Donald Trump shakedown is real news and media deserves credit for doing a great job

A summary, and the implications, of the Trump impeachment
Thank you media!  #RealNews

Opinion echo summary from Carroll County Maryland published in the Carroll County Times by Frank Batavick:  What we’ve learned from the whole impeachment process. #IMpotus

The Trump/Ukraine affair was not a witch hunt. The president’s lawyers admitted that he withheld foreign aid and military assistance to Ukraine and dangled the opportunity of a meeting in the Oval Office to pressure President Zelensky to investigate corruption in his country. However, the only names ever mentioned were those of two American citizens, one of whom was also a potential rival for the presidency.

None of this was fake news. The presidential shakedown was a real event, and the media did an admirable job ferreting out the details, with help from Freedom of Information Act lawsuits and by reporting on a book by Trump’s former national security advisor, John Bolton.

There was a “quid pro quo.” No one now denies the “this for that” offer Trump made, though his lawyers argued the reason he did so.

Some presidents have denied foreign aid to achieve diplomatic goals, but never to assist their own upcoming election.

Donald Trump has lied throughout this whole affair. The phone call with Zelensky was not “perfect” but it only served to be his illegal means of assisting Trump’s reelection campaign.  (In my opinion, the call was Russian #Putinesque.)

Crimes were committed that violated U.S. laws regarding bribery, soliciting foreign campaign contributions, coercion of political activity, misappropriation of federal funds, and obstruction of Congress. The House distilled these down into two charges: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. This doesn’t mean that Trump didn’t break these other laws.

Donald Trump is forever #Impotus - Impeached!

Additional witnesses could not have been called by the House because Trump blocked his staff from cooperating and told them to defy subpoenas. He also blocked the release of any written communications. That was blatant obstruction of Congress.

If no crimes were committed, Trump should have been eager for us to hear from eyewitnesses and see the full, unredacted documents that exonerate him.

Trump’s defense team knowingly lied about there not being any first-hand witnesses to his scheme. Right after Christmas, Bolton sent a draft of his book’s manuscript to the White House for the National Security Council staff to review. They briefed the White House counsel and defense team member, Pat Cipollone. Though he knew Bolton was a first-hand witness who might testify, he continued to claim there weren’t any.

Bolton’s book doesn’t qualify as sworn testimony, but its claims could have been put to the test by having him testify under oath to the House or Senate, along with Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget.

According to Bolton’s book, Cipollone was also a fact witness to Trump’s corrupt scheme. Cipollone thereby violated a legal ethics tenet known as the “advocate-witness rule.” It states that “when a lawyer should be a witness at trial, [they] cannot also be an advocate in the courtroom." Cipollone had an ethical obligation to disclose the facts he knew surrounding the case to the Senate.

The president’s defense team consisted of the ethically challenged Cipollone, Alan Dershowitz, former legal counsel for serial sexual predators Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein, and Ken Starr, who was fired from Baylor University for mishandling several sexual assaults there.

The 17 previous Senate impeachment trials pertaining to federal judges and two U.S. presidents have included witness testimony. However, Senate Republicans bought into Dershowitz’s argument that Trump committed no crime that is an impeachable offense and, even if he did, there’s no difference between his personal interest and the public interest because he’s president.

McConnell, from his blocking of a vote for President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland to his collusion with the president to rig the impeachment trial, has done more to shred the Constitution than any other living leader.

Trump has been given the green light to cheat his way to victory in November with the assistance of Russian, Chinese, and Saudi Arabian intelligence agencies.

(God Fobid! Please God "Noooo!") But...If  (puke!) tRump wins in November, many will not accept the results because they will be tainted by foreign meddling and agitprop social media.

With a chief executive who has unlimited power and is deemed above the law and therefore not impeachable, the Constitution’s system of checks and balances is dead. We should rewrite the civics textbooks. We should also seek lessons from world history about the 1930s and ‘40s or kiss our constitutional republic goodbye.

Frank Batavick writes from Westminster, Maryland.

Baltimore Strong! Donald Trump is wrong to criticize respected Congressman Cummings: racism

Poor People’s Campaign stands with Baltimore

Echo opinion published in the Carroll County Times a Maryland newspaper.

The Maryland Poor People’s Campaign stands united with the citizens of Baltimore in absolute condemnation of the racist and derogatory tweets made by the President of the United States. 

As a non-partisan, fusion movement of organizations and people committed to fighting against the injustices of systemic racism and poverty, we recognize the rhetoric and coded-language contained in the Donald Trump's racist statements.

In the President’s recent vituperative attack on Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings, Donald Trump tweeted that “...his Baltimore district is far worse and more dangerous. [Baltimore] is the WORST in the USA. ... very dangerous and filthy place ... worst run in the United States ... No human being would want to live there.” This demeaning rhetoric implies that the inhabitants who live in this “disgusting rat and rodent infested mess” are less than human.

The fact of the matter is that, the citizens of Baltimore, are human beings and deserve a president who respects their rights to live just as much as any other American city. They deserve a president who looks at the challenges faced by Baltimore and seeks to improve them. Instead, we have a president who consistently seeks ways to stoke racist fears and promote tropes and stereotypes regarding the poor.

Three weeks ago, the president decided to hold an impromptu parade in celebration of the independence of our country. He diverted budgeted taxpayer dollars from the military and other federal agencies to pay for this unnecessary charade. To date, the American people have been given no clear number of how much was spent, and this administration is fearful of Congressman Cummings’ Oversight Committee bringing that information to light. “PBS NewsHour” on July 11 estimated that the tab is at least $5.4 million dollars.
That figure does not take into account the $102 million that the American taxpayer has paid for the president to have his frequent golf weekends, according to a May 22, Newsweek article, and take his family on lavish trips.

Instead of criticizing Rep. Cummings and disparaging the great city of Baltimore, the Maryland Poor People’s Campaign invites Donald Trump to replace his mouth with his money and join the effort as we work to make our nation great for ALL her/our people.

Shirley Eatmon,  Finksburg Maryland in Carroll County

Trump's lost "winning record" must be hidden with his tax returns

If Trump supporters are tired of "winning", they must also be weary about waiting for anything to become fatigued about, because, frankly, absolutely nothing is happening (yawn).  

All the 'winning' we're doing is delusional Donald Trump- an echo opinion letter, published in the Carroll County Times, a Maryland newspaper.

Tired of winning yet, Trumpzi supporters?

In 2016, Donald Trump told his delusional supporters that they would get tired of winning. 

So, are you tired of winning yet? Are you tired of getting those huge tax refunds? Are you tired of those big employer bonuses Trump promised? Are you tired of that big pay raise Trump said you would get? How about Trump's promise he would give you great health care coverage at a lower cost?

Trump filed a lawsuit through the Department of Justice proposing that the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) be thrown out including protection for preexisting conditions with no plans to replace it. If his lawsuit succeeds, over 20 million Americans will lose their health insurance and everyone else will lose protections under the ACA. He's telling his supporters to wait until after the 2020 election to see his plan. Right....just like President Nixon's secret (treasonous) plan to get us out of Vietnam after you reelected him. 

There was no "secret" plan to pull out of Vietnam and tens of thousands of additional Americans died as a result. 

Trump and his Republican puppets have no health care plan either and many Americans will die for lack of affordable health care. A very pro-birth (not pro-child) position Maryland Republican delegates like Haven Shoemaker can get behind.

How about Trump's 25 percent tariffs on China and possible tariffs on Mexico? Guess who pays — American consumers and businesses. You will be paying up to 25 percent more for products you buy from China and Mexico. Chances are you will buy less. This hurts American businesses who will cut American workers because of lower demand for higher-priced products. There goes your tax refund, bonus and pay raise.

American farmers are getting hammered by Trump's China tariffs. Trump's answer is to give farmers welfare/bailout payments until China gives in. It's what Republicans like to call “socialism.” Guess what? China now buys much of its soybeans from Brazil and Argentina. So there is no real pressure on China to give in to Trump's tariffs. Farmers want free market trade and work, not welfare handouts

The guy who talks about getting tired of winning is really a loser. From 1985-1994, Trump tax records show that he lost $1.17 billion. [Because he lost so much] he didn't pay taxes in eight of the 10 years. Maybe this is why Trump doesn't want us to see his more recent tax returns.

