A Georgia point of view about the Republicans who interrogated Michael Cohen

An echo editorial opinion published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution by Mary Sanchez.  Another example, in my opinion, of how Republicans practiced "pete and repeat" during the public testimony with Michael Cohen.  

Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform were the example of "pete and repeat". They did not ask any competent questions when Michael Cohen gave public testimony about Donald Trump.

Michael Cohen has spent more time with Donald Trump than any of the GOP (IMO- stupid!) representatives on the Congressional House Committee on Oversight and Reform (like Congressman Jim Jordan who was particularly stupid). The Republicans tried so desperately to undercut Cohen’s testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Cohen’s job in the president’s world was to use whatever means necessary to protect what Trump values most: his brand and the income it generates.

In doing so, Cohen grew to instinctively understand Trump better than any of the Republicans at the hearing. That’s the fact that got their goat.

So the GOP representatives — with one notable exception — did their best to slam Cohen instead of taking the time to grill him while he was under oath. They didn’t want to learn more.

Republicans know Trump is exactly as Cohen portrayed him: a childish liar, a manipulative racist and a self-centered abuser of the office that he holds. They just don’t know what to do about it. 

Right now he’s their best bet to advance their right wing agenda.

It’s that simple.

They also know that if they dare step out of line, the president will come after them too, first through bullying tweets, and then in a more substantial way by calling on his base to back a challenger for their office.

In fact, the day after Cohen testified before the House committee, Fox News (aka Trump TV)aired a Sean Hannity interview with Trump. In it, the president threatened “great jeopardy” to any Republican who dared to challenge his authority to shift $6.7 billion in federal funding to build a wall at the southern border.

And thus Trump took another step toward binding the Republican Party’s (right wing!) fate to his own.

At one point during his testimony, Cohen was asked it if was exhausting to keep up with all of the lies that he was telling on behalf of Trump. He replied with an exasperated sign that he didn’t have an answer.

The reason ought to be obvious. At some point, he lost his moral compass, if he ever had one. Cohen committed his crimes as Trump’s “fixer” — that is, as the guy who was supposed to extricate Trump from legal and otherwise bad consequences for his misconduct. Somehow Cohen became a patsy, doing dirty deeds on behalf of Trump, and now he is taking the fall.

Having been caught up in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, Cohen had tried to lie to protect himself and the president. That only got him deeper in trouble. Now there’s little point in lying further, at least to himself.

The Republicans, however, are still firmly in the grip of denial. They are Trump’s patsies, too, but they haven’t arrived at their come-to-Jesus moment.

While they assailed his character, Trump’s fixer revealed a few things they weren’t expecting. For example, he is cooperating in an investigation by the Southern District of New York, presumably of Trump. He also revealed that Trump’s personal lawyers edited his prepared testimony in 2017 to Congress about Trump’s business dealings in Russia.

He also claimed that he was in the room when Roger Stone called Trump to reveal that WikiLeaks was about to release Hillary Clinton’s hacked emails, and that Trump, Donald Jr., and a Trump Organization executive all signed checks to reimburse Cohen’s hush money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels.

But on the Republicans hyperventilated, wasting opportunity after opportunity to examine anything Cohen actually said in favor of grandstanding for their dear leader. Democrats on the committee, meanwhile, were gathering leads to follow up on.

One may reasonably contest Cohen’s moral or ethical reformation, but his warning to his Republican inquisitors was dead on: “I did the same thing that you’re doing. I protected Mr. Trump for 10 years.”

It’s anybody’s guess where this wild ride will take Trump, but he’s got plenty of (stupid!) Republicans eager to ride shotgun.

An echo essay about historical monuments from Georgia

Nedra Rhone, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

In 2014, the Georgia Historical Society (GHS) introduced the Civil Rights Trail and the Business History Initiative, both designed to bring a broader range of narratives to historical markers in the Georgia. 

Several years ago, Wesley Edwards and several residents of LaGrange  Georgia, sat in a small conference room at the police station. 

They had gathered during the holiday season to discuss a crime so horrific, that Edwards struggled to accept if had ever happened in the town where he grew up.

That Austin Callaway, a black man, had been lynched and left by the side of the road in 1940 had never been in question, but as they sat in the room debating how to tell Callaway’s story on a historical marker — the succinctly written public memorials spread across the American landscape — emotions were running high.

“Part of the emotional response to violence is to push it away. We had to not edit out the truth of the violence,” said Edwards, who is white. They debated over words. They held the local police chief to the fire, asking if he planned to apologize for the lynching. 

It was a heavy subject that meant a lot to people in the community, and they all knew they needed to get it right. “You are writing by committee, you have a very tight word count and you are writing about a very difficult thing. It was stressful,” Edwards said.

Easily recognized by their shape and distinctive lettering, historical markers seem simple enough. Those who stop to read the stories describing people and events of the past may not consider how those stories get written. 

As many Americans continue to challenge traditional views of history, historical markers have assumed a prominent role in the nation’s culture wars, and ideas about who should be writing them seem to be changing.

“There is a new excitement surrounding these things,” said David Mitchell, director of operations for the Atlanta Preservation Center. “People are reading them and approving and disapproving of what the text says. I doubt anyone thought that in 2018 they would be under the scrutiny they are now.”

A more inclusive process

Cities and states nationwide are re-examining their approach to creating historical markers by focusing on underrepresented stories. 

The Georgia Historical Society, which oversees the official state marker program, introduced several special initiatives to develop markers that offer more inclusive views of state history.

Last month, city officials in Atlanta shared plans to use a form of historical markers to bring deeper understanding to Confederate monuments instead of removing them, which would violate state law.

Depending on the subject, the process of writing these markers can take many months, require multiple drafts and involve a consortium of people weighing in on the words being used. The group that worked on the marker dedicated to Callaway’s story was multiage and multiracial, comprised of the community group that Edwards co-chairs, the mayor, the pastor of the church where the marker was placed, the Equal Justice Initiative — an organization that has its own historical marker program to highlight lynchings in America, distant relatives of Callaway, the head of the local NAACP, and the police chief among others.




A historical marker discussing the history of lynchings and naming victims with ties to Troup County was unveiled in LaGrange in March 2017. KENT D. JOHNSON / AJC FILE PHOTO
The complex task of writing history
As more voices weigh in on historical markers, every word is under extra scrutiny

“Part of the emotional response to violence is to push it away. We had to not edit out the truth of the violence,” said Edwards, who is white. They debated over words. Moreover, they held the local police chief to the fire, asking if he planned to apologize for the lynching. It was a heavy subject that meant a lot to people in the community, and they all knew they needed to get it right. “You are writing by committee, you have a very tight word count and you are writing about a very difficult thing. It was stressful,” Edwards said.

Easily recognized by their shape and distinctive lettering, historical markers seem simple enough. Those who stop to read the stories describing people and events of the past may not consider how those stories get written. As many Americans continue to challenge traditional views of history, historical markers have assumed a prominent role in the nation’s culture wars, and ideas about who should be writing them seem to be changing.

“There is a new excitement surrounding these things,” said David Mitchell, director of operations for the Atlanta Preservation Center. “People are reading them and approving and disapproving of what the text says. I doubt anyone thought that in 2018 they would be under the scrutiny they are now.”

A more inclusive process

Cities and states nationwide are re-examining their approach to creating historical markers by focusing on underrepresented stories. The Georgia Historical Society, which oversees the official state marker program, introduced several special initiatives to develop markers that offer more inclusive views of state history. 

Last month, city officials in Atlanta shared plans to use a form of historical markers to bring deeper understanding to Confederate monuments instead of removing them, which would violate state law.

Depending on the subject, the process of writing these markers can take many months, require multiple drafts and involve a consortium of people weighing in on the words being used. The group that worked on the marker dedicated to Callaway’s story was multiage and multiracial, comprised of the community group that Edwards co-chairs, the mayor, the pastor of the church where the marker was placed, the Equal Justice Initiative — an organization that has its own historical marker program to highlight lynchings in America, distant relatives of Callaway, the head of the local NAACP, and the police chief among others.

In March 2017, Mike Merideth (from left), Michael Bowen, Bobbie Hart and Wesley Edwards talk near the site where Austin Callaway, a black man who had been lynched, was found on a rural country road in 1940. Much work went into telling Callaway’s story on a historical marker. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Edwards recalls that not a single word they used on the marker to describe the lynching and the subsequent apology from town officials was taken lightly. 

“Every word you choose has a tone or meaning or connotation, and that is why we were trying to share that text with a lot of different people in the room and out of the room,” Edwards said.

