Congress is Fiddling Again!

By Hank Silverberg

A few months back I wrote about Emperor Nero and the myth that he fiddled while Rome burned to the ground over seven days in the year 64 C.E.

If you remember, it wasn't actually a fiddle he was playing since they hadn't been invented yet, but he did entertain himself with a harp-like cithara and ignored the common folk as 70% of the Eternal City burned.

(Roman ruins, Courtesy, City of Rome)

The story came down through the ages as an example of leaders who didn't really care about the common people. 

So once again here is a story of a government fiddling while we all get burned. 

UPDATE:

Another kind of voter fraud is showing up in California. The Orange County Register and other media are reporting that fake mail-in ballot drop boxes have shown up at a local Church and at and at other places around the state including Fresno, Los Angeles and Orange County. The culprit may be the Republican Party. The Baptist Church in Cataic which has one says it was approved and brought by the local GOP. California's Secretary of state Alex Padilla says they are investigating. Such boxes not specifically put out by local elections officials would be a violation of the law--a felony. 

 The Fresno county GOP had put out a list of "secure" drop boxes, but none of them are the official board of elections boxes and may be an attempt at what is known as "ballot harvesting"

One of the boxes may actually be at a  Republican Congressional candidates campaign headquarters. The newspaper says there's been no response to inquiries from the state GOP headquarters. 

https://www.ocregister.com/2020/10/11/unofficial-ballot-drop-boxes-popping-up-throughout-the-state-worry-elections-officials/

If they tried it in California you can be sure they will try it somewhere else. If you are using a drop box for your mail-in ballot, be sure it is an official one put up by your local non-partisan Board of Elections. One phone call or a check on the board's website should tell you where the official drop boxes are located.  If you see one where it is not supposed to be REPORT IT. 

This past week:

Donald Trump recovered from the Corona virus with the help of experimental treatment that none of us can get because it hasn't been approved yet by the FDA, and if it was we probably couldn't afford it. 

He then held what was probably an illegal political event at the White House where hundreds of people gathered in close quarters without masks.  Among those attending and speaking was Candace Owens, a Black conservative activist who apparently paid some Black people to attend. She picked up their expenses for travel and lodging for a BLEXIT event that included a "huge outdoor rally," but did not tell people it would be a the White House until they got there. 

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/candace-owens-blexit-group-pays-attendees-travel-trumps/story?id=73531036

Masks were "required" but very few people wore them. And all this was BEFORE doctors officially said that Mr. Trump is no longer contagious. 

At the other end of  Pennsylvania Avenue, the Senate was preparing for hearings on Trump's conservative Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney-Barrett, even though Democrats want it delayed at least until after the election. 

What neither the Congress or the President seemed to not care about was any kind of new aide package to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. It continues to infest the country at a growing rate, forcing businesses to close again, unemployment to go up and many people to worry where their next meal is coming from.  

The President played a key role in that. While on medication including steroids, he told Congressional leaders he would no longer negotiate the issue, then a few days later changed his mind, but  making it likely that any such agreement would be pushed back past until after the election. 

Are you tired of it all?

I am! I'm tired of arguing with those misinformed malcontents who won't wear masks, even though the overwhelming majority of infectious disease experts say they HELP prevent the spread of the disease when combined with social distancing and hand washing. 

(Note to cynics: NOTHING WORKS 100% OF THE TIME!)  

I am tired of people who think their rights are being violated because they are being told to wear a mask. It's a small sacrifice to make for the greater good. 

I am tired of people, including Donald Trump, who feel it necessary to ridicule those of us who follow the rules because we care about our neighbors, family and community. 

I am tired of those who don't understand the protests in the streets and the systemic racism that brought them on. 

I am tired of those who immediately label something they don't agree on as "leftist" or "Fascist." It's most likely neither. 

I am tired of those e-mails asking me to fill out a survey on the what I think are the biggest issues of the campaign, but not letting me file my answers unless I send the campaign some money. 

And I am also tired of those shameless propaganda commercials that are flooding the TV screen and the internet. Nobody who has a brain believes any of them. There are better ways to spend the money. 

Example: The Trump ad out this week which uses a clip of Dr. Anthony Fauci from the NIH, that seems to be endorsing Trump's handling of the pandemic.    

(Screen shot taken from the Trump ad)

Fauci, whom I have interviewed a number of times during my career and is the foremost authority on infectious diseases in the United States, has issued a statement indicating the footage, recorded in March in a Fox News interview, was taken out of context. He said "the comments attributed to me without my permission in a GOP campaign ad were taken out of context from a broad statement I made months ago about the efforts of the federal public health officials".

https://news.yahoo.com/fauci-pushes-back-comments-trump-195939857.html

In reference to the clip used in the current commercial that began running late last week,  Fauci also said, "In my nearly five decades of public service I have never publicly endorsed any political candidate."  

Maybe they should spend more of the money on snazzy campaign buttons. My hobby is collecting them and they are hard to get these days. If you have any let me know.  

I'm tired of much more but you are probably tired of reading about them.

Please don't let me interrupt:  

One of the more interesting angles which came out of last week's debate between Vice Presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Mike Pence was this line interjected several times by Harris:

(Courtesy
Presidentialelections.org)

 "Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking." 

Pence was not anywhere near as bad as Donald Trump, who interrupted Joe Biden more than 90 times in their debate, but with Pence it sounded a bit smarmy and condescending. 

It echoes back to several recent congressional hearings when female lawmakers were interrupted numerous times by their male colleagues. It was more than just impolite. It was almost like they were talking to a child. Pence interrupted in this fashion ten times during the 90 minute debate, double the number of times Harris interrupted him.   

So it's no surprise that Harris would take none of that disrespect during the debate.    

But Pence didn't just do it to Harris. He also did it to moderator Susan Page when she tried to enforce the time limit on his answers. 

(Actually, he never really ANSWERED a single question, but Harris wasn't effectively answering them either.) 

The tone of those exchanges got a lot of attention on TV, twitter and other social media but not as much as the fly on Pence's head. 

(Mike Pence without the fly 
Official WH photo) 

 https://time.com/5898144/men-interrupting-women/

Women say they experience this type of treatment almost daily. Newsweek is citing old studies this week which have confirmed the "phenomenon" is widespread. A Princeton professor has written a book called The Silent Sex: Gender, Deliberation and Institutions. Bottom line from the book-- it's a power thing. They have been looking at this for years. A study done back in 1975 by researchers at UC Santa Barbara looked at 31 mixed sex conversations and found 47 of the 48 interruptions came from men. 

http://web.stanford.edu/~eckert/PDF/zimmermanwest1975.pdf

A more recent study in 2017 from Northwestern University found that male Supreme Court justices interrupted the female justices three times as often.  

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2933016

I think most men are somewhat tuned into this, but don't change. I know my wife has used Senator Harris' line at least twice since the debate. We males better get this message or else. 

Mexicans paying for the wall:

Yes, Mexicans ARE paying for Trump's southern border wall. Or at least, parts of it. 

It seems Mexican scrap iron dealers have been cashing in on metal removed from the existing fencing or left over material from construction of the new wall. That's metal paid for by U.S. taxpayers that does still have value.    

The scraps are supposed to be taken to Phoenix or Tucson and disposed of at legal recycling centers where it would be purchased by American dealers with the money going back to the National Treasury. 

Instead, much of the scrap is being left on the Mexican side of the wall where scrap dealers there, are collecting it and profiting from it. That's dollars the U.S. will not get back. 

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/border-barriers-being-sold-as-scrap-metal/5882406/

(Courtesy CBP) 

And then there's concrete and other waste that is simply pushed aside, creating an environmental hazard that will eventually have to be cleaned up. All of this is being done within clear sight of the Army Corps of Engineers, which gave the $1 billion construction project to local American contractors. Also looking the other way, the Department of Homeland Security which monitors the border. Yes folks, this is your taxpayer dollars at work!  No word on exactly how much money has been wasted this way, but it's probably boosting the local economy in northern Mexico. 

Food brings peace:

You may remember a few weeks ago there was all that nonsense about President Trump being "nominated" for the Nobel Peace Prize for his very limited involvement in the diplomatic breakthrough between Israel, the U.R.E. and Bahrain. That suggestion came from a right-wing Norwegian lawmaker who wrote one letter to the Nobel committee praising Trump. The committee never discusses who might be considered for the Nobel prize. Instead, they just announce the winner. 

This week the World Food Program, which has been around since

1961, was named as the Nobel Peace Prize winner.  The group, affiliated with the United Nations, has served 138 million meals in 80 countries this year. The need is greater than ever because of the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change impact and wars in Yemen and Syria. No comment from the White House.  

If you wish to donate to this worthy cause, there is a way to do so at the link below.  

https://www.wfpusa.org/

(Your comments and suggestions are welcome in the section below)

(Copies of my book “The Campaign” are available at 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084Q7K6M5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-campaign-hank-silverberg/1126429796

or by emailing me at HankSilverberg@gmail.com  or instructions on how to get one at a reduced price and with a signature)