Miriam and all, endorsing Biden makes sense since he is a throw away candidate.
The only person who can beat Trump is Trump. That female senator of yours you
speak of clearing the path for her White House run in 2024 by getting rid of
her Democratic rivals, Franken by his resignation and Biden by is impending
loss to Trump.
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, May 3, 2020 1:03 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Start Hearings Now!
This is a good article. Note who wrote it. This senator was forced by his
Democratic colleagues to resign because a Republican woman who had been in show
business when he was, accused him of touching her life saving vest and kissing
her when the cast of a film was fooling around after a filming session and then
several other women came forward and accused him of inappropriate behavior. The
female senator of my state was one of the most insistent that he leave the
Senate. That same female senator has just endorsed Joe Biden who has been
accused by several women of sexually inappropriate behavior and by one woman of
sexual molestation. Joe Biden hasn't made any statement about anything lately,
that is as coherent as this one by Al Franken, but we are being forced to
accept him as a credible presidential candidate.
Miriam
Start Hearings Now!
By Al Franken, Al Franken's Website
03 May 20
Before President Trump offered the insanely stupid (and I do not mean that
sarcastically) idea of injecting disinfectants into our bodies to treat
Covid-19, a good majority of Americans had already concluded that Trump is not
providing the wise, measured leadership of, say, a Lincoln or an FDR.
Leadership has come from elsewhere. From governors, medical professionals, and
other essential workers on the front lines. But we have no coherent national
response to this pandemic. That response really should come from the federal
government.
There are three branches of our federal government. Donald Trump leads the
executive branch and has shown himself to be completely dishonest, extremely
paranoid, and, yes, stupid. Dishonest, disturbed, and stupid are no way to lead
a country, sir.
That leaves the other two branches. One of those is the Supreme Court, which is
ill-suited to lead in anything other than a Constitutional crisis, let alone a
pandemic. Also, the Court just fast-tracked the appeal of the decision of both
the district and circuit courts by a purely partisan 5-4 margin. All in order
to force the people of Wisconsin to risk their lives to vote in the state
election of a state judge.
The 5-4 margin exists only because Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell is a
proudly transparent, shameless hypocrite, who recently gave "a sly smile" when
confirming that he would fill a Court vacancy if one opens up between now and
noon on January 20, 2021.
In the meantime, McConnell is suggesting that states declare bankruptcy.
So, that leaves the House, whose members are now back in their home districts
on recess. Most, I'm sure, are sheltered at home and working hard, consulting
with state officials, local businesses, hospitals, schools, doctors, and (if
they're Democrats) labor leaders.
A message to Speaker Pelosi. Tens of thousands of Americans are dead, and tens
of thousands more will die. Our economy is in freefall. Maybe this would be a
good time to have hearings.
Say, on testing. President Trump keeps saying that we've tested more people per
capita than any other country. He's lying! Shouldn't Congress call expert
witnesses, read and hear their testimony, and then ask them questions?
Do we have a national plan for scaling up the testing as fast as possible?
What should the federal role be? The state role? Do we have every lab working
at full capacity? What kind of tests do we need and in what quantities, and how
do we make sure they are distributed and administered strategically? Is the FDA
on top of guaranteeing that Americans aren't getting bad tests? Do we have the
reagents we need? No? Then where can we get them? Do we have a national plan
for contact tracing? How would that work? What is the most effective use of
testing to enable us to get people back to work? Do we need to spend a lot more
on testing?
That's just the tip of the iceberg. On testing.
How do we make sure kids aren't hungry?
What would the effect on worldwide markets if our states did start declaring
bankruptcy?
This is a worldwide pandemic. How are we working with the rest of the world?
What exactly does the World Health Organization do? Is it really a good idea to
cut off our funding?
Is there a black market in PPE? What can we do to stop that? Should Trump
finally fully invoke the Defense Production Act so there are no shortages?
And - how about a little oversight on the nearly $3 trillion dedicated so far
to addressing the pandemic and the economic disaster that has come along with
it. Yes, the Speaker has established an oversight committee on the $3 trillion
that Congress has approved thus far. But why exactly aren't we having hearings
now?
It's true that bringing the 435 House members together under one Dome creates
some real social distancing problems. But it's also true that my three-year-old
granddaughter, Avery, meets with her pre-school class five days a week online.
She has a staffer (my daughter) who gets her connected.
And it works like a charm. Yes, the House would need to adopt new rules to
allow virtual hearings. Well - do that!
Now, Americans might say - "Hey, Congress! Suck it up and wear PPE at hearings.
Just like our medical professionals and so many other Americans."
Fine. Then do that! But, Christ! Do something!
America desperately needs leadership - right now. Donald Trump is not providing
it. The Senate won't provide it. If Mitch McConnell approves an oversight
committee, it'll be on Joe Biden. Or Hunter Biden. Or another Biden.
Avery sees and talks with her teacher and classmates on this thing called Zoom.
They're working now on sounding out the letters of the alphabet. I'm not sure
how secure Zoom is. But my guess is that the House could figure this out.
Please. Start hearings now!
