The Meaning Of Bannon Vs. Trump

David Leonhardt Op-Ed Columnist Two quick thoughts on the Steve Bannon-President Trump feud: One, it’s a sign of the apparent seriousness of the Russia investigation for Trump’s family and inner circle. The insults got the attention, but the more significant part of Bannon’s remarks may be the “logical, cold-eyed recognition” that prosecutors are building a powerful case, notes Errol Louis at CNN. Two, the feud is a reminder that Bannon has failed to accomplish his biggest ambition: Expanding the Republican coalition to include many more middle-class and working-class voters. “Steve Bannon had a chance to be a genuinely significant figure in American politics and he blew it,” my colleague Ross Douthat wrote on Twitter. Democracy. Later this month, an alarmingly titled book, “How Democracies Die,” written by two political scientists, will be published. It is, as the book’s promotional material states, “a bracing, revelatory look at the demise of liberal democracies around the world — and a road map for rescuing our own.” That last part seems the most important. I remain optimistic that the Trump presidency will turn out to be a phase rather than a turning point in American history. But it would be foolish to dismiss the threats to our system of government. They’re greater than I ever expected to see. One recent example: In his interview with The Times last week, President Trump spoke admiringly of obviously autocratic tactics, such as using law enforcement as a raw exercise of power. “The president,” as Jonathan Chait points out, “explained his belief that the Department of Justice on principle ought to cover up crimes by the president and his administration.” Trump clearly believes that he deserves to be above the rule of law. So what does “How Democracies Die” — by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, both of Harvard — say about how the country should respond to an aspiring autocrat? The first and most important line of defense, they say, is Trump’s own party. In other countries, would-be authoritarians have often been stopped (or further empowered) by their own party. “Most Republican leaders seem to know that Trump is grossly unfit for office,” Levitsky and Ziblatt write (in a joint Q&A at the bottom of this web page). Yet “few Republicans have been willing to state publicly what most of them surely know: the Emperor has no clothes. Fear and opportunism have prevailed over the defense of our country and its democratic institutions.” Unless the Republican Party becomes more willing to stand up to Trump — and I deeply hope it will if he tries to obstruct the Russia investigation further — the next best hope lies with electing more Democrats. Doing so will require energizing liberals, of course. But it will also mean realizing that the current situation is too important for ideological purity. Levitsky and Ziblatt write: “Mobilizing the vote in 2018 and 2020 is essential. But there is something else that ordinary Americans must do: Try to build broader coalitions in defense of democracy. To ensure democracy’s survival, we must build alliances that extend beyond traditional party lines. For liberals, this means forging perhaps uncomfortable alliances — with right-of-center businesspeople, evangelical Christians, and dissident conservatives, among others. A blue-state coalition is simply not enough. This is often hard work, and it involves compromise. But an awful lot is at stake.”

When The Cold Finally Broke

It’s like we almost got used to it. Just the other day a neighbour told me “You look like you are going to the arctic”. Hell…I have been LIVING in the arctic for most of December. Well, arctic temperatures, that is. But today the cold broke, giving us all a break to breathe and get the bodies moving again. We took off right after lunch, packed up the little Dixie-Pixie and entered the sunny beach where I could actually feel the warming sunrays through my thick jacket. Folks, I tell you it was like summer had broken out.   Dixie finding “treasures” Dixie was rocketing back and forth and it was obvious that she too enjoyed the change in temperatures.                                                       The big root                    What the temperature was?  Well, just above freezing, but there was no wind. When you move from –22C to above freezing, ANYTHING feels like summer. Friendly waves lapping ashore, the tide was just receding, it was GORGEOUS. BUT….it’s all gonna change again tomorrow. Winds are expected at more than 75km/hr. and we will be drenched first in rain and later inundated with lots of snow. How much, I don’t want to speculate in, but it could be substantial. We are prepared for power outages and have stocked up with food and water. CNN is speaking of a monster winter cyclone, but I’ll take that with a little salt. Usually, it doesn’t get that bad around these parts. Enjoy where ever you might be!