Only in recent years have historical markers begun to embrace a range of narratives, said Kevin Levin, a Civil War historian based in Boston. “We now have people taking part in this process who never were able to lay claim to a historic site. Who gets to tell those stories is a huge responsibility, and I think we are now in a place where we are more willing to have those conversations,” he said.

A surge in interest

Historical markers first began appearing in Georgia in the 1930s as part of the Works Progress Administration, said Mitchell. In the early 1950s, the state launched a formal marker program in large part focused on the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. These would become the most recognized style of historical markers — the square-shaped aluminum signs mounted on posts with an average of 120-150 words of text. Most of the early markers placed by the state were singularly focused on traditional Civil War narratives surrounding troop movement, battles and top military leaders. At the time, they were a draw for tourists.

In 1998, the Georgia Historical Society (GHS) took responsibility for erecting new markers while the state maintained about 2,000 existing markers. Georgia Historical Society erected about 250 new markers since taking over the program.

In recent years, projects have included markers created for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War that were designed to fill gaps in the traditional narrative. In 2014, GHS introduced a special initiative to install Civil Rights Trail markers and markers dedicated to Georgia-based businesses. The following year, they also took over maintenance of all markers in the state. From 2014 to the present, 19 markers detailing moments in the civil rights movement — the first of which documented the Atlanta Student Movement — were erected to join more than 20 older markers that explored the fight for civil and human rights.

Trees - an echo commentary about the impact of loosing forests

Georgia fears $1 billion in crop damage as farmers report devastation

Clarion Ledger opinion echo about the eonomic and sentimental impact of loosing valued trees, by Mac Gordon:

The value of a good tree goes far beyond its life-sustaining qualities, which are numerous for all living creatures. Georgia's tree farmers can attest to this fact.

Those folks took emotional and financial whippings estimated at upwards of $500 million as Hurricane Michael came ashore in the Florida Panhandle and moved inward through the Georgia forest, home of some of this nation's largest and most prodigious stands of pines and hardwoods.

I have heard it estimated that the Panhandle-South Georgia region lost perhaps one million trees during the Oct. 10, 2018 storm. It is my own estimation that half of them were in Early County, Georgia, where we live part-time near the county seat of Blakely. 

I know, It just seems that way.

More than a month later, Blakely still looks like the proverbial battleground of war with trees still resting on some rooftops and hundreds of massive trunks and limbs scattered across town. 

Relief workers have cleared many of them, but the number of felled trees seems almost insurmountable.

I was living in the Jackson area when Katrina hit the Mississippi Coast and inland territories on August 29, 2005. I remember that Flowood, 150 miles inland, registered winds at 100 miles per hour.

In the Georgia countryside, I believe Michael's winds matched that velocity. I never thought it could happen there. Most residents of the area could not recall the last such storm hitting this close to home, and say they never heard their forebears talk of such an event.

In Sunday School last week, our teacher talked of having a "servant heart." I have seen hundreds of aforementioned disaster relief workers descend on Southwest Georgia to spread just that — relief. These people from across America — and the utility linemen locally and from afar — definitely have a "servant heart." We can't say "thank you" enough times.


Our row crop farmers, who suffered economic losses estimated by the experts at $600 million for cotton and peanuts alone, had what appeared to be a record harvest in the field on the day Michael roared ashore.

There is a cotton farmer near us who probably thought he had defied the odds that exist when you depend solely on rainfall to nourish a crop. Most farmers these days use extravagant and expensive irrigation systems to help their plantings along. This particular fellow's crop looked better than I had ever seen it because he had enjoyed timely rains all season, and then Michael slammed it down. The odds beat him again.

All told, Georgia's agricultural producers suffered losses on the early estimates at around $2.5 billion. There is not much agriculture as you go northward toward Atlanta, so most of the damages occurred in what is known as "the other Georgia" of field and forest. These areas depend on agriculture for the majority portion of their economies.

Back to these good trees. They all have financial, aesthetical, medical and sentimental values. A few weeks before Michael, another storm brought down a red oak tree on our property estimated to be 150-years-old.

The man whose crew worked to clear the debris said he knew of only one other red oak in the region of similar size. He estimates that other tree to be almost 200-years-old, but that its circumference didn't match ours.

My wife Mary Lee's maternal grandfather purchased the land almost 100 years ago that held our tