The People Who Want to Take our Country Back

Jeff Horwitt has an interesting take from the latest WSJ/NBC News poll.

Ninety-five percent of self-identified Republican primary voters are white. That’s among the findings of the latest Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll, as well as that 74% of all Americans age 18 and older are white, a figure that tracks with census data. This means that heading into 2016, the Republican primary electorate is dramatically less diverse than the country overall. The GOP primary electorate is even less diverse than the country was in 1916, when 91% of the voting-age population was white, according to historical census data.

Nominating a candidate for president from an electorate that is less diverse than America was a century ago, when voting rights were limited to men ages 21 and over, is not good for the Republican Party or its eventual nominee.

Ya think?!!!

He then goes on to provide data about how out of touch these white Republican primary voters are with the rest of the country when it comes to current issues - like Obamacare, taxes and immigration reform.

And yet this is the group that will not only decide who the next Republican presidential nominee will be, they are the ones the Republicans in Congress are pandering to. Here's how President Obama explained it in his interview with VICE News.

A lot of times from the outside - and sometime mainstream media reports this as a food find and its a problem with both parties just being partisan. Well...that's just not accurate...There are times in history where Democrats have been unreasonable. There are times that Republicans have led the way. But right now - on a lot of the issues that young people care about - its not both sides arguing and creating gridlock. You've got one side that is denying the facts - who are often motivated principally by opposing whatever it is that I propose. That's not inevitable to our democracy. That's a phase that the Republican Party is going through right now...

One thing young people could do immediately is vote. And the fact of the matter is that in the last midterm election, about a third of eligible voters voted. And so, if you've got gridlock and you've got people who aren't producing, the fact that a lot of them got rewarded with re-election and the people who were in power creating the gridlock stayed in power, that's a consequence of everybody staying home and acting cynical.

Thanks in part to what Barack Obama did so well in 2008, we expect our political candidates to inspire us. And when they don't, we get cynical and stay home. That means we're making politics an emotional enterprise rather than a strategic one. The Republicans have mastered that by using fear to motivate those white primary voters. But we can do better than that.

Mitch McConnell's game plan from day one has been to take the energy of Barack Obama's presidency away by doing everything he can to stop him from getting anything done. Getting cynical about politics because of that plays right into his hand.

In 2016, I'm very likely to vote for politicians who don't inspire me. But I will do so anyway because I'll be strategic in thinking about who is most likely to ensure that we at least hold our ground (if not go forward) rather than going backwards. I've seen enough of what the Republican primary electorate wants these days. Giving up on the advancements we've made over the last century is not an option.

Quick Take

The other day when I was reading Mehdi Hasan's article about ISIS and Islam, I began to contemplate the interplay between personal identity, culture and the gods we worship. I was reminded of this quote from the book, The Great Cosmic Mother, by Monica Sjoo and Barbara Mor.

The world's definition of God is the self-definition of humanity...We do not know if a "God" is a true God or a false God until we see what kind of world is created in that God's image...

Because, as human beings, we not only worship our gods. We become them.  

The Power of the Executive Branch to Bring Change

A comment someone made on Facebook after President Obama's speech in Selma has been rolling around in the back of my mind for a few days now. I'm not going to link to it because my purpose is not to call out the individual. But it captured some things we've heard before.

Basically this person was criticizing the President for not talking more specifically about how racial issues manifest themselves today or proposing policies that address them. Here's just a bit of it:

On such a stage as he had yesterday, I feel it would have been prudent for him to address the particular issues that we face. To detail the real world problems that the "long shadow" of racism has created and to bring to the table real policy positions that could address our present reality.

Instead, I feel, he offered only hopeful language and dazzling rhetoric.

Regardless of whether you think the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Selma was the place for such specifics (I don't), that comment points to the way in which too many of us assume that change only happens in this country via Congress or the Courts. The reason I say that is because this person obviously has not paid attention to how the actions of the Executive branch of government have addressed those issues.

Just one example I would point to is what has happened at the Department of Justice - specifically with the Civil Rights Division (created in 1957 to enforce Civil Rights laws). Some people might remember how that division was corrupted during the Bush/Cheney administration. Everything about the division became politicized - including hirings, firings and prosecutions. Here's how Joseph Rich, chief of the Voting Rights section from 1999 to 2005, described it in 2007:

Over the last six years, this Justice Department has ignored the advice of its staff and skewed aspects of law enforcement in ways that clearly were intended to influence the outcome of elections.

It has notably shirked its legal responsibility to protect voting rights. From 2001 to 2006, no voting discrimination cases were brought on behalf of African American or Native American voters. U.S. attorneys were told instead to give priority to voter fraud cases, which, when coupled with the strong support for voter ID laws, indicated an intent to depress voter turnout in minority and poor communities.

