Undergoing Renovation
​(Time Out)

Miserable though flying is these days, especially for those of us in the cheap seats, it does have one saving grace: it lifts us above the fray and, if we're sensible enough not to sign on for the airline's wi-fi, provides a rare disengagement from life on the ground; it provides space and time for reflection.

As I flew cross-country for the winter holidays, I started writing in the aftermath of the resignation of General James Mattis. He had submitted his resignation while I was still earthbound, the day before my departure. Sitting down at my computer, I planned to compose one last "Marj-inized" piece before flying east for the holidays. As my computer booted up, however, I turned on the TV to take a  look at the day's events. 

What I got instead was a sucker punch. The commentator looked grim. The only writing I got done that day was a brief introduction to a piece I posted in the "Readers Write" section. 

General Mattis, the banner on the TV announced, had resigned.  

No matter what insanity had gripped the asylum called the White House, I had taken comfort over the last few months in the presence of Jim Mattis. At least, I told myself, there remained one adult, one mature, responsible, experienced and knowledgeable leader near the seat of inexplicably ignorant power. Now what? 

Suspended in the unreality of gravity-defying flight, I wanted  

answers. There were none, and things have only gotten worse.
We’ve had the chaos of the wall, a government on hiatus, rumors of presidential treason, inhumanity at the border, rasping rants and crossed arms and waving hands, palms outward, as though to warn off any who approach. And a frightfully docile, cowardly Republican party.

Now, I’ve decided, is a good time to take my own hiatus and reorganize VoterBeat, something I’ve wanted to do for some time. We’ve already entered campaign season, though the next general election is nearly two years away. And much as I decry our elongated and expensive campaigns, watching an energized Elizabeth Warren “tell it like it is” in Iowa and hearing an analytical Kamala Harris explain how to use technology to untangle and address knotty problems on Morning Joe is refreshing. I hope the Dems listen to their own advice and focus not on Trump and his juvenile chaos, but on a sensible tax code, affordable health care, access to higher education, future focused infrastructure, equal protection of the law, immigration reform….. 

All of this is just to tell you that VoterBeat may look a little strange for awhile—and there probably won’t be a lot of new content until the renovation is complete. I’ll be archiving much of what has appeared the last couple of years, reorganizing pages and, I hope, making the site a bit more user friendly. Meanwhile, I hope some of you will feel inspired to send in contributions to the “Readers Write” page. The more voices, the better.  
​                                                                                            January 14, 2019           

                                                                  
In the Meantime
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"In the Meantime" is where brief items of interest will be posted during what promises to be an elongated renovation process. In this opening section of text, you'll also find links to any new content I post on the site during the renovation. Here you go: 

​"Andrew Cuomo and the Art of Leadership" Posted 3/20/20
"Grist for the Dems' Campaign Ads" Posted 3/19/20
"The Bathtub :State of the State" by Jerry Franklin, posted 3/19/20
"Journal of the Plague Year: Report From the Front" by Frank Paynter, posted 3/9/20
"March 1933 - The Enabling Act" by Bruce Thompson, posted 3/9/20
"Will the Democrats Get What They Don't Want?" Posted 3/9/20
"No Perfect Candidate" Posted 2/29/20
"Vote Your Heart" by Bruce Thompson
"What Our Taxes Should Buy" Posted 2/7/20
"Right Matters" Posted 1/26/20
"Apolitical Aphorisms" contributed by Rob Sanders 1/22/20
"Stern Alarums" by Jerry Franklin, posted 1/13/20
"Under the Long Grass" by Dick Eiden, posted 1/13/20
"Cyberspace Potpourri" Posted 1/13/20
"'Tis the Season to Go Shopping" Posted 12/20/19
"Drifting Into Danger" Posted 11/5/19
"Of Cherry Trees and Other Myths" by Jerry Franklin, posted 11/5/19
"Refugees in Focus" Posted 10/20/19
"The Thot Plickens" by Jerry Franklin, posted 10/17/19
"Wacky? Ignorant? Cruel? Trump" Posted 9/7/19
"Happy Hour on the Border" by Dick Eiden, posted 9/4/19
"A Hearty Hand-clasp to The Donald ..... (a satirical view)" by Jerry Franklin, posted 9/4/19
"A Warning for the Time of Trump" Posted 8/5/19
"Just Wait Until He Comes After You" by Mike Stratton, posted 7/29/19
​"Dabbling in Sweden's Affairs" Posted 7/27/19
"The Care Mike Pence is Proud Of" Posted 7/18/19
"Worse Than Usual" by Dick Eiden, posted 7/10/19
"Addressing Homelessness" by James Newton, posted 7/10/19
"The Essence of Free Government" by Jerry Franklin, posted 7/6/19
​ "Give Trump the Attention He Deserves" Posted 6/26/19
"The Walls Between Us" by Dick Eiden, posted 6/11/19
"Thoughts on a Young Boy's Fate"  Posted 6/10/19
"What's Happening in Our Country" by a guest columnist, posted 6/3/19
"It's Not Pro-Life; It's Anti-Choice" Posted 5/21/19
​"Dems, What Are You Thinking?" Posted 4/17/19
"Dysfunction Junction" Posted 3/29/19
"Trump Either Did or Did Not Commit Obstruction of Justice" by Mary Ellen Brooks, posted 3/26/19
"The Math of the Matter" by Dick Eiden, posted 3/25/19
"The Republican Way: Hit /Em While They're Down" Posted 3/21/19
"In Praise of Elijah Cummings" Posted 3/2/19
"Trump's Tax Bamboozle" by Bruce Thompson, posted 3/1/19
"Fighting Trump Torpor" Posted 2/26/19
"Did God Choose Trump?" Posted 2/1/19
​

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
Responses to Food for Thought: Thus far, written responses to the question posed in the "Food for Thought" section below have supported only two of the three possible answers. Those two are "heart" and "brain."  No votes yet for "courage." Herewith a couple of submissions ...

Diane Altona: "My wizard would grant Trump a heart that actually operates as a heart should with compassion for those who truly need understanding, sympathy, safety from harm, physical nourishment, courage, and the ability to help each other to thrive in this world."

Valena Dismukes: "I would grant donald trump a brain, as it is clear that he doesn't have one. A leader with a brain would have the wisdom to make good judgments about the feasibility of projects and also know how to talk to the world without a speechwriter. In addition, a brain would allow him to understand the needs of the people and how to address them."
​                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Posted 2/1/19

Food for Thought: In the section below, contributor Dick Eiden asks for your predictions on the future of Donald Trump. I have a simpler question, one I invite you to answer in the Survey Response form below. Here's the question:

In The Wizard of Oz, the three characters Dorothy meets on her way to see the wizard are hoping the wizard will grant each of them qualities they believe they lack. The scarecrow wants a brain. The cowardly lion wants courage. The tin woodman wants a heart. If you could find a wizard who could grant Donald Trump just one of those three, which one would it be? Why do you consider your choice to be the most important? 

Food for thought, even if you don't respond on the form below, but  I'd love to know your opinion. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Posted 1/23/19

What Do You Think? Contributor Dick Eiden wants to know whatyou think. If you would like to respond, please use the contact form on the right to respond with your predictions.

     1. When will Donald Trump leave office?
     2. Will he serve one full term?
     3. Will he run for the GOP nomination in 2020?
     4. Will he be the GOP nominee?
      5. Will be be re-elected?
      6. How will he leave office?
           a. Serve out his term(s)
​           b. Be impeached by Congress or removed by the 25th
                Amendment process
           c. Indicted and forced from office
           d. Resign "for health reasons" (bone spur flare-up?)
           e. Resign in disgrace (Nixon-style)
      7. How will the Mueller investigation results impact        Trump's presidency and the 2020 elections?

Vertical Divider

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Posted 1/19/19

​To Impeach or Not to Impeach--"that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler ..." and so on. For a layered and thoughtful piece arguing in favor of impeachment, see "Impeach Donald Trump" by Yoni Appelbaum in the March issue of  The Atlantic.  The crux of Appelbaum's argument is anchored in the value of the process, not in the value of the outcome, of impeachment.   

" . . . many of [impeachment's] benefits--to the political health of the country, to the stability of the constitutional system--accrue irrespective of its ultimate result," he writes. "Impeachment is a process, not an outcome, a rule-bound procedure for investigating a president, considering evidence, formulating charges, and deciding whether to continue on to trial."

Regardless of whether the process leads to removal of the president, Applebaum identifies five major positives in the process:

1. The president loses control of the public conversation.
2. ​The process "paralyzes a wayward president's ability to advance the undemocratic elements of his agenda."
3. Impeachment facilitates "discovery and discernment" of the facts.
4. Congressional debate defuses the potential for an explosion of political violence.
5. Even if the president remains in office, impeachment severely impairs his political prospects.

​"On January 20,2017, Donald Trump stood on the steps of the Capitol, raised his right hand, and solemnly swore to faithfully execute the office of president of the United States and, to the best of his ability, to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States," Applebaum writes.  "He has not kept that promise. Instead he has  . . ." 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Posted 1/18/19

​The Federal Budget: To understand in less than 7 minutes how the U.S. got into the current budgetary quagmire, see The Big Economic Switcheroo, Parts 1 and 2, with Robert Reich.  Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration,UC-Berkeley professor of public policy, author of 15 books, and public speaker extraordinaire, Reich offers the clearest explanations of all things economic of anyone on the planet. 
​​                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Posted 1/16/19 ​