Childhood Memories Of New Years Eve

It was during the decades of the 50s and 60s when our family had their best-ever New Years Parties. They were so good and so memorable that I can still remember many details from those parties. Born in 1952, I was just a kid when we all left home during the afternoon of New Years Eve. We were headed across town to Grandma and Grandpa’s place. My mom had 2 sisters and of course, they arrived with their fiancees as well. The whole event began with having lots of coffee, cakes  and chocolate for all of us. And I suspect the adults had a few drinks as well. After coffee we were heading upstairs where a very peculiar thing was happening in the bathroom. Left: My Dad One person at a time disappeared in the bathroom to be face-painted. It was around 6pm, when we were all seated around in the living room again. Now it could happen that someone rang the door bell. We would all run to the entry and there they were: The Rumblepots. We had expected them as it was customary that kids and young adults went from door to door performing a song. I remember the first time I saw them. They were all face-painted and dressed in odd-looking rag-tag costumes. When they were finished singing, they received a reward. It could be some Christmas candy or also home-baked cookies. Someone gave me a few cookies and I was asked to hand them to the “Rumblepots”. I was still very young and I was scared of these types at the door, so instead of reaching them the cookies I just threw the cookies at them, which of course landed on the ground.  After the Rumblepots, it was time to eat. Grandma always had a great meal. We all ate and drank like there was no tomorrow. One year Grandma had made special costumes for me and my brother. I was “Till Eulenspiegel”, a figure from German fairy tales, while my brother was Mickey Mouse. Until I was 12 years old, it was bedtime after 8pm. We slept in my grandparent’s bedroom. We could hear the adults below singing and telling stories. My parents went home after midnight, while my brother and I was staying overnight at Grandma and Grandpa. The following morning was always very exciting. During the night the adults had decorated the entire place with paper streamers, which we were now eager to “salvage” by rolling them up again. Also, during the night, indoor rockets had been fired off, leaving little things like tiny figures or cars of plastic all over the place. Also “Knallbonbons” were very common. They also had something inside which we could find and salvage. All too soon my parents came along to pick us up for the ride home. Left: Me and Molly around 1956-57 Grandma and Grandpa also had a little dog. Her name was Molly and we kids had a great deal of fun playing with her. Those parties stopped around 1964-65. My grandparents had gotten a Black/white TV-set and somehow we now just hung around the TV. Instead of having fun with each other we were now staring into the TV. Especially Grandpa was very interested in watching the New Year’s Eve program. Shortly before 12 midnight a big clock appeared on the screen and a voice would start to count the seconds until the big GONG and the new year had arrived. The next program was usually dance and music. And this is what is left from those days – just memories and a few old photos. But the memories are good and they will stay with me to the end of my days, I’m sure.

The End Is The Beginning, The Beginning Could Be The End

2017 is definitely coming to an end and it’s the time for looking back through the year and the changes it brought. For me, one of the fundamental changes has happened south of the border. Throughout my life I have always had a great deal of admiration for the United States. At one point I even wanted to move to America. Today, I’m glad I didn’t. Is the United States about to become an Oligarchy?  Over the last year, more and more signs of an authoritarian leadership have shown up in America. Democracy may still exist pro-forma, but the reality looks quite different. Vital parts of public life is being determined by billionaires, which are part of the population’s 1% being the richest people in the U.S. If we look at who have voted these oligarchs into power, we find that the majority of them is comprised of people belonging to the lowest income class in the country. But make no mistake, naturally, the right-wing agenda has also appealed to the very same 1% who are holding most of the wealth in the country. After all, the recent tax reform has saved them millions of tax dollars every year. Trump himself congratulated his cronies to their increased wealth. And so it becomes more and more difficult to understand why the lower income class thinks that Trump and Co. is gonna help them to more money and more jobs when all they bother with is increasing their wealth. When the president is saying that he is above the law, other people start thinking along the same lines. Child molester Moore in Alabama thought he could overturn the result of the state election by SUING the heck out of it. What kind of lack of respect for the law is prevailing in his head? Hundreds of experts have found Trump to be mentally unfit to serve in the Oval Office. When his disturbed brain is combined with a total lack of knowledge of how to handle international relations, it becomes a real danger to the entire world. General Robert Neller, commander in chief for America’s Marine Corps, just warned American Troops in Norway that a “Bad-Ass War” is underway and that everybody should be prepared. The bare fact that the Trump administration has already brought the world to the edge of a Nuclear War is so incomprehensible, that it hasn’t gone up for most folks yet. I guess we will all stand witness to the unfolding events in 2018. The deck of cards is mixed and ready to be dealt. So here is to the hope of a successful midterm election in 2018, and that it will be a Happy New Year for the world and you.