required to be kept in the cars of all French motorists because . . . well, I don't know why, but they have to have them.

Anyway, when I first heard about these protests, I couldn't understand why people in a country blessed with a sound, smart transportation policy that offers lots of mass-transit alternatives would get in a snit over taxes on fuels for their cars - cars that are fuel-efficient by necessity, because the French don't encourage the mass production of gas guzzlers like America does.  But it turns out that many French people rely more on their Renaults than on their metro systems - a curious condition, given the legendary unreliability of Renaults - and they can't bear more taxes.  In fact, the French already have to deal with a high cost of living, and even though their minimum wage is higher than ours (€9.53 an hour, or US$12.10, which works out to €1,498.47 a month, or US$1,700.30), they can't get very far on that, either. 

After the center of Paris started bearing an eerie resemblance to the downtown area of Detroit - a city founded by the French - Macron backed down on the fuel taxes, canceling them and promising a €100 (US$113.09) per month increase in the minimum wage in 2019 and the cancellation of charges and taxes on overtime hours in 2019, but he refuses to raise taxes on the rich.

And Americans thought Macron was a progressive because he speaks two languages and wants to do something about climate change?  

Anyway, the French people say that's not enough, and so they keep pressing for more demands.  Because that's the difference between France and the United States.  There, the people protest in the streets and get results.  Here, we protest and get arrested for loitering.  In France, the government is afraid of the people, but in the U.S., the people are afraid of the government.

In France right now, though, the government could completely collapse, as Macron's concessions haven't satisfied anyone because he still takes a neo-liberal, pro-business approach to managing the French economy.  And at this point, a period of instability could be strong enough and severe enough to topple the French government like a thunderstorm topples an oak tree.  And there could be a Sixth Republic as a result.

I feel sorry for all of the American tourists who went to Paris for the holidays.  No, not really . . . because if you can afford to even go to Paris in the first place, why should I feel sorry for you?  

They Cry For Bread

Could the worm in Iran be turning?

American policy toward Iran is based on a long-standing grudge against the Middle Eastern country for having held 52 of our fellow citizens hostages for fourteen months, and our resistance to reaching out to the Iranians like other Western nations have done constitutes prima facie evidence that the so-called Deep State is run by a cadre of Irish guys.  But we also have a legitimate displeasure with their theocracy, an elected government operating under the strict rules of Islamic law and under the watchful eye of a Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who can overrule anything the president and the Majlis (Parliament) advocate.  But nothing that people in Iran have been fighting for - not even democratic reform and economic expansion - matters as much as the ability to get food.

Iran's economy has improved since it entered the very nuclear deal that Donald Trump has tried to undermine during his occupation of the White House, as well as its oil exports, but average Iranians  aren't seeing the benefits of any of that.  They can't afford bread, poultry and eggs, and so they have recently been protesting  in the streets of Tehran just hours after pro-government, anti-American demonstrations have also been held.  It seems to me, though, that the anti-government protests are more genuine.  They want to eat, and they're not buying government propaganda that everything is hunky-dory, nor are they swallowing any excuses from the Islamic Republic's supporters.

You know what happened the last couple of times people demonstrated for food?  In say, France, or Russia?  

And Trump has taken notice.  "The entire world," he said via Twitter, "understands that the good people of Iran want change, and, other than the vast military power of the United States, that Iran's people are what their leaders fear the most . . ..  Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever, and the day will come when the Iranian people will face a choice. The world is watching!"

For once, Trump is right.  Economic dislocation will only undermine the mullahs, and the Islamic government in Iran could crack up.  Of course, the same rules apply to Trump's own administration.  Just look at his poll numbers. 

What a Mess . . .

The inspector general of the United States is investigating FBI Director James Comey's handling of the investigation of Hillary Clinton's e-mails, while the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee has decided - reluctantly - to investigate charges of Russian hacking into the election.  And all this comes just before Donald Trump gets sworn in as President.  

Meanwhile, Trump has managed to tick off the entire European continent, dismissing NATO and the European Union as irrelevant and risking bitter relations between the United States and EU members - and, by cozying up to the Russians, possibly risking the independence of the Baltic States as well. 

And while all this is going on, Trump  has reached out to Martin Luther King III even as he dissed John Lewis because the Georgia Democratic House member and civil rights icon actually . . . expressed concern that the presidential election might have been rigged! Heavens to Betsy, a congressman actually spoke his mind!  What next?

Meanwhile . . . let the demonstrations begin!  People are marching to protect the Affordable Care Act.  A women's march against Trump is slated for Saturday.  People are calling their congressional representatives (both houses) every day to demand action against the policies of the incoming administration.  How cute - they actually think the Republican majorities in Congress will listen!  

I'm sorry . . . I just can't comment on this any more than I already have.  Suffice to say, the system is so broken, it's no wonder we'll never get any high-speed trains in this country. 

Iran News

I've chosen to step back from my earlier prediction of the Islamic Republic in Iran being overthrown, because it appears that many in Iran want to settle the election disputes within the framework of the current system. But maybe not for much longer. The government is divided on how to deal with the reformers, and the hardliners seem to be in danger of losing control of the situation.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in this week's news from Iran. Reports of torture of dissidents in Iranian prisons have surfaced, and a protest near the grave of killed demonstrator Neda Soltan, whose death has become the focus of so much ire in the country. Riot police were brought in to beat back the illegal demonstration with tear gas and clubs, but some police officers treated the protesters lightly and hinted at solidarity with them. This is the first time there have been hints of such discord among the official security forces, suggesting that if the government is to survive, it has a lot to deal with internally.

Former presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who tried to join the demonstration but was blocked for doing so, has called for protests throughout the week. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to be sworn in for a second term as president of Iran. This isn't over yet.