SMITHEREENS: Reflections on Bits & Pieces

Gar Smith
Friday September 13, 2019 - 03:19:00 PM

Donald Trump has been called many things: The Orange Menace, The Grinch, The Lyin' King, The Reprimander-in-chief. But a recent New York Times article—on DJ's plan to end federal oversight of two mortgage behemoths—found a new and simpler moniker for the Oval Office resident.

In the September 8, 2019 edition of the S.F. Chronicle, the article's first sentence read: "The Trump has unveiled a long-awaited plan to end federal control of two mortgage giants." [Emphasis added.]

The online version of the story has been corrected to read: "The Trump administration has unveiled…."

Bye-Bye Bolton

National Security Advisor and warhawk extraordinaire John Bolton has been jettisoned by D. Trump. After praising Bolton for years—telling friends Bolton was “a killer” during his appearances on Fox News—Trump has given Bolton the boot. One contributing problem (shared by many and cited by several news organs, including TIME Magazine) "the president has voiced some unhappiness about Bolton’s trademark mustache."

NPR's report on Bolton's firing mentioned the president's reservations over Bolton's mustache. A New York Times article confirmed that Trump was reluctant to hire Bolton: "[O]fficials said Mr. Trump has hesitated, in part because of his negative reaction to Mr. Bolton’s walrus-style mustache." 

A Pink Slip for Bolton 

"John Bolton’s what you might call a warmonger's warmonger," writes the anti-war group Win Without War. "Whether it was helping launch the Iraq War, trying to kill diplomacy with North Korea, or doing everything he could to start a war with Iran, Bolton simply never met a war he didn’t want to start." 

As National Security Advisor, Bolton's "warmongering mustache was all over Trump’s decision to pull out of the Cold War-era, anti-nuclear weapon INF Treaty. Trump pulled out of the historic Iran deal within days of Bolton taking office. And Bolton did everything he could think of to try and get Trump to go to war in Venezuela." 

But now that Revoltin' Bolton's gone meltdown-molten, WWW is inviting peace-lovers everywhere to celebrate his retirement with this pitch: 

"Donate $4 and we’ll make sure John Bolton knows exactly how happy we all are about him getting fired with a flood of happy retirement cards delivered right to his door." 

Taliban Banned 

Trump's secret (now scuttled) Camp David meeting with Afghan leaders and a band of Taliban negotiators on the eve of the September 11 anniversary, caught most Washington insiders (including top government leaders, agency heads, and members of congress) by surprise. Trump revealed the proposed secret meeting at the same time he announced that he had decided to cancel it—at the last minute. 

Not a first for Trump. He also touted his "very, very good" high-stakes negotiations with North Korea, only to walk out at the last minute. 

Perhaps he should consider writing a sequel to his book, "The Art of the Deal." Trump's new book could be called "Depart of the Deal." 

Good-bye Sarah, Hello Stephanie 

There's another new face in the White House. Meet Trump's new White House communications director/press secretary Stephanie Grisham. 

Since her appointment in late June, Grisham has yet to host a single press briefing. It's now been five months since her predecessor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, held the last White House press briefing. 

Asked about a New York Times press-count that now credits Trump with uttering more than 12,000 public lies since entering office, Grisham responded like a veteran Trumpling (c.f. Kellyanne Conway): "I don't think they're lies . . . . I think the president communicates in a way that some people, especially the media, aren't necessarily comfortable with. A lot of times they take him so literally . . . . he's not going to lie to this country." 

Some critics in the ranks of the press—those nit-pickers, niggling naysayers, and "nattering nabobs of negativism"—have pointed out that Grisham comes to her new position with an impressive resume that includes two DUIs and jobs lost for plagiarism and "cheating on expense reports." 

Press Pranks: It's a Crop Shoot 

During Trump's rallies, some press photographers have been looking for opportunities to frame their shot so the only part of the TRUMP banner at Trump's back is the portion that reads "RUMP." 

Warspeak by-the-Bay 

The last place you'd expect to find someone engaging in warspeak would be in an invitation to help clean up a beach. But there it was, in the September 4 edition of the East Bay Express: an ad for Coastal Cleanup Day—a "volunteer competition" that has been rebranded as a "Battle for the Bay." The call for competition (instead of cooperation) will pit "San Francisco vs. Oakland." The contest begins on September 21. 


For a refreshing change of patter, here's EBMUD's invitation to the same event (Emphasis added): 

Join us for California Coastal Cleanup. Join hands with other volunteers as we remove litter at Martine Luther King Jr. Shoreline in Oakland. Cleanup starts at 9 a.m. All are welcome! This cleanup effort is a partnership of EBMUD and East Bay Regional Parks District. Share your cleanup photos with EBMUD on #CoastalCleanup. 

Tell CALPIRS: Stop Investing in War 

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System oversees one of the country's biggest public pension funds and CODEPINK is red-in-the-face because CalPERS has invested millions in General Dynamics, a company that supports for-profit prisons and earns billions selling weapons that fuel armed conflicts around the world. 

General Dynamics has provided Saudi Arabia with estimated at $1.3 billion in weapons—weapons used to wage a war on Yemen that has killed an estimated 6,000 civilians—and the company has been linked to war crimes. On August 12, 2018, a General Dynamics GBU-12 Paveway II bomb destroyed a Yemeni school bus, killing 54 passengers—including 44 of school children. 

CODEPINK is circulating a petition to join CalPERS members in urging the pension fund address General Dynamics' war profiteering. 

Don't Care about the Planet? Think about your Pet 

The Climate Reality Project has found a new angle for motivating people to do something to address the devastating effects of climate collapse. For the rather-not-be-bothered crowd that shrugs off torrential rains, floods, heat waves, hurricanes, and droughts—and the potential disappearance food, electricity, and of clean water—CRP has a question: Are you prepared for the impacts global biospheric collapse will have on your pet dogs, cats, cockatoos, and goldfish? 

September is National Disaster Preparedness Month, CRP notes: "the perfect time to do a little planning to help your pets stay safe in our warming world." It all seems to boil down to having a "pet disaster kit" ready in the event of a wildfire, hurricane, tornado, or earthquake. "Download the free e-book." 

The Stop Wall Street Looting Act is fed up with Wall Street billionaires lining their pockets with money fleeced from America's hard-working, hardscrabble majority. According to MoveOn: "More than half a million people have already lost their jobs at retailers like Toys 'R' Us, Payless, Sears, Kmart, RadioShack, Shopko, Sports Authority, and dozens more. These retailers were bought and controlled by private equity and hedge funds, shadowy financial firms that also 'invest' in industries like for-profit private prisons and detention centers, dirty fossil fuels, and predatory payday loans." 

MoveOn is backing federal legislation that would "prevent these predators from destroying jobs for profit, protect our retirement funds from reckless fund managers, and provide compensation for working people when their stores close in bankruptcy." You can click here to petition Congress to supports the bill 

"Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor … Yearning to Breathe Teargas" 

People used to flock to the US seeking asylum from war, poverty, and hunger. But Donald Trump's America no longer offers asylum for "huddled masses." Instead, he has (in the eyes of the world) turned the country into a heartless, vindictive insane asylum! 

Berkeley Songster Wins Big 

A large, late-night crowd turned up at Celia's Mexican Restaurant in North Berkeley on September 4 to watch the national broadcast of Songland, NBC's popular song-writing competition. The outcome wasn't a total surprise: the winner, Zach Sorgen, happens to be a local talent and his mom—activist and sometime songstress Phoebe Ann Sorgen—was hosting the event. 

It almost didn't happen. The event was originally set for a café on University Ave in West Berkeley. The owner had agreed to showing the broadcast on a large screen but once the invites had been sent out, he informed Sorgen that there would be an extra $750 charge to "unmute the volume." 

If you missed the Songland broadcast, you can listen to the episode here



Here's Zach’s first music video (directed by his big sister): 

Here's "Starry Night," a music video with Zach and his girlfriend Jessica: 

And here a link to “Paradise," co-written and performed by Zach and his mom. 

A Dose of Military-Industrial Complex Grammar 

Last week, the following mumble-jumble arrived in my email: further evidence that the human brain can be turned into cardboard. 

"Couldn't join us for the live screening of the Ensuring Mission Readiness Through Customer Experience webcast? Tune in to the on-demand version instead! 

"During this event recording, we'll explore the intersection of customer experience and mission readiness in the national security community. 

"From integrated multi-channel experiences to automated chatbots, digital workflows to user-friendly platforms, we’ll examine how providing exceptional customer experiences can not only build better agency-employee relationships, but also enable your workforce to more effectively achieve mission objectives. 

"Don't miss out on this on-demand digital event featuring Defense One, Nextgov, the Department of Defense, the Defense Digital Service and more!" 

Let's Turn Election Day into a National Holiday 

The US calls itself a democracy but our leaders are selected by an Electoral College, not elected by popular vote and our voter turnout is among the lowest among world democracies. Because busy schedules and inconvenient locations discourage many people from voting, House Democrats have proposed making Election Day a national holiday. The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law reports that close to two-thirds of Americans—both Democrat and Republican—would like to see Election Day turned into a national holiday. 

As part of a landmark election reform bill—the For the People Act—House Democrats have called for a national voting holiday so people won’t have to take time off from work to vote. 

Unfortunately, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refuses to allow a vote to enact electoral reforms and voting protections. 

McConnell's seeming disinterest in Russia's role in trolling the polls in 2018, suggests that he's "Okay with that." Hence his trending nickname: "Moscow Mitch." 

In McConnell's world, allowing more people to vote constitutes a Democratic “power grab”—or, to put it in other words, increasing democracy is bad for democracy. 

For what it's worth, here's another petition: This one calls on McConnell to allow a vote to protect and improve democracy in America

Rent Rant over AB1482 

California Assembly Bill 1482 is supposed to protect the state's renters from "massive rent hikes" that have driven some apartment dwellers to seek shelther in the Central Valley. Gov. Newsom has called the measure an "important new tool" for addressing the "housing and affordability crisis." But wait a minute. What does the bill actually offer? 

AB1482 allows landlords to raise rents 10% each and every year (5% for an annual increase plus another 5% "regional cost of living increase") through 2030. This essentially permits doubling the cost of rentals over the course of ten years. And how about people who get evicted without cause? AB1482 would give them a month's rent (sans the 10% adjustment) to start all over. How is this an "improvement" over traditional rent control, which (in San Francisco) limits increases to less than the yearly cost of inflation—for 2019 that would be 1.53% rather than 10%. 

What's AARP with That? 

AARP, the American Association of Retired People, assigns a good amount of its time and attention to warning its elderly members of various schemes and scams and explaining how to avoid them. So it's surprising that AARP has sent out a solicitation that is arguably guilty of attempting to scam the recipients. 

An AARP envelope arrives in the mail containing what is essentially a request for a voluntary financial donation. Well and good. But here's the problem: Instead of describing the pitch as a request for a donation, the solicitation has been given the title of (in urgent red letters) a "Charitable Renewal Notification." 

Instead of a straightforward presentation as a "Charitable Donation Request," the revamped wording edges worrisomely close to the phrase "Renewal Notice." 

I suspect that some unsuspecting AARPers will hasten to write out a check for the stipulated $25 for fear that failure to respond could result in the loss of their AARP memberships.