Category: Uncategorized

“A Republic, if you can keep it.”

* “This was an election that we won easily. We won it by a lot. This election has to be turned around.” That was the fabulist-in-chief, still stopping well short of conceding reality.

* There’s ample precedent for Donald Trump being a sore loser. Recall his reaction to losing the Iowa caucus to Ted Cruz in 2016. “Ted Cruz didn’t win Iowa,” defiantly declared Trump. “He stole it.”

* Trump’s team, says the incumbent president, is now “cooperating” on the transition—while he vows to keep up the fight of non-concession. That’s incongruous and hypocritical to anyone outside his cult base.

* “It’s very hard to get a case to the Supreme Court. I probably can’t get a case.” That was President Long Shot, in acknowledging, as it were, the reality that his fight to overturn his loss will never get in front of SCOTUS Judges Barrett, Kavanaugh & Co.

* “I’m ashamed that I endorsed him.” That was the endorser-in-chief referring to Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who did not support Trump’s voting-fraud claims. “An enemy of the people.” That was the divider-in-chief referring inimitably to Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who also did not support Trump’s fraud claims.

* Will a former President Trump create a de facto, parallel universe White House? Heads up: MAGA-Lago.

* Donald Trump’s pardoning of Michael Flynn and Corn the turkey in the same week seemed perversely appropriate.

* Among world leaders, including autocrats, Russia’s Vladimir Putin still remains the most notable exception in not offering congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden. Putin has his obvious reasons. He won’t be Biden’s handler. And he knows that leverage-wise, Hunter Biden is not the same as golden showers.

* While Trump does a presidential hissy-fit on the way out, scenarios for how he could malinger on continue apace—from building a media empire to playing GOPster king-maker to ramping up a 2024 comeback. It’s all about Trump-first aggrandizement and dog whistling to his cult followers. Speaking of, at least the Rev. Jim Jones drank his own Kool Aid.

#AloneTogether

* “Each of us has a responsibility in our own lives to do what we can to slow the virus.”–President-elect Joe Biden.

* “The issue of herd immunity is difficult. We see no signs of immunity in the population that are slowing down the infection rate right now.”–Dr. Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s top epidemiologist.

* “(The pandemic) is having a devastating effect on museums.”–Laura Lott, president of the American Alliance of Museums.

* Compared to the same month (October) last year, sales of single-family homes were up about 12 percent in Hillsborough County and about 13 percent in Pinellas.

* “The impact will definitely be significant. The fact is that Canada is the No. 1 international tourist market. Canadian tourists spend $6.5 billion in the state every year.”–Evan Rachkovsky, director of research at the Toronto-based Canadian Snowbird Association. It is estimated that 500,000 Canadians descend on Florida in a normal year.

“Yes, we did.”

* The 21^st century is going to be an American century.”–President-elect Joe Biden.

* For the Democratic record: 2008-B. Obama, 70 million votes; 2012-B. Obama, 66 million votes; 2016-H. Clinton, 66 million votes; 2020-J. Biden, 80 million votes.

* For what it’s worth ($3 million), after the (two-county) Wisconsin recount, Biden’s lead grew by 87 votes. Under Wisconsin law, Trump was required to pay for the recount.

* “It’s a team that reflects the fact that America is back, ready to lead the world, not retreat from it.” President-elect Biden, during the introduction of his national security team.

* Amid all the attention given the experience and diversity of key Biden appointees, one resonates with an expedient priority especially welcomed. That’s former Secretary of State John Kerry, who will be America’s special envoy for climate. Kerry, who negotiated the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate accord, understands geopolitics—as well as the ultimate existential threat. “America will soon have a government that treats the climate crisis as the urgent national security threat it is,” underscored Kerry.

* “We will make clear that America will never again check its principles at the door just to buy oil or sell weapons.” That was Joe Biden last year, in addressing the Council on Foreign Relations—as well as the leadership of Saudi Arabia.

