Today’s Edition: “Help or get out of the way.”

August 4, 2021

         Readers of a certain age will remember Gilda Radner’s character on Saturday Night Live, Emily Litella, who would misunderstand something she heard on the news and deliver a fiery ‘editorial reply’ on the SNL Newscast. After Ms. Litella ranted that parents should not be opposed to “violins on television,” Chevy Chase informed her that parents were protesting “violence on television,” at which point Ms. Litella deadpanned into the camera and said, “Never mind!”

On Monday, the Biden Administration said that it had “double, triple, and quadruple-checked” the legality of extending a CDC-imposed nationwide eviction ban and concluded that it was not possible. Twenty-four hours later, the administration said, “Never mind!” and announced that the CDC was imposing a 60‑day eviction ban in counties with high levels of COVID-19 transmission. As a result, the eviction ban has been reimposed in much of the nation. The text of the order is here.

          A fatuous response to this turn of events would be to make a sophomoric comparison to a Saturday Night Live skit. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) A cynical response would be to claim that the Biden administration is incompetent, disingenuous, or both. But, in reality, the reversal in policy demonstrates the power of motivated party activists who demand change. See The Hill, “CDC issues eviction moratorium extension after Democratic outcry.” Let’s give credit where credit is due: Progressives in the Democratic Party, including Representatives Cori Bush and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, led the pushback against the administration’s defeatist stance.

          In truth, the administration didn’t change its view that the CDC would lose a court battle over the extension. Rather, it changed its willingness to suffer a defeat in court over the legality of the extension. But in losing, the administration will give Congress more time to act. As noted in The Hill article, above, Biden said on Tuesday

          Whether that option will pass constitutional [muster] I can’t tell you. I don’t know. There are a few scholars who say it will and others who say it’s not likely to. But, at a minimum, by the time it gets litigated, it will probably give some additional time while we’re getting that $45 billion out to people who are in fact behind in the rent and don’t have the money.

          Biden’s candor will make defense of the ban more challenging, but as Biden noted, the point of the 60-day extension is to give Congress time to act. In reaching to extend a questionable ban, Biden may have given millions of Americans a safe haven during the coming months of a resurgent pandemic. And there is plenty of money in the pipeline to reimburse landlords who are affected by the moratorium. As one reader with relevant experience noted, it is a complicated task to get the money flowing at the local level. But the extension will give states, counties, and cities time to build the systems necessary to distribute rent relief.

          The quick reversal by the administration would not have occurred but for pushback by Democrats—lots of them. For everyone who is wondering whether small acts of activism make a difference, they can. In this case, they did. Such immediate results are rare but gratifying. Even if it seems that your letters and phone messages are disappearing into the ether, their heft accumulates over time. Keep up the good work, and don’t lose faith!

Governor Cuomo and the Republican double standard.

New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a 165-page report that concluded New York Governor Andrew Cuomo engaged in persistent and serious acts of sexual harassment during his tenure as Governor. Cuomo denied that he ever touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate remarks. The report has sparked widespread calls among Democrats for Cuomo to resign. See WaPo, “Biden calls for Cuomo to resign after investigation finds the New York governor sexually harassed 11 women.” By all accounts, anyone who knows Governor Cuomo finds the allegations credible and consistent with his workplace demeanor. He should resign now; indeed, he should have resigned when the allegations first became public. Though he will fight, it seems unlikely that he can survive politically.

          Democrats have spoken in unison demanding Cuomo’s resignation. Republicans should follow suit—as to Trump. Trump is their leading candidate for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination but should be disqualified by virtue of the dozens of allegations of sexual harassment made against him. The allegations against Cuomo are serious. The allegations against Trump are far more serious. Here is the opening sentence in the Wikipedia entry relating to Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations:

          Donald Trump, the former president of the United States, has been accused of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment, including non-consensual kissing or groping, by at least 25 women since the 1970s.

          The Republican Party has called on Cuomo to resign. GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel referenced the report and tweeted, “Cuomo should resign.” The first two responses to her tweet were, “You should probably sit this one out,” and “This is what accountability looks like.”

          Cuomo should resign because it is the right thing to do. He should also resign because it will make clear that when multiple, credible reports are lodged against a politician widely known for his crude behavior, dismissing the claims of the victims is untenable. Yes, Ms. McDaniel, Cuomo should resign. But so should Trump. There should be no double standard that holds Democrats to a higher code of conduct than Republicans.

Biden tells GOP governors, “Help, or get out of the way.”

          As I noted in yesterday’s newsletter, anger towards anti-vaxxer, anti-maskers is growing. Today, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the media should stop being “judgmental” about people who refuse to vaccinate or mask. Too late for that, Ron. With every preventable death due to the Delta variant resurgence, people are going to judge Republican governors, like you, who resisted public health strategies that could have prevented the deaths.

          On Tuesday, Biden got personal and judgmental as to the Republican governors who are part of the problem. He said

          I say to these governors, please help. If you aren’t going to help, at least get out of the way of people who are trying to do the right thing. Use your power to save lives.

          A reader sent a link to a Bulwark article by Jonathan V. Last that argues that the heavy media criticism of Governor DeSantis is actually good news for him. Last writes,

• Every time DeSantis is criticized by the media, it helps him.

• Every additional death is evidence that he didn’t cave to “the lockdowns.”

• The more people who die on his watch, the greater a testament it is to his fidelity to the cause of modern conservatism.

          Jonathan Last is right—up to a point. And that point is where a family member or a friend dies of Covid after DeSantis soft-pedaled the vaccine and prohibited mask mandates. We don’t know how bad it will get in Florida, but it is currently worse than it has been at any time during the pandemic. If children attending school become seriously ill (or worse) after DeSantis prohibited school mask mandates, grieving parents will blame DeSantis. Although many in the media are lionizing DeSantis, recall that he beat Andrew Gillum by only 0.4% (or by 33,000 out of 8.2 million votes cast). It won’t take many preventable deaths to erase that narrow margin of victory for DeSantis. He may be a GOP wunderkind, but there aren’t enough GOP votes to elect him in Florida or nationally. He needs Independents, many of whom are immune to his efforts to out‑Trump Trump.

Tucker Carlson prepares the ground at Fox News to embrace of Fascism

          Tucker Carlson is promoting a series of interviews in Hungary, where he is visiting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Carlson is speaking at an event in Hungary designed to train “future right-wing elites,” an event sponsored in part by the Hungarian Prime Minister’s political allies. See Ruth Ben-Ghiat in Lucid, “Tucker Carlson & Viktor Orbán Plan Our Fascist Future - by Ruth Ben-Ghiat.” Carlson is giving Prime Minister Orbán glowing press, which is worrisome. As Ben-Ghiat writes,

          Orbán's embrace of ethno-nationalism ("Hungary for the Hungarians”) anti-Semitism (anchored in his obsession with destroying his former friend George Soros) and defense of “Christendom” and white European heritage have made him a beacon of the far right, and Budapest into a hub for a new generation of extremists. So have his "pro-family," and anti-LBGTQ+ policies.

Heather Cox Richardson noted in her August 2nd letter that Republicans look to Orbán as a model for concentrating power in their dwindling base. She writes,

          As soon as [Orbán] retook office in 2010, he began to establish control over the media, cracking down on those critical of his party, Fidesz, and rewarding those who toed the party line. In 2012, his supporters rewrote the country’s constitution to strengthen his hand, and extreme gerrymandering gave his party more power while changes to election rules benefited his campaigns.

          Sound familiar? Tucker Carlson is modeling the future for the Republican Party by praising an anti-democratic, anti-Semitic, white nationalist who has manipulated his country’s election laws to remain in power. Fox News and Tucker Carlson are threats to democracy—brought to you by GlaxoSmithKline, Liberty Mutual, General Motors, Procter & Gamble, Intuit, NortonLifeLock, Nestle, Kraft Heinz, Progressive, Charles Schwab, Toyota, and Subaru. See Action Network, “Tell these advertisers to stop funding Fox News now.”

Concluding Thoughts.

Two other commentators are using the label “failed coup” to describe Trump’s request to the DOJ to “say” the election was corrupt. See Robert Reich in The Guardian, “A Trump bombshell quietly dropped last week. And it should shock us all.” Reich writes, “Make no mistake: this was an attempted coup.” So, too, with Chris Hayes, who tweeted on Tuesday, “It was a failed coup.” Hayes was commenting on the latest unsettling revelation that acting Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Clark had prepared a letter to Georgia from the DOJ urging the state to stop the certification of Biden’s win. The draft letter stated, in part,

          [W]e share with you our view that the Georgia General Assembly has implied authority under the Constitution of the United States to call itself into special session for [t]he limited purpose of considering issues pertaining to the appointment of Presidential Electors.

          The letter was never sent, and it would have been an abomination for the DOJ to advise a state to overturn certified election results. But if the DOJ had sent the letter, it would have plunged the nation into political chaos. (The coup would not have succeeded; at most, it would have delayed Biden’s inauguration and Nancy Pelosi would have become Acting President.) As I wrote last week, Trump belongs in prison, not at the top of the Republican 2024 presidential ticket. We must keep reminding our elected representatives that Trump attempted a coup and must be held to account in court for his crimes. Let’s keep up the pressure until members of Congress and the administration begin to pay attention.

          Talk to you tomorrow!