(Don’t) “Send in the clowns . . . .”

February 6, 2022

          President Biden and the US military acquitted themselves with professionalism and dispatch (tempered by caution) in shooting down a Chinese military “spy balloon” that drifted across America last week. Based on statements by administration and military representatives, the timing of the missile attack on the balloon was designed to reduce the risk of civilian casualties and property damage. In the days before the missile strike, the US military was able to simultaneously jam the instruments of the aerial probe and collect information about the state of Chinese intelligence gathering capabilities. In other words, it was a “lose, lose, lose” situation for China.

          But the “spy balloon” did allow the Chinese military to glean one significant piece of intelligence about America—that Republicans are clowns who cannot be trusted to run the US military again. Ever. While Biden and his generals performed their duties in a measured, sober, and deliberate fashion, Republicans were convulsed by a wave of mass hysteria akin to a barnyard of chickens with their heads cut off.

          Republicans were so intent on finding fault with Biden’s decision to shoot down the balloon they spent most of the weekend unwittingly criticizing Donald Trump. The former president allowed Chinese spy balloons to intrude over US airspace without countermeasures from the US or notice to the American public. Republicans were blissfully ignorant about that fact until after they issued cutesy “gotcha” statements on Twitter and conservative talk shows.

          Republicans continuously shifted their criticisms of Biden over the days before the balloon was shot down, including but not limited to the following contradictory and nonsensical statements:

• Biden should shoot down the balloon to signal our strength to China; [Before the balloon was shot down.]

• Shooting down the balloon was a sign of weakness; [After balloon was shot down over Atlantic.]

• Biden should have shot down the balloon sooner;

• Biden shot down the balloon only because Montanans observed it over their state;

• Biden shot down the balloon because he knew it would make the news;

• Biden should have addressed the American people about the balloon; [Before Biden did so.]

• Biden should have addressed the American people sooner than he did; [After Biden made a public statement on the balloon.]

• China never sent balloons over the US when Trump was president;

• Trump didn’t know that China sent three spy balloons into the US when Trump was president; and

• The Department of Defense’s claim that China sent three balloons into the US during Trump’s tenure is “fake news.”

          Ah, yes! “Fake news!”—the last refuge of people with nowhere else to run in the face of facts destroying their claim. See generally, Huffington Post, Hmm . . .  GOP Gymnastics about Trump Era Chinese balloons.

          The true facts are simple and straightforward, as explained by President Biden to pool reporters traveling with the President to Camp David:

Biden told reporters Saturday that he had given the order to shoot down the balloon “as soon as possible” back on Wednesday, but the Pentagon decided the best time to do so was when the balloon was over water to avoid falling debris harming anyone on the ground.

“They said to me, ‘Let’s wait till the safest place to do it,’” Biden said

          If and when another balloon appears during the watch of a Republican president, we should assume he or she will announce a military strike ahead of time and then shoot down the balloon without regard to the presence of civilian populations below the impact zone. That is the most significant intelligence finding of the Chinese spy balloon of 2023. Let’s hope voters factor that finding into their 2024 vote for president and members of Congress.

State of the Union.

          As directed by the Constitution, President Biden will give the annual State of the Union address to Congress. Article II, Section 3, Clause 1 provides that the President

shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.

          The requirement of a periodic “report” on the state of the union made eminent sense during a time when communications were limited to handwriting and hand-set printing presses. Today, a speech to a joint session of Congress can add little to the “information” regarding the state of the union. Instead, Presidents use the opportunity to list the accomplishments of their administrations, a practice viewed as a partisan exercise.

          Indeed, the fact that the “opposing” party feels obliged to provide a “counter” state of the union is an explicit recognition that the primary function of the address is partisan. Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders will give the GOP “rebuttal” to the President’s speech. I won’t be watching, on principle. Sarah Huckabee Sanders repeatedly lied as Trump’s press secretary. See Vanity Fair (6/13/2019), As Sarah Sanders Signs Off, a Look Back at Her Biggest Lies. Everything she says should be suspect; indeed, she was likely selected because of her unnatural ability to look straight into a camera and lie.

          Joe Biden has two goals on Tuesday evening: (a) translate the successes of his administration into concrete improvements in the lives of Americans, and (b) communicate a vision for the next two years that is relevant, inspirational, and feasible. The first goal is achievable; the second is more challenging.

          Biden has accomplished as much as (almost) any other president during his first two years in office. He and we should be proud. The GOP’s efforts to diminish and misrepresent those accomplishments will be challenging to watch and hard to take. So, don’t! Instead, help communicate the success of the Biden administration by telling others how Biden has positively impacted your life and the lives of your family and friends. The more concrete the better!

GOP Dark Money groups to oppose Trump in Republican Primaries.

          Several of the largest GOP dark money groups have decided to ditch Trump in the 2024 Republican primaries. See Washington Post, Koch network to back alternative to Trump after sitting out recent primaries. Per the Post,

The network of donors and activist groups led by conservative billionaire Charles Koch will oppose Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination, mounting a direct challenge to the former president’s campaign to win back the White House.

          The same group of donors opposed Trump in 2015-16 by backing five challengers to Trump. In 2023-24, the Republican dark money groups intend to select a single GOP candidate by September 2023. The groups and affiliated ultra-rich donors will be able to contribute $100 million plus to their anointed candidate.

          On the one hand, anything that reduces Trump’s chances of re-election is a positive development (in my view). But is anyone else bothered that a handful of ultra-wealthy individuals and their PACS will pick the GOP candidate for president? That candidate will have a reasonable shot at becoming president, meaning that our next president may be selected behind closed doors by a half-dozen Americans. That is the legacy of Citizens United, imposed on Americans by Justices Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito.

          As always, the quickest fix is to expand the Court to overwhelm the reactionary majority’s stranglehold on the liberties the Framers intended for individual citizens rather than corporations.

Supreme Court’s email scandal

          Remember that time that Hillary Clinton was defeated in her bid for the presidency, in part, because she used a private email server that mixed her governmental and personal emails? The sanction for that inadvertent mixing of personal and work emails was substantial. What, then, should be the sanction for Supreme Court Justices who use personal email systems to transmit materials related to draft opinions? See CNN,  Exclusive: Supreme Court justices used personal emails for work and ‘burn bags’ were left open in hallways, sources say.

          Per CNN,

“This has been going on for years,” one former employee said. The problem with the justices’ use of emails persisted in part because some justices were slow to adopt to the technology and some court employees were nervous about confronting them to urge them to take precautions, one person said.

          Chief Justice John Roberts has lost control of the Court. It is time for him to step aside to allow Congress to reform the Court.

Concluding Thoughts.

          Tuesday’s State of the Union address should be a big night for Joe Biden. He has the wind at his back as he emerges from one of the most successful two-year terms of any president. Strong economic news and decisive military action immediately before the State of the Union provide a framework for a strong speech. He should have a big audience. More than 34 million Americans watched the 2022 State of the Union. For comparison, 158 million Americans voted in 2020, and 99 million watched the 2022 Superbowl.

          Despite Biden’s tremendous track record, it is no secret that many Democrats are nervous about a candidate who will be 82 when the next presidential inauguration arrives and 86 at the end of the next presidential term. A strong speech on Tuesday could assuage the concerns of many. It is unfortunate that a single speech can have such an outsized impact on presidential fortunes—but it has always been so. Biden is no exception.

          As a Biden supporter, I am hopeful but nervous about his performance on Tuesday. I believe many Democrats share that reaction. Biden has been the right person for the job of moving the country out of the darkness and division of the Trump years. For that, we owe him a deep debt of gratitude. Whether he is the right person to lead the nation forward in an era of evolving MAGA extremism is a question that is up to Joe to answer in the first instance. He will begin that answer on Tuesday evening. We should all listen with an open mind to what he has to say and how he says it. Oh, and we should tune out the post-speech pundits. Based on past experience, they will focus on details that do not matter and ignore what does.

          Talk to you tomorrow!