Category: National

* Fewer than one out of five Americans between 18 and 24 voted in the 2014 election. For the record, it was 17 percent. It’s part of the reason people such as Rick Scott get elected in “off-year” elections. That should be unconscionable: “off-year” democracy.

* We know that the disgruntled, unappeased Bernie Sanders’ crowd had a no-show hand in Hillary Clinton’s loss. We also know this: Sanders was right–and ultimately will be proven right–when he called for a single-payer (“Medicare for all”) health care system.

* Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull went on a satiric riff at the expense of Donald Trump recently. Leaked video showed the Aussie PM spoofing Trump at the Australian Parliament’s annual Midwinter Ball in Canberra. Its give-and-take humor is similar to the fare served up at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the one that Trump didn’t have enough guts to show up at this year. And, BTW, it’s “Turnbull,” not “Trumbull,” as Sean Spicer keeps pronouncing it.

* Amid all the media-dominated details about Russia-related investigations and stalled legislation, it was easy to overlook a certain Trump Administration-supported House bill. Among other things, the so-called Financial Choice Act would lessen the powers of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and ease many of the regulations under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law.

True, the Wall Street-friendly bill has little chance of passing as is in the Senate, but it is a reminder of what you get from a billionaire, con-man “populist.”

* It was hardly unexpected that there might be some dissenters on the Golden State Warriors when it came to visiting the White House in celebration of their NBA championship. An audience with Donald Trump is hardly on most black hoopsters bucket list. So, maybe this would be the time to finally come to grips with this athletic atavism.

The White House, regardless of administration politics, is an appropriate forum to celebrate, say, Olympic victories or World Cups. That would be about athletes representing their country. A moment of national pride. We get it. This, however, is about millionaires representing franchises. Not nearly the same thing, even if Trump badly wants some inclusive photo optics.

When it comes to the James Comey testimony, everybody has been weighing in. It’s what happens when unconscionably improper presidential behavior meets the possibility of justice obstruction. For now, let’s let the attorneys and Special Counsel Robert Mueller sort it out. It’s going to take a while.

But here are four quick takeaways from the Senate Intelligence Committee that questioned the former FBI director:

* Comey’s a “leaker.” True and truly unflattering, but moot when that which was leaked was not classified, and the “leaker” was no longer a government official.

* Comey has credibility. But it’s more than his overall reputation as a DOJ and FBI professional. Elements of both parties hate him.

* Optics and subplots. Always intriguing. You can tell who among the inquiring senators is a “D,” who’s an “R” and even who’s an “I” (Angus King of Maine). Exhibit A: Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, who jumped all over Comey quoting Donald Trump saying: “I hope you can let this (Michael Flynn investigation) go.” Risch went into gotcha parsing overdrive about Trump’s mafia don use of “hope.” As in, “He did not direct you to let it go?” Aha. Not a direct order, right? Merely aspirational, off-the-cuff stuff, right?

Fast forward to Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., a former attorney general of that state. She responded to Risch’s literal line of questioning. She presented a hypothetical. What if an armed robber were to put a gun at the head of someone and say: “I hope you will give me your wallet”? Zing. No, “hope” wasn’t the operative word.

You can’t make this up. But they could.

* And then, last but, alas, least, there was Sen. John McCain. First he transposed the names of Comey and Trump. Twice. Then he conflated two separate FBI investigations–Hillary Clinton’s emails with Russian meddling in the presidential campaign. Worst yet, he labeled the different approaches as a “double standard.”

It was as befuddling as it was embarrassing. We all deserved better.

The hell with his senior citizenry and tenuous ambulatory state. The hell with her crude, comedic career. Bill Cosby and Kathy Griffin, respectively.

While you can’t really equate the sexual assaults that Cosby has been accused of–and has paid off on–with what Griffin did with her stab at macabre humor, they both have something decidedly in common. Something that is bigger than either individual.

