Monthly Archives: February 2017

Flak Under Fire

BY RICH GALEN
FEB 27, 2017 | Reprinted from Mullings.com

By this morning you know two things: First, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences screwed up the presentation of the biggest award of its year. Second, President Donald Trump is at war with the Washington press corps.

I’d love to hear from you on which you care about more.

I don’t know much about the movies, so I’ll leave The La-La-Land/Moonlight fiasco to the real news outlets.

I’ll stick with what I actually do know a little about: The “Fake, phoney, fake” news outlets around which I’ve spent most of my life. Continue reading

Quit Whining

BY RICH GALEN
FEB 20, 2017 | Reprinted from Mullings.com

The Press and the President have to quit whining about how badly each is treating the other.

If you leave out President Donald Trump’s rhetorically sticking his fingers in the eyes of his opponents and making up events like terrorist activities in Sweden; if you had awakened from the hour and 17 minute fever dream that was the press conference on Thursday; and, had he stuck to his vision for America, President Trump’s speech at the rally in Melbourne, Florida over the weekend would have been pretty good.

Alas.

Mr. Trump needs an enemy. He doesn’t have the emotional strength to operate solely on his own talent. He has to constantly compare himself, his achievements, with others. And the comparison is always taunting, derisive, and hurtful. Continue reading

Former House leader Bob Michel, a person and politician for the ages

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON  |  FEB 17, 2017

Originally published in The Hill

Shinny! Fudge! Son of a buck! Judas Priest!

When those exclamations echoed through the halls of the second floor of the U.S. Capitol you knew Bob Michel was upset.

He was a man of incredible calm, of combat-tested self-discipline.  His Midwestern values prevented him from cursing or speaking ill of his fellow man or breaking his word or violating the bonds of family and friends.  He couldn’t even gesture with his middle finger.  He would raise three digits and make you read between the lines.

So the outbursts were rare. He found it easy to smile, easy to forgive and he was “awe shucks” humble right up until he, as he would describe it, shuffled off his mortal coil in the early morning of Friday at the age of 93.   Continue reading

Shark Attack

BY RICH GALEN
FEB 16, 2017 | Reprinted from Mullings.com

It is no secret that I have not been Donald Trump’s strongest supporter.

I do not think this keeps the President up at night.

But, watching the breathless coverage of The Russian Connection, all I can say is: I’ve seen this movie before.

The Trump-Flynn-Russia story is at the point where the news media in Washington are falling all over one another working their friends, their sources, the guy who makes their toasted bagel with a little cream cheese in the morning … anyone who might have a sliver of information – real or not – that can get them a headline on the web version of their news organization. Continue reading

Part II: Lying Has A Lot of Moving Parts

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON  |  FEB 13, 2017

“There are three types of lies—lies, damn lies, and statistics.” — Benjamin Disreaeli, 19th Century British Prime Minister

Lying, which was covered in Part I, is just one form–the worst form–of deviation from truth. Short of Webster’s definition to “make an untrue statement with the intent to deceive,” there are a number of derivations of lies and damn lies.

Differentiating between them is important in politics. Some of our most capable and honorable leaders in America had a hard time constructing a simple sentence without cue cards or a teleprompter. Members of the Bush family come to mind. Their seeming inability to communicate well, in this hyper-critical, media-intensive age, is often interpreted as a lack of intelligence or honesty. At the other end of the speaking spectrum are those public figures whose smooth-sounding, phrase-making, glittering generalities just exude great profundity and trustworthiness. President Bill Clinton comes to mind.

As a result we sometimes treat unfairly those who innocently trip over their tongue and treat too forgivingly those who speak with forked-tongue.  Continue reading

Part I: Dying Art of Truth-Telling

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON  |  FEB 8, 2017

“I will love you in the morning.” or “The check is in the mail.” or “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you.”

They were called the three great lies.

Not anymore.

It may depend upon where and when you grew up, but lying has always been “wrong,” something you were taught not to do. It was taboo; a step too far, an unsavory and unacceptable element of human behavior. In court it’s a crime. In church, it’s a sin.

A lie, according to Merriam Webster, is to “make an untrue statement with the intent to deceive.” Continue reading

Deadlines Begin to Hem in Congress

BY STEVE BELL
FEB 2, 2017 | Reprinted from BipartisanPolicy.org

Despite the rousing reassurances by Republican congressional leaders at the GOP retreat in Philadelphia last week, it remains clear that Congress’ schedule is so jammed that the “first 200 day” pledges will never materialize. How President Trump reacts to this inevitable reality will reveal how deep the rifts remain between the president’s timetable and Congress’ legislative processes.

The first deadline Congress set for itself as it began the “repeal and replace” effort on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has come and gone. Committees were instructed under reconciliation to report legislation to repeal much of the ACA by January 27. They reportedly remain hard at work to produce these bills as soon as possible. Continue reading