Category Archives: All Politics Is Local

Just the Facts

“When it comes to disinformation, 2020 will not be a replay of 2016. It will be far worse.”

So writes Alina Polyakova. (“The Kremlin’s Plot Against Democracy,” Foreign Affairs, September/October 2020)

That Russians interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections is not in doubt. Why wouldn’t they attempt the same in the 2020 elections?

This time around, additional forces favor the kinds of disinformation sown by Putin’s Russia. They include pandemic, racial unrest, and climate catastrophes. All provide opportunities beloved by those whose stock in trade are bursts of disinformation, tossed around on the internet for the gullible.

Too many of us substitute tempting social media claptrap for deep reading of reliable news sources. However, investigative news stories cost money. Newspapers have folded across the country, especially the local ones, for lack of support. Readers have fallen away, tempted by lurid headlines put out by dubious sources.

What are our options?

We can take time to actually read researched news: for example, those news sources winning Pulitzer prizes in 2019. They include more than liberal behemoths like The New York Times and The Washington Post.

They include The Advocate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They include the British based Reuters and the Associated Press. Others: ProPublica and The St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Or you might try magazines like The Economist, a weekly British publication.

Resist the lurid rumors and take the time to read and, yes, pay for, our researched news.

Wandering Jews and Christians

Polls tell us that fewer and fewer people today, especially young people, identify as religious, including as Christians.

Christianity has lost its majority following before, usually after too many people calling themselves Christians followed gods other than Christ. Nazi Germany is one example.

Wesley Hill is a professor of biblical studies at Trinity School for Ministry. He uses Chaim Potok’s books about Jews in America, struggling to keep their faith, as an example for American Christians. (“Chaim Potok’s Wandering Jews, Holding to Faith in a Critical Age,” Plough Quarterly, Autumn 2020.)

Hill writes: “A religiously observant life is less and less accessible or intelligible to modern Westerners, yet many of us remain haunted by its possibility.”

Despite many who leave organized Christianity, others, like Hill, continue in the faith, perhaps in altered form from their childhood.

“Like Potok’s characters,” Hill writes, “I went away to university and experienced something of the wider world beyond the confines of my Baptist, Republican childhood. . . . I am now a member of the Episcopal Church, which, to my childhood eyes, was barely a church at all.”

And so he remains, as do many of us. “. . . “I can’t be the Christian I used to be, but I want sill, very much to be a Christian.”

But isn’t that the story of the Christian church? Over and over again, dying, then finding rebirth as a more humble but risen faith?

Will a Russian Bot Steal My Vote?

Stacey Abrams, a black woman, ran for the governor’s office in Georgia in 2018. She lost by less than 55,000 votes.

However, the man who won was Georgia’s secretary of state. He had purged over 300,000 voters from Georgia’s voting rolls, the majority of whom were black.

In an article in Sojourners (“Unafraid to Hope,” Sept/Oct 2020), Abrams writes: “There are nine states where you can lose your right to vote simply because you didn’t use it. When I don’t go hunting on Saturday, no one tells me that I’ve lost my Second Amendment right, so why is it that I can lose my right to vote simply for not using it?”

The Voting Rights Act of 1969 prohibited racial discrimination in voting in the United States. But those who don’t wish certain classes of people to vote never give up.

Knocking people who are registered to vote off the registration lists simply because they missed a vote is one way.

An additional fault line for this year’s presidential election centers on voting by absentee and voting by mail. Wild claims are made about fraud in both cases. It’s alleged that foreign interests will inundate elections with fraudulent ballots.

Fifty states have charge of voting. In addition, the states include over 3,000 counties and local municipalities. In Washington state, I vote by mail in Island County. Ballots are received and counted in this county.

It would be difficult for an enemy, domestic or foreign, to cause much damage to the process itself, given the large numbers of municipalities they would have to deal with, although voting by machines is not as safe as voting by paper ballots.

Voting by mail and/or absentee also means the ballots are available for recounts and close scrutiny.

Yet, in an age of pandemic, some are trying to use the uncertainties of mingling in public places to attack voting by mail and/or absentee.

We should make it extremely hard to win public office by fraudulent means. That includes unfairly manipulating the vote registration process, as well as the vote itself.

Shadow Network

In her book Shadow Network; Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right. Anne Nelson writes in excruciating detail about a naked power play for American followers of Jesus of Nazareth. She writes convincingly of how some of them have been used cynically by an economic-political cabal.

American Christians, as do all Christians, supposedly follow a Jesus who gave his life in love for his followers. He rejected, according to the books and letters written about him, worldly power, riches, or fame. He chose, instead, the much harder path of love and caring and compassion.