They both unnecessarily, unfortunately undermined causes.

While Cosby was lionized back in the day for being funny without being offensive and for being a racial pioneer, he was also criticized for, in effect, not being “black” enough to suit racial purists and activists. His humor–going back to the night clubs of Philadelphia while he was a Temple University student-athlete–was known for its universality, not lowest common denominator. But he could also, especially later in his career, righteously lecture. He was no fan, for example, of rap. He showed it disdain.

He called out “thug” behavior, out-of-wedlock birthrates in the African American community and an educational subculture that could chastise well-spoken, black achievers as “acting white.”

That message should still have credibility, even if its Dr. Huxtable/Mr. Hyde messenger has been unmasked as an unconscionable predator.

As for Griffin, her gruesome photo, in which she was seen holding a prop of Trump’s bloody, severed head, is beyond appalling. Her humor niche is over-the-top, envelope-pushing taste that is not for everybody, although Anderson Cooper stayed with her for a decade in their annual CNN New Year’s Eve show. That’s now gone with her summary firing by CNN.

But the real harm is beyond disgusting distraction. This revolting incident provides grist for the Trump anti-media mill to demonize those who oppose his administration and its priorities. It provides ad hominen ammo for the Alt Reich and Trump Administration to up the rhetorical ante in savaging its opposition.

The reaction of Donald Trump Jr. underscored the impact. “This is the left today,” he said. “They consider this acceptable. Imagine (if) a conservative did this to Obama as POTUS?”

That’s what Kathy Griffin has wrought.

Remember the campaign rhetoric that included the partisan mantra that Donald Trump was a savvy, blunt businessman? And how much, of course, we needed that, especially when the executive package included legendary negotiation skills. Well, that rationale, inexplicably, is still out there among the fan base four and a half months into an administration that still touts and re-touts a Supreme Court appointment when confronted with its lackluster legislative record and massive federal government vacancies.

* Because if the Trump touting were true, we might be seeing signs that China, after President Xi Jinping was Mar-a-Lagoed personally by Trump, is actually helping out with North Korea, still the planet’s biggest existential threat.

* Were it true, we might be seeing a best-and-brightest cabinet and capable communication professionals directly representing him–and this country–to the rest of the world.

* Were it true, the U.S. might already have cashed its wall down-payment check from Mexico.

* Were it true, we might be seeing a leader with enough guts to tell Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel in person that he planned to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate pact. (Remember how it was approvingly leaked that he was “evolving” in his climate-change thinking?) And that he also had enough guts–and bottom-line sense–to acknowledge that clean energy is much more of a job creator than coal mining is.

* And were it true, we might be seeing a full-throttle lobbying effort to end the Cuban embargo–because it would economically benefit the United $tates of America.

What to make of the election of Montana Republican Greg Gianforte to Congress? Either the body slam constituency is higher than thought in that Trump-red state or the sword of early voting flashed its other edge.

In the case of the latter, two-thirds of the electorate voted early. Thus, no chance to rethink in the wake of a last-minute assault charge against Gianforte for attacking a journalist who was nagging him about the GOP’s health care plan. No chance to fully evaluate how a would-be congressman might handle pressure and stress. At least newspapers can–and several did–change their endorsements.

But there’s something else about not voting early if it’s not absolutely necessary. It’s a chance to share in an important, communal ritual that is rapidly eroding.

We don’t do enough as a community beyond concerts and games. We’re so wired. In-person communication is no longer a priority–or necessity–when texting and Facetiming are available.

And when it comes to politics, we keep building our walls. We self-select our favorite partisan media and opt for events with like-minded camaraderie. More conservative or liberal neighbors rarely have to mix except for cameos at awkward cocktail parties.

But showing up in person to vote on the same day: That matters at a gut, patriotic level. Turning out to collectively celebrate that we live in a country where, if we take our privilege/duty seriously, we can determine our own destiny. We have something important in common, we need to remind ourselves, regardless of candidate lawn signs.

