Trump's Betrayal Is Our Shame

As terrible a moment as we've experienced under this Twitterman in the White House:

ISTANBUL — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday that Turkey’s military has launched a long-expected offensive into northeastern Syria targeting U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters who have played a central role in battling the Islamic State militant group. [WashPost]

This is on Trump's head. But the shame is on all of us Americans.

Democrats: Compromising Voter Access to the Polls Is Unacceptable

"Good Lord Almighty!" as my grandfather might have said. What were they thinking?

"What the hell!" as any voter today might say, seeing how "compromise" on the Forsyth County Board of Elections is never good news for the voters.

They just want to get along in Forsyth County, so the Democratic majority gave up Sunday voting in exchange for an early voting site on the campus of Winston-Salem State University -- the first such poll on campus since 2010.

Gave up Sunday voting. Got an EV site at WSSU.

Should have insisted on both, and they could have had both if they had been willing to make their case for greater ballot access to the State Board of Elections. The Forsyth Democrats could have dealt with a split vote -- Early Voting plans have to be unanimous on local boards, otherwise the State Board of Elections adopts the plan after hearing from both sides. If BOTH Sunday voting and the EV site at WSSU are good for voters, then both should have been fought for. And right now the current State Board of Elections seems to favor greater ballot access. I would think the Forsyth Democratic majority's plan would get a fair hearing in Raleigh. Do the math.

Why the Democrats on the Forsyth Board are so prone to compromising away more access to voting for some elusive (and illusory) bi-partisan consensus -- I don't get the weakness of that. I don't understand it. When Democrats finally have a majority on boards of election, they continue to act like underdogs, and complacent underdogs at that.

ONE MORE GRIPE
From the Winston-Salem Journal: "Although Democrats also wanted early voting at the Miller Park Community Center, in the end they dropped that plea." Miller Park Community Ctr. is smack in Ardmore, south of Business I-40, in a neighborhood of very small house lots originally platted for workforce housing from 1910 into the 1920s. Guess who votes there now.

The Forsyth Dems gave up too much. They didn't have to give up anything.

Joe, You Gotta Fight Back

I was always a fan of Joe Biden. When he was chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Sandra Day O'Connor came up for confirmation, I happened to be living in DeeCee and stood in line for hours to get into that huge hearing room and watch Joe Biden in action. He was engaging, warm, incisive, often funny, self-deprecating, and very entertaining. I liked his easy manner, his intelligence, his good-guy-Joe persona.

He was a good man and still is. You can't say that about his smearing and sneering tormentor in the White House.

I also won't forget the speech Joe made in accepting the DNC's nomination to be Barack Obama's vice president. That was Denver in 2008. When he got to talking about his father and his mother (his mother was there that night), and the lessons he learned from them about forthrightness and honesty, bravery and fair-dealing -- "A man is defined by his sense of honor" -- that was at the heart of who Joe Biden was and is and has always been as an elected official. He's never been known as a mud wrestler, and he eschews negative campaigning as dishonorable. He was taught to be a man in the best American tradition.

Below, Joe's 2008 DNC speech. At 4:55 he begins to talk about his parents and the way he grew up:





The way Twitterman has sought to destroy Joe Biden by smearing his problem-child son Hunter is at least two nasty rungs below despicable. And we can see father Joe flummoxed by the brazenness of the attack and struggling to know exactly how to respond. Hunter has evidently been a troubled human being, and maybe it was politically unwise for him to take a high-dollar international job while his father was VP, but corrupt and dishonest? There's no evidence of that, except the innuendo of Trump and Guiliani, who wouldn't know the truth.

Joe took a long time to respond to the attacks. He finally did this past week, on Thursday, October 3, in a Reno, Nev. speech that got little notice outside the chattering classes. The "I'm Not Going Anywhere" speech addressed directly the character and the sayings of Donald J. Trump, but -- watch it -- the opening delivery is so lacking in energy, conviction, that fighting spirit, it comes across like a dirge, not a counter-attack:





When Biden characterizes Trump like this -- "Like every bully in history, Trump's afraid" -- he's on a tactical threshold, and he needs to step on through. Paint a new portrait of the president as bully who deserves to have his block knocked off. Take the "virtue" the MAGA people worship -- the strength myth of the "You're-Fired" guy from TeeVee -- and reveal it for what it actually is: The cruelty of a self-pitying and insecure little rich brat.

