Shameful Behavior

The following blog was written by a member of Orange Alert Sunnyvale:

Introduction:

Some of you may know me already, my name is Eric Tuttle, and I am a veteran of the Army infantry in the 101st Airborne Division. I joined ISB right around the planning of the Ro Khanna meeting which my wife, Michelle, and I volunteered to host. I have been very interested in politics, history, and government from a pretty young age.

At 18 I joined the Army for excitement, for a challenge, and to grow up. I was not ready for college at that time, however, I excelled in the Army and in my 3.5 years of service I earned 2 Army Achievement Medals and also an Army Commendation Medal. But I am not here to tell you about my military service.

Reason For Speaking Today:

The reason I’m speaking to you today is in response to the shameful behavior of White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, but more importantly on the issue of whether activists like you all may feel hesitant to criticize active or retired military figures for fear of sounding unpatriotic or anti-military.

Many of you probably followed this story so as you know on Thursday, October 19th, John Kelly, a retired 4-star Marine General from the White House Press Briefing room, gave a scorching defense of Donald Trump for what was reported as a botched condolence call to Myeshia Johnson, wife of Sgt. La David Johnson, who was killed in
the Niger raid. Just as important was his blatantly dishonest character assassination of Rep. Frederica Wilson. Despite what Kelly did its important to realize this is another unforced error by Trump trying to insult President Obama. During a press conference Monday, October 15th, Trump was asked why he hadn’t called the families of the 4 Green Beret Special Forces soldiers killed in Niger. Trump’s vanity and pride again left him exposed by lying about President Obama and his responses to the death of service members. So three days later Kelly was send out for damage control for a story that kept getting worse for Trump. Essentially Kelly admitted Trump botched the call, but tried to give the reason for why Trump made the idiotic comment to the Gold Star widow that “he knew what he signed up for.” Prior to calling Myeshia Johnson, Donald Trump asked John Kelly what to say. Kelly basically said what his casualty officer had told him when his son, 2nd Lieutenant Robert Kelly, was killed in Afghanistan, which is that Robert died doing what he loved and he volunteered to serve so he knew what he signed up for. Donald Trump who has bragged about getting out of serving in Vietnam tells a new widow “he knew what he signed up for.” As a veteran I can tell you Donald Trump has not earned the right to speak to a veteran or a veteran’s family that way. The morning of the Kelly press conference I was listening to the Michaelangelo Signorile Show on SiriusXM satellite radio and he carried the press conference live. Before Kelly finished speaking I already called in to speak on the air. Michaelangelo put me on the air and I went off on Kelly and Trump.

I feel as a veteran I have an even greater responsibility to push back against Republicans but most especially this historically corrupt President. But the message I want to deliver to all of you is to not be afraid to criticize former or active military. Being former or active military does not ensure honor, integrity, or decency. For example John Kelly failed to disclose ties to a defense lobbying group, which listed him as a Vice Chairman, as well as being a board member to two other defense contractors with ties to the US
Government. This is a serious breach of ethics. Michael Flynn is accused of accepting, according to some reports, up to 15 million dollars to kidnap a Turkish Citizen and U.S. resident, Fethullah Gulen, to transport him to Turkey at the request of Turkish President Erdogan. His ties to Russia might even be more serious than the alleged kidnapping plot.

So 2 of the 4 prominent generals working in the Trump administration have had serious ethical issues, one accused of multiple felonies, and that’s not including John Kelly’s recent lamenting on the nobility of Robert E. Lee and the cause of the Civil War. Don’t forget about Ryan Zinke, a former Navy SEAL officer and Secretary of the Interior, taking private charter flights on an Oil Company executive’s jet around the country and allegedly helping enable his friend and neighbor who owns Whitefish Energy, which is a 2 person company, to get a 300M contract to rebuild Puerto Rico’s electric grid. I could do a whole other presentation on Zinke’s ethical issues and we are not even 1 year into this
administration. I was happy to see the swift backlash against Kelly. There were numerous articles written about how his vicious attacks on a Frederika Wilson were all lies. The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell did a whole segment about it more than two weeks after the infamous press conference where Lawrence impugned Kelly’s integrity for remaining silent weeks after being shown to have categorically misrepresented Frederica Wilson’s words and actions. When asked later after he was shown to be wrong if he owed Rep. Wilson an apology, he said he has nothing to apologize for. This behavior fits a very consistent pattern with this administration that they seem to love to attack women, especially women of color. Representative Wilson has tremendous courage and strength and she is willing to fight to defend her constituents and also to fight against blatant lies from Kelly and Trump. In this situation with John Kelly and Rep. Wilson, I see one person with honor and courage and then there is John Kelly.

In addition to what we are seeing with open racists serving in government, in 2006 the FBI released a report detailing how Nazis and skinheads have infiltrated law enforcement across the country. This is deeply disturbing and runs parallel to my concerns about holding retired and active military members in our government
accountable. The last thing I want to say is that many people thank me for my service and while I really appreciate that, I am here to thank you all for YOUR service. The fact  that each and every one of you cares about our country and work hard to make it better everyday is the definition of patriotism. I am humbled by you and I am proud
to be one of you. So thank you.

