Susan Collins: Time to Head for the Exit

     Once upon a time, Maine had a Senator who would occasionally (albeit rarely) cross the aisle of  a divided chamber to cast a bi-partisan vote.

     However, the days of Susan Collins being anything but a partisan hack are long gone.  According to FiveThirtyEight, she has voted in support of Donald Trump’s corrosive agenda 66.4% of the time--hardly indicative of any "independent streak".

     In addition, according to Maine Beacon, she’s voted to put over 100 of Trump’s judicial nominees onto the Federal bench.  She did summon her "courage" to oppose four other Trump nominees.
Four... how pathetic is that?

     Susan Collins has claimed to be “one of us”, and cast herself as the patron saint of small business.  This is ludicrous given the fact that 95% of her itemized campaign contributions have come from outside the state, and that she voted enthusiastically in support of giving 100 billion in tax breaks to drug and insurance companies.  By doing this, she willingly collaborated with the repeal of key components of the Affordable Care Act and potentially placed Medicare and Social Security on the Trump chopping block.

     Now she’s trying to pretend that she hasn’t already made up her mind as to how she’ll vote when the Trump impeachment trial unfolds in the Senate.  One need only recall that she scrapped whatever remaining principles she may have had to cast a vote putting Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court to realize there’s no doubt she’ll vote to acquit the Donald.  He's laid claim to her soul.  Susan Collins is petrified that unless she tows the line, a Trumpite might decide to challenge her in the Republican primary. So, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski now stands alone as the sole voice of reason in the GOP swamp.

     After 22 years in the Senate, it’s time for Susan Collins to put aside her own ambitions  The state of Maine deserves a new dawn.

Maduro... and Trump

     It’s really a no-brainer to say that Nicolas Maduro should step down.  You’ve pretty much lost any credibility you may have had when 87% of your citizens are living below the poverty line, between 7-10% of the population has fled, and the rate of hyperinflation defies the imagination. 

     What’s less clear, however, is why Donald Trump is feigning concern for Venezuela.  After all, Trump  has rarely met a brutal dictator he hasn’t fallen in love with:  Rodrigo Duterte, Mohammed bin Salman, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Kim Jong Un, and everybody’s favorite, Vladimir Putin.

     Trump may have (accidentally) stumbled into a foreign policy position that many of our traditional allies have found agreement with, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he turns around and shoots himself in the foot.  With his dismal poll numbers after the Wall/Shutdown debacle, it strikes me as plausible that Trump might initiate an invasion.  After all, he likes bright, shiny things--and we know he’s crazy for explosions--preferably caused by big weapons.  An invasion might be just the ticket (in his mind) to make him popular again.  Of course, there are potential problems.  First and foremost, Putin is supporting Maduro--and Trump does not want to offend Putin.  Second, he’s turned his Venezuela policy over to a discredited madman named Elliott Abrams.  Abrams has the blood of thousands of innocent Latin Americans on his hands (supported a brutal dictatorship in El Salvador and illegally intervened in Nicaragua), and in 1991 he was convicted on two misdemeanor counts of lying to Congress regarding the Iran Contra Affair.  Granted, that may make him look good in Trump’s eyes, but the rest of the world isn’t welcoming him with open arms.  The last thing the United States needs is to intervene yet again in Latin America.
     Economic sanctions would ultimately do little more than harm the Venezuelan people, and the military "option" isn't an option.  We need to maintain political pressure, and work with out allies--and the United Nations--to ensure a peaceful solution.  Free and fair elections should be the goal; not leadership hand-picked or installed by the United States.
     Let's hope Trump's fear of offending other dictators restrains him from initiating military action against Maduro, and that Maduro sees the writing on the wall, and resigns.

     

Adventures in Racism: Covington Catholic High School Students on the Loose in D.C.

     On January 18, 2019 a group of high school students from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in the 2019 “March for Life”.  In and of itself, that was certainly a political act.  Wearing “Make America Great Again” caps further polarized participants and spectators (not to mention those who had gathered to stage their own demonstrations).  As these students (and their chaperones) had to have known, a MAGA cap is seen by many as a symbol of white privilege and racism.  This group from Covington was clearly itching for a fight.

     The students soon engaged in a mutual taunt-fest with a group of Hebrew Israelites.  Where were their chaperones?  I fail to see how telling the Hebrew Israelites that they should “go back to Africa” was going to accomplish anything apart from ratcheting up the hatred.  For good measure, several of the students could be heard shouting “build that wall”, another sentiment designed to douse the fire in gasoline.  They should have stuck to their school chants (which they were also employing).  Again, where were their chaperones?

     It was at this point, according to most accounts that Nathan Phillips stepped forward.  Mr. Phillips is an Omaha Nation elder (and veteran!) who was attending the first Indigenous People’s March in front of the Lincoln Memorial.  He was beating a ceremonial drum, praying, and had decided to try and move between the Covington students and the Hebrew Israelites to diffuse the situation.  Unfortunately, the Covington students responded with tomahawk chops, taunts, and ignorance.  One student, a junior named Nick Sandmann, stood in Mr. Phillip’s path and fixed him with a smirk seen round the world.  In a disingenuous interview with NBC’s Today Show, Mr. Sandmann subsequently attempted to deny all responsibility:  he wasn’t smirking, the students were not chanting anything offensive, and they couldn’t be racists because their church wouldn’t tolerate it.  Of course... and those MAGA caps provided additional evidence that these students were as pure as the driven snow.  For the last time, where were the chaperones?

     Mr. Sandmann has emerged as one more poster child for the racial divisions that have torn at our country’s fiber these past two years.  Let’s hope we never see that smirk again, and that the Most Rev. Roger Foys stops apologizing to these Covington Catholic high school students and instead keeps them close to home.  They could certainly benefit from a broader education:  one that includes racial sensitivity, social justice, and compassion... not to mention responsible adult role models.