Robert Redford's Letter and The President's State of the Union Speech
Last
week, Robert Redford, wrote a letter to many American newspapers, including the
Palm Beach Post, where I read
it. A copy, courtesy of the Salt Lake City Tribune, can be read by
CLICKING HERE. Redford, clearly aware of
the President’s manifest deficiencies, feels that the likelihood of impeachment
is mired in politics, and fears that the report of Special Counsel Mueller will
similarly be bogged down once released.
Instead, he urges Americans not to be detracted by these things and to
start working vigorously right now to make things right through the electoral
process in 2020. That is the path he
recommends. Read the article. Click here.
While
Redford is right about the necessity of becoming politically active right now,
aiming toward 2020, I happen to disagree with him about possible
impeachment. I feel that going for it
now will not impede the 2020 electoral process. Even if stalled in the Senate, impeachment
proceedings will at least force some Republicans who really oppose Trump but
fear primary challenges from the right, to at last be honest with themselves
and their constituents. To some extent,
impeachment might unify Trump’s base, but in Congress and among the population,
that base will be shrunken because of
the overwhelming evidence the process will reveal.
If
impeachment is successful in the Senate leaving us with a President Pence, it
would at least replace the fraud in the White House with someone who understands
politics and government, despite his adherence to many positions I oppose. He
at least appears to know the rules of the game, something which Trump does
not. So, efforts at impeachment should
not be abandoned. At a minimum, they
will keep the pot boiling.
The
thrust of the Republican position in 2020 will be that, basically, the world is
at peace, the economy is growing and unemployment is decreasing, so why change
things.
 |
| Trump Addressing Congress |
Bear in
mind that threats to peace from North Korea, Russia and Iran remain, that nuclear
limitation agreements with Iran and Russia are being thrown aside, that the unity
of NATO and the solidity of the European Community are being threatened and
that Syria and Yemen remain open wounds.
Worldwide, democracy is being challenged by autocracy, to which the
President is more than friendly. Our
economy is being threatened by China which takes pleasure in our withdrawing
from globalization, leaving the way open for them. Wages here, despite job
increases, have not kept up with prices, and gross income disparities have made
the plight of America’s have-nots, even the ones with jobs, more painful. We have yet to establish a firm handle on
control of the country’s healthcare costs and the restoring of our deteriorating
infrastructure. Regulations to protect
our citizenry and our environment, including undeniable climate change,
eviscerated by Republicans,
cannot be ignored either. Republican claims that things are going very well,
as Trump did in his State of the Union speech, are not to be taken
seriously. That just is not true. Stacey Abrams’ Democratic “Response” remarks
made that clear.
 |
| Abrams |
And aside from Trump’s State of the Union
speech’s attacks on abortion rights and his fear-mongering description of those
seeking asylum at our Southern border, the address also attacked the
investigative process which is slowly creeping toward the Oval Office. He
commented that “an economic miracle is taking
place in the United States and the only things that can stop it are foolish
wars, politics, or ridiculous partisan investigations."
Going
further in this vein, he offered a very confused (and rhyming) equation which
compared the very obvious claim that war is what impedes peace with the
illogical analogy that investigation is what prevents legislation. (The
President’s actual words were “If there is going to be peace and legislation,
there cannot be war and investigation.”) I suppose he believes the
work of Special Counsel Mueller and the various Congressional committees
charged with the responsibility of investigation are what prevents the
reactionary laws he wants passed from being enacted.
Let’s get
rid of Trump as soon as possible, by impeachment or otherwise, and turn to the
job of making America great again, the way it was on the way to being before
the Republicans were stupid enough to nominate Donald Trump as their candidate and
millions of gullible, Fox News-fed Americans, deceived by Russian meddling in
our election process, were foolish enough to vote for him.
 |
| Vladimir Putin |
The role of Russia is not just conjecture. It has been proven. That’s what our counter-intelligence experts keep telling Trump but he won’t listen.
I agree
with the President’s concluding plea for Americans to “Choose Greatness.” But
the presence of Trump in the Presidency is the antithesis of that. He is clearly the worst President the country
has ever been forced to suffer, a sad and unqualified figure who makes slavery-sympathetic
Andrew Johnson and underhanded Richard Nixon seem angelic.
(Followers
of this blog know that I advocate Impeachment,
followed by indictment and Conviction,
followed by, in lieu of incarceration, Exile. In short, I.C.E.
This is what our system of justice can serially and legally accomplish. I am sure Russia or Saudi Arabia would
welcome him as a resident.)