* Good luck, Antony Blinken, Biden’s choice for secretary of state. He inherits a deeply demoralized and depleted career workforce at the State Department. He also inherits a world grown increasingly skeptical about trusting the international priorities of the U.S. It’s also a fraught transition where Trump can help facilitate, for example, a foreign-policy-impacting assassination, as he orchestrates his departure.

* “We’re at a crossroads where we’ve got to get the message out that Florida is (still) in play.”—Former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, known to be interested in becoming the Florida Democratic Party’s chairman. The incumbent is Terrie Rizzo.

* “Iorio To Retire”: That was a recent, page-one, above-the-fold-headline in the Tampa Bay Times. It’s also oxymoronic. Pam Iorio is not the retiring sort. She will move on to make another meaningful, societal contribution. Officially, Iorio, 61, is “retiring” as president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Prior to that she had been a two-term mayor of Tampa; the Supervisor of Elections for Hillsborough County and president of the State Association of County Elections Supervisors; and a member—starting at age 26—of the Hillsborough County Commission. She’s also an author and made People Magazine’s list of “25 Women Changing the World in 2018.”

Two quick take-aways. Speculation will be rife about Pamglossian scenarios, some of them inevitably political. And chances are she still has not forgiven Rick Scott for his decision to veto high-speed rail. We will stay tuned.

* The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season officially ended on Monday. Unofficially, the new normal is ongoing.

* Twitter and Facebook will hand over the digital keys to @POTUS, as well as other official social media accounts to Joe Biden on Inauguration Day.

* “Trump loyalists do appear to be looking for an alternative (to Fox News). Many seem to be headed to Newsmax, which used to be a network characterized by cheap production values and elaborate conspiracy theories, but is now characterized by cheap production values, elaborate conspiracy theories and rapidly growing ratings. Others seem to be gravitating to One America News, the even nuttier cable news alternative that long has been a Trump favorite.”–Paul Wildman, Washington Post.

* USF football: sad. USF’s football uniforms for the UCF game: where garish, sadly, meets gaudy.

* Bucs: disappointing. But at least expectations are now being managed.

* University of Florida coach Dan Mullen was understandably not happy with the Gators’ first half defense against Kentucky. He took issue, as he should have, with defensive coordinator Todd Grantham. What he should not have done was to yell at and embarrass Grantham along the sideline. It was wince-able to everyone but ESPN. Their cameras chronicled the extended, classless berating of Grantham.

* “Iran’s scientific and defense policies won’t change because of the assassination of one scientist or general.”–Iran government spokesman Ali Rabiei.

* “We’re lucky our authoritarians are so incompetent.”–Historian Jon Meacham.

* “It will be hard to reassure allies that America is back for good if there is a real prospect of Trump–or some other neo-isolationist–reclaiming the Oval Office in 2024.”–Max Boot, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

* “We, in effect, have three parties now: the Democratic Party, the Anti-Democracy Trump Party, and the Pro-Democracy Republican Party. If Pro-Democracy Republicans want to recover their party, they should consider primary challenges to pro-Trump authoritarians, independent runs for state and federal office, and even formation of a new party or movement.”–Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post.

* “It wasn’t a conspiracy that cost Trump the White House but a terrible combination of bad timing—the vaccines he promised were announced a fortnight too late for them to impact voting—and bad polling.”–Hugh Hewitt, conservative radio talk-show host on the Salem Network.

* “Trump didn’t kill the Republican Party. He formalized its transformation and solidified it as the party of rural, non-college educated whites. And this base will be enough to make the party highly competitive as a national party in the near term, even as its total vote share in the population shrinks.”–Jonathan V. Last, the Bulwark.

* “What we have seen is a resounding personal repudiation of Donald Trump. He hit the heretofore unachieved presidential trifecta of election with a minority of the popular vote, impeachment and re-election rejection, and this by one of the largest popular vote margins suffered by an incumbent in the country’s history.”–Veteran Republican strategist Mac Stipanovich, who is now registered NPA.

* “Deliberately ignoring Trump’s crimes would signal that a president is not subject to equal justice under the law. … It is no more permissible to conclude that former presidents should be excused from criminal culpability than it should be for former corrupt judges or pederast priests or bribe-taking television personalities.”–Philip Allen Lacovara, former counsel to the Watergate special prosecutor.

* “Voters, not lawyers, choose the president. Ballots, not briefs, decide elections.”–Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephanos Bibas, a Trump appointee who wrote the opinion rejecting the Trump campaign’s contention of voter fraud in Pennsylvania.

* “Now that (Biden’s) won, leaders of the defund-police movement hope to keep expanding their power in the halls of Washington. They want his administration to spend more money on health care and housing, and much, much less on law enforcement.”–Samantha Michaels, Mother Jones.

* “If the Senate refuses to tackle the major issues, then the president will—and he’ll just issue executive orders. Just saying ‘no’ doesn’t enhance our power. It’s a way to cede power.”–Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney.

* “Even as cases have exploded across the country, Congress and the president have not yet passed much-needed relief for people.”–Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, in calling a special legislative session to address the COVID-caused emergency.

* “The economy is going to be very uncomfortable between now and when we get the next fiscal rescue package. If lawmakers can’t get it together, it will be very difficult for the economy to avoid going back into a recession.”–Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.

* “She’s pretty pro-fiscal stimulus, and she’s able to effectively work with people across the aisle.”—Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at Ally Invest, on Joe Biden’s selection of Janet Yellen, the former Federal Reserve chair, as treasury secretary.

* “There are more and more people extending helpful hands to do a kindness to their neighbors. … Keep the faith.”–Beloved Jeopardy host Alex Trebek, in a Thanksgiving video taped shortly before his death.

* “Current expectations are that leisure driving vacations will recover first, and then—in order—business travel, domestic air travel and international travel.”–Florida Legislative Budget Commission report.

* “It’s very dangerous. And the smart move is to put this off awhile until we get some people vaccinated.”–USF epidemiologist Dr. John Sinnott, on the postponement of the Gasparilla Parade of Pirates from Jan. 30 to April 17.

* “A widespread aversion to COVID vaccination could risk a lamentable squandering of one of the most remarkable chapters in the history of medical technology and vaccine development. The solution is simple: Pay people to take a COVID vaccine. … The timing couldn’t be better: Money would go into Americans’ pockets just when the U.S. economy can begin fully reopening with a vaccinated population that can go about their daily lives without fear of catching the disease or infecting others. To that end, the federal government should pay every American $1,500 to get vaccinated.”–John K. Delaney, former Democratic Congressman from Maryland—and a former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.

* “I was really drawn to it from the sustainability side of it, making it safer for people to walk and bike and leave their cars behind.”–Alana Brasier, recently hired to serve as Tampa’s Vision Zero coordinator, where she will work to find ways to reduce traffic deaths.

“A Republic, if you can keep it.”

• Donald Trump, who lost the 2020 popular vote by some seven-million ballots, is the only president in U.S. history to lose the popular vote twice. That’s more than a presidential asterisk, especially in the context of an undermined transition. It’s also a disconcerting and embarrassing reminder that American democracy continues to distance itself from “one man, one vote” ideal and dogma. Enough. Electoral dysfunction can no longer define America.
• The Trump voter-fraud, legal effort has fared poorly. How poorly? The U.S. District judge—in this case, Judge Matthew Brann of the Philadelphia-based 3^rd District—less-than-judiciously analogized the Trump team legal arguments to “Frankenstein’s Monster.” In more familiar legal language, he called out Team Trump for offering “speculative accusations”–as opposed to, uh, proof. BTW, Judge Brann is a Republican and a Federalist Society member.
• It’s more than a narcissist’s ego that keeps Trump in a coup-like state. He knows that as an ex-president he’ll be vulnerable to a pending grand jury investigation—by the Manhattan district attorney (Cyrus Vance Jr.)–into Trump’s family business and its practices—and, oh yeah, those still-unreleased taxes.
• Rudy (Giuliani) awakening: It’s been pondered before, but it still seems incredulous that the erstwhile “America’s Mayor” could farcically morph into Trump’s toady.
• “I could think of no worse example for nations abroad, who for the first time were trying to put free electoral procedures into effect, than that of the United States wrangling over the results of our presidential election and even suggesting that the presidency itself could be stolen by thievery at the ballot box.” That was Richard Nixon referencing the 1960 election he lost to John F. Kennedy—and why he didn’t push for a recount.
• Reality check: “When demagoguery and deceit become a national political movement, we Americans are in trouble; not just Democrats, but all of us.”–That was former Illinois governor and presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson, waxing all too prescient back in the day.
• Nothing like doubling down on the new normal on the legacy-updating way out. Now we have the appointment of 33-year-old Federalist Society member Kathryn Kimball Mizelle—rated “not qualified” by the American Bar Association for a lack of trial experience–to be a U.S. district judge in Tampa. She is President Donald Trump’s 227^th nominee confirmed to the federal bench. She also represents a break with the 123-year tradition of not approving judicial nominees put forward by a departing president whose party lost the White House. SCOTUS Justice Amy Coney Barrett would likely approve.
• Somehow, pushing for “conversion therapy”–that’s designed to change minors’ sexual identity and gender identity—is an extension of First Amendment rights, according to a divided, Atlanta-based 11^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The 2-1 majority opinion was joined by Judge Barbara Lagoa, the former Florida Supreme Court justice, who was appointed by President Trump.
• That was then. “The people have spoken, and the election is over. We must accept this result and then look to the future.”–That was Donald Trump, squinting into the future, back in 2016 when he summarily opposed a recount in Wisconsin—a state he had won by less than 23,000 votes.
• One of the problems resulting from a delayed transition is that official FBI background investigations for nominees’ security clearances can’t start. That has a ripple effect: Thousands of appointees can’t begin the confirmation process. The resultant delays could leave the incoming administration’s departments short-staffed and rudderless for months.
• “Not designed to save the environment. It was designed to kill the American economy.” That was the misleader-in-chief–again–underscoring his take on the Paris climate accord—and why he formally withdrew the U.S. from it.
• Joe Biden is president-elect, but more than 70 million Americans voted for Trump, the most vile, self-serving and dangerous person to ever hold the office of president. That’s beyond sobering; it’s scary.
• Last Sunday was the 57^th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The aftershocks continue.

“Yes, we did.”

• “I’m confident he knows he hasn’t won. It’s just outrageous what he’s doing. Incredibly damaging messages are being sent to the rest of the world about how democracy functions.”–President-elect Joe Biden.
• “(Republican leaders) didn’t want compromise and consensus. They wanted war. The challenge that I discovered … is that an obstructionist strategy oftentimes is not punished by voters.” That was Barack Obama in his memoir, “A Promised Land.” So, yes, before there was Donald Trump, there was Mitch McConnell & Co.
• “Once we shut down the virus and deliver economic relief to workers and businesses, then we can start to build back better than before.”—President-elect Joe Biden.

#AloneTogether

• Highest death toll numbers: U.S.: More than 255,000; Brazil:170,000; India: 134,000.
• According to a recent study by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations, the U.S. coronavirus death toll could double by the end of February.
• “To save countless lives.” Why it is necessary for the Trump administration to share critical COVID-19 information with the Biden transition team, according to a letter sent to the White House from the leaders of the American Hospital Assoc., American Medical Assoc. and the American Nurses Assoc.
• Total international college enrollment—including new and returning students–fell 16 percent in the fall, according to the Institute of International Education.
• Less than three weeks: How soon the first doses of vaccines may arrive at TGH—and four other Florida hospitals.
• Florida’s average weekly positivity rate: 9 percent. Hillsborough County’s rate: 8 percent. The WHO’s recommended rate: 5 percent.
• Florida’s first statewide leader to contract COVID-19: Sen. Rick Scott.
• In Tampa Bay, approximately 20 percent of hospital beds and 16 percent of ICU beds are open.
• “I think what’s unfortunate is that we are seeing this (coronavirus) rise in cases and at times when people look forward to gathering with families and friends, spending long hours together. And that just really isn’t wise right now.”–Donna Petersen, dean of USF’s College of Public Health and chair of USF’s COVID-19 Task Force.