I probably won't vote for Joe in March (but I'll work like hell for him next November, if he's the nominee). But I can't stand to watch him pummeled and deflated, besmirched without cause, dishonored by a dishonorable homunculus who snuck into power and wields it without morals, ethics, or -- yes-- honor. I read this about Joe's team this morning in the NYTimes: "There is no final consensus, in Mr. Biden’s camp, about how consistently he should confront Mr. Trump." I throw up my hands. I may be witnessing the final act of a great public servant as a mere whimper. I hope not. The American tradition of dealing with a bully is to put blood in his mouth.

Gordon Sondland -- A Key Player in the Attempted Extortion of Ukraine.

The nine-hour deposition given by former special envoy Kurt Volker yesterday, combined with the trove of text messages Volker turned over to the three House committees heading up the impeachment inquiry, throw harsh light on a particular Trump henchman.

Gordon Sondland of Portland, Oregon, Trump's ambassador to the European Union, bought his ambassadorship by contributing $1 million to Trump's inauguration. Sondland is a wealthy hotel owner (primarily expensive establishments on the West Coast) and -- commendably -- a successful promoter of TV and film production in Oregon -- with no discernible expertise on Ukraine or its neighbors, yet he was in the thick of manipulating the new president Zelensky to do as Trump wanted. Trump's phone call with Zelensky on July 25 was actually far from the first time Zelensky had heard "Do us a favor."

(FWIW Wikipedia includes this interesting nugget: "Sondland initially supported Donald Trump, but cancelled a fundraiser and repudiated Trump for his attacks on Khizr and Ghazala Khan," in April 2017. Apparently, Sondland got over it, and Trump obviously forgave him. Trump nominated Sondland to his ambassadorship in March 2018.)

Sondland Named in Whistleblower Report

The whistleblower report mentions Sondland by name and claims he met twice with Ukrainian officials along with Kurt Volker, the State Department’s special envoy to the Ukraine, to help them “understand and respond to the differing messages they were receiving from official U.S. channels on the one hand and from Mr. Giuliani on the other.” The report also mentioned Volker and Sondland advised Ukrainian officials “how to ‘navigate’ the demands that the President had made of Mr. Zelenskyy.” (Jeff Manning, The Oregonian)

Kurt Volker, yes, as special ambassador to Ukraine, but Rudy Giuliani? Private citizen Giuliani? Who was also Donald Trump's personal lawyer? He was leaning on Zelensky's government hard, and Volker (however reluctantly) was trying to help talk Zelensky into doing what Giuliani demanded. Why was Sondland involved? He's Ambassador to the European Union ... and Ukraine is not a member of the EU. What else could Sondland be doing in this other than giving State Department cover for Giuliani the Muscle Man to get the goods?

Giuliani and Sondland didn't just want a Ukrainian investigation into the Bidens; they were also pushing an investigation into "a completely unfounded attempt" to link Ukraine to the hacking of the Democratic National Committee network in 2016. Sondland was insisting that Trump would only be happy (happy enough to invite Zelensky to the White House and release the frozen military aid) when Zelensky publicly announced he was launching a probe that would presumably bury Joe Biden. Volker even drafted possible language for that announcement and shared it with Sondland.

Zelensky Appears To Cave to Trump

Sondland referred to the Zelensky capitulation -- a public announcement of investigations launched -- in almost comic gangster style: “I think potus really wants the deliverable.” For those of you who don't know, that's POTUS with the MOSTEST, who always wants more and more. Does that look like quid pro quo DNA to you?

