Trump Would Never 'Get' Our Bump. Sad.

Three months ago, in the first week of June, State Auditor Suzanne Bump, then the president of the National Association of State Auditors, hosted a virtual conference of the association from her office at the Massachusetts State House. 

On the afternoon of the second full day of the conference, Wednesday, June 3, Bump could see, from her office window, a steady stream of protesters walking past the State House on Bowdoin Street, heading down the hill to Cambridge Street.  These were people outraged by the May 25 killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.  

The sight of the marchers moved her so much that she incorporated her reaction to it into her prepared, closing remarks to the conferees the next day.  Describing the scene on Bowdoin Street, Bump, who served in the legislature as a rep from Braintree for eight years and has been state auditor since 2011, said: 

"For nearly 30 minutes, they streamed by my office window.  The peaceful protesters, many white, mostly young, signs aloft, loudly chanting, many with arms upraised, marching for a righteous cause, filled my eyes with tears, and my heart with a jumble of sorrow, hope, guilt, concern, gratitude and resolve.  The knee that indifferently snuffed out the life of George Floyd also unleashed a nation's collective disgust at, and, I hope, determination to directly confront the stain that we have sought to ignore since the founding of our nation. Our persistent, institutionalized racism can no longer be glossed over."

Bump continued, "So many individuals through the years have made their contributions to the righting of society's and government's wrongs.  I have liked to think, and had even managed to convince myself, that I have been on the right side of the moral equation, with my work in my community, with my votes as a legislator, with my actions as the state's auditor, pointing out inconsistencies in the criminal justice system and in access to services, and more recently deficiencies in police training.

"Whatever good intentions have motivated me, whatever good I actually have done, I now recognize, simply has not been enough to fulfill my obligations to my sisters and brothers of color or my country."  [bold face added]

She emphasized that "I have it within my power as a human being to be a stronger voice, to lend a firmer hand.  I have it within my power as an employer to set still higher standards, to instill greater awareness, and to provide a better example.  I have it within my power as an elected official to contribute to a better understanding of the ways that our government institutions fail to recognize and repair the damage inflicted by centuries of injustice.  All those things and more, I can, must and will do." [bold face added]

I became aware of these comments through a blast email from Bump's office on Friday, June 5.  They made a favorable impression and I made a mental note to maybe include them in a future blog post. Then I pretty much forgot about them until they came to mind, unbidden, while watching Donald Trump accept the Republican re-nomination for the presidency this past Thursday night.   

In that norm-shattering campaign speech from the grounds of the White House, Trump had not one gentle word, not one respectful or conciliatory gesture, for the millions of Americans hurt and angered by the killings of Black men by police.  I didn't expect Trump to take the soul-searching approach of a Suzanne Bump to the problem, but I was hoping he might acknowledge,  at least in  passing, the anguish, the frustration, that so many of his fellow citizens are experiencing.

Instead, it was clear that Trump will do everything possible over the next several weeks to make Joe Biden and the Democrats, not racial injustice and inequality, the issue.  

"If you give power to Joe Biden," he said, "the radical left will defund police departments all across America.  They will pass federal legislation to reduce law enforcement nationwide.  They will make every city look like Democrat-run Portland, Oregon.  No one will be safe in Biden's America.  My administration will always stand with the men and women of law enforcement."

For their audacity and creativity, we have to give Trump and the Republican Party credit.  Their virtual convention was a masterpiece of positioning and communicating -- up there with the best TV infomercials of all time. I cannot explain that better than a letter-writer to The New York Times, Ramesh Harihara. In a piece published two days after the GOP convention, Harihara wrote:

"The Republican production effort was stellar -- from the quality of videos, to the locations, to the attempt to show President Trump as someone who welcomes immigrants and is not a racist, to painting Covid as something in the past, and the awesome fireworks and opera at the end.  As a marketer I admire professionals who can take a deeply troubled product, puff up your chest and make people forget the failures." 

Every day from now until Nov. 3, Trump is going to say and do something bold to make voters forget his failures and to focus instead on how awful life will be in "Biden's America." Tomorrow, for example, Trump's going to Kenosha, Wisconsin.  When there, do you think he'll be soothing, or stoking, the passions unleashed by the shooting, and paralyzing, by police of  Jacob Blake on Aug. 23?

