This week we note: the Optimist; notable US dates; election fraud and voter suppression; 115th new folks and business; #MeToo, unintended consequences; Leninist China; Saudi Arabia; holiday silliness; climate and the Nobel; Hungary; the good guy with a gun; homelessness; John Dean; "Who, me, chief of staff?"

Optimist, 9 December. Link here to the entire section. A worldwide search. The internet may help save a child's life as appeals are made for donors with her most rare blood type. Hope springs eternal.

Notable US dates. 
     5 December. In 1848, a speech by President Polk triggered the CA gold rush. In 1933, prohibition was ended when UT became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment. In 1945, USN Flight 19 and a recovery plane disappeared in the infamous Bermuda Triangle, yet another disappearance story for this area.
     6 December. In 1790, Congress moved from Philadelphia to New York. In 1865, slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment when GA became the 27th state to ratify.
     7 December. In 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked. In 1789, Delaware became the first state to ratify the Constitution.
     9 December 1965: The animated "A Charlie Brown Christmas" was first shown on CBS.
     10 December. In 1869, WY Territory granted women the vote, becoming a footnote in the suffrage movement. In 1964, MLK, Jr., received his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.
     11 December. In 1972, astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt landed on the moon, becoming the last two humans (to date) to walk its surface.

Election fraud and voter suppression. Amid the stories about still undiscovered election fraud, the only substantive one seems to involve one from NC, about an operative who worked for a GOP congressional candidate. Leslie McCrae Dowless, who has been at the epicenter of the alleged voter fraud controversy, now finds himself under close scrutiny in a congressional race which has yet to be declared.
     Professor Donald Moynihan talks about what's happening in his state (WI) and elsewhere to disenfranchise voters. Dana Milbank notes the flurry of bills being introduced in WI and MI to limit what can/cannot be done, "...to weaken the power of the incoming Democrats and to deter future Democratic voters. A similar effort is underway in Michigan." In WI, the in-coming governor says he will ask now-Governor Scott Walker to veto these bills.
     Why all these machinations? Leonard Pitts' again notes conservative's worst fears. "It casts them [conservatives] as the real victims here, contending with a widespread conspiracy of voter fraud in which armies of  'illegals' vote early and often, to the detriment of good, God-fearing conservatives." Climate change is happening, just as is America's voting population is changing. Denial flies in the face of reality! Voter suppression cannot bode well for democracy.
     In MS, multiple former public officials, including a former police and fire chief, were arrested on election fraud charges. In UT, a newly elected county commissioner will tackle the election mess in what the state's governor called the "epicenter of dysfunction in election affairs."

115th Congress' first business. Forty-six newly elected freshmen Democratic members have sent their leaders a letter stating that the first business of the new Congress should be legislation -- not investigations. Question: Will Representatives Pelosi, et. al. pay them heed. Interestingly, most pundits and congressional watchers have voiced the same view. Being re-elected in two short years may hinge on what they have actually accomplished (enacted), not what they fulminated about.
     They have also requested "holding monthly meetings between top leaders and freshmen, seats on the most powerful House committees, more committee hearings held outside of Washington and a 'set calendar' that will allow members to balance their political life at the Capitol with time back home in their districts."

#MeToo. Fewer women in positions of power/importance? Inevitable unintended consequence? "The story called these collateral adjustments the 'Pence Effect,' referring to Vice President Pence’s personal rule of not dining alone with a woman who isn’t his wife."

Leninist China. This article from Foreign Policy examines how under President Xi Jinping, "[T]he CCP Central Committee—the center of political power in China—is returning to its own organizational strengths as a Leninist political party to push its interests in the global arena....The 19^th Party Congress declared that 'north, south, east, west, and center—the party leads everything.'" The goal is the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation." Deviation is unacceptable.

Saudi Arabia and Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). Selected US senators were briefed by CIA Director Gina Haspel and reportedly most tend to believe the CIA's assessment  that Saudi prince MBS was involved in, probably ordered, the murder and dismemberment of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi. President Trump has said in effect that whether the prince was or was not will not affect our economic relationship with the Saudis. Similarly, few believe that murder of Russian dissidents could have occurred without the knowledge/direction of President Putin. 
     "Bob Corker, the Republican who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, declared that 'if the crown prince went in front of a jury, he would be convicted in 30 minutes' of murder." Bipartisan furor is increasing in Congress.

Silliness, PETA and songwriter Frank Loessar. The public is weighing in with more than 90% favoring "Baby it's cold outside," with its lyrics being questioned by the #MeToo radicals. Now PETA questions the use of "kill two birds with one stone" and "beating a dead horse." As if there were not far more Mother Earth-shattering news to consider.

Nobel Prize for economics. This year's recipient will be "...economist William Nordhaus [of Yale University for] his profession’s .... research on global warming...that’s been hugely influential—and entirely misguided..." Obviously, not everyone finds the award so noteworthy. At this point, though, any recognition of Planet Earth's dire straits should be welcome news.

Rising autocracy. This article "The New Autocrats," examines worldwide trends that do not bode well for democracy.


Hungary. Foreign affairs columnist, Anne Appplebaum, discusses the Hungarian government's recent decisions that fly in the face of NATO policies by following President Trump's cues, championing the latter's versions of "sovereignty" and "nationalism."

Trump's heartland: still misunderstood. Gary Abernathy, a contributing columnist for the [Denver] Post, is a freelance writer and former newspaper editor based in Hillsboro, Ohio. Abernathy writes from "Trump country" and contends that much of the mainstream (partisan ?) media, having misread events in election 2016, still does not understand "Trump country." He say, "Americans — left, right and middle — remain in desperate need of a more comprehensive and balanced informational narrative across the media spectrum." Fox News is not enough.

The questionable "good guy." In this CSM article, Patrik Jonsson wonders, "Is it safe for a black man to be the [NRA's vaunted] 'good guy with a gun?' " Questions arise after several recent incidents in which black men, who were indeed the legally armed "good guys," were shot and killed by police. Further, it would seem that due deference is not paid to black heroes compared to white heroes.

Homelessness. It is probably impossible to find a city of any reasonable size where the number of homeless is decreasing. Oakland, CA, like other cities is experiencing gentrification and rising housing prices, both of which drive up the number of homeless. The city is turning to bold experiments with programs designed to "stop it before it starts." Economic statistics point to the fact that well run programs that help prevent foreclosures, often a precursor to homelessness, are less expensive in the long run.

John Dean. Dean, who has some experience with presidential impeachment proceedings says the future does not look pleasant for "Individual 1" (President Trump ?) or the Democratically-controlled House of Representatives in the incoming 115th Congress.

White House Chief of Staff. Apparently, at least four possibles -- loyal Republicans all -- have declined President Trump's offer. When his first choice said "no," there was no Plan B. While in any previous administration might have been considered a real "plum," it seems to now be a thankless (hopeless ?) pursuit. In any number of countries, such machinations would bring knowing nods, smiles, and thoughts to be associated with a less sophisticated country.

Thanks for reading.