Kurt Volker leaving closed-door hearing yesterday,
after turning over text messages between himself
Gordon Sondland, and Bill Taylor.
Photo Jose Luis Magana/AP

A little over a month ago -- my! how a month evaporates -- by August 9, following the July 25th Trump-Zelensky smoking gun phone call and assiduous field work by Giuliani, Sondland, and Volker, Ukraine seems to have agreed to Trump's conditions, but Zelensky balked about issuing a public statement first, before the White House had set a date to invite Zelensky to Washington, because (obviously!) the Ukrainians didn't trust Trump (those wickedly worldly Europeans!).

Zelensky aide Andriy Yermak delivered the balking message on August 10 to Sondland and Volker: “Once we have a date [for visit to White House] [Zelensky] will call for a press briefing, announcing upcoming visit and outlining vision for the reboot of US-UKRAINE relationship, including among other things Burisma [the company Hunter Biden worked for] and election meddling in investigations” [the Trump myth that really it was Ukraine that meddled in our election in 2016, not Russia].

That Zelensky announcement never happened, incidentally, nor did the invitation to the White House ever land in Zelensky's mailbox. Somewhere, somehow, everything went ker-blooey.

Sondland Wakes Up To His Criminal Exposure

It was career diplomat Bill Taylor, technically the interim chargé d'affaires in Ukraine which currently makes him the top U.S. diplomat there until Trump nominates someone to take the place of the recalled Marie Yovanovitch -- it was stand-up guy Bill Taylor who made Sondland gulp twice about what they were involved in -- the extortion of a sovereign nation for the benefit of Trump. Sondland's effort to cover his ass is fairly pathetic.

September 1: Bill Taylor, Ambassador to Ukraine: "Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations?" Translation: Are we seriously talking quid pro quo?

Sondland replied: "Call me."

September 9: After that call, Taylor: "As I said on the phone, I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign."

Sondland, in one of the great moments in post-Nixon get-this-on-the-record as a non-denial denial: "Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo's of any kind." Sondland continued, "I suggest we stop the back and forth by text."

Oh yes, Trump had been crystal clear, but it wasn't the way Sondland now claimed. And indeed, Sondland's fear that all this shit would inevitably come into public view has indeed come into public view.

The Body Count -- Rick Perry

A Reoccurring Feature on Who's Jumping Off Luxury Liner Trump

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, a contender along with Trump in 2016 for the presidency and one of Trump's longest serving cabinet members, will be leaving his post as Energy Secretary by the end of November.

Not known as a rocket scientist, Perry has been implicated in the Ukraine extortion scheme because he attended last May President Zelensky's inauguration (in place of VP Pence). So far no evidence has emerged of his joining the pressure campaign on Zelensky to dig up dirt on the Bidens, but "Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to Perry on Tuesday asking him what instructions Trump gave him when the Cabinet official flew to Ukraine in May, as well as who asked Perry to go there in the first place. And three House committees on Monday issued a sweeping subpoena to Trump's personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, in part seeking documents related to Perry" (Dino Grandoni).

Perry will not be missed at the Energy Department. He's been a great promoter of fossil fuels (particularly coal).

Vice President Pence: Out of the Loop, But in the Soup

The piety of a willing tool

The blindness that comes from piety!

Even as evidence mounts that Vice President Pence has been fully involved in Twitterman's pressure campaign on Ukraine to squeeze out some juicy dirt on Joe Biden, Mike Pence has begun channeling Sergeant Schultz. "I never knew..., I never read..., I never heard.... In short, I know nothing!" It's now become his badge of Christian honor to declare that he was out of the loop (a place where a lot of other officials in the Trump administration wish they resided).

Trump had been planning to send Pence to Ukrainian President Zelensky's inauguration in May, then abruptly instructed him not to go, denying the new president the symbolic blessing of the highest echelons of the Trump administration. The pressure campaign was underway.

On July 25th, Trump delivered his "I need a favor" demand to Zelensky when the latter mentioned his desire for anti-tank missles. Trump withheld the military aid, waiting for the favor, then sent Pence to meet Zelensky on September 1 in Warsaw to pound in that spike a little deeper. With great rueful piety (we feel sure), Pence informed Zelensky that hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid to Ukraine was not going to be released "amid concerns about the country’s lagging efforts to combat corruption" (Greg Miller, Greg Jaffe, and Ashley Parker).

