Texas Disaster, Labor Day Thoughts, a Brooks Column Not to be Missed, More Advice to Democrats and Questioning Trump's Racism

Labor Day Thoughts

Labor Day honors those who work.  It originated late in the Nineteenth century when the labor movement in the United States fought pitched battles against not only employers but government forces called in to help companies break their strikes.  There is a sort of nobility in doing a job well, with dignity, and the labor movement recognizes this and on Labor Day, the nation honors it.  Some employers, 140 years ago, thought otherwise, treating the worker as no more than just another resource.  Even today, Personnel Departments have become Human Resource Departments, subtracting some of the dignity the worker deserves, eliminating his “personhood.”  Rabbi Marc Gellman (his syndicated column, the God Squad, appears in many newspapers) points out in a recent column that the Hebrew word for “labor” is “avodah” which is also a word for “prayer.”  There’s a connection between the two and Labor Day celebrates it.

Democrats:  Are You Listening?

This continues my advice to the Democratic Party posted last week (Aug. 28) which may or may not be included at the conclusion of this posting.  If it isn’t, go back and read it by clicking on the appropriate link off to the right (not available on our mobile app)! 

When a Democratic candidate is speaking at a gathering in which he or she is really, in effect, “preaching to the choir,” and does not have a Republican on the platform to directly challenge in regard to support of the President, he should still voice that challenge and demand that his opponent respond!  A Democratic audience need not be told that Democrats are better for Women, Blacks, Latinos, the LGBT community, labor, working people, health care, public education, the environment, the infrastructure, the economic “safety net,” etc.  They already know that!  Their votes are assured.  But remember, these votes were not enough in 2014, 2016 and in State elections for governors and legislatures throughout the nation! 

The schism in the Republican Party between those who are Trump loyalists and traditional Republicans who oppose Trump must be exploited. 

It is a gift to the Democratic Party. When a Republican is forced to say where he stands in regard to Trump, he automatically loses some of the votes from Republicans who think the other way. Let me repeat that: When a Republican is forced to say where he stands in regard to Trump, he automatically loses some of the votes from Republicans who think the other way.  And any loss in the number of Republican votes benefits the Democratic candidate.

We all know where the Democratic Party stands in regard to the issues named above, particularly the first four: Women, Blacks, Latinos and the LGBT community.  Strongly advocating positions to benefit these groups, which I would call “identity politics,” while consistently part of a Democratic platform, unfortunately will provide ammunition for the Republican Party and the extremists within it to use against Democrats.  It will energize them, as it did in 2016. “See, they’re playing the race card, or the sexist card, or the gay card,” they’ll gloat.  And the gullible, America's covert bigots, will fall for this, as they did in 2016.

Steve Bannon, now back at Breitbart, said that the best thing for the Republicans would be for the Democrats to include “racial” issues in their campaigning.  For example, Democrats know that voter suppression is wrong.  Many Republicans, however, claim that what Democrats see as voter suppression measures are merely attempts to curtail “voter fraud” (which we know is practically non-existent). They take Democratic opposition to such “voter fraud” measures as Democratic efforts to turn it into a “racial” issue.” This strengthens their resolve to fight for measures to curtail “voter fraud,” and brings out the bigots among them to rallies and to the polls. Bannon is correct.  He knows his customers. That’s why Democrats should soft-pedal such issues, even though their position on them is crystal clear.  They energize the Republican base, which we know is contaminated with bigotry and hatred.

Democrats should strongly focus on the one issue which will win for them in 2018 and 2020 and that is Donald J. Trump.  That bears repeating.  Democrats should strongly focus on the one issue which will win for them in 2018 and 2020 and that is Donald J. Trump.  One more time!   Democrats should strongly focus on the one issue which will win for them in 2018 and 2020 and that is Donald J. Trump.

The other issues are important, but demanding that Republicans state their position, either for or against the President, is the one strategy that will make Democrats all over the country winners again.  One more time:  Democrats should strongly focus on the one issue which will win for them in 2018 and 2020 and that is Donald J. Trump!  

Once rid of a Republican-controlled Congress (2018) and rid of a Republican White House (2020), Democrats will be able to roll up their sleeves and get what has to be done, done!   And America will end its flirtation with authoritarianism!

Jack Lippman

A David Brooks Column

Conservative columnist David Brooks recently concluded that "as long as he (Trump) is in power, the G.O.P. is a house viciously divided against itself, and cannot stand." Read his entire New York Times column leading to this conclusion BY CLICKING RIGHT HERE. (This is why I've taken the position stated directly above.)

JL

To Be or Not to Be a Racist?

Could it be that Donald Trump is not a racist?  After all, his daughter and son-in-law are Jewish.  And how could anyone growing up in New York, where Jews and Blacks and every other minority are part of the daily scene be a racist?  Not Donald. 

True, his father was careful as to whom he rented his apartments … but that wasn’t because Fred Trump was a racist.  It was because a lot of his tenants were racists, some openly, some covertly, and he didn’t want to offend them.  That would cost him money in his pocket, so his racial renting practices were only in place to keep tenants he believed to be racists happy. Did that make him a racist? 

Donald and Fred Trump

When Donald Trump says there were a “many fine people” among the racist Nazi demonstrators in Charlottesville, and when he pardons racist ex-sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona, it isn’t because he himself is a racist. Ask him.  No way.  But a lot of his supporters are indeed racists, some openly, some covertly, and he doesn’t want to offend them.  That would cost him supporters and votes, should he run again, so what he says and does are only spoken and done to keep his racist supporters happy.  Just like his dad.  But does that make him a racist?  Does catering to the prejudices of racists because they serve one’s personal needs make one a racist? When does expediency "trump" morality?

Before you start to make up your mind, dwell on this thought. When someone moves to a place with “better” schools, or chooses to make sacrifices to send their children to a private school, it sometimes is because the school their children would normally attend is “under-achieving,” usually because of a student body which is racially mixed, drawing from a wide range of socio-economic populations.  Does doing that make a parent a racist, at least covertly?  Before we go too far in calling Donald Trump a racist, we should remember that people in glass houses should not throw stones. 

JL

Texas Flooding

In referring the the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey, FEMA Administrator Brock Long said the other day that “This is going to be an incredibly large disaster.  We’re not going to know the true cost for years to come … but it‘s going to be huge.”  

I couldn’t agree more, and parenthetically note that Long’s use of the word “huge” is accurate and not the usually meaningless exaggeration which the President imparts to that word.

On TV, we’ve all seen the number of homes which have been inundated with water in southeast Texas.  If any of you have experienced, or know someone who has experienced, water damage in their home from a broken pipe, you know that it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to make such homes habitable again.  Using a minimal cost of $100,000 (and that is a low-ball number) to rehabilitate at least 100,000 such damaged homes across Texas and parts of Louisiana, I come up with a figure of at least ten billion dollars.

And from what I’ve seen on TV, this number may be understated, including those which are beyond repair and which will have to be razed.  They spread eastward from Corpus Christi, Texas, all the way into neighboring Louisiana. The damage goes far beyond what you've seen on TV in Houston.

These numbers do not include personal property which has been lost nor the economic cost of businesses and jobs which have been temporarily, or possibly permanently, affected.   Hurricane Katrina’s total cost back in 2005, and the bills are still being paid, was about 190 billion!  The current flooding seems to me to be much worse and more extensive so I sense that the damage from Harvey and the resulting flooding will ultimately exceed the cost of Katrina.  Brock Long might have tacked on an adverb and predicted that the cost will be “unbelievably huge.”

Who pays for this?  As wonderful as volunteers have been, after the waters recede their role in restoring what has been lost due to flooding is minimal.  Other than continuing to arrange for temporary shelters, this is not the job for the Red Cross nor similar groups.  Insurance policies almost always exclude damage from “rising waters” and limit “hurricane damage” as well.  Unless required by a mortgage lender, most homes do not have government subsidized flood insurance to fill this gap, particularly those in areas not usually considered flood prone.  And for the one in eight homeowners who do have flood insurance, that coverage’s maximum is $250,000.  Of course, those people who rent the places where they live face a more difficult problem since the restroration of their homes is their landlord's problem, over which they have little control.  And these are the kind of people with more limited financial resources upon which to draw to get their lives back in order.

So, beyond what insurance payments there will be, the rest of the cost will have to be covered by people reaching into their family savings planned for college expenses and retirement, or government loans or grants, the nature of which it will be up to Congress to determine.  There is certain to be some squabbling over this as some in Congress try, as they unsuccessfully did with aid for New York and New Jersey when Sandy struck a few years back, to include other items in the legislation.  While I doubt that the President will attempt to tie his "Mexican Wall" fantasy to relief legislation, others are already lining up to combine it with an increase in the debt ceiling, something that will draw the ire of some conservative Republicans, and perhaps delay passage of legislation dealing with this crisis.  I feel that ultimately, Congress will appropriate just what is needed, and not much more.  (Over the years, however, continuing appropriations will multiply the amount which Congress initially comes up with at least tenfold, using Katrina as a benchmark.)

The President, along with making requests for prayer, has supported efforts to aid victims of Harvey and the resulting flooding. 

He even has visited areas in Texas on more than one occasion.  But along with doing this, he found time to make a political speech (at a tax-payer paid event) in Springfield, Missouri, at a time when, at least in my opinion, he should have been devoting himself more wholeheartedly to the disaster in Texas.  What he has failed to transmit was the perception of a daily, continuing, “hands-on” involvement on his part, something which might have done his image more good than his two visits to Texas did. 

Several years after Hurricane Katrina, it was determined that the population of New Orleans has decreased about 25%, particularly in Afro-American neighborhoods.  I anticipate a similar decrease in Houston and the other flood-damaged areas in Texas as some people decide to emigrate to other areas of the country where they might find temporary housing with relatives, and seek out a fresh start in life.

As FEMA Administrator Brock Long says, the aftermath of Harvey and its resulting flooding will remain a huge problem for years.  I do anticipate, however, that it will not affect the voting habits of Texans who for years have voted against government involvement in their lives, including protective zoning and building codes which just might have mitigated some of the damage done by Harvey.  They will, however, be glad to accept whatever succor the Federal government provides, avoiding acknowledging its source, and continue to vote Republican, go to football games and pray a lot.
Jack Lippman

Flood Relief Donation Center

From a New York Times article published last week, here is a list of national organizations to which you can donate to help provide disaster relief in Texas. Remember, there are crooks and scammers already trying to turn this disaster to their advantage.  They are no better than the criminal looters who appear in situations such as this. Rather than respond to social media or email requests to donate, you should initiate your making a contribution by directly accessing one of these groups yourself.

The American Red Cross is accepting donations on its website. You can also text HARVEY to 90999 to donate $10.

AmeriCares takes medicine and supplies to survivors.

Catholic Charities provides food, clothing, shelter and support services to those from all religious backgrounds.

Direct Relief is shipping medicine and medical supplies to Texas, and has made its entire medical inventory of more than $100 million available for the Harvey relief effort.

Matthew 25: Ministries is distributing personal care kits, cleaning products, first aid and safety kits, diapers, paper products and tarps.

Donations to the Salvation Army can be made online, by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769) or texting STORM to 51555.

Save the Children is delivering baby supplies, including cribs and strollers, and setting up child-friendly spaces in shelters.

AABB, which coordinates a task force to manage blood collection efforts during disasters, put out a call on Sunday for blood donations in the aftermath of Harvey. Most in demand: those with type O-positive blood.

Those interested in donating blood may contact the following organizations:

• AABB: 301-907-6977• America’s Blood Centers • American Red Cross: 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767)• Armed Services Blood Program: 703-681-5979

Online-only organizations

Airbnb is waiving service fees for those affected by the disaster and checking in between Aug. 23 and Sept. 25, and can guide users in creating a listing where their home is offered to victims free.

GoFundMe has created a page with all of its Harvey-related campaigns, including one started by the country singer Chris Young, who donated $100,000, and another created by the president and chief executive of the Rockport-Fulton Chamber of Commerce.

YouCaring has a fund-raising page set up by J. J. Watt of the Houston Texans with a goal of $10 million. By 9:30 p.m. Wednesday it had raised more than $7 million.

GlobalGiving’s Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund supports local organizations by helping to “meet survivors’ immediate needs for food, fuel, clean water, hygiene products and shelter.” It will also assist with longer-term recovery efforts.

JL

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