When both the Democratic governor and lieutenant governor of Wisconsin made public appeals to Trump over the weekend, asking him not to come to Kenosha  -- "The city was on fire and we need healing, not a barrel of gasoline rolling in," said Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes -- I knew there was no way Trump would not go.  Gasoline is practically his middle name.

To stop Trump's forward progress coming out of the convention and to beat him on Nov. 3, Biden will have to show some stuff, he will have make some moves, like we've never seen from him before.  Worried Dems are right.

Words Matter. Therein May Lie an Insight into Pelosi Boosting JPK III.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi served side-by-side in the House with Edward J. Markey, our state's junior U.S. Senator, for 26 years, from 1987 to 2013. That did not inhibit her last week from endorsing Markey's challenger in the Sept. 1 Democratic primary for U.S. Senator, U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy, III.

The speaker said she was motivated by appreciation of Kennedy's critical work in raising funds and campaigning for Democratic candidates for the House in 2018, which contributed to the party's regaining the House majority and to Pelosi's ability to secure the speakership for the second time in her history-making career.

Politico reported that an aide to the speaker said. "...Pelosi was also concerned after the Markey campaign started ramping up its attacks on the Kennedy name, 'going after Joe, his family, his supporters and the Kennedy family policy legacy.' "

Her support of the Kennedys goes back to her beginnings in Baltimore.  Her father, Thomas D'Alessandro, Jr., a former Baltimore mayor (1947-59), was a prominent organizer and campaigner for John F. Kennedy in his bid for the presidency.  That was 60 years ago.

The speaker had good reasons for injecting herself into the fierce contest between Senator Markey and Rep. Kennedy.  

She also had reasons enough to give the race a good leaving-alone:

One, Pelosi had made it a policy point in her new speakership not to get involved in Democratic congressional primaries.  As soon as she broke her own rule, progressives in her party, such as Andrea Ocasio Cortez, known nationwide by her initials, AOC, wasted no time in calling her a hypocrite.

Two, young Joe Kennedy -- let's call him JPK III -- never asked Pelosi for her endorsement.  (Do you go where you're not invited?)

Three, endorsements are almost always a mixed bag in politics.  For every analyst who thinks they matter there's another who asserts they're insignificant.  

Indeed, there was evidence that Pelosi's thumb on the scales gave an immediate boost to Markey's fundraising.  

The Boston Globe reported this past Saturday, Aug. 22, that: (a) "the Kennedy campaign said it raised more than $100,000, mostly in small donations, on the heels of the high-profile endorsement," and (b) "the Markey campaign said...it raised more than $300,000, via roughly 9,000 individual donations, since Pelosi announced her endorsement of Kennedy."

The timing of the endorsement perhaps offers deeper insight into the speaker's decision.  But before I go into that, I want to state that Markey deserves to be returned to the Senate and that I have already voted early for him.

Pelosi endorsed JPK III shortly after a video advertisement for Markey went viral.  You may have seen or heard of this product, titled "The Green New Dealmaker."  It offered a new twist on President Kennedy's immortal statement at his inaugural: "Ask not what your country can do for you.  Ask what you can do for your country."

Highlighting how hard the pandemic has been on the nation's essential workers, the majority of whom earn low wages, Markey concludes the video by saying, "We asked what we can do for our country.  We went out, we did it.  With all due respect, it's time to start asking what your country can do for you." 

Given the state of our nation today, that formulation was not inappropriate, nor was it disrespectful of the Kennedys.  I don't get how it could have riled up the speaker to the point she'd violate her own policy and feed dissension in her House.

There was one thing about "The Green New Dealmaker," however, that I could see ticking Pelosi off to the point that she just had to speak out publicly on Markey v. Kennedy.

At a pivot point in the ad, an ultra-serious Markey comes into view, facing the camera head-on, and declares, "Well, they call me the dealmaker!"  

Shortly, he announces, "I put the deal on the table but the people make it impossible to refuse. With 500 laws on the books, do you think I'm gonna stop now?  [dramatic pause] They wish!"

Could it be this simple?  Ed Markey had an 11-year jump on Nancy Pelosi in the U.S. House and she got to be speaker.  Who's the dealmaker here?

 

It Was Probably Not a Great Idea, Anyway, for Morse to Take on Neal

There's an aphorism often attributed (erroneously) to Sun Tzu, a Chinese general in the 5th Century B.C. who wrote a still popular book called "The Art of War." It goes like this, "If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by."

I think Springfield's Richie Neal, chairman of Ways & Means in the U.S. House of Representatives, just had a body-of-his-enemy-floating-by moment.

Neal's opponent in the western Massachusetts congressional district Democratic primary on September 1, Holyoke Mayor Alex B. Morse, was accused in a recent letter from the College Democrats of Massachusetts of using his position as a part-time, visiting UMass faculty member "for romantic or sexual gain."

The letter, and an article on the letter, were published this past Friday, August 7, in the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, a student-run publication.  The allegedly inappropriate behavior by Morse centered on three issues, the article stated:

"The first issue alleges that Morse regularly matched with students on dating apps, including Tinder and Grindr, who were as young as 18 years old.  These students included members of the College Democrats of Massachusetts, UMass Amherst Democrats and other groups in the state.

"The second issue, 'Using Democrats' events to meet college students and add them on Instagram, adding them to his 'Close Friends' story and DMing them, both of which have made young college students uncomfortable.' 

"The third issue, 'Having sexual contact with college students, including at UMass Amherst, where he teaches, and the greater Five College Consortium.' " (Consortium members are UMass, Amherst, Hampshire, Mt. Holyoke and Smith Colleges.)

Morse, in a statement to the Daily Collegian, reportedly admitted to having "consensual adult relationships, including some with college students" and "apologized to anyone I have made feel uncomfortable..."

This past Monday, a campaign spokesperson for Neal denied that Neal's campaign was involved in the publication of the allegations against Morse.

Morse said in a later radio interview that he believes Neal's campaign was involved.  "I think this is what happens when you go against power," he told the interviewer on public radio station WAMC.

If Neal or anyone affiliated with his re-election effort were involved, that fact will almost certainly come to light, sooner or later.  There are too many persons in the College Democrats of Massachusetts for them all to keep that secret for long.  That's why I don't believe that Neal, et al., were involved: it would be too risky, it could blow up in his face, he could end up looking scared or like a bully.  

Neal is obviously the favorite in the primary, despite all of the energy and money progressive Democrats have poured into the Morse campaign, as they did into the (successful) congressional campaigns of Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley.  

(I respect progressives as much as the next guy from Massachusetts. But, even if these accusations against Morse had never been hurled, I can't see how his candidacy gets over the fact that a Morse victory would take Neal out of D.C. when, after 31 years in Congress, he is at the height of his powers and most able to deliver the goods to his district and state.)

Neal has been a student of political warfare long enough to know that, as in most human endeavors, the most grievous wounds in politics are self-inflicted, and that patience and restraint tend to be rewarded.  It would surprise me not if Neal long ago committed to memory these words: 

"If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by."  

 

Blogster's Miscellany: Thoughts on Markey v. Kennedy, Plush Pensions & More

MEANINGLESS MEASUREMENTS DEPT.  The Boston Globe recently devoted just under 100 inches of type, plus a color photo and caption that spanned four columns and went four inches deep, to the campaign tempest over how much time U.S. Senator Ed Markey spends in Massachusetts versus Washington, D.C.  Headline: "Markey was least likely legislator to be in Mass." 

After reviewing travel records for all members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, the Globe revealed that Markey stayed in Massachusetts on 38% of the nights between June 1, 2018, and May 31, 2020, whereas his opponent in the September 1 Democratic primary, U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy, III, spent 70% of those nights here. "Senator Markey isn't here enough.  He isn't in Massachusetts enough," Kennedy complains.  The article pointed out that, for every local official in the state who says Markey is never around, there is another who "says he is an engaged and present politician."  Where a member of congress bunks is a bogus metric -- and never more than in the era of the coronavirus and video meetings via electronics, i.e., Zoom, WebEx, et al.  And what about the carbon emissions resulting from all those congresspersons flying back and forth to Washington at the drop of a hat?  Enviros, why rush you not to Eddie's defense?

MORE MEANINGFUL MEASUREMENTS DEPT.  I miss President Obama as much as the next guy from Massachusetts.  That does not mean I agreed with everything he said and did -- or did not do.  I still shake my head over the time he was at the Gridiron Club event and dismissed the idea of socializing with the Senate Republican majority leader.  That day, in the middle of a very effective comedic routine, Obama told the audience of media bigshots, and friends of bigshots: "Some folks still don't think I spend enough time with Congress. 'Why don't you get a drink with Mitch McConnell?' they ask. 'Really? Why don't YOU get a drink with Mitch McConnell?"  How could someone as smart as Obama not see having a drink with the majority leader as a priority rather than a pointless chore?  This sets up a soapbox moment for me on the aforementioned Globe story...I believe a better measurement of congressional job performance than the number of nights spent at homes in their districts is how many times they have dinner in Washington with a member of the other party.

STATE PENSION WHIPPING BOY.  The Boston Herald published an article August 3 stating there are 1,540 retired state employees who "are set to earn six-figure payouts (of their pensions this year) as the state struggles mightily during the coronavirus pandemic, ["Massachusetts pensions keep bulging with state paying out $5.44B.  Herald analysis of state pension report shows slew of of six-figure earners."]   Here's the first paragraph of that article: "UMass retirees top the state's $5.44 billion pension system, with the university's former President William 'Billy' Bulger set to pocket nearly $272,000 this year, records show."  Bulger, who served as president of the Massachusetts Senate for 17 years before becoming president of UMass, is collecting the size pension allowed him under law.  Anyone else in his position would do the same.  That does not mean it is a good idea the state fails to put a cap on maximum earnings by state pensioners.  Something in the range of $5,000 to $6,000 a month ($60K-$72K per year) seems reasonable -- as well as prudent for a Commonwealth with so many unmet needs.  Perhaps the pandemic-related depression we're experiencing will create the social and political circumstances that will end, at some indistinct point in the future, six-figure pensions for future state retirees.   

FLEXIBILITY EQUALS LONGEVITY.  During a virtual U.S. senatorial campaign event on August 4 hosted by Suffolk University, the WGBH Forum Network and the Justice Reform Coalition, both Ed Markey and challenger Joe Kennedy supported: (a) ending prison sentences of life without parole, (b) decriminalizing sex work, and (c) giving incarcerated felons the right to vote.  When Markey was first elected to office 48 years ago, as a state rep from Malden, I strongly doubt he could have won if he'd espoused even one of those positions, never mind all three.  Today, I would bet, that Markey cannot win the September 1 Democratic primary if he does not to embrace all three...There's a huge difference between a race for rep in one or two communities and a statewide election for what is a national office.  The comparison is interesting but not apt.  So let's take the first time Markey was elected to the U.S. House from the old Seventh Massachusetts District, in 1976.  He won a very crowded, 12-person Democratic primary and then coasted to victory in the final. I covered that race as a newspaper reporter.  If Markey had made the mistake on the campaign trail then of even musing aloud on parole for lifers, lawful sex for hire, and inmate voting rights, the resulting controversy would have sunk his congressional candidacy; his 40-plus-year career in D.C. never would have happened.

ONE MAN'S BASE IS ANOTHER'S MAN'S MOB.  Talk about red meat!  Not long after the virtual U.S. senatorial campaign event hosted by Suffolk U., et al., the Massachusetts Republican Party issued a press release ripping Markey and Kennedy for their positions.  The headline on the release gives the complete flavor of the product: "Markey, Kennedy competing to see who can best placate the far-left mob."  Party chairman Jim Lyons, formerly a state rep from Andover, was quoted in the release as follows: "These dangerous proposals are where the Democrats are headed, and they're absolutely insane.  Both Sen. Markey and Rep. Kennedy will do anything and promise anything to pander to the far left mob that appears to be dictating the Democrat Party's policy platform."

IN A DESPERATE TIME, A NEEDED REMINDER.  Yesterday, Action for Boston Community Development issued a statement reminding us all how bad things are in our country at this moment -- and how much worse things may become if a new coronavirus relief law does not quickly emerge from the Congress and the office of the President.  ABCD points out that, when the emergency $600-per-week federal payment to every unemployed person expired seven days ago, on July 31, more than 950,000 Massachusetts were impacted, meaning that many families are now unable to meet their basic needs, and that, abruptly, there was a lot less money being spent in Massachusetts.  "...continuing delay in passage of a second virus relief bill leaves 30 million high and dry, running out of food and essential goods and fearing homelessness after the federal eviction moratorium ended July 25,"  ABCD noted.