Yet, writes Nelson: “. . . I discovered the rapidly evolving ties connecting the manpower and media of the Christian right with the finances of Western plutocrats and the strategy of right-wing Republican political operatives.”

If democratic practices stood in the way of their desire for power, they would abandon democracy. If they could win by playing unfairly, they would play unfairly.

Voters became objects to be manipulated by masters of computer generated slices of the electorate.

Eventually, leaders were elected who set up a tax system favorable to the rich and who fought attempts at affordable health care.

In a final summing up, Nelson writes: “But the 2016 election clearly demonstrated how the mechanics of democracy could be manipulated to produce antidemocratic results.”

Perhaps in the coming years, American Christians will decide if the Jesus they claim to follow can be trusted on his own teachings—-or, instead, choose the standards of the world that crucified him.

Delay Vote: Hong Kong and US?

Recently, President Donald Trump has suggested delaying the November election in the United States. He tweeted: “With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”

Trump claims to be concerned about mail-in voting. Could it actually be that he is just afraid he might lose the election if more people vote?

Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State, recently faulted the Hong Kong government for postponing legislative elections scheduled there for September 6. Apparently, China, who influences the government, is afraid the election might not go the way it wishes.

On August 1, Pompeo stated: “The United States condemns the Hong Kong government’s decision to postpone by one year upcoming Legislative Council elections originally scheduled for September 6.”

Something about the pot calling the kettle black?

Free to Vote

I loved the traditional “going to the polls” routine. After moving to our small town in Washington state several years ago and registering as voters, my husband and I would cross the street to our precinct’s voting place on election day. We would mingle with friends, mark our paper ballots in a voting booth, then drop them in the official box.

You can understand my feelings the year my state announced the change to an all mail voting process. I certainly didn’t greet the change with joy. I would miss the local voting day camaraderie, the pride when I stuck the “I Voted. Have You?” sticker on my coat.

Now? I have come to bless that day when we went to all mail voting. Our presidential primary last spring, just as the virus began taking a toll, went off without a hitch.

For our current local primary and the coming November election, we have no fears of catching the virus in a long polling place line. We will not have to worry about enough poll workers or places to vote.

In an election, the mailed ballots in my county are received at the county offices and stored in a locked room, under camera surveillance, to be tabulated after “the polls” close on election day.

Before mailing my ballot, I wrote my required signature on the outside envelope. It will be compared with the signature on the registered voter list.

Should any question arise as to the validity of the final vote count, the paper ballots are available for reexamination.

I pray for a free and fair election this November. I pray for the ability to vote by mail for all who wish it. And I pray that our constitutionally mandated postal service will not be harmed by partisan politics.

Choose A Stable Genius

John Bolton’s book The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir has been available for pre order for some time. Reviews are prominent.

I don’t plan to read it. Bolton has been accused of holding back for a money-making book what he should have shared during the impeachment hearings for President Trump.

Instead, I recommend A Very Stable Genius, Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig. Both are Pulitzer Prize winning journalists from The Washington Post and have extensive experience in covering American politics.

The book is detailed and frank, full of expletives and failed characters and a few courageous ones. Reading it during the Covid-19 lock down was not the most joyous activity I could have chosen. The insight I gained was worth the journey.

According to the book, Trump’s decision to plunge into a government shutdown just before Christmas in 2018 exemplifies the president’s style: Said one of his advisers: “It was done based on impulse and emotion and dogmatism and a visceral reaction rather than a strategic calculation. That’s indicative of a lot of the presidency and who he is.”

Another telling comment: “He was a president entirely unrestrained, free from the shackles of seasoned advisers who sought to teach him to put duty to country above self and to follow protocols. He concluded he was above the law . . .. He had grown so confident of his own power and cocksure that Republicans in Congress would have never dare break with him, that he thought he could do almost anything.”

That remark encapsulates the whole tragedy: American voters and politicians allowed Trump to believe he could copy the style of a dictator and do anything he wanted without restraint.

Why Are the Inspectors Being Fired?

Steve Linick, an inspector general for the U.S. State Department, was recently fired by President Donald Trump, apparently as requested by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

It seems Linick was investigating allegations against Pompeo. One related to Pompeo’s use of staff for personal errands.

However, the more serious investigation apparently related to Trump’s overriding the vote of Congress to deny selling weapons to Saudi Arabia. In the past, Saudi Arabia has used such weapons to bomb civilians in its war against Yemen.

Pompeo apparently persuaded Trump to use emergency powers to sell the weapons anyway. Linick was investigating whether this was, in fact, justified.

The larger question is why the inspector was fired when he was attempting to do his job. Pompeo has said he lost confidence in Linick.

Since Pompeo provided no evidence of why he lost confidence, it’s tempting to assume that the firing was political to protect Pompeo’s job.

Inspectors are set up in government departments to keep the departments accountable. They promote integrity and efficiency.

In fact, Linick is only one of several inspectors fired in recent months by the Trump administration.

Why this war on those who would keep the government accountable and honest?

A New Age for Immigrants

It seems those immigrants we tried to keep out are needed after all.

A moratorium of sorts has been decided against “sending back” some unregistered immigrants. We need them to pick the crops being planted and later to be harvested.

Immigrant labor also has been a mainstay in health care and elder care. We just didn’t realize it, assuming those refugees were only after our welfare benefits.

Now in this pandemic, we realize we need their contributions to our society.

We are reminded of the “Black Death” of the Middle ages, the bubonic plagues that devastated much of Europe at different times. So many people died, that wage earners were scarce. For a time, wages were pushed up.

As time passed and population grew again, things returned to normal. The rich got richer and the others settled into subsistence living.

Perhaps, with better understanding this time, we can develop an ongoing appreciation for the immigrants who enrich our lives and country and culture. Perhaps we can better care for all our workers in those lower echelon jobs, so necessary for our life.

Abortion Babies and War Babies

The issue of abortion is often cited as a reason for Trump’s support by some evangelicals. To be sure, many evangelicals are turned off by Trump’s self-centered governing. They justify their support by a hope that his policies will lead to stricter laws against abortion.

Yet the Trump administration is a strong supporter of the country of Saudi Arabia. That country has used American weapons to bomb hospitals and schools in a war in Yemen, killing innocent men, women, and children.

Wrote Marcia Robiou (Frontline, July 16, 2019): “Trump’s first official foreign visit was to the royal kingdom – an early sign that he would place a high value on his relationship with the House of Saud. As a candidate, he made Saudi weapons deals a campaign issue, promising they would generate American jobs and boost the U.S. economy.

‘Saudi Arabia is a big buyer of America product,’ Trump said when NBC’s Chuck Todd asked him about the decision to override Congress and push through the weapons deal.”

Thus, for the sake of money made by American arms dealers, the sale of weapons to a country who uses them to kill innocent civilians, including babies, is justified.

Are babies killed by American weapons less valuable than babies killed by abortion?

Water to a Stranger

Is it wrong to give a thirsty stranger a drink of water?

An American teacher was charged with a crime for feeding and sheltering two needy people. The teacher’s actions were similar to ones mentioned by Jesus as a sign of those who follow him (Matthew 25, New Testament). Apparently, however, these kinds of deeds are crimes if the people so helped are undocumented immigrants.

The right to secure borders should not preclude actions like dropping off water bottles to human beings dying of thirst or taking sick ones to a hospital.

Jim Wallis, of Sojourners, has said of the charged teacher (later acquitted): “He is being prosecuted for following the command of Jesus, which is to feed the hungry, refresh the thirsty and invite in the stranger.” (Quoted in “I can do no other,” Economist, June 15, 2019.)

It’s the Institutions, Stupid

That’s the title of an article by Julia Azari in Foreign Affairs (July/August 2019). The American political system, she says, has disappointed us because of a growing mismatch. The country’s political institutions no longer match political realities.

We operate under a system devised in the late eighteenth century, something of a dysfunctional dinosaur today.

Our system developed in a time when, for all practical purposes, “country” to the average American meant local or state governance. Few Americans traveled beyond the next town or read (if they were literate) anything other than the local paper.

Paulette Jiles’ novel News of the World paints a picture, even after the Civil War, of small town citizens willing to pay a fee to hear world news read to them. They knew little of the outside world, much less enjoyed our instant communication.

Today we move from San Francisco to Houston or Indianapolis to Nashville or across the country to other urban areas all the time. Some small towns and rural areas have been depopulated while cities are weighted down with massive growth. Yet we still tie our elections to the states through our constitutionally mandated electoral college.

Until we have the courage to change our system to represent the actual reality of our national concerns, Azari indicates, our government will continue to flounder.

Welfare Versus Opportunity

My son benefitted from the educational benefits given to veterans. He served a few years in the U.S. army, then received help with his tuition after he entered college. The vocation he now follows is possible because of that aid.

After World War II, millions of veterans took advantage of the “G.I. Bill of Rights” to receive aid for education and vocational training. That generation spurred the economic growth and unprecedented prosperity of the United States in the years following.

Welfare programs to meet basic needs are a part of any humane society. However, we would do well to give special attention to programs that enable ordinary people to find meaningful, rewarding work.

Ukraine: Flash Point

The end of the Cold War in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s now seems like ancient history. Almost forgotten is the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl and the place of Ukraine as a major center of nuclear weapons.

In those days, the United States was anxious to remove nuclear weapons from Ukraine, not wishing it to become another nuclear power when it became independent of the Soviet Union.

“In exchange for parting with all its weapons, Ukraine would get assurances of territorial integrity—not guarantees, a meaningful difference, but one that seemed not to matter so much in the heady, hopeful post-Cold War world.” (Serhii Plokhy and M.E. Sarotte, “The Shoals of Ukraine,” Foreign Affairs, January/February 2020)

Of course, as it turns out, the lack of iron clad guarantees that Ukraine would remain independent has mattered a great deal.

The authors continue: “Decades after they supposedly disappeared, Moscow’s imperial ambitions—which Putin pursues through the network that runs from the Kremlin through Ukraine to the White House—have now unsettled American democracy itself.”

Despite Ukraine’s efforts to decouple from Russia, Putin wants Ukraine back. Russian troops invaded the country to force it back into the Russian orbit.

In addition, Putin wants the Trump administration to abandon any American help for Ukraine. Donald Trump has always been stung by revelations that Russian interference in the 2016 election may have helped him win the election.

He was more than ready to believe, instead, Putin’s assertions that Russia never interfered. Against all evidence, Putin persuaded Trump to believe that Ukraine was the one who interfered.

Trump was willing to delay military help to Ukraine in its fight for survival against Russian forces. He was willing to block money funded by Congress for the Ukrainians. He was even willing to use it as a bribe . The bribe would be paid only if the Ukrainians searched for something unfavorable against a possible Democratic nominee against him in the 2020 election.

Rather than use our own processes set up for investigating corruption (FBI, congressional committee, etc.) Trump chose to bribe a foreign government with taxpayer money in a hidden deal.

Buying an Ambassadorship

All U.S. politically appointed ambassadors were ordered to quit their posts by the Trump administration when Donald Trump took office. Career ambassadors stayed. This is the usual practice when a new president takes over.

I spent most of my career in the State Department under career ambassadors, for which I was grateful. Of the two politically appointed ambassadors I served under, one did a credible job. The other appeared to be there mostly for the political trappings. Many such appointments are awarded for significant campaign contributions.

One politically appointed ambassador to a small European nation was known mostly for refurbishing the ambassador’s residence.

Politically appointed ambassadors rarely serve in impoverished developing nations or in those on the front lines of war. After all, more ambassadors have been killed than generals. You certainly don’t want that to happen to a party faithful.

Some political appointments do work out well, such as that of Pamela Harriman to the U.S. embassy in Paris. A wealthy socialite once married to the son of Winston Churchill, Harriman was noted for her keen political instincts. She no doubt spoke French very well.

The typical political appointee, however, doesn’t speak the country’s language, unless it’s English, and often knows more about NFL scores than about the foreign country’s history and politics.

Other democracies appoint their most seasoned foreign service officers as ambassadors to the United States. Dictatorships are prone to send cronies to their diplomatic posts.

Why I Rarely Give to Political Parties

I vote in every election open to me, but I rarely contribute to political campaigns.

Americans now give massive amounts of money to political causes. According to opensecrets.org, almost 1.5 billion in political spending was raised in 2016.

Until campaign finance laws are passed, I will probably continue my small rebellion against the outsize influence of money on our political process.

I will instead contribute to those worthy causes now struggling as they are bypassed for political giving.

Some are charitable—the local food bank or medical assistance program. Others are religious groups ministering to the grieving and confused. Some help young people find purpose to overcome the destruction caused by drugs.

Political parties feud over the number of Central Americans attempting to cross into the United States. I recently gave to a non-profit group teaching Central Americans better agricultural practices, providing doctors to encourage a healthier population, and lending help for economic activities so the people can support themselves—and not feel compelled to migrate.

Politics has raked in an incredible amount of money, while many other worthy groups suffer from neglect. I can vote for them with my small contributions.

Local Color

Recently the newspaper for our nearest metropolitan area ran a research series about water rights in our state. Water is a precious resource. Should the buying and selling of water rights be run as a for-profit business? Selling water rights has become a way of survival for older farmers with no one to take their places.

The articles provided input for dealing with this issue before it becomes critical. They were typical of the research and reporting of this daily newspaper.

Our smaller community newspaper lets us know about our city council meetings and various local events. It provides a forum for the varied opinions of local citizens. To judge by the number and depth of recent letters to the editor for local candidates, you would not know it was an “off” election year. Local journalism is part of the process.

Newspapers tied to a particular area cannot be replicated by Facebook. Though I occasionally use Facebook for keeping up with acquaintances, I never, ever use it as a source of news. I don’t know why anyone would.

I know the bona fides of my local news sources. I don’t know if a Facebook piece is written by an expert, a Russian troll, or a mentally unbalanced hater.

I’m convinced more than ever of what I learned in my first journalism class in the days of the Cold War: a democracy cannot exist without locally supported newspapers.

What Does “Drain the Swamp” Mean?

The current administration promised to “drain the swamp” when it was elected. What has that meant?

Swamp draining has meant more political ambassadors, appointed because they donated money to a candidate. The number of career ambassadors serving at U.S. embassies is at the lowest level since records have been kept.

Draining the swamps has meant desertion of allies like the Kurds. It has meant holding back funds, for political purposes, voted on by Congress to help Ukrainian allies fight Russian incursion into their country. It has meant losing the respect of our allies.

“Please stay.” That’s the plea from the president of the American Foreign Service Association, as seasoned diplomats quit in frustration.

Fewer young people sign up to take the Foreign Service exam, no longer inspired to enter government service.

Not only in the State Department but in other agencies as well, turnover at the top has been unprecedented. Apparently, swamp draining means little cohesion even among those chosen by the administration. Cabinet secretaries and other appointed officials have quit, some fired by tweet, others leaving in disgust.

Here’s a look at the amount of turnover at the top tiers of our government.

Make your own decision about what draining the swamps means.

Jesus in the Voting Booth

“Forty years ago in Houston, Texas, a group of conservative pastors pulled off a heist at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention that reshaped both America’s biggest Protestant denomination and its national politics.” (Lexington: “On the Edge,” The Economist, June 15, 2019)

The article comments on the denomination’s story since that Houston meeting. Many evangelical leaders became openly political, usually favoring candidates from the Republican party.

Forty years on, what has been the result of the politicalization of a denomination? According to the article: “The confidence that fueled the 1979 resurgence is long gone. The convention’s membership . . . is at its lowest in 30 years, and falling. Half of all Southern Baptist children leave the faith . . .”

What’s the takeaway? Perhaps a call for the support of certain directions rather than support of a particular party.

Jesus’ ministry took place in an empire ruled by an aristocratic elite, but we still might learn from his interaction with the leaders of the day. He seemed inordinately concerned for the poor, the hungry, the sick, the dying, and the grieving.

Jesus welcomed any of the wealthy who came to him. However, he told stories like the one consigning a rich man to the flames of hell because of the man’s disregard for the poor beggar in his neighborhood.

Perhaps Christians might vote with these examples in mind.

It’s Close Enough For Government Work

“It’s close enough for government work,” the old joke goes. Actually, much “government” work these days is not done by government employees but by contractors. That’s because, over the years, the belief grew that the government employed too many people.

We could save money by contracting work to what many believed were more efficient business models, so the idea went.

However, the reduction led to backlogs for some agencies, like the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration.

In addition, as the The New York Times (January 3, 2014) pointed out: “ . . . the current practice of contracting out vast swaths of government work indefinitely . . . has created a bloated federal-contractor sector in which the public good is often subservient to profit.”

The outsourcing of work can seem unfair, for example, if a contract worker in a war zone makes a much higher salary than a soldier for Uncle Sam serving in the same area.

No one supposes government employees are all sterling characters. Oversight is required. However, they are generally hired for a particular job function. Unlike contractors, they are not there to make as much money as possible off the taxpayers.

When I worked in a U.S. embassy overseas as a career government employee, I cooperated with the information tech contractors who came to install new computer systems in the embassy. They were nice guys (all males, as I remember) and as far as I could tell did an adequate job with the new systems.

They went back to their hotel at five in the afternoon, followed by an evening out. I usually stayed another hour or so, taking advantage of the quiet to finish work.

If an American citizen called in with an overnight emergency, I came in and worked as long as necessary to find some resolution for the problem.

I had my job, and the contractors had theirs. Contracting makes sense in areas where the need for the work increases for a limited time or requires unusual expertise.

Certainly, U.S. government employees have been guilty of shoddy work, or worse, betraying their country. They take an oath, however, to obey the laws and Constitution of the United States and often develop pride in what they see as serving their country.

With the number of contractors in recent years found guilty of misusing their access to government documents, that sense of pride should not be lightly dismissed.