What was missing at the rally for Charlottesville

I attended a local “rally” the day after the Nazis marched in Charlottesville, Virginia. Like many other rallies on that day, it was a spur-of-the-moment gathering. My assumption was that it would be a call to action to support those assaulted in that city so far away from me in California. I was conflicted going into the rally in that I was sad people were injured (and killed), I was upset that an event like that took place at all, and I was at the same time pleased knowing that I was doing my part to support the fight against hatred.

I stood at the rally with friends and other like-minded supporters while many spoke about hatred, about the nastiness of the current administration, about similar marches and rallies happening in the very near future. I heard people talk about how the alt-right were coming to OUR CITY within days to instigate again. I heard about the anti-protest efforts to counter the alt-right actions in our local city. I heard all these things. And felt comfort.

But it wasn’t until I got home and began discussing the rally with my wife and friends from my local political action group that I realized what I didn’t hear — and that was any action plan for Charlottesville. I didn’t hear about any effort to help clean up the destruction in the streets. I didn’t hear about fundraising for the families who were devastated by the hate groups. I didn’t hear any call to action for Charlottesville itself.

And that was and is a problem. I don’t claim to represent #TheResistance but I am part of it so I feel comfortable with self-criticism. My take is this — if we want to Stand In Solidarity, let’s do it. Let’s support those who are injured, who are affected, who need help. Our rhetoric provides a North Star and helps guide us on our moral path but if we want to stand in solidarity, let’s pass the cup around next time, let’s send letters of support to the chamber of commerce, let’s fundraise for a billboard placed in the middle of the city that says “We Are With Charlottesville.”

I should have stood up on the steps at that rally and offered to take donations for any of the above. My bad. Won’t happen next time.

 

Where on Earth are the thinking Republicans?

Not too long ago, I was reading with great interest about a discussion between the great physicist Fermi and his contemporaries. As I finished the article, it dawned on me how appropriate that discussion would be today. Fermi’s conversation went like this: Fermi and his friends were sitting around a table eating lunch and discussing the possibility of life on other planets. They talked about the size and number of galaxies and planets. They identified and discussed the parameters used in equations to calculate the probability of life in the universe. I’m sure this was a lively discussion filled with science, math, and faith — the holy trinity of physicists? So at the end of the discussion, Fermi came to the conclusion that if there are all these billions of planets in the universe that are capable of supporting life, and millions of potential intelligent species out there, then how come none has visited earth? Where are they? Are they afraid of us? Are they waiting for us to reach out to them? Are they among us now and we simply can’t recognize them? This has come to be known as Fermi’s Paradox.

So what was it about this conversation that piqued my interest? Fermi’s leap from “life must exist” to “where are they” reminded me that we are still waiting for those Trump supporters to reach out and acknowledge their transcendence from the world they lived in before the election to the reality of today — the reality of a Trump administration that continues to destroy our nation’s great political experiment.

One of the assumptions about the extra-terrestrials of Fermi’s Paradox is that they are intelligent and logical beings, capable of recognizing and searching for truth and hoping to better the universe. Just as Fermi and friends built this into their model, so it is with #TheResistance. We know there is intelligence among Republicans. We have seen glimpses of it. Senators Susan Collins and Lindsey Graham, for example, represent Republican intelligence. They are not sheep simply following the herd. They are thinking, reasoning, and compassionate beings who understand the destruction being proposed by such initiatives as TrumpCare.

The thing is, we are not as interested in the Collinses and Grahams as much as we are in the Smiths, the Washingtons, the Garcias, the Patels, the Nguyens, and the rest of the general population. For they, no, WE are the ones truly affected. We will be living with the TrumpCare decision, not the Collinses and Grahams who will have their own health insurance. We will be living with the Supreme Court decisions imposed by the newly appointed Justice Gorsuch, who has set the judicial course toward destruction for the foreseeable future.

We hope that we can also influence that course. But we cannot do it alone. We need the help of Republicans who seek truth, justice, and like-minded individuals from other political corners. And that brings us back to Fermi’s Paradox. Where are they? Where are our like-minded Republican terrestrials? We know you are there. We know you experience the daily news of treasonous behavior among Trump administrators. We know you understand, for instance, that just last week more evidence of collusion and collaboration between Russia and Trump was uncovered — this time involving Donald Trump, Jr., who even admitted it. And this is just the latest in a long string of horrible revelations. Do we need a literal smoking gun to help those Republican patriots reach out?

Where are you? We know you are out there. We welcome you with open arms.

