Joe Biden confronts MBS

July 18, 2022

          President Biden has completed his impossibly complicated trip to Saudi Arabia and achieved a predictably muddled result. Count me among his many critics who believe he should not have granted MBS the legitimacy bestowed by a meeting with the US president. But I acknowledge that I am not President of the United States, and my strong preference for moral purity is unencumbered by real-world consequences. Joe Biden does not have that luxury. According to media reports, Biden’s staff worked on him for months to overcome his reluctance to meet with the man that the US intelligence community concluded ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Still, the stabilizing presence of the US in the Middle East is a strategic necessity. That factor caused Biden to set aside his reservations about meeting with the man complicit in the murder of a journalist.

          Having made the wrong choice (in my view) to meet with MBS, Joe Biden has once again earned my respect and admiration. Although some of the details are disputed, Biden says he raised MBS’s personal responsibility for the killing of Khashoggi and urged the crown prince to apologize. The Saudi foreign minister provided an extensive description of MBS’s response to Biden’s statement, which included references to atrocities by US troops at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison. Later reports from Saudi Arabia claim that the crown prince did not hear Biden’s comments about Jamal Khashoggi, a position contradicted by the lengthy response to Biden’s remarks provided by the Saudi foreign minister.

          In a swearing match between Biden and MBS, no one in the world believes MBS.

          It is no mean feat to sit face-to-face with the ruler of another nation and accuse him of complicity in the murder of a journalist. Whatever muddled and imperfect decision-making process brought Joe Biden to the meeting with MBS, Biden could not contain his impulse to do the right thing. Joe Biden is an honorable man whose default instinct is to act morally. After more than half a century in politics, Biden’s record is replete with gaffes, mistakes, and blunders of the first order. But few have doubted the decency and goodness of Biden even when he errs. I regret that Biden met with MBS, but having met with the crown prince, I am pleased that Biden had the courage to say the quiet part out loud and to the face of a man who never hears criticism or dissent. Good for Joe Biden!

Republicans threaten “counter-hearings” on January 6th if they take control of the House.

          My wife is a bellwether in all things. When she heard that Republicans intend to “investigate the investigators” of January 6th if Republicans take over the House in 2022, she was understandably anxious, angry, and fearful about what that would mean. I suspect many of you have the same reaction. See CNN, House Republicans plot investigative revenge on January 6 panel as Trump itches for payback.

          Potential topics include “security failures” before January 6th (including the involvement of Nancy Pelosi), the post-arrest “treatment” of rioters and insurrectionists, and a plan to subpoena Liz Cheney. Oh, and we may be treated to more about how long-dead Hugo Chavez used “Nest thermostats” controlled by the Chinese government through Italian satellites to flip Trump votes to Biden.

          Here’s my take: Dear Republicans, please, please, please keep January 6th at the forefront going into 2024! Please! Yes, let’s talk about “security failures” because there is no way to do so without talking about the threats from the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and other white nationalists in league with dozens of GOP members of Congress. And sure, let’s see how poorly insurrectionists were treated after they assaulted Capitol and were then charged with “parading without a permit.” And I can’t wait to see the tinfoil hat bejeweled clowns you call as witnesses to prove the Nest thermostat /Italian satellite / dead dictator conspiracy that resulted in massive fraud.

          And as for taking the deposition of Liz Cheney, I would pay serious money to watch that deposition live. She will shred the remaining bits of the puny manhood of the cowards and traitors who plotted with Trump to overturn the election. Have members of the GOP caucus watched the hearings? If they think they will intimidate or browbeat Liz Cheney, they deserve what will happen to them when they take her deposition. Perhaps Trump can turn her deposition into a “pay-per-view” event?   

          I mean the following statement in the nicest way possible: Republicans are thick as bricks if they want to hold their own hearings into January 6th. That idea is almost as bad as deciding to boycott the Special Committee, which has dismantled Trump and his enablers. So, yes, Kevin McCarthy, please appoint a special committee (which Democrats will not boycott) so that we can be reminded every day for the next two years that Donald Trump assembled a violent mob to stop the electoral count. Please! Those hearings will be worth at least $2 billion in attack ads on Donald Trump.

Mad at Manchin vs. Democrats vs. Republicans

          Democrats have had it up to here (indicating over my head) with Joe Manchin. Bernie Sanders took after Manchin over the weekend, condemning him for “sabotaging Biden's agenda.” I don’t always agree with Bernie Sanders, but when the man is right, he is right.

          The ability of Manchin to sabotage Biden’s agenda has led to widespread anger and frustration among Democrats, including younger and progressive voters who believe that Biden has failed to deliver on his campaign promises. See WaPo, Many young Democrats are furious at Democrats. But they’re pushing through. While it is never good to have someone “furious” at you, that situation presents an opportunity for Democrats to channel that fury where it rightfully belongs: At Republican lawmakers.

          In the Comments section over the weekend, a reader (Carol Ann M.) reminded me that we should take all of our anger at Manchin and direct it at the 50 Republicans in the Senate who will not support any legislation to protect healthcare, the environment, voting rights, or women’s equal protection under the law. I agree! Every time we criticize Manchin (and Sinema), we must immediately switch to the real culprits: The reactionary Republican Party.

It's starting already: The attack on same-sex marriage.

          Ted Cruz said on a podcast last week that the Supreme Court was “clearly wrong” in legalizing same-sex marriage. See Newsweek, Ted Cruz Says SCOTUS 'Clearly Wrong' to Legalize Gay Marriage. How does Cruz justify his statement? Simple. He applies the legal test set forth in Dobbs to same-sex marriage and concludes that the Supreme Court should “un-recognize” the right to same-sex marriage. Of course, Cruz repeats Alito’s claim that “abortion is different” because it involves “life or potential lie”—a factor wholly irrelevant to Dobbs's legal analysis.

          The fact that Alito and other reactionary Republicans are now distinguishing Dobbs because it involves abortion is proof positive that Dobbs was a religiously driven, result-oriented case. Alito (and now Cruz) admit that the legal rationale of Dobbs does not apply equally to privacy-based rights that are indistinguishable from abortion under the “deeply rooted in American tradition” analysis.

Reader comments over the weekend.

          I sent a special edition of the newsletter on Saturday to paying subscribers with an open invitation to discuss involvement opportunities (among other topics). The response was overwhelming, so I am sharing a few noteworthy opportunities / comments below, and I have now opened Saturday’s Comments section to everyone for review. I have included the reader comments after Concluding Thoughts, below.

Concluding Thoughts.

          As I have mentioned on several occasions, the political dynamic is very “noisy” at this moment in our history. Democrats certainly face challenges that reinforce the “conventional wisdom” about the party in power losing ground in midterm elections. But we are not living in conventional times. Republican commentators are trying to deny that reality by “talking down” the impact of Dobbs by saying that it simply “returns the issue to the states.”

          Such gas-lighting articles ignore the fact that on June 23, 2022, American women had a right under the US Constitution to reproductive choice, and on June 24, 2022, they did not. Moreover, for all intents and purposes, on that date a federally guaranteed right was converted into a felony in a dozen states. So, the “move along, nothing to see here” wishful thinking of Republican commentators is intended to confuse and suppress Democratic and Independent voters.

          The fact that we are seeing a proliferation of such gaslighting articles indicates that Republicans are worried—as they should be. It is true that reproductive choice is not the most highly ranked issue in most surveys of voter attitudes, but it is consistently a “top tier” concern of voters. The views of voters on abortion are not monolithic—but the relevant question is “Compared to what?” If the answer is “compared to putting a woman and her doctor in jail” for abortion, it doesn’t take a polling expert to figure out where voters land on that issue.

          Here’s my point: Positive signals are starting to break through the noise in some races, in some states, at both the state and federal levels. I won’t list them here because it is too early to start discussing trends. But we should remember that we don’t have to win every race, just enough of them to make a difference. And we can’t expect to “make everything better” in 2022. Our plan must be to accumulate victories and solidify gains over time. If we do that, we will have a solid foundation to reclaim permanent Democratic control of Congress and the presidency. Time and demographics are on our side, though we can take nothing for granted. In the meantime, ignore the noise and stay the course!

           See selected reader comments below:

Privacy Seminar post-Dobbs.

In response to the serious online privacy concerns raised by the overturning of Roe v Wade, nonprofit SecureTheVillage is hosting a free webinar on July 21, 11:00AM - 12:30PM. Titled "Roe v Wade: Critical Implications for Our Personal Privacy," panelists will:

1. Explore the privacy implications of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling

2. Outline expected legal intrusions by states on personal privacy

3. Discuss how new state laws directly incentivize vigilantes and hackers

4. Share tangible strategies on how to protect oneself, including minimizing the vast ‘data footprint’ created by our use of everyday technology.

For more information and free registration, please visit https://securethevillage.org/event/roe-v-wade-critical-implications-for-our-personal-privacy.

The National Voter Corps.

          Alice Schaffer Smith, Executive Director, National Voter Corps, made a comment on two current initiatives of the National Voter Corps: A letter to law school deans to use their influence to urge Congress to pass voter protection and a full-page ad in the New York Times calling on Senators “Do your jobs”. Check out Alice’s comment or go directly to the National Voter Corps website to see its amazing work. On the website, there is a link to help you call “swing” Senators to help pass H.R. 5746. (John Lewis Voting Rights Act). Check it out and make one phone call to urge Congress to pass HR 5746.

Giving Circles / The States Project

Start a “giving circle” focused on seven pivotal states. Per the reader: We think of saving democracy as a national issue, but in fact it comes down to 7 pivotal states: Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maine, Minnesota, and Nebraska. We must be smart, we must be efficient, we must focus our efforts. Check out The States Project. Set up a Giving Circle! https://statesproject.org/get-involved/giving-circles/

VoteForward.

          A reader made this comment:

          I live in a rock-hard red state with a weak state Democratic Party. Talking or writing to my state or federal legislators is a duty of increasingly wasteful citizenship. Oh, I’ve done all the electoral things to help some candidates: distributed/ signs, attended rallies, contributed money, etc. It has never turned out well. I’ve looked for some group or organization which has ideas that seem to work and one in particular has demonstrated an efficient, dynamic program with evidence of a major voter turnout. That organization is Vote Forward.

          Vote Forward provides names and addresses of no-show, registered voters in key battleground states and your job is to write personalized notes on prepared letters that describe the writer’s view on the importance of voting, for example. Receipt of a personally addressed letter with a clear message seems to be a convincing way to drive up voter turnout. Your effort consists of buying stamps and envelopes and the time to handwrite a brief message. In this year's election cycle, millions of letters have already been written and are awaiting a national mailing day to post the effort with the USPS.

North Carolina / Markers for Democracy.

          Ellen Bender, co-founder of Markers for Democracy commented:

          I would like to offer to anyone living in or interested in North Carolina to check out the list of ways to take action at a “Google doc” I have created - North Carolina Elections 2022. (My contact info is in the google doc.) I update it frequently. NC has important elections - (1) a great chance to flip a GOP Senate seat if we elect Cheri Beasley for U.S. Senate, (2) an urgent need to save the NC Supreme Court by keeping the slim Dem majority and elect Lucy Inman and Sam Ervin, and (3) a similarly urgent need to preserve our Democratic Governor Cooper's veto power by preventing a GOP supermajority in the state legislature. There are ways to take action for all of these, many virtual but also canvassing. We can do this!

Phone Banking with Center for Common Ground.

          Reader Wendy Buckley comments: My anti-anxiety strategy: I volunteer for Center for Common Ground (CFCG), whose non-partisan mission is to educate and empower under-represented voters in voter suppression states to engage in elections and advocate for their right to vote. I would love some "Hubbell Democracy Warriors" to join my guided phonebank on Wednesdays from 1-3pm PST. I will train you and support you over Zoom as you make calls from your computer. Right now, we are doing GOTV calls into Arizona ahead of the primary. Helping people figure out how and where to vote in states that change the rules regularly is incredibly gratifying! Phonebanking (centerforcommonground.org)