When it comes to Donald Trump’s share of the electorate, the percentage has been too readily and routinely overstated. A couple of recent examples. The other day Fred Hiatt, the editorial page editor of the Washington Post, referenced the “46 percent of the electorate who rallied to Trump’s side in order to ‘drain the swamp’ of Washington elitism … .” Recently pollster G. Terry Madonna noted that “(Trump’s) got about 40 percent of the electorate that is hanging in with him, regardless of what he has said and done.” And others, too numerous to name.

Frankly, I think Trump would be lucky to have a solid support base much above minimal double digits.

Keep in mind, that nearly half the electorate didn’t vote last November. Ascribing a big chunk of that to ardent Trump fans would be a huge, untenable reach. Of the electorate who voted, a plurality, as we know, favored Hillary Clinton. And the Greens and Libertarians picked up some votes. Give Trump roughly half of a half. That would be a quarter, give or take a Duck Dynasty member or two.

Of that, arguably, many were more Hillary haters than Trump zealots. And many more held their noses to keep voting Republican.

Trump has a fan base–the one he still revisits periodically for ego-boosting, post-campaign rallies when the White House routine of being presidential becomes unbearable. But its noise level, optics and dress-code caps make it seem and sound like a lot more.

Here’s a quote from the historian David McCullough: “We are raising a generation of young Americans who are by and large historically illiterate.” Ouch.

Don’t we wish that weren’t true?

Put another way: For a meaningful, participatory democracy to be worthy of its ideals, its citizens have to be informed. Not just cherry-picking their way through self-validating media, faux included. It means, as they say, reading the minutes of previous meetings. About American and world history. About current geopolitics.

If you don’t know how we got here–the societal and global trial-and-error–you don’t know the best way forward. And you don’t have a good handle on whom to follow. It’s the 21st century version of Plato’s cave.

Oh, and this just in: an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll has indicated that a third of respondents didn’t know enough to have an informed opinion of Donald Trump’s firing of James Comey as FBI director. At least they were honest.

If you can actually remember, say, Watergate, you’re old enough to have witnessed a lot more than the debut of digital journalism. You’ve also seen your share of linguistic mutation. It happens with all spoken languages–and it happens with all societal change. And it happens to be annoying sometime. Here’s one pundit’s Top 10:

* “Like.” Not the verb–we still like that usage–but the preposition that should introduce a functional simile. For example: “The overuse of ‘like’: It, like, drives me, like, crazy.”

* “No problem.” Still not the politely correct response to “thank you” unless something truly problematic is going on. The correct response is: “You’re welcome.” Thank you.

* “You  guys.” No longer gender specific, which is fine–except for that traditional romantic, fine-dining date. “So, how you guys doin’ tonight?”

* “Notoriety.” It’s not the same as fame. Any more than notorious means famous.

* “Awesome.” Unless a reference to awe-inspiring is intended (think: sunsets and full moons), pass on the empty hyperbole that is “awesome” for the most mundane of contexts. “Those (boxer shorts, veggie burgers, Seth Rogan movies) are awesome.”

* “Swagger.” Walking around with an air of conceit and insolence used to be rather ill thought  of. Now–at least in the athletic and political arenas–it’s a quality seemingly worth courting. As in: “We need our guys to play with more swagger.” Do we really need to up the ante further on boorish, braggadocious behavior?

* “With all due respect.” Really, when’s the last time this phrase has ever preceded anything remotely respectful?

* “All things being equal, … .” But they never are.

* “If I were a rich man, … .” If it’s good enough for “Fiddler on the Roof”, then the subjunctive should be mood-inducing for the rest of us.

* “Infer.” Not a synonym for imply. Don’t infer otherwise.

* Bonus: “Cancelled.” As in airline flights. Actually, this common misspelling should be, well, canceled

* No two perfect storms are alike. This one is where karma and irony meet narcissism and ineptitude.