Jack Lippman
The Blackface Discussion
 |
| Olivier as Othello - 1965 |
Throughout
history, theatrical and operatic performers have used blackface when playing
the role of a person of color. In the
1965 film “Othello,” Sir Laurence Olivier played the leading role in blackface.
Today, the presence of many highly
skilled Black actors and singers has made blackface a thing of the past in casting
those roles. But historically, the use
of blackface in theatre and opera has never been the cause of recrimination.
In the
United States with its history of Black slavery, however, in addition to such historically
acceptable theatrical uses of blackface, it has been used to by musicians and comedians whose humor
included a stereotyped imitation of American Blacks as ignorant and comical
characters. It took a century after the
end of Black slavery in this country for this practice to be recognized as
insulting and repugnant.
Apparently, it
lasted somewhat longer than that in the South, even among educated people. Even in Al Jolson’s sympathetic rendition of
“Mammy,” his use of blackface when assuming the role of a man of color when singing
it, while acceptable in the 1920s, would be totally unacceptable today.
 |
| Joelson Singing "Mammy" |
 |
| Virginia Governor Northam |
Clearly,
the use of blackface in any performance during the past half century or so in
this country which makes fun of Black people identifies the performer as a
racist. Whether it can be disregarded as
a “youthful indiscretion” might depend on the life the supposed racist
subsequently led. Otherwise, it is
inexcusable.
JL
The National Enquirer, Jeff Bezos, David Pecker, and Potentially, Someone Else
 |
| Bezos |
Diverting
from its usual role publicizing scandal among show business and political
people, the National Enquirer recently
publicized Amazon billionaire businessman Jeff Bezos’ recent divorce. Angered by this article, which was a strange
departure from the type of people the Enquirer
usual “exposes,” Bezos proceeded to investigate how the Enquirer obtained the information used in the article. This did not sit well with them. AMI, the Enquirer’s publisher, then demanded
that Bezos cease his investigations and take back his claim that they had
political motivation, threatening further exposure including the release of
embarrassing photographs if he did not, an act which in the eyes of some,
borders on extortion or blackmail. Bezos
has gone public with AMI’s threats.
This just
scratches the surface. There is much,
much more going on here! Note the
following facts, and they are facts:
(1) We
know that AMI has entered into a cooperation agreement with the Federal
 |
| A Lovely Couple |
(2) We
know that, again departing from its usual menu of show business and political
scandal, the Enquirer published an issue a few months ago lavishly praising the current leader of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed
Bin Salman, supposed friend of Trump son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner. (The Saudi prince is suspected of being
implicated in the recent murder of Washington
Post contributor, Jamal Khashoggi.)
(3) We
know that David Pecker, AMI CEO, has access to material in that company’s
“safe” which it has not published, and which the Southern District’s staff
knows includes the McDougal article and potentially other unpublished material related to Donald
Trump, with whom Pecker has had a long relationship.
(4) We
know that among Amazon billionaire Bezos’ holdings is the Washington Post, a newspaper in the forefront of criticism of
President Trump and which is still investigating the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
(5) We
know that Bezos’ investigation was aimed at finding out how AMI’s Enquirer obtained the information which
they published about his divorce.
 |
| This is What Moved Bezos to Act |
These are
the facts. From here on in, it's conjecture. This
is where two and two (or actually the “facts” numbered 1 to 5 above) get put together. Why was AMI so interested in getting Bezos to
end his investigation, even to the point of risking being charged with
extortion or blackmail and losing its immunity in the McDougal matter? That is the real question!
With his unlimited resources, Bezos (the
world’s richest man) is able to fund the kind of investigation which would go
much, much deeper than how the Enquirer obtained
the information about his divorce and mistress.
Were they afraid it would also go so far as unearthing the thus-far
unspecified and unknown material locked in AMI’s safe? Only time will tell.
More Conjecture: If an investigator from the Federal
Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York ever gets to question
David Pecker further, will he ask if the information locked in that “safe”
includes something, however obtained, gotten from someone whose first name is
Christopher? If the answer is “yes,” that might explain why AMI and Pecker are willing to take such a great risk and, of course, the
game will be over and Robert Mueller can go home. Checkmate.
This will
all be in a movie someday and it will win an Academy Award.
Meanwhile
you can do your part by not patronizing any supermarket which peddles the National Enquirer or the Globe (which is also an AMI publication)
at its checkout counters. I doubt that
many followers of this blog read them, but a lot of Trump voters do. That figures.
JL
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