Do you think Zelensky didn't know what "corruption" referred to in that context, especially given Trump's spelling it out in the July 25th phone call?

Do you think Pence didn't understand the message he was delivering?

Pence wants you to think he's a pious idiot, in which event you should also think him totally unworthy to hold any public office, let alone the office of Vice President in charge of delivering Trump messages.

Sarah Crawford Is Running in the Redrawn 18th NC Senate District

Catawba College political scientist Michael Bitzer lists the remapped 18th Senate District (northern Wake and Franklin County) as "Competitive, Democratic Favored." His analysis found the predicted Democratic vote share in 2020 at 51% against the predicted Republican vote share of 49%.

This is the district that incumbent Republican John Alexander still represents, but he said after the most recent remapping made it clear that his district was becoming more Democratic, he wouldn't be running again.

Sarah Crawford

Democrat Mack Paul came perilously close to ousting Alexander in the elections of 2018, but Mack Paul -- who could have run again as the odds-on contender -- deferred to Christine Kushner, a Wake School Board member, who announced she would be running way back in April of this year. When the newest remapping threw Kushner out of the district, Democrat Sarah Crawford stepped forward.

Sarah Crawford is now the odds-on Democratic frontrunner for the 18th Senate District.

Crawford is not a political neophyte. She ran against Republican incumbent Chad Barefoot in 2014 in what was then Senate District 18, and she carried 47.1% of the vote -- a very respectable showing -- finishing 3,785 votes behind Barefoot out of 65,507 votes cast. (In 2018, Barefoot voluntarily stepped down and allowed his "double-bunkee" John Alexander to take the seat. Alexander had been serving in the Senate since 2014, representing Senate District 15. He got remapped out of 15 and into 18. Redrawing maps to screw with people seems to happen a lot to this North Raleigh and Franklin County district. Don't you think?)

Crawford was well known in those Raleigh and Franklin County neighborhoods in 2014 and may still be a familiar name. But "political time" is like dog years, and six years off the field is a whole generation of new voters. She only just announced via Twitter on Monday of this week, so her campaign infrastructure (a website, a Twitter feed, a Facebook page) seems like political khaki -- standard issue and colorless. I've seen her campaign video from 2014. I hope she'll rethink static "talking-head" presentations (soooo 2006!). We're in a new age of innovative ways to tell a candidate's story. I imagine the introductory video for "Sarah Crawford 2020" that is right now, even as I write this, a magnificant gleam in some video developer's eye. (See "A Modest Proposal" below)  Hint: Crawford has a resume of "super-volunteerism" and the chops of an effective community organizer with clear eleemosynary instincts and energies. That's a story worth telling about a would-be public servant.

While the 18th Senate District was still the old map, and Christine Kushner was gearing up to run (before getting mapped out), another Democrat, Matt Cox, a veteran of the US Navy and a businessman, had also announced he would run a primary for the seat against Kushner. Since the remapping, Matt Cox has gone dark. He hasn't posted anything on Twitter since Sept. 13. Same silence on his Facebook page. Suggests  he also got drawn out of the district or has otherwise changed his mind.

A MODEST PROPOSAL
The North Carolina Democratic Party needs to budget the resources to put Putnam Partners (with the great Frank Eaton) on retainer to do candidate videos and other advertising chores for Democratic candidates for NC House and Senate, particularly.

Look Who Won't Be Holding Any Town Halls During the Congressional Recess

Virginia Foxx

She doesn't like questions. She's afraid of confrontation. She's as brittle as desiccated balsa. She's terrified of having to defend the indefensible. She's in hiding.

The Master Chef in the White House

Indebted to Toluse Olorunnipa and Ashley Parker for this gem:

Behind the scenes, the president is sounding out a range of advisers for different options, speaking to friends, outside confidants and Republican lawmakers to get advice about how to proceed, according to a senior administration official.

“There are different ways to bake the cake, depending on what sort of cake you want,” the official said. “Different flavoring, different temperatures, different ingredients yield different types of cake, and the president as the master baker is testing recipes and deciding what type of cake he wants.”