They say fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, fool me a third time, you're just plain stupid. Tired of winning yet?

David J. Iacono,  Westminster, Maryland

P.S. MaineWriter- Maybe archaeologists will discover all those "winning" Trump plans when they eventually unearth the Trumpzi's hidden tax returns.

Enough with Confederate statues! Keep John Wilkes Booth's body in the ground!

As a native Marylander, it's humiliating enough for me to realize how Abraham Lincoln's killer was born in and is buried in the state. But, to have a statue of the murderer constructed to revive his memory is an embarrassing, chillingly stupid idea. What is going on with Republicans, who claim to support such an evil idea? An opinion letter opposes this horrible idea published in Maryland's Carroll County Times newspaper. 

John Wilkes Booth was killed when Union soldiers tracked him down to a Virginia farm, 12 days after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. An account about his death is published at this site here. Booth's ashes are interred in his family's plot at the Baltimore Green Mount cemetery. Booth, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln, is buried in the Booth family plot with his name on the family monument, but he's the only Booth not to have his own tombstone. The family didn't think it would be a good idea. There's a tradition of counteracting the bad and superstitious juju at the grave by placing Lincoln head pennies face up on the headstones to "lock the assassin in the ground".

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An echo opinion letter published in the Carroll County Times newspaper- "Say no to memorial featuring Lincoln’s killer"

It's outrageous that the Taneytown council is favorably considering erecting a Civil War monument by a Pennsylvania sculptor who is a member of several pro-Confederate groups. The monument is proposed to have a full-size statue of evil traitor John Wilkes Booth near a statue of our first- or second-greatest president Abraham Lincoln, whom Booth infamously assassinated. The infamy was so great that Booth’s family refused to have a marker at the traitor’s grave. (For what it’s worth, I think Washington was the greatest, but Lincoln was definitely second.)

The Washington Post had a strong article on this a few days ago. There have been many other media reports about this.

It will be a perpetual mark of shame on Carroll County if that monument is permitted to be built. The sculptor says he wants to show both sides of the dispute. But there can be no dispute over who was right and who was wrong in the Civil War, and it would be an incredibly disgusting travesty to erect a statute honoring the traitor Booth at this time! Taneytown leaders who think this would be good for business are terrible fools. And allies with treason.

Carroll County has become dominated by Republicans, although that was not the case for many decades before 1990. They claim to honor Lincoln, the greatest leader of the GOP. It’s incredible that they do not cry out in outrage and shame against an effort to erect to large new statue to Booth in Taneytown. It’s really shocking to me that they do not.

Bruce A. Hake  Union Bridge, Maryland 

If Trump lies long enough he'll discredit his own lies ~ echo Zirpoli

Tom Zirpoli echo opinion published in Carroll County Times in Westminster Maryland

For a person who likes to label things “fake,” President Donald Trump is the king of fake. 

Here are some examples:

Fake pictures: Remember how upset Trump was about the size of his inauguration crowd compared to President Barack Obama’s? Independent pictures showed Obama’s crowd to be larger and this did not make Trump happy. He continued to insist that his crowd was “the biggest ever.” But pictures told a different story. Little did we know at the time the trouble Trump went to prove his point. According to a story in The Guardian, a government photographer admits that after talking to the president, he edited official pictures to make Trump’s crowd appear larger. The photographer said that he cropped the empty space where the crowd ended and gave the new pictures to Trump the next morning.
Fake supporters: In Billings, Montana, Tyler Linfesty* was asked to leave a Trump rally because of the facial expressions he made in response to the president’s speech. 

Linfesty, a 17-year-old high school senior, was placed behind the president on the stage. In the middle of the rally, Linfesty was asked to leave and was replaced with a woman, who sufficiently demonstrated her appreciation for the president. Two other people on the stage who were not sufficiently applauding the president were also replaced. This was all going on as Trump was speaking as if no one was watching.

Fake News: After an anonymous op-ed was published in The New York Times, reportedly by a senior staffer in the White House, Trump declared that the letter was fake. The next day, however, he ordered the Attorney General to investigate and locate the staffer who wrote the letter because it was, according to Trump, a national security issue. But if the letter was fake, how would Trump expect the Justice Department to find the writer? As one late-night comic stated, if you just wait long enough, Trump will discredit his own lies.