 

How to Suppress Democracy: Trump’s Commission on Election “Integrity”

In Orwell’s “1984,” the Ministry of Truth was responsible for propaganda, the Ministry of Peace prosecuted endless war, and the Ministry of Love enforced loyalty to Big Brother through fear, torture, and brainwashing. Now in Trump’s dystopian present we have the “Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity,” which, not surprisingly will do nothing to maintain the integrity of elections. In reality, it’s part of a long-term plan by Republicans to prevent minorities and young people — in short, anyone likely to vote for Democrats — from exercising their right to vote

Behind the chillingly named commission is Kris Kobach, Kansas Secretary of state. During the Obama campaign, Kobach was such a dedicated birther that he tried to keep Obama off the Kansas ballot even after Obama had released his birth certificate. Kobach has been called the “king of voter suppression” by the ACLU and labeled “the most racist politician in America” by Kansas’ Senate minority leader —no doubt the very qualifications that led Trump to choose him for the important task of maintaining the “integrity” of our elections.

Kobach’s tool of choice to deny the vote to likely Democratic voters is the “Interstate Voter Crosscheck Program,” a program adopted by 28 Republican-led states in response to the widespread Republican accusations of voter fraud in the mid 2000s. Crosscheck looks for voters with the same first middle and last name, birthdate, and last 4 social security number digits who are registered in multiple states. Voters who match in multiple states are sent a deliberately confusing postcard asking for identity confirmation. Failure to reply means you’re automatically removed from the voting rolls. And you won’t be told until you show up to vote.

Even on the surface, it doesn’t take much thought to realize how shaky this scheme is. What, after all, is the most likely cause for the same voter to be registered in two states? Fraud? Telekinesis? No. Obviously most voters who actually are registered in two states have simply moved. When I moved to California from New York did I notify the New York election commission? Of course not. Likewise the oft repeated charge by Republicans that the voter rolls are filled with “dead people,” which may sound chilling if you’ve only got half a brain, is similarly ridiculous. When Uncle Morty dies, do you immediately call the registrar of voters and tell them Morty won’t be voting any more?

But if Crosscheck, run as originally intended, would only yield a list of voters who have moved, the actual way in which it’s being implemented is to a much darker purpose. Although the states that participate in crosscheck are supposed to keep the duplicate lists secret, no doubt so that voters won’t know they’ve been taken off the rolls until it’s too late, Rolling Stone reporters managed to obtain the crosscheck lists for several states and what they show is frightening.

The Social Security Number match? None of the lists obtained by Rolling Stone even contained SSNs. A quarter of the names the lists lacked a middle name match. Jr. and Sr. designations were ignored. So what Crosscheck actually does is simply spit out a list of common last names. And because the list of common last names includes a disproportionate number of minority voters — US Census data shows that minorities are overrepresented in 85% of the most common last names — Crosscheck ends up flagging minority voters, which is no doubt what it was intended to do all along. According to Rolling Stone, one in six Hispanics, one in seven Asian-Americans, and one in nine African-Americans in the Crosscheck states were flagged by the program. Kobach is a smart guy. He went to Yale Law and has a Ph.D. from Oxford. The results of the shoddy Crosscheck methodology could not have escaped him.

With demographic trends against them, the Republicans will increasingly need to resort to voter suppression to maintain control of the government. Crosscheck is a sophisticated scheme to do just that, all the while disguising itself as a tool to maintain “election integrity.” Chalk up another win for Orwell.

 

Who We Are and How We Got Started

Orange Alert formed in November 2016, shortly after the election of the chief executive who shall not be named. Like most of our friends, we were shocked, horrified, depressed, and in disbelief. Every morning was like waking up into a nightmare.

But within a few days, Barbara took action. She invited a small group of friends and neighbors to her house to vent, commiserate, and strategize. Initially some of us were hopeful that enough members of the Electoral College might vote for a third candidate to prevent the nightmare presidency from coming to pass. When that didn’t happen, we realized we were in for the long haul.

At the Women’s March in San Jose, January 21, 2017

Now, almost five months later (hard to believe it’s only been that long!) we meet weekly, more or less. We begin by checking in and sharing what resistance actions we’ve taken recently. Then we try to figure out how we can best use our time and energy in the coming weeks to resist encroaching authoritarianism. One or two of us often attend a political meeting and then report back to the rest of the group. We participate in marches and demonstrations, send postcards (we spent one whole meeting writing #TheIdesOfTrump cards), and make phone calls and send e-mails to our legislators, encouraging them not to behave as if this is politics as usual.

#TheIdesOfTrump postcards

Are we making a difference? Hard to say. We’re certainly making more of a difference than we would if we sat at home moping. Whenever I ask myself that question, I think of the 1977 song by Meg Christian and Holly Near, “The Rock Will Wear Away”:

Can we be like drops of water falling on the stone
Splashing, breaking, dispersing in air
Weaker than the stone by far but be aware
That as time goes by the rock will wear away
And the water comes again *

There’s also this quote, usually attributed to the first-century Rabbi Tarfon but, in reality, probably taken from the 1995 book Wisdom of the Jewish Sages by Rabbi Rami Shapiro. Whatever. It’s a great quote, both comforting and challenging:

Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.

So. We’ll do our best to continue the work, whether or not we’re able to complete it. More to follow.

* Listen to the whole song here: