He Couldn't Be Arsed

So this morning I woke to see Senator Ted Cruz of Texas heading to Cancun for a mini-vacation with his family as millions of Texans were without power and water after the failure of the power grid because of a serious winter storm. That was enough to be angry but what was amazing was the number of people in the right wing noise machine and their followers who made excuses for him leaving his state while there was an emergency. I couldn't help myself, as I thought about people burning their furniture to keep their children warm. I couldn't help but remind people that elected officials are public servants. So I started to list things on twitter about what exactly Senator Cruz could do. I was surprised that when late in the day I saw hundreds of people had retweeted and liked my little rage on line. It was kind of simple to come up with a few things to state.

1. A US Senator has contacts both within his state and the federal government. He can be on the ground to learn where there is more need and can help direct the agencies doing the work on behalf of the government to offer material support. While this could be done on the beach, it is much easier to learn about what is going on in Texas while in Texas.

2. He can show up at a shelter or food distribution center which would bring the media. He could do the photo op, but in doing so he brings attention to the severity of the problem. He could even choose to go to a grossly under served area to bring eyes to see that. Again he could then make calls to his connections to help bring what is needed to those places.

3. He could offer condolences directly to people who are hurting. This seems like an empty gesture by some but there is a reason that elected officials meeting with disaster victims is important. It brings hope. Listening to people interviewed on TV about the sense of abandonment is one of the worst parts of this tragic situation. A person coming to offer hope would go a long way.

4. When elected officials show up they bring attention and value to the victims. Too often people are devalued as statistics in these cases. We know from studies that when someone seen as having a valued social role takes an interest in those that may not, the value rubs off. Often subconsciously. Just showing interest in the plight of people will enhance the response.

5. He could stand in front of a power plant and discredit the lies of the state officials who are trying deflect the blame to renewable energy. The fact is that the main reason the storm was able to do so much long lasting damage is that the energy grid in Texas is independent of the national grids. That was to avoid regulations that would....have guarded against what happened. So now, while the fact is that the main cause of the problem is the failure of the gas and coal fired plants, the government is lying to its people that it is because of frozen wind turbines. True story, federal regulations would have helped to avoid that as well. Cruz could easily have become a hero and called for his state to reconnect to the federal grid and upgrade its infrastructure. He didn't.

6. Lastly, the idea of running off to a resort with your family as the people who elected you are suffering is just not a good look. How do I know this? When he got caught Cruz blamed his children for wanting to get away since the storm had closed school and he was there to help his wife fly with the kids. That lie not only shows how much of a useless politician he is but that he is so hell bent on power he is willing to throw his wife and children under the bus to keep it. He originally was going to return on Saturday, but changed his flight to today. All because he knows what he did was wrong, but will he apologize? No, my guess by Sunday it will somehow be Nancy Pelosi's fault.

There is no way to justify what has happened here. An elected official, who will soon seek the leadership of his party, when his state faced a crisis, he ran away. Unlike other members of Congress who are on the ground, talking with Texans, volunteering where they can and seeking out those who have no one, Cruz tried to live in luxury in another country to ride it out. While one member of Congress who had no power for days, was using his contacts to help people get to shelters and access to simple drinking water, Cruz was sipping expensive wine. As another member of Congress was trying to coordinate food deliveries so people didn't have to stand in the cold only to find empty shelves at the grocery, Cruz was enjoying a fine dining meal.

Let's face it. We know politicians are not going to be fitting pipes and pulling electrical cable. Most can't and wouldn't know how. But there is a lot they can do to make a dire situation a little less so. Cruz chose to let others handle it and take his family away from it all. As they say in Britain, he couldn't be arsed to help. So when he runs for President again, let's remember, that when the going gets tough, Cruz gets going, as far away from the problem as he can. We have seen this movie before, it didn't scream for a sequel.

58 Steps

In 2007 the Kenyan national elections were called into question.  The country was engulfed with violence.  Over 1300 people were killed, including members of the government, in what was both protests of government corruption, tribal conflict and economic strife.  At one point women and children were locked in a church and it was set on fire.  The UN finally brokered a deal for a coalition government to end the violence.  The world court charged many of the leaders of various factions include those who would later lead the country.  While the cases fell apart over time they are being revived as of late last year as local investigations have started up again due to threats to families of some of the victims from 2007.  Those that the world court indicted were not the ones who beat people in the streets, who chased people from their homes, or lit the fires to burn people out, but the world saw them as inciting that violence.  That violence still haunts the Kenyan people as elections come around once again, this is because those who incited the violence were never brought to justice. 

In the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump we have seen the results of what happens even here in the United States when a corrupt leader lies to his supporters for months leading up to and immediately after the election.  Trump was constantly inciting people being told that their votes didn't matter because the Democrats and some Republicans stole it from them.  He leveled accusations by himself and through surrogates and lawyers at anyone who didn't perpetuate his lie.  When members of his own administration said the election was done without fraud, they were fired.  When elections officials in states Trump needed to win did not violate the law he attacked them publicly.  And when his own Vice-President,  a loyal supporter, did the only thing he could within the Constitution, he called him a traitor.  Each one of these things led to death threats to the people involved and their families.  So when Trump called for a gathering on January 6th, the day of the Congressional certification of the Electoral College... When he timed the rally to end at the start of count in the Congress...  And when he called for the people who had been in Washington DC calling for the death of elected officials to go to the Capital, the only thing it could lead to was violence.  And it did.

Hundreds of Trump supporters invited to protest a fairly routine act on the part of the Congress attacked the central symbol of our Republic, the building where our voices are to be heard through our representatives.  A physical representation of Democracy.  They came with murder in their eyes.  They beat police officers, some carrying Back the Blue banners.  They smashed windows and doors.  They erected a gallows and called for Vice President Pence to be hanged on it.  They carried things to use as weapons and seemed intent on hurting or killing members of Congress.  At one point, they were 58 steps away from succeeding.  And if you ask them why they did it, they would tell you that they were there at the orders of President Donald Trump.

So today, as the trial in Senate comes to a conclusion, a trial where there are Republican Senators who swore an oath to be impartial, scribble on paper during presentations, leave the room or simply don't show up, or even have strategy meetings with Trump's defense attorneys there is no hope for justice.  Their minds are made up.  They will put their own political ambitions and one-sided loyalty over what is good for the country.  They aren't even being coy about it.  That is the problem.  Right now there are still two Americas.  One looks to a conman who tried to overturn a legal fair election because they are afraid of his base and will sell out any part of the country just to not feel his wrath and one that wants to get past the last 4 years and start to operate once again as the standard of Democratic principles, morals and ideals.  So tomorrow, when Donald J Trump is acquitted by a large number of Republicans who never cared about evidence will you rally to his side or will you take a step back and think.  Think about what history will say about the time an out-going President tried to use angry, ignorant supporters to physically stop a democratic process.  Enraging them with constantly lying and demonizing even his own Vice-President?  Your choice.  Choose Wisely.  Because if this insurrection goes unpunished, I fear what might come next. 

Sorry Not Sorry

Marjorie Taylor Greene may live in a penthouse in the city-center of Crazytown, but she threw a party, the travel time for most of the caucus would not be very far.  The problem with the GOP right now is not one person and it will come to light in the upcoming impeachment trial of the former President.  But I wanted to focus on Rep Greene's apology.  Like so many before her it was a non-apology apology where she clearly said she was sorry that she was being held to account for her previous actions and statements, but pivoted to blame others for them, including the media.  The clear intent of the statement she made on the House floor was to save her career.  We know this because the next day she was just as defiant and continues to say she has little to apologize for since her attempt failed.

And this is where we are as a culture.  So many times apologies are meaningless, often crafted by public relation advisors and risk assessment lawyers, they are designed to stop criticism without admitting wrong doing.  Think of people who are caught saying or doing anything that is social unacceptable or criminal who are in the public eye.  There are so many ways that they try to absolve themselves of blame while trying to keep their brand intact.  

Sometimes they even deflect to blame others for their own failures as one particular member of the House did when caught in a serious corruption charge.  He told reporters that his wife took care of his campaign finances so he would have us believe his wife paid for the strip clubs he went to with those funds.  Side note:  He was pardoned by the former President. 

Worst than that is the "I am sorry you took it that way, I didn't mean it".  This often comes from someone who says something highly insensitive and is called out.  Think of a politician who uses antisemitic imagery in an attack ad against his or her opponent or a sports figure caught using a racial slur on a hot microphone.  These are but a few small examples of how this works.  It is coupled with the "I didn't know" defense that suggests something that everyone is aware of the person is ignorant of understanding.  

Then, of course, is the "whataboutism" that we have seen all along in the recent political climate.  An apology that includes others who have done similar things that were not punished is the response we often get from toddlers but we have seen it as grown people use this all the time.  Sometimes it is supporters of the person of the person speaking for them.  Think how many times you heard about Black Lives Matter and Antifa in response to the Capitol riot arrests.  Another side note:  There were thousands of arrests made at the unrest, riots and looting this summer.  I don't recall any of those people who were moved to a new jail to get organic food.  

Saying you are sorry should mean something.  Not the least of which is that you will try your best never to do what you are caught doing again.  It should also include an attempt to fully and without question undo the wrong that was done.  But saying sorry has become a panacea in our culture.  How many times do you see someone tell a child to say they are sorry for an action?  Are all those children really sorry or are we asking them to lie to get beyond their wrong doing?  How many times do we see someone say, "If they just would apologize we could get past this?"  But that is not what will truly get us to a better situation.  Too often those apologizes are hollow and that there is more to owning one's wrong doing than a few words to sooth the masses.  Contrition requires real action, and at time consequences for the action is the best way to move forward.  If someone is not truly sorry and not on their own making the situation better,  it is appropriate to provide appropriate consequences. 

Removing Rep Greene from committees is a good step and it is sad that the entire House had to vote on it because her caucus couldn't do that themselves.  This will limit her power in Congress however she doesn't really see that as much of a punishment. She said after the vote that it would be a waste of her time to serve.  I think anyone who cheers the notion of killing the Speaker of the House shouldn't be allowed to serve in Federal government and I hope the good people of Northwest Georgia see that.  Not likely however.  But while she has become a celebrity of sorts, she also is more infamous than famous.  

Which brings me to another person, someone who hasn't really apologized but I suspect might in the next few days.  Former President Trump.  There are so many excuses, responses, opinions about the trial after his impeachment.  The bottom line is that the former President called for people to come to Washington in the day the election was readout in Congress.  He lied to them continuously for two months, even after recounts and court cases showed that the election was free and fair.  He spoke to the rally to gin them up and told them to go to the Capitol to fight.  He must be held responsible and there are few mechanisms for doing so.  So my guess is that he will do a non-apology apology and be acquitted in the Senate who have no stomach to hold him accountable.  All for political reasons.  And we will go on.  

An apology should be sincere, it should change the person apologizing more than the receiver of the apology.  It should focus on not only admitting the problem created but should ameliorate it.  Otherwise it is empty words.  We should strive to hold ourselves and others to such an apology.  Being sincerely sorry for something is difficult.  Many hate to be wrong, including me.  I have failed many times.  But the thing is we all have a chance to be better.  It starts with seeing it in ourselves.