Fake Economics: Having inherited a growing economy from President Barack Obama, the economy continues to do well under Trump. So one might think that just stating the facts would be good enough. Instead, team Trump can’t help exaggerating about the economy. Trump’s press secretary, Sarah Huckabee, recently stated that Trump had created 700,000 jobs for African-Americans since he had been in office compared to only 195,000 during President Obama’s administration. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics corrected the statement stating that Obama had created 3 million jobs for African-Americans. To her credit, Huckabee apologized for the error.

Of course, Trump never apologizes. On Sept. 10, Trump tweeted “The GDP Rate (4.2%) is higher than the Unemployment Rate (3.9%) for the first time in over 100 years!” But, according to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, “it has happened in 185 months since 1948 and most recently in 2006 when the unemployment rate was 4.7 percent and the GDP growth was 5.4 percent.”

Not only does Trump state falsehoods, but he also attributes false statements to others. On Sept. 10, Trump tweeted “’President Trump would need a magic wand to get to 4% GDP,’ stated President Obama. I guess I have a magic wand, 4.2%, and we will do MUCH better than this!” President Obama never made this statement about the GDP and, for the record, Obama exceeded 4.2 percent growth on three separate occasions. For Trump, however, 4.2 percent was “historic.”

Fake Outrage: Trump now says that the media “shouldn’t be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody’s name.” Trump seems to forget the times he used anonymous sources to sell the falsehood that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States. “An extremely credible source,” tweeted Trump in 2012, “has called my office and told me that @BarackObama’s birth certificate is a fraud.” Another anonymous source told Trump in 2016 that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s father had been with Lee Harvey Oswald before Oswald killed President John F. Kennedy. “I mean,” said Trump on Fox News, “what was he doing with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before the death? Before the shooting? It’s horrible.”

It seems that anonymous sources are good when Trump uses them, but “disgraceful” when they are used about him. “I think it’s disgraceful that The New York Times would do it,” Trump said in reference to the newspaper using an anonymous source.

Fake Numbers: Trump has called into question the official number of deaths reported in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria (just under 3,000). Trump hates numbers that reflect poorly on him or his administration. His outrage, however, is merely a distraction from the facts.

*A woman who replaced a Tyler Linfesty at a Trump campaign rally in Montana was incorrectly identified in a previous version of this article. The woman's identity is unclear.

Letter about political evil ~ echo opinion from Maryland

Opinion Letter to Donald Trump from Mike McGrew published in Carroll County Times, a Maryland newspaper.

In his last letter to Donald Trump, McGrew mentioned an elementary student who pictured herself as a superhero defeating, “The Evil Dr. Trump.”

McGrew writes to Trump, "I didn’t respond about you, as I never discuss politics with students. But today, I’m agreeing with her."

McGrew is a psychologist. He writes, "I don’t often view people in terms of good and evil but know you have many fervent supporters that do."

Wikipedia defines evil from a Christian worldview as, “any action, thought, or attitude that is contrary to the character or will of God.”  Donald Trump's countless moral failings, lack of compassion, sexism, racism, name-calling, and fear mongering all qualify here. Really, what would Jesus say?

In a November letter to Donald Trump, McGrew agreed with John McCain and George W. Bush, who castigated Trump's abandonment of shared American ideals in favor of nativism, bigotry and “outright fabrication”. These also clearly contradict the character of God.

"Today, a cacophony of Republicans, Democrats and foreign allies are skewering your kowtowing to evil strongmen worldwide. It’s hard not to believe that Putin doesn’t have you compromised."

In a wonderful book, “The Soul of America,” by Jon Meacham, references Lincoln’s first inaugural address about America’s, “battle for our better angels.”

Meacham offers optimism that hope will conquer the fear you promote and describes numerous times when America has “come through such darkness.”

"I was especially reminded of you in Meacham’s portrayal of the 1950s darkness of Sen. Joe McCarthy, ... a man who developed fear-based bluster and smeared opponents."

Just like Trump, the press depended on McCarthy for unfounded, dramatic story leads. Like Trump, McCarthy took the offensive when there were stories he didn’t like, singling out specific publications and journalists, often accusing them of fomenting Communism.

Meacham describes McCarthy as, “an opportunist, uncommitted to much beyond his own fame and influence.” He hid behind alleged “patriotism” in his attacks on innocent people. Sound like Trump?

President Truman stated, “the greatest asset the Kremlin has is Senator McCarthy.” The journalist, Richard Rovere, described McCarthy as the “first American to ever to be actively hated and feared by foreigners in large numbers.” Pretty similar, huh?

What McGrew loved about Meacham’s book were his descriptions of flawed presidents, including Lincoln, Grant, both Roosevelts, Truman, Lyndon Johnson and Reagan, bravely appealing to the better angels of our nature.

Some presidents championed equality and justice for women, workers, blacks, the poor, and immigrants, while others challenged Klansmen, Jim Crow, John Birchers and communist baiters.

The moral character other presidents exhibited and the hope they conveyed in the face of fear that politicians like Joe McCarthy promoted, contributed to their (historic and) heroic growth as presidents.

Reagan’s 1989 speech about America as a, “shining city on a hill … a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places” starkly contrasts with Trump's self-serving, hate-filled, Gotham version of America First that confirms the devils of the "Trumpzi" cult in America’s nature.

Meacham encourages us to keep history in mind while countering Trump's undermining of the rule of law, the free press and America’s collective sense of hope.

How? By becoming politically engaged, resisting tribalism, respecting facts and deploying reason in becoming better informed.

McCarthy was exposed by the great journalist, Edward R. Murrow, who courageously stated, “We will not walk in fear of one another.” Murrow charged McCarthy with causing, “alarm and dismay” among our allies abroad and offering, “considerable comfort to our enemies.” So eerily familiar today.

Demagogues and fear mongers like Trump and McCarthy only survive when we let them. Today, our most moral politicians are forsaking you.

Hopefully, more Americans will do the same, follow Meacham’s advice, and we’ll reach the Trump presidency’s tipping point.

McCarthy eventually lost power, was publicly disgraced, and censured by the Senate.

I believe (and Maine Writer agrees), the Trump fate will be much worse and, consequently, when that happens, America's future will become much brighter.

Sincerely,  Mike McGrew

Trump has his hands in other people's pockets ~ echo from Maryland

Echo opinion letter published in the Maryland newspaper, Carroll County Times

Trump, GOP don't care about spending your money

Remember, in the 2016 campaign, when Donald Trump promised to build that beautiful wall across the southern border and have Mexico pay for it?

Fast forward two years and now Trump wants you, the taxpayer, to pay for the wall or he will shut the government down. Trump always seems to have his hand in someone else's pocket. How about his weekly getaways to Florida or New Jersey on your dime. It must be nice to vacation and play golf most of the time and have the taxpayer pickup the tab.

How about those tariffs? His tariff wars with China and Europe are costing farmers billions in lost revenue and many small farmers will likely lose their farms. What does Trump propose? A $12 billion bailout to farmers just like the old Soviet Union used to do — socialism Josef Stalin would be proud of. With steel and aluminum tariffs, many more will lose their jobs in the auto, the beer and soda industries that depend on aluminum cans and many other industries that rely on steel and aluminum for their products. As a consumer, get ready for major increases in the price of goods that depend on aluminum and steel. Tariffs amount to a tax on American consumers.

How about those great economic numbers for the second quarter of 2018: a 4.1 percent increase in economic growth. According to Trump, that's one of the greatest increases in U.S. history. The facts are that President Obama had several quarters during his administration where the economic growth exceeded 4 percent. Now Trump wants to give the top 1 percent another $100 billion in capital gains tax cuts. Are there any Republicans left that care about deficits?

How is the great economy affecting you? Have you seen a 4.1 percent increase in your paycheck or annuity? Have you received those big bonuses from your employer Trump promised with his wonderful tax reform plan? The fact is wages are flat. If the great economic news is helping anyone, it's likely the top 1 percent.

Take it from Trump himself. Don't believe what you see, hear and read. Those who support Trump live in a world of total denial. They are addicted to the Trump persona and have signed onto the Trump cult. Maybe we should call these folks Trumpaholics because reason doesn't seem to matter and they will continue to support him even when they hit rock bottom.

David J. Iacono Westminster Maryland

Russians are here! Americans must pay attention to CI - echo from Westminster MD

This opinion published in the Carroll County Times, a Maryland newspaper, is apparently written by a person who has experience in what is going on regarding the 2016 (and ongoing) Russian invasion of American democracy and why the Mueller investigation is important. ~ By Robert Wack in "Other Voices". 

WESTMINSTER, MD - Regardless of your political affiliation or interests, in coming months it will be impossible to avoid hearing about the Mueller investigation into Russian involvement in U.S. affairs and the 2016 American election. 

Komrompat is blackmail, done the Russian way

Understanding how and why the Russians interfere requires a quick overview of the world of counterintelligence operations. This information is drawn from the published work of retired intelligence professionals from the CIA, National Security Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Counterintelligence, or CI, put simply is spying on the spies to impair their ability to spy on us. It is hard, dirty, complicated work and usually occurs almost exclusively in the shadows. But, the only time you hear about it is when there are failures. American CI professionals monitor all other intelligence services to keep track of their activities, and actively work against them.

Russian counterintelligence activities are considered to be some of the best in the business. One small example of current Russian operations involves their clever use of social media.

University of Washington computer science researchers Leo G. Stewart, Ahmer Arif and Kate Starbird, in a recently published paper, analyzed social media traffic patterns and found that Russian accounts generated a significant portion of traffic from both BlackLivesMatter and BlueLivesMatter accounts. The apparent goal was to amplify disagreements and provoke fighting between partisans on both sides.

This is an example of the technique of provokatsiya, or provocation. These are activities that sow discord, distract from real problems and divert resources, time and energy.

Kompromat, or compromising material (like "blackmail"), leverages embarrassing information to influence or control behavior or decisions. The material is usually something damaging, associated with what Catholics know as the Seven Deadly Sins, the usual ways humans succumb to basic impulses in humiliating ways. The diabolical thing about kompromat is that it doesn’t have to actually exist to be effective. The mere suspicion of its possible existence, or the possible threat of its exposure, is often enough to compel the desired behavior from the targeted individual.

Dezinformatsiya, or disinformation, is also abbreviated deza. This is the original fake news, false information disseminated and promoted to confuse and bewilder. It is usually a clever blend of facts and lies to provoke curiosity and feed pre-existing narratives, to create confusion, distraction and mistrust. At its most effective, it lures people into a “forest of mirrors” by sowing doubts about the truth of anything, fostering mistrust, paranoia and paralyzing decision-making because no one can agree on what is true.

Aktivniyye meropriyatiya, or active measures, are just that: proactive efforts to interfere. The hacking of email accounts, funneling money through intermediaries, and manipulating advocacy groups to further specific political goals are all examples.

The Russians will smile as the finger pointing and blame casting escalate even further.

Tribalism is a basic element of human nature, and our country has always had political and social factions, but now enemies of the U.S. are turning that tribal instinct against us to weaken our country. We are at war, whether we acknowledge it or not.

The point of all this is that the media must ensure the quality and accuracy of published information, and social media must also adapt. As consumers of media and citizens of a democracy, we must become smarter and more discerning. Otherwise, our enemies will continue playing us against each other while they undermine democratic institutions and weaken our country to damage our interests, and further their own, around the planet.

(MaineWriter~ And Donald Trump must end his salient support for all things Russian! Robert Mueller's investigation of the Trump campaign 2016, is protecting American democracy by routing out the targets of kompromat.)

Robert Wack writes from Westminster, Maryland where he serves on the Common Council. He can be reached at robert.p.wack@gmail.com.

Maryland joins Paris environmental climate accord

I was born and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland.  

Maryland Governor Hogan has agreed with the state's House of Delegates

My response to this important climate story published in the Westminster, MD, "Carroll County Times" (reprint from the Baltimore Sun) receives a heartfelt "thank you", from me to Governor Hogan, the Republican governor of Maryland.

Governor Lawrence Hogan of Maryland

Maryland will join alliance of states supporting Paris climate agreement, Hogan says:

Seven months after a bipartisan group of US governors formed the U.S. Climate Alliance in support of the Paris climate accord — and after he previously questioned the purpose of the group — Gov. Larry Hogan said Maryland will join, after all.

The alliance formed in June in response to President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord, under which virtually all of the nations in the world agreed to take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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Asked about the group in June, Hogan said he was unsure “what the intention of the group is.” 

In fact, he even suggested it was unnecessary for Maryland to join, because the state had “already accomplished what most of them need to try to shoot for.”

But he told alliance organizers Wednesday that Maryland would participate, “as long as the U.S. Climate Alliance adds value, shows true bipartisanship, and avoids Washington, D.C.’s politics-as-usual, corrosive tactics and distractions.”




“When the president announced his intention to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, I said I disagreed and that it was not a decision I would have made,” Hogan wrote to Julie Cerqueira, the alliance’s executive director. “That continues to be my position.”

Lawmakers in both chambers of the General Assembly have crafted legislation that would have directed Hogan to join the alliance. Dels. Dana Stein and Kumar Barve, Democrats from Baltimore County and Montgomery County, respectively, filed a bill directing Hogan to join the group and prohibiting the state from withdrawing without the legislature’s approval. 

Baltimore Sen. Joan Carter Conway and Montgomery Sen. Paul Pinsky, also both Democrats, were working on similar legislation in the Senate.

Maryland joins 14 states and Puerto Rico as alliance members, who all agree to uphold the United States’ commitments under the agreement.

In September, the group said member states were on track to meet the goals of the pact, to reduce emissions levels 24 percent to 29 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

Hogan said Maryland is on track to meet its own goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by 2020, “significantly stronger than the Paris climate accord and more aggressive than 47 other states.”

He also touted Maryland’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade system for Northeast power plants, and in a recent United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Germany.

The climate alliance was launched by three Democrats — California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. Hogan joins Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott as the only Republican executives to sign on to the alliance.

Mitch Jones, a senior policy advocate with environmental group Food and Water Watch, called Hogan’s decision a political move. He said joining the group is “a bare minimum” of what should be expected of the state and its executive.

Del. Shane Robinson, a Montgomery County Democrat, said Maryland should have been one of the first states to join the group.

“We need to lead by example,” Robinson said.

sdance@baltsun.com

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History will be the final Trump judge- Echo letter from Westminister Maryland

History won't judge us kindly for the Trump era (tainted by treason)

The Carroll County Times in Westminister Maryland

Westminister, Maryland- When examining the current (tumultuous) Trump era's history, Matthew George fears, (and I believe) the historians will not judge America kindly. (In other words, Trump supporters deny their responsibility for electing a leader who called on Russia to win votes for him.)

A well-informed, educated and engaged electorate is crucial to a functioning democracy. But 25 years of right-wing demagoguery from the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones, Steve Bannon and countless others have turned a significant portion of our electorate into paranoid conspiracy theorists who seem to hate their own government, who no longer believe in the institutions that have protected our nation, and to whom factual provable truths are now matters of opinion.
Donald Trump, both as a candidate and as president, tapped into this perverse world view held by the extreme right and made it his own. He has perfected a shtick that has turned the base of the Republican Party against the very institutions that ensure an informed democracy; namely the courts, a free press, and our nation's intelligence services. The very institutions that discern, albeit imperfectly, justice, truth and reality in the world around us.

The recent revelation by Donald Trump Jr. that he, the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manfort all met privately with Russian nationals for the express purpose of receiving information compiled by Russian intelligence services attempting to compromise Hilary Clinton should enrage every loyal American.

Sadly, it appears it does not and therein lies the danger to our democracy.

Despite at least 20 public denials by either Trump himself or his aides in the past 13 months, that there was no "collusion" between his campaign and the Russian government, that this "Russian thing" was all "fake news," we now know by their own admission this is not the case. If this does not enrage those on the extreme right who claim to be loyal to this country, than what will?

No, history will not judge our nation kindly looking at the Trump era and the corrosive discourse of our politics that brought us to this point. Sadly, enough sane people saw this Trump train wreck coming, but not enough had the sense to get out of the way.

One thing is certain, whether it is expressly illegal or not, collusion or even attempted collusion with a foreign government to undermine the free and fair election of our president equals treason in the hearts of those who still love this country, and the GOP will be held accountable for this.

Matthew George- Westminister Maryland

When diplomatic enemies become our friends and visa versa - column by John Culleton

"The constitutional provision that forbids Obama from running again also frees him to do what is right without fear of political consequences." 

United States history is inextricably laced with the ebb and flow of nations who were once our enemies but now are among our friends, and visa versa. 

Let's begin remembering Great Britain, for example.
Our nation's founding forefathers would be astounded to see the bonds between the Brits and Americans, post our bloody 18th century Revolutionary War of Independence.

Therefore, normalizing relations with the Cuban nation, off the coast of Florida, is certainly consistent with our diplomatic ability to become friends with former enemies. 

A column from the Caroll County Times, sent to me by a Maryland friend, puts the diplomatic ebb and flow of international relations into historical perspective, by John Culleton.

"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." 

There are some things to remember from our own history in war and occasionally peace.

"Yesterday's Enemies" was name of a 1960s TV show.  Indeed, yesterday's enemies can become our friends and, conversely, yesterday's friends can become today's enemies. Here is a list of nations we have fought either in a declared war or an undeclared conflict that are now our friends, or at least our trading partners: Great Britain, Canada, Germany, Japan, China, Italy, Vietnam, France and Spain.

On the other hand, some nations that were our friends, or at least our trading partners, have become our enemies. 

Periodically, the US even invades a country whose ruler is deemed a tyrant, in the belief that we will be greeted with flowers as liberators. 

This first occurred in Canada in the war of 1812. We were wrong then; we were wrong in the Bay of Pigs incursion into Cuba; we were wrong in Iraq; we never seem to learn that a bad guy still can stir up national patriotism in the face of a foreign invader.

Our Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) frequently overreaches. 

Ever since the overthrow of Iran, a once friendly nation, the Iranian people had been our enemy.  The US once had peaceful relations with Iran and its elected president, Mohammad Mossadegh, but our CIA helped the British and the titular monarch (Shah) of Iran to overthrow the elected government. It was all about Iranian nationalization of the nation's oil resources. 

The CIA-managed Bay of Pigs invasion was a disaster. 

Much of the hatred of the U.S. in the Middle East can be traced to those sites where captured terrorists were tortured. In (Culleton's view) no external threat justifies torture of prisoners. We will ultimately be judged, not on how we treated our friends, but how we treated our captured prisoners.

Another thing we keep forgetting is that an irregular insurgent force with a strong motivation can frequently harass and ultimately defeat a better equipped regular army that lacks motivation. 

In our own nation's revolution, the forces that harassed the British and Hessian units were frequently little more then untrained volunteers. In the words of Nathanael Greene, "We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again." 

In the wars against America's original inhabitants, the Battle of Little Big Horn showed the folly of underestimating irregular opponents. More recently, in the Iraq war, regular Iraqi units often surrendered en masse, but the irregulars, known as "Feyadeen Saddam," gave us trouble and casualties. 

Currently the reconstituted regular Iraqi army still tends to not show up, but the irregular Kurdish force known as Peshmerga has proven to be the most reliable opponent of the ISIS forces.

But, currently there is some good foreign policy news. President Barack Obama has a firm grasp of the obvious, and it is obvious that more friendly relations with Cuba does us no harm and may help the Cuban people, including Cuban-Americans, a great deal. The embargo on trade with Cuba is still the law. Hopefully, some future Congress will recognize the virtue of being Cuba's friend, and not their bully.

America lost 50,000 troops fighting in Vietnam, yet today we trade with Vietnam. In the Korean war, Chinese "volunteers" killed many Americans, but today we allow free trade with China.

The constitutional provision that forbids Obama from running again also frees him to do what is right without fear of political consequences. The recent deal with Cuba is typical Obama strategy, do what is needed, but in small incremental steps.

If you want bolder leadership then elect a better Congress. 

Or perhaps we should elect a Republican president, and let him or her try to deal with the intransigents on the far right and the cowardice of House Speaker John Boehner. It would be fit punishment for the GOP. Unfortunately, we all would have to suffer along with them when the market crashes because of deregulation and unemployment rises again.

John Culleton writes from Eldersburg. His column appears every second Tuesday. Email him at cct@wexfordpress.com.