We’ll start with former FBI Director James Comey, a guy who, however inadvertently, helped make Donald Trump president. We know the bumbling back story of emailGate and its last-minute cameo thanks to questionable Comey judgment and Huma Abedin’s Weinermobile.

But we can imagine the part of Comey’s rationale that does make sense. He was trying to look bipartisan and, as with most of the American electorate and media, he assumed Hillary Clinton would win anyhow. The FBI director who was appointed by Barack Obama would likely become a forgotten footnote, not a notorious kingmaker.

Predictably enough, candidate Trump was effusive in his praise of Comey’s “gutsy,” game-changing decision.

But then it all headed south.

Comey didn’t pledge loyalty over dinner, which may or may not have been taped. Comey, in effect, then publicly rebuked Trump for his fake news about being “wiretapped” by Barack Obama. And nothing came of Trump’s apparent request that Comey back off the Michael Flynn inquiry. These were all personal affronts to the easily affronted, egomaniacal president. Especially if they were emanating from a “showboat-grandstander.” The die was cast.

Then Comey asked the Department of Justice for enough resources to properly investigate allegations of ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. An actionable offense in Trump World.

Ironically, Comey was now positioned to potentially bring down the man he had enabled into the presidency. If he could stand up to Hillary Clinton over a private server and (when he was deputy attorney general) to President George W. Bush over warrantless wiretapping, he could likely stand the heat of a Trump Administration that wanted the Russian investigation to go away in the worst way.

So, Comey had to go away in the worst way. Thus, the summary firing that was more heavy-handed, inept and classless than anything ever witnessed on “The Apprentice.” It was hardly happenstance that the day before, the previously fired acting attorney general, Sally Yates, had testified about the potential security concerns posed by the, yes, ultimately fired Michael Flynn, former national security adviser.

Trump’s media hucksters–an in-over-their-head, Amateur Hour outfit befitting a narcissist who values sycophancy over competence–could only make it worse. Their messaging was continuously upstaged and undermined by the president. Their main talking point was that the president was a “strong and decisive leader.” It has become an ongoing, transparent mess that might even embarrass “Saturday Night Live.”

And nobody but Trump could have thought a sit-down with NBC’s Lester Holt was a good move. It was a cluster-Trump disaster.

Allies consequently guffawed and groaned; adversaries guffawed and plotted. “American exceptionalism” and banana republic should not be appearing in the same sentence.

This is where we are. Thanks again, white nationalists, rationalizing 1 percenters and moody, non-voting members of the Democratic base.

What the temperamentally unhinged Tweeter-in-Chief says depends on whoever he has been binge-watching on a given TIVO night. These worrisome traits and optics are likely to continue. Trump has no James Baker or George Schultz or Joe Biden to rein him in. He has 30-something family members and a token deconstructionist. He’s not rein-able. At 70, he remains an arrogant, hair-trigger, billionaire brand who doesn’t like briefings and takes everything personally.

He’s also a pathological liar but, ironically, still isn’t very good at it.

This won’t go four years.

* And this just in. The Administration rolled out H. R. McMaster, the national security adviser, to parse and nuance his way through reports that Trump might have revealed some highly classified information about Islamic State militants to visiting Russian officials. In a previous incarnation, McMaster was a 4-star Marine general.

For what it’s worth, there are more than seven days left in May.

* Early comments by Sen. Richard Burr, 61, who now heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, were likely surprising to the Trump Administration. “The timing of this (Comey firing) and the reasoning for it doesn’t make sense to me,” stated Burr.

Keep in mind that Burr is the North Carolina Republican who literally embraced Trump on the campaign trail last fall and acted as a national security adviser to his campaign.

Of course, being recently re-elected and already having announced that this is his final term, could be factors. No longer being in CYA mode could be liberating for Burr, something Trump doesn’t need from the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman.