One of my favorite comedians is Mike Birbiglia. He still performs regularly, but he's doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work these days. The album of his that always sticks out is one titled "What I Should Have Said Is Nothing." Here's a link to an excerpt with a perfect example starting around the 3:27 mark.
Anyway, that's what I kept thinking about the Trump-Gold Star family dispute. At multiple times, Trump could have saved himself by Saying Nothing.
Let's start at the beginning. Four Green Berets died in Niger after an ambush by ISIS-connected attackers. Sgt. LaDavid Johnson's body was found nearly a mile away from the other three Green Berets. We, the public, still don't know much about this ambush. We don't know what the Green Berets were doing there, what happened, etc. There was nearly two weeks of public silence by the Trump Administration about the incident.
At some point, President Trump calls the soldier's (pregnant) widow Myeshia Johnson, with Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson in the room as well. The White House has not refuted reports that Trump said Sgt. Johnson "knew what he was getting into, but I guess it still hurt" and that he seemed not to know Sgt. Johnson's name. Rep. Wilson tweeted about those things as a criticism of Trump. What Trump and his allies could have said... was nothing.
Instead, Trump attacked Rep. Wilson over the course of the week and the two battled over who was telling the truth. Trump called her "wacky" and a surrogate, Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly, alluded to her as an "empty barrel."
But both Trump and Kelly stepped into further issues in their attempts to defend Trump's phone call. What they should have said... was nothing. They didn't have to drag in other people. Yet that's what happened.
First Trump claimed that he called ALL the Gold Star families killed under his watch, whereas his predecessors had not. That was a) false, since Trump hadn't called all the Gold Star families under his watch, and b) both Bush and Obama had called nearly all the Gold Star families AND visited soldiers in the veteran's hospital. As far as I know, President Trump hasn't visited the veteran's hospital. It was an ugly fight to have over an issue that presidents should absolutely not be fighting over. It's shameful.
Then, as if to double down on his previous claim, told the media to ask Gen. Kelly if Obama had called him when his son had died in battle. He didn't directly answer that during a press conference (though it appears he has confirmed that claim later). But again: We're now fighting not just over, in effect, "Who Cared About Fallen Soldier's Families More," but we're dragging people into it that didn't necessarily want to be in the conversation.
Anyway, Gen. Kelly had a press conference and used that opportunity, while calling Rep. Wilson an "empty barrel," to tell a story about how Rep. Wilson (unnamed, but clearly her) had once touted her own success in securing the funding for an FBI field office in Miami. He was intentionally derogatory to her in telling this story, let's be clear. What he could have said about her... was nothing. The problem is that the speech is on video. And she did not tout her success in securing the funding for the field office, she said merely how she helped get it renamed after fallen FBI agents. In fact, she wasn't in office when the funding was secured and said as such in the speech. Yet Sarah Huckabee Sanders said something to the effect of "Yeah, but she said it when no one was taping... and backstage," which was... you don't have to keep doubling down on a lie.
My point to all of this is that this scandal could have gone away much faster. It could have been less messy, involved fewer people, kept the President of the United States out of mudslinging with uninvolved people, and generally been less of a disaster if only... they had said nothing.
Fall of Raqqa
For the life of me, I can't figure out why this wasn't the lead story on any of the major news sites. Fox News had it buried at the bottom of the front page, CNN had it listed as the third story, and NBC News had it as the fourth or fifth. I couldn't find it at all on ABC News, and CBS News had it in the third or fourth spot.
It's shocking, because here's the story: ISIS lost its capital. U.S.-backed troops (NOT U.S. troops) have been highly successful in pushing ISIS out. ISIS is losing. ISIS is already pushed out of Iraq almost entirely, and now the Syrian Democratic Force (Kurds + local Arabs) has pushed ISIS out of its own capital in Syria. The ISIS territory is now limited to a few pockets in Syria and a larger pocket along the Iraq-Syria border and the banks of the Euphrates — but without a true stronghold.
ISIS is losing, folks. If we give credit to Obama for killing bin Laden, then we have to give credit to Trump for ISIS losing much of its territory, even if the plans were already in the works. It's a success, and he deserves credit for it. Which is strange: This is arguably Trump's most successful accomplishment yet, and a man of his ego is not making a big deal of it. This is the same guy that threw a victory party on the White House lawn for passing a health care bill through the House before it went to the Senate. I'm honestly more shocked that he's not touting this more.
Flake and Corker Don't Impress Me Much
Two of the most outspoken Republican critics of Donald Trump have recently announced they will not seek re-election. Both Jeff Flake and Bob Corker, who have each been at odds with the President over his style, substance and various other reasons, have said their time will soon be up. A third, John McCain, is unlikely to make it to another term because of his unfortunate brain cancer diagnosis.
With the exception of Sen. McCain, Flake and Corker appear to be either a) emboldened to speak out against Trump because they don't have to worry about re-election or b) cowed into not running for re-election because of their anti-Trump stance. I don't think either option is particularly healthy for our country. Any president needs checks, and the most powerful checks on presidential power often come from one's own party — especially when one's party controls both houses of Congress. But neither reasoning is a good sign for Flake and Corker, either. It means either they were too cowardly to speak out before now or they are too cowardly to stand by their stances. If they believe what they were saying, shouldn't they be willing to die on that particular hill?
Summary Judgments
CNN had an interesting story from Iran: Trump's rhetoric has united the country against the U.S. There was and is an opportunity in Iran, as there is a deep rift between moderates and conservatives. But Trump's words, both belligerent and geographical in nature, have pushed even the moderates to an anti-U.S. stance. • • • Please read this interesting piece by The New Yorker on the possibility of a President Pence. Be careful what you wish for, as there's a lot of terrifying things there, including Trump joking that Pence wants to hang gay people. He jokes about that. • • • I linked to this story last week, but what powerful reporting from a 15-year-old in Texas, interviewing a man who calls the Border Patrol on immigrants. • • • I almost never recommend people read comments. But when Ivanka Trump revealed she had a "punk phase" in which she listened to grunge music (not punk) before Kurt Cobain died (she was 12 1/2 when he died) and died her hair blue, it sparked some hilarious comments in at least one site. I don't care about proving her right or wrong and it doesn't change my view of her at all. My point is: The comments were hilarious on that one. • • • Best wildlife photos of 2017. • • • Does the Trump decision to drop insurance subsidy payments sound confusing? Then this short video will explain why it's short-sighted and simply punitive. • • • I haven't been running. I need to start, but starting again is harder now that it's dark early in the morning and I don't like running in the dark. • • • We've finally gotten a reprieve from the every-morning madness of Little Einsteins. We have a new favorite at Casa del Nash: P.J. Masks. However, Roland can't quite remember the name of the show. "Can we watch Three Jay Masts?" "Can we watch T.J. Maxx?" Usually he gets it right on the third try or so, but it's fun to watch him stammer for the right words.
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Puerto Rico and Compassion
Editor's note: Thanks for sticking with me. I was at my sister-in-law's wedding last week, so I couldn't write. And it's been a bit hard to want to write about topics that are ripe for discussion than just lead to anger. Thanks for your patience.
Let's talk about Puerto Rico for a little bit. I noted three weeks ago on my Facebook profile that Puerto Rico would be roughly the 30th largest state based on population if it were a state. It puts them behind Oklahoma and Connecticut and ahead of Iowa and Utah.
But what I didn't say was that the population for Puerto Rico is a bit hard to pin down right now. Most estimates are between 3.3 and 3.5 million people, but that's down from nearly 4 million a few years ago. Years of economic turmoil and overbearing U.S. regulations have hurt Puerto Rico, and many people have fled the island territory for the U.S. mainland. Some of those problems could have been solved if they were a state, but the U.S. does not seem to desire that. An estimated 500,000 people from Puerto Rico are now living on the mainland — if they moved back, Puerto Rico would be roughly the size of Oregon or Oklahoma in population. As far as area goes, Puerto Rico is roughly the size of Connecticut — one of the smallest states.
But the truth is the island territory is in trouble, and our President has not been helpful. He's picked an unnecessary fight with the mayor of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, who had been begging for help. And today, in three short tweets, he seemed to blame Puerto Rico for problems that already existed and imply that he'd pull FEMA, the military and first responders from the island. He seemed to brag that Puerto Rico "only" had 16 deaths, even though that number was incredibly preliminary and has already risen to 43. Add to that the terrible video of him seemingly using paper towels as free-throw practice (and having to be told not to do the same with canned chicken), and it seems as if Trump doesn't care.
It's a sharp contrast with the President's response in Texas and Florida. In case it appears I'm not being clear here, let me be explicit: The President did a good job in Texas and Florida. It's an easy bar to clear, but he's not meeting it in Puerto Rico. On the contrary, vice president Mike Pence is saying and doing the right things there. He said last week that "We will be here for the long haul." It's sad that our own president is failing to meet an easy test that's being met by his own vice president.
Maybe comparison — and the quick turnaround with Texas and Florida — is part of the problem. This interesting chart by CNN (scroll down) shows that when Irma hit Florida, 60 percent of the customers lost power. However, within 7 days, it was almost entirely restored. Puerto Rico lost power to 100 percent of its customers to Maria, and no power at all was restored for eight days. Even now, nearly a month after Maria, Puerto Rico still has 83 percent of its customers without power. Cell phone service is only now restored to 22 percent of sites. There is some positive news: Nearly 90 percent of supermarkets are open and nearly 80 percent of gas stations, too. Roughly 60 percent of banks are back open. But then another statistic hits hard: 63 percent of Puerto Ricans do not have drinkable water. Nearly 2 out of every 3 people! And we're a month after Maria!
Since Connecticut is a good comparison to Puerto Rico both on population and size, can you imagine if all of Connecticut were without power for 8 days, still only had 17 percent power a month later, and only 2/3 of the state had drinkable water. That's what we're dealing with in Puerto Rico! It's just as much part of the USA as Connecticut, and yet the President is too busy being critical to be helpful.
Years from now — perhaps decades —we will likely not remember the details of Trump's battles on Twitter with Sen. Bob Corker or late night talk show hosts or (predicting here) Santa Claus. But I hope that we will remember that when it came to Puerto Rico, President Trump lacked even the most basic of compassion for well more than a month.
Chiefs
What's been surprising about the Chiefs' 5-0 start is something I haven't heard a lot of people discuss: this has been the hard part of the schedule. The Chiefs' schedule is very, very front-loaded. The Patriots, the Steelers, the Eagles, the Redskins, the Cowboys and the Broncos are all playoff-caliber teams, and they're all before the Chiefs' bye week in week 10. Then things get a lot easier.
After the bye week, the Chiefs play the (now) 0-5 Giants, the Bills and struggling Jets, then face three floundering teams in Kansas City: the Raiders, Chargers and Dolphins. The season finishes with a trip to Denver, probably the only tough game on paper from the last seven games of the season. Let's be super conservative here and say the Chiefs only go 5-1 against the Giants-Dolphins teams. Let's even say the Chiefs lose in the last game at Denver. That would put the Chiefs at 10-2 barring the next four games — usually guaranteed a playoff spot. But if we're not conservative, let's say the Chiefs sweep those six terrible teams to be 11-1, which would mean we're talking playoff seeding rather than just making the playoffs.
So the next four games will go a long way to determining playoff seeding, and they're not easy games. First is the Chiefs' bug-a-boo in the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers are coming off a terrible performance against the Jaguars and haven't looked great. If the Steelers are going to bounce back, this would be a great time to show their spine. Then the Chiefs have a quick turnaround to the West Coast to play the Raiders. Derek Carr probably won't be back for that game and the Raiders aren't doing well without him (they also have the 31st-ranked defense). Then the Chiefs have an extra few days to prepare for the Broncos in Arrowhead on Monday Night Football. Then the Chiefs go at Dallas to round out the pre-bye week schedule. The Cowboys quietly have one of the worst defenses in the league, currently ranked 29th out of 32. Each of those four games are winnable, though, especially since the Chiefs have already beaten the 2nd, 5th and 6th ranked teams in the league.
What worries me is the increasing number of injuries, which may hurt the Chiefs in the next four weeks. 2/5 of our starting offensive line is injured, and you could make a decent argument for 3/5. Starting wide receiver Chris Conley is out for the year. Travis Kelce has a concussion. And that's just the offense, and I didn't even mention Spencer Ware's injury (since Kareem Hunt is amazing). As for the defense, Eric Berry being out for the year was a serious hit. Justin Houston has calf spasms and hasn't practiced much. Dee Ford has missed a few games. There's good news though: some players will come back. When Mitch Morse and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif come back, the offense should be even more dynamic. The defense is the team's weak point, and keeping Justin Houston on the field is important. Without someone pressuring the QB, the secondary without Eric Berry will be picked apart. But Steven Nelson, arguably our 2nd or 3rd best CB, might be back soon, too.
In short: hold on for the next four weeks, Chiefs. Then it gets a lot easier.
Summary Judgments
This was a thoughtful piece by pillar of journalism Dan Rather. • • • The U.S. withdrew from UNESCO under the Trump administration. UNESCO is the United Nations cultural organization (it's how you get UNESCO World Heritage sites, etc.). The arguments for pulling out seem fairly weak and only diminishes the U.S.'s ability to negotiate or to effectuate the reform they claim to want. Along with the decision to pull out of the Paris Accords, it makes me feel like the Trump Administration just doesn't want to be in the Room When It Happens (Hamilton reference!) • • • I haven't run since Sept. 23. I feel very fat right now. • • • OK. Sweet moment with Evie last night. We're kind of trying to get her to give up her pacifiers, which are usually the only thing that calms her down. We've already limited them to her room and long trips (>3 hours in the car). Last night, I told her that pacifiers are for babies, and since she's not a baby anymore — she's a big girl — she should give her pacifiers up to someone who needs them. She took the one out of her mouth and gave it to me then walked over to the cubbie where her other one was, took it out and brought it to me, too. My heart broke for how sweet she was being. Of course, we had a little rough bedtime, but she made it. We'll see if it sticks.
Let's talk about Puerto Rico for a little bit. I noted three weeks ago on my Facebook profile that Puerto Rico would be roughly the 30th largest state based on population if it were a state. It puts them behind Oklahoma and Connecticut and ahead of Iowa and Utah.
But what I didn't say was that the population for Puerto Rico is a bit hard to pin down right now. Most estimates are between 3.3 and 3.5 million people, but that's down from nearly 4 million a few years ago. Years of economic turmoil and overbearing U.S. regulations have hurt Puerto Rico, and many people have fled the island territory for the U.S. mainland. Some of those problems could have been solved if they were a state, but the U.S. does not seem to desire that. An estimated 500,000 people from Puerto Rico are now living on the mainland — if they moved back, Puerto Rico would be roughly the size of Oregon or Oklahoma in population. As far as area goes, Puerto Rico is roughly the size of Connecticut — one of the smallest states.
But the truth is the island territory is in trouble, and our President has not been helpful. He's picked an unnecessary fight with the mayor of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, who had been begging for help. And today, in three short tweets, he seemed to blame Puerto Rico for problems that already existed and imply that he'd pull FEMA, the military and first responders from the island. He seemed to brag that Puerto Rico "only" had 16 deaths, even though that number was incredibly preliminary and has already risen to 43. Add to that the terrible video of him seemingly using paper towels as free-throw practice (and having to be told not to do the same with canned chicken), and it seems as if Trump doesn't care.
It's a sharp contrast with the President's response in Texas and Florida. In case it appears I'm not being clear here, let me be explicit: The President did a good job in Texas and Florida. It's an easy bar to clear, but he's not meeting it in Puerto Rico. On the contrary, vice president Mike Pence is saying and doing the right things there. He said last week that "We will be here for the long haul." It's sad that our own president is failing to meet an easy test that's being met by his own vice president.
Maybe comparison — and the quick turnaround with Texas and Florida — is part of the problem. This interesting chart by CNN (scroll down) shows that when Irma hit Florida, 60 percent of the customers lost power. However, within 7 days, it was almost entirely restored. Puerto Rico lost power to 100 percent of its customers to Maria, and no power at all was restored for eight days. Even now, nearly a month after Maria, Puerto Rico still has 83 percent of its customers without power. Cell phone service is only now restored to 22 percent of sites. There is some positive news: Nearly 90 percent of supermarkets are open and nearly 80 percent of gas stations, too. Roughly 60 percent of banks are back open. But then another statistic hits hard: 63 percent of Puerto Ricans do not have drinkable water. Nearly 2 out of every 3 people! And we're a month after Maria!
Since Connecticut is a good comparison to Puerto Rico both on population and size, can you imagine if all of Connecticut were without power for 8 days, still only had 17 percent power a month later, and only 2/3 of the state had drinkable water. That's what we're dealing with in Puerto Rico! It's just as much part of the USA as Connecticut, and yet the President is too busy being critical to be helpful.
Years from now — perhaps decades —we will likely not remember the details of Trump's battles on Twitter with Sen. Bob Corker or late night talk show hosts or (predicting here) Santa Claus. But I hope that we will remember that when it came to Puerto Rico, President Trump lacked even the most basic of compassion for well more than a month.
Chiefs
What's been surprising about the Chiefs' 5-0 start is something I haven't heard a lot of people discuss: this has been the hard part of the schedule. The Chiefs' schedule is very, very front-loaded. The Patriots, the Steelers, the Eagles, the Redskins, the Cowboys and the Broncos are all playoff-caliber teams, and they're all before the Chiefs' bye week in week 10. Then things get a lot easier.
After the bye week, the Chiefs play the (now) 0-5 Giants, the Bills and struggling Jets, then face three floundering teams in Kansas City: the Raiders, Chargers and Dolphins. The season finishes with a trip to Denver, probably the only tough game on paper from the last seven games of the season. Let's be super conservative here and say the Chiefs only go 5-1 against the Giants-Dolphins teams. Let's even say the Chiefs lose in the last game at Denver. That would put the Chiefs at 10-2 barring the next four games — usually guaranteed a playoff spot. But if we're not conservative, let's say the Chiefs sweep those six terrible teams to be 11-1, which would mean we're talking playoff seeding rather than just making the playoffs.
So the next four games will go a long way to determining playoff seeding, and they're not easy games. First is the Chiefs' bug-a-boo in the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers are coming off a terrible performance against the Jaguars and haven't looked great. If the Steelers are going to bounce back, this would be a great time to show their spine. Then the Chiefs have a quick turnaround to the West Coast to play the Raiders. Derek Carr probably won't be back for that game and the Raiders aren't doing well without him (they also have the 31st-ranked defense). Then the Chiefs have an extra few days to prepare for the Broncos in Arrowhead on Monday Night Football. Then the Chiefs go at Dallas to round out the pre-bye week schedule. The Cowboys quietly have one of the worst defenses in the league, currently ranked 29th out of 32. Each of those four games are winnable, though, especially since the Chiefs have already beaten the 2nd, 5th and 6th ranked teams in the league.
What worries me is the increasing number of injuries, which may hurt the Chiefs in the next four weeks. 2/5 of our starting offensive line is injured, and you could make a decent argument for 3/5. Starting wide receiver Chris Conley is out for the year. Travis Kelce has a concussion. And that's just the offense, and I didn't even mention Spencer Ware's injury (since Kareem Hunt is amazing). As for the defense, Eric Berry being out for the year was a serious hit. Justin Houston has calf spasms and hasn't practiced much. Dee Ford has missed a few games. There's good news though: some players will come back. When Mitch Morse and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif come back, the offense should be even more dynamic. The defense is the team's weak point, and keeping Justin Houston on the field is important. Without someone pressuring the QB, the secondary without Eric Berry will be picked apart. But Steven Nelson, arguably our 2nd or 3rd best CB, might be back soon, too.
In short: hold on for the next four weeks, Chiefs. Then it gets a lot easier.
Summary Judgments
This was a thoughtful piece by pillar of journalism Dan Rather. • • • The U.S. withdrew from UNESCO under the Trump administration. UNESCO is the United Nations cultural organization (it's how you get UNESCO World Heritage sites, etc.). The arguments for pulling out seem fairly weak and only diminishes the U.S.'s ability to negotiate or to effectuate the reform they claim to want. Along with the decision to pull out of the Paris Accords, it makes me feel like the Trump Administration just doesn't want to be in the Room When It Happens (Hamilton reference!) • • • I haven't run since Sept. 23. I feel very fat right now. • • • OK. Sweet moment with Evie last night. We're kind of trying to get her to give up her pacifiers, which are usually the only thing that calms her down. We've already limited them to her room and long trips (>3 hours in the car). Last night, I told her that pacifiers are for babies, and since she's not a baby anymore — she's a big girl — she should give her pacifiers up to someone who needs them. She took the one out of her mouth and gave it to me then walked over to the cubbie where her other one was, took it out and brought it to me, too. My heart broke for how sweet she was being. Of course, we had a little rough bedtime, but she made it. We'll see if it sticks.
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