But it wasn't just voting rights. Stephen Rushin, a professor at the University of Illinois Law School, has studied the implementation of the portion of the 1991 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act that gave the Civil Rights Division of DOJ the authority to investigate systemic problems within law enforcement departments and implement reforms. He found that - rather suddenly in 2005 (when Gonzales became Attorney General) - the number of investigations declined sharply. His research found that, at that time, the division quit working with civil rights organizations (who often initiated the investigations) and instead simply offered voluntary technical assistance to law enforcement units.

What we see is that on at least two issues that are of primary importance in maintaining civil rights in this country - voting rights and investigating police misconduct - the Executive branch of our government purposefully dropped the ball.

All of that changed with the Obama administration. At a speech in 2010, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Rights Division Tom Perez, said this:

In case you haven’t heard, the Civil Rights Division is once again open for business. Our job is to enforce the civil rights laws – all of the laws – and to do so fairly, thoroughly and independently.

President Obama and Attorney General Holder have made the restoration and transformation of the Civil Rights Division a top priority. The Attorney General has called the Division the “crown jewel” of the Justice Department. As a result of the President and Attorney General’s leadership, and the support of Congress, the Division has received one of the largest infusions of resources in its history.

That talk was backed up by plenty of walk. It all began with the Civil Rights Division hiring attorneys with actual civil rights experience. The Division has been aggressive in defending voting rights and investigating police misconduct.  On the latter:

The Obama administration has used its power aggressively to take on widespread problems of police brutality, discrimination and other abuse in local jurisdictions, negotiating more settlement agreements than either the Clinton or George W. Bush administrations.

I would simply note that the Civil Rights Division of DOJ started an investigation of the Cleveland Police Department more than a year before Tamir Rice was killed.

That summarizes the importance of leadership in the Executive branch of our government by looking at just one department. We could note similar changes in, for example, the fact that under Bush the Department of Education stopped collecting racial data from public schools. When the practice was re-instituted in the Obama administration, the information provided the impetus for disciplinary reforms that disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline.

By focusing only on Congress and the Courts, we completely neglect the power of the Executive branch to implement change (either good or bad). It's true that with his "pen and phone strategy," President Obama is beginning to open our eyes to this oversight. But really...its been happening all along.

Odds & Ends

How about some good news on climate change?

Global emissions of carbon dioxide from the energy sector stalled in 2014, marking the first time in 40 years in which there was a halt or reduction in emissions of the greenhouse gas that was not tied to an economic downturn.

Especially because I'm a bit of a tortoise fanatic, this was also really good news to me.

After more than a century without a single baby tortoise sighting on the Galapagos island of Pinzón, a small group of the tiny, shelled youngsters have been spotted again.

The recent births are helping to pull the critically endangered animals back from the brink of extinction after they were nearly laid to waste as a result of human activity.

Baby tortoise seems to be a bit camera shy.

Former Mayor of Madison, Dave Cieslewicz, says the reason Scott Walker survived the recall and got re-elected is because he has mastered the art of playing on people's resentments.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg turned 82 today. Happy Birthday to the Notorious RBG!

Last week, the 2014 General Social Survey was released.

When asked their “religious preference”, nearly one-in-four Americans now says “none.”Up until the 1990s, this group of so-called “nones” hovered in the single digits. The 2014 GSS showed that the so-called nones are 21 percent. How large is this group of nones? There are nearly as many Americans who claim no religion as there are Catholics (24 percent). If this growth continues, in a few years the largest “religion” in the U.S. may be no religion at all.

Finally, when the perfect voice meets the perfect song - musical magic happens. With a hat tip to the original - Roy Orbison - enjoy the magic!

Humor and Sanity

As Republicans continue to lose their ever-lovin' minds, it's important to remember that humor can be a great tool for maintaining one's sanity when all about you are abandoning theirs. Leonard Pitt's expressed it well in response to the news that John Stewart was retiring from The Daily Show.

We tend to underestimate humor, but it has this way of clarifying that which is difficult and opaque. You can often make a more trenchant point with a joke than with a 10,000-word treatise, something Stewart proved night in and night out.

Nowhere was that done more powerfully and adeptly than when Stephen Colbert challenged both the Bush/Cheney administration and the media at the 2006 White House Correspondent's Dinner.

Much has been written about how President Obama can be professorial. Not so much about his use of humor. Beyond appearances between two ferns, late night shows and Comedy Central, he has used it quite effectively on the campaign trail. Anyone remember Romnesia in 2012? When he delivered those lines for the first time I knew - beyond a shadow of a doubt - that he would be re-elected.

Here's another example that is not as well known. It was 2010 and the President was in Nevada stumping with Harry Reid - whose opponent was Sharon Angle. To talk about Angle seriously is to give her more credit than she deserves. Hence...


Last night at the Gridiron Dinner, President Obama provided us with some humor to combat the current crazy.

...getting older changes you. For example, coffee really disagrees with me these days — which is why John Boehner just invited coffee to address the joint House...

Despite a great performance tonight, Scott has had a few recent stumbles. The other week he said he didn’t know whether or not I was a Christian. And I was taken aback, but fortunately my faith teaches us forgiveness. So, Governor Walker, as-salamu alaykum...

And, finally, Governor Walker got some heat for staying silent when Rudy Giuliani said I don’t love America — which I also think is a problem. Think about it, Scott — if I did not love America, I wouldn’t have moved here from Kenya...

And we can’t just focus on 2016, people. We just had an election. This new Congress is just getting started, which is why I want to acknowledge the leader of the House Republicans — as soon as I figure out who that is.

The fact is, I really genuinely like John Boehner. But from your press reports, I gather he may be in real trouble. Over the past several weeks, many of you have been writing about a possible conservative coup — or as Bill O’Reilly calls it, “reporting from the war zone.”...

And then I got flak for appearing on a video for BuzzFeed, trying to reach younger voters. What nonsense. You know, you don’t diminish your office by taking a selfie. You do it by sending a poorly written letter to Iran. Really, that wasn’t a joke.

Ahhhh...I can feel my sanity quotient rising even as we speak.

Can I Make You Smile?

There is very little news today, so I thought I'd close out this edition of Saturday blogging by doing my best to see if I can make you smile.

The big question of the day is: Where is Vladimir Putin? If he's not really in Martin's basement (call me skeptical), then Max Fisher's idea is that we round up the kids from "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego" to go look for him.

Have you ever run across the work of Russian photographer Elena Karneeva? Her images of children and animals are so astounding that I've often wondered if they are real. Apparently they are. Here's one of my favorites.

Speaking of photographs, Pete Souza just released a lot of new ones. I call this one, "It's Mutual."

Finally, as humans, we still seem to be struggling with the issues of race and gender. Some of you might wonder where it all started. Here ya go. Enjoy!

ISIS and Islam

A few weeks ago Graeme Wood garnered a lot of attention for his article in The Atlantic titled: What ISIS Really Wants. Conservatives (like Peggy Noonan) used it to attack President Obama for his unwillingness to call ISIS "radical Islamists."

Mehdi Hasan has written a thorough and comprehensive response to Wood's assertions titled: How Islamic is the Islamic State? Not at All. This is a must-read article for anyone who not only has an interest in understanding ISIS, but who would like to avoid the whole idea of a "holy war" with the 1.6 billion Muslims on this planet.

Hasan gathers data from a variety of professionals who have studied Al Qaeda and ISIS to make her case that ISIS is far outside the mainstream of Islam. She includes psychiatrists, intelligence experts, theologians, a former radical, and pollsters. I'm going to pull a couple of quotes that stood out to me in the hopes that it will entice you to go read the entire article.

Sageman, the former CIA officer, says we have to locate terrorism and extremism in local conflicts rather than in grand or sweeping ideological narratives – the grievances and the anger come first, he argues, followed by the convenient and self-serving ideological justifications. For example, he says, the origins of ISIS as a terror group lie not in this or that Islamic book or school of thought, but in the “slaughter of Sunnis in Iraq.” He reminds me how, in April 2013, when there was a peaceful Sunni demonstration asking the Shia-led Maliki government in Baghdad to reapportion to the various provinces what the government was getting in oil revenues, Iraqi security forces shot into the crowds. “That was the start of this [current] insurrection.”

At the heart of much of the Islamophobia we see today is a complete dismissal of the centuries-old conflict between Shia and Sunni Muslims and how that is fueling much of the discord in the Middle East today. In highlighting that anger is more of a motivator than religion, Sageman points out that it was the brutality of Maliki against the Sunni majority in Iraq that led to the ISIS insurrection in that country.

The pollster Hasan consults is Dalia Mogahed - former Gallup pollster and co-author, with the US academic John L Esposito, of Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think. The information she provides will likely surprise a lot of Americans.

Gallup polling conducted for Mogahed’s book found, for instance, that 93 per cent of Muslims condemned the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. The 40-year-old Egyptian-American scholar tells me, “In follow-up questions, Gallup found that not a single respondent of the nearly 50,000 interviewed cited a verse from the Quran in defence of terrorism but, rather, religion was only mentioned to explain why 9/11 was immoral.”

The 7 per cent of Muslims who sympathised with the attacks on the twin towers “defended this position entirely with secular political justifications or distorted concepts of ‘reciprocity’, as in: ‘They kill our civilians. We can kill theirs.’”

It is thus empirically unsound to conflate heightened religious belief with greater support for violence.

The argument conservatives try to make is that in order to defeat ISIS, we need to understand them. There is some truth in that. But as Hasan has shown, that requires deeper thought and study than simply fear mongering about "radical Islamists."