Category: Uncategorized

“A Republic, if you can keep it.”

* Trump legacy update: “No, it’s not over. We keep going. … We have numerous local cases. We’re, you know, in some of the states that got rigged and robbed from us.” We’re, you know, not exactly surprised by this classless, perp-walk-and-talk presidential exit.

* The Trump “Jericho March” rally on the National Mall was called a “prayer rally.” We know in whose name the followers prey.

* Last week’s mainly maskless, Valdosta campaign stop was more “Stop the Steal” and fight forTrump than Georgia senatorial endorsement. Trump, unsurprisingly, mainly used his cult pulpit to rally for his own Oval Orifice cause. He even resorted to a Cold War-era gambit by pulling out a piece of paper and reading a list of his electoral successes, including the false assertion that he won Georgia and the White House. Nice try; Joe McCarthy would have approved.

* “The Trump staff is scouring for last-minute decisions and regulations and executive orders that could polish Trump’s legacy. This would be one.” That was Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, referring to Kennedy assassination documents that have yet to be published. They must all be declassified by Oct. 26, 2021. If Trump passes, then President Biden will release the remaining JFK files.

* Speaking of the presidential “legacy,” Trump, in unprecedented fashion, has been fast-forwarding federal executions on the way out. Executive orders/Execution orders: Hope they’re separate piles.

* Once again, Richard M. Nixon never looked so presidential.

* Upsides to the Trump presidency are manifestly missing. But there is this: the Trump White (Grievance) House has helped focus more attention on an electoral system that undemocratically enables minoritarian candidates. Trump went 0-for-2 in the popular vote. The one person/one vote-nullifying Electoral College is now approaching Trump University for 21st-century relevance.

* Imagine that just a month from inauguration, conceding defeat is still an issue for the incumbent loser–in an election where the electoral vote was 306-232 and the winner received 7 million more (popular) votes.

* The Congressional run-offs in Georgia will determine the partisan balance in the U.S. Senate. Money, surrogates and Supreme Court scenarios have been pouring in. But there is still a time-tested variable at play: Turnout dynamics for run-offs can be game-changing—from local to national. Just ask Bob Buckhorn—or Rose Ferlita.

* “Well, they’re Christmas parties.”–That was the partier-in-chief confirming that the White House will, indeed, continue holding indoor, largely maskless parties this month. Of course, it will.

* In the aftermath of this unprecedented presidential election, we have seen a lot of numbers in the highest-turn-out election–66 percent–in more than a century. Before we get carried away about voter engagement and motivation, let’s not forget that one out of every three eligible voters didn’t bother to vote in the most consequential election for American democracy since 1861.

* “Our democracy–pushed, tested, threatened–proved to be resilient, true and strong.”–President-elect Joe Biden, after the Electoral College chose him as America’s next president.

* Call it karma or schadenfreude or a “Saturday Night Live” preview, but it will be interesting—and perversely appealing—to watch the official Congressional count of electoral votes on Jan. 6. That’s because the person presiding–and formally announcing the results–will be the president of the Senate, otherwise known as the vice president of the United States. That means Mike Pence will officially declare Joe Biden the winner. Yes.

* For those hoping—and expecting—Biden to name Susan Rice as his secretary of state, the disappointment is understandable. She has serious foreign-policy chops and is a former national security adviser and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She’s been a secretary of state finalist twice—and was in the running for Biden’s vice president. But confirmation could have been dicey. Republicans have never forgiven her for downplaying terrorism as a motive for the 2012 Benghazi attack on the U.S. Libyan consulate that cost four American lives. Rice instead will become the director of the Domestic Policy Council, which, not coincidentally, does not require Senate confirmation.

* Jill Biden has been criticized by some for being affected in her use of “Doctor” that references her non-medical-degree doctorate in education. That’s petty. She earned it. She doesn’t just talk a good game of educational value. It’s a proud reminder that a woman of credentialed learning—think Michelle Obama, not Melania Trump—is part of this Administration’s inner circle. But if we must start parsing courtesy titles, let’s first consider “Honorable” for members of Congress.

* Andrew Yang, no surprise, is still a player. The former tech executive, who attracted a following during his presidential candidacy, is a likely 2021 candidate for mayor of New York. The New York native—and former resident of Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood—created Humanity Forward, a New York-based non-profit that distributes money to needy families in the Bronx.

* “The Democratic Party is a Star Wars bar of contentious special interest groups.”–Republican strategist Mac Stipanovich—now registered NPA.

#AloneTogether

* Food for the thoughtless: A CDC study in the fall showed that “adults who had contracted COVID-19 were twice as likely as virus-free adults to have recently dined at a restaurant.”

* The FAA has agreed to pilots receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. But those pilots may not fly for 48 hours.

* Travel through St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport was down 38 percent in November compared to the same month a year ago.

* “The post-Thanksgiving bump is just beginning to play out.”–Former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden.

* According to Podtrac, an analytics firm, downloads of podcasts in the U.S. at the end of October were up 47 percent from the same period in 2019.

* 20 million: The number of Americans who could be immunized by year’s end, according to Federal officials. Another 80 million: Americans who could be immunized by the end of February.

* Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida would receive 179,400 initial doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

* “Open America up.”–Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz.

No, the Sunshine State hasn’t been reminding anyone of the “Flori-duh,” hanging-chads days. But from Rick Scott to Ron DeSantis, it’s become “Flo-RED-a.” Now add Attorney General Ashley Moody. She joined 16 other states—via their Republican attorneys general—in a friend-of-the-court brief backing the last-ditch, Hail Mary effort of Texas to get the Supreme Court to block election results in four swing states that went for Biden. SCOTUS didn’t buy election denialism; it tossed out the Texas lawsuit. “(Moody) is fueling disinformation and undermining our democracy,” said U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Florida. Indeed, Moody has proven herself an all-too-worthy, as it were, successor to Trump enabler Pam Bondi. I miss AG Charlie Crist.

As we’ve all heard, the Four Green Fields original location has shut down. Two takeaways. I once asked owner Colin Breen why he didn’t have wall-to-wall TV screens as a part of contemporary decor and customer lure. “We want people to talk to each other,” he explained. And while animated conversations with Bob Buckhorn were always engaging, I also recall an especially memorable exchange with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, who noted, in effect, that violence in Northern Ireland was no longer necessary leverage. Within a generation or two, he said, the Catholic demographics—resulting in majority status—would be a de facto game changer.

* Starting in 2024, Disney will have SEC football broadcasting rights. All games will appear on its networks—including ABC and ESPN—for 10 years. The payout: $300 million per year. CBS currently pays the SEC $55 million annually.

* Movies with buzz that disappoint: “Mank” and “On The Rocks.”

* Twist of fate: This year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honorees include Nine Inch Nails and the Notorious B.I.G. Not, inexplicably, included: Chubby Checker. Again.

* “There’s no plan B right now.” That was the response of Tampa Bay Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg to the question of what the Rays will do if the split-cities, Montreal option doesn’t work out.

* Nashville: Whatever the timing, it’s still a prime candidate for MLB expansion or relocation.

* Gator fans—and anyone else watching that fog-shrouded UF-LSU game—were blindsided by a late call that cost the Gators a shocking, 37-34 upset loss. When Marco Wilson tauntingly tossed an LSU player’s shoe about 20 yards downfield, he was called for “unsportsmanlike conduct” and instead of a punt with less than 2 minutes to go, LSU got a fresh series of downs and drove to a winning field goal. The penalty was stupid and classless—and not an acceptable version of “celebration.”Worse yet, UF now faces top-ranked Alabama for the SEC championship. Two weeks ago Alabama destroyed LSU 55-17. And none of this–absent a stunning win over the Crimson Tide–helps Kyle Trask’s Heisman chances.

* “He’s anathema to most E.U. politicians, who see him as personally to blame for Brexit.”–Center for European Reform Director Charles Grant, in reference to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

* “Most European countries are doing their best with government messaging, restrictions on hospitality and indoor house visits, testing, tracing, soft-touch border restrictions and face coverings, whereas the U.S. looks like a free-for-all.”–University of Edinburgh professor of global health Devi Sridhar.

* “If the status quo continues, students of color stand to lose 11 to 12 months of learning.”–McKinsey & Company report.

* “With the casting of a majority of the Electoral College votes on Monday for Mr. Biden, and then his inauguration, we will make a start in restoring America as the country best positioned to lead the world’s struggle to solve the climate crisis.”–Former Vice President Al Gore.

* “The Constitution itself places no limit on the president’s authority to act on matters which concern him or his own conduct.”–Attorney General William Barr.

* “Trump has no incentive to stop his efforts to overturn a valid election. To the contrary, with blowhards like Ted Cruz available to provide a patina of respectability, and nearly all elected Republicans refusing to recognize the election results, he has every reason to hit up his fans for more donations and to continue insisting he is the rightful winner.”–Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post.

* “I want to be clear: The Supreme Court is not the deep state. The (Texas-initiated, election-results) case had no merit and was dispatched 9-0. There was no win here.”–Illinois Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger.

* “The Republicans behaving radically are doing so in the knowledge–or at least the strong assumption–that their behavior is performative, an act of storytelling rather than lawmaking, a posture rather than a political act.”–Ross Douthat, New York Times.

* “Unless (Trump) changes course and follows the Richard Nixon (concession) precedent, he probably will take on a label of ‘sore loser’ that will follow him, and remove any possibility of a further political career.”–Political author T.R. Reid.

* “It is the Republican Party that disproportionately represents a multiethnic, non-college-educated working class.”–Josh Hammer, Newsweek.

* “Trump’s 2016 coalition was a minority coalition in terms of the popular vote, but it was almost perfectly distributed to take the Electoral College. Going forward, the demographics of the electorate are moving in the wrong direction for the GOP.”–Jonah Goldberg, Tribune Content Agency.

* “Let it go. The election is over.”–Jeb Bush.

* “With every deep state conspiracy and illegitimate claims of fraud, our democracy sinks deeper and deeper into divisiveness.”–Pasco County Elections Supervisor Brian Corley.

* “I’m not arguing. I’m just explaining why I was right.”–T-shirt philosopher.

* “The 2020 (hurricane) season (June 1 to Nov. 30) was the busiest on record, and I’ve urged the federal government to lengthen the season to better capture the increase in activity.”–Florida Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy.

* “I think the history-making nature of this appointment, combined with his 41-year career in the military, makes him the perfect choice for this.”–Former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on President-elect Biden’s choice of retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin III, the former commander of the U.S. Central Command at MacDill AFB, as secretary of defense. Austin, the first black commander of Central Command, would also be the first black defense secretary.

* “We believe this (Tampa-hosted) Super Bowl 55 will be one of the most unifying, memorable and meaningful Super Bowls in our history.”–NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“A Republic, if you can keep it.”

* This is personal as well as professional. It comes with being part of the Trump-demonized mainstream media. It comes with being labeled “an enemy of the people.” It also comes with wanting what’s best for your country.

We all know that Trump won’t be morphing into the sort of retired-president status his predecessors pursued. He’ll be working on a family-brand, media empire; proof-reading a few pages from a ghost-written memoir; suing somebody; and likely prepping for a 2024 Oval Orifice run. No more Trump Steaks and Trump University comebacks.

But he will need enabling—beyond GOPster sycophants and base deplorables. He’ll need the media—not just the Breitbart, InfoWars and Fox & Friends lapdogs. He’ll need the mainstream media watchdogs to keep him, uh, relevant—or at least prominent in most news cycles–while out of office. And that is, alas, right in the “good copy” wheel house of print and visual media. As are readers, ratings and sponsors.

But, sometimes, “country first” is more than an idealistic directive to self-serving politicians. In this case it means the mainstream media—which, as we embarrassingly recall, greatly abetted Trump’s reality-TV, celebrity candidacy with its gratuitous, over-the-top coverage of his smarmy, 2016 vaudeville rallies. That means not repeating the “This just in”/“Breaking News” gambit of four years ago–when the “Apprentice” crackpot was like an intersection accident that witnesses couldn’t help staring at.

We all deserve better than the Trumpian version of “if it bleeds, it leads.” That’s because we are all part of a democracy demonstrably vulnerable to the unhinged, autocratic whims of a narcissistic cult leader whose followers await high-profile, civil-war dog whistles. This is much more than a mainsteam media mulligan; this is now the serious media’s role in a come-to-Jesus inflection point for our assailable republic. Joseph Pulitzer had it spot on. “Our republic and its press will rise or fall together.”

* Rudy Giuliani has tested positive for the coronavirus—as well as for farcical fealty and mask indifference.

* “To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.”–Attorney General William Barr, no longer sounding like the president’s personal lawyer.

* “Trump’s agenda is to use these recounts and lawsuits to raise money, to have money to freeze the field in 2024, and to be an effective surrogate and spreader of money in 2022.”–GOP donor Dan Eberhart.

* In the opinion of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, there’s no way the world can curb climate change “without U.S. leadership.”

* Lou Holtz, 83, recently received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from “the greatest president in my lifetime.” Embarrassing—and not just because it puts the former Notre Dame coach in the presidential medal-receiving, acolyte company of Rush Limbaugh. That suck-up blarney line references a Holtz lifetime that includes the FDR Administration, among others.

“Yes, we did.”

* President-elect Joe Biden has not only chosen a well-regarded foreign service veteran, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, but he plans to restore the position to cabinet rank. It’s yet another signal—domestically and internationally—of the return of U.S. commitment and leadership at the UN.

* “Any (COVID relief) package passed in lame-duck session is—at best—just a start.”–President-elect Joe Biden.

* “Georgia is going to determine ultimately the course of the Biden presidency.”–Barack Obama.

* “I’m not going to tell anyone how they need to speak to their community, but by the same token, they need to understand that candidates have to be able to meet people where they are, and they have to be able to articulate it in a way that’s absorbed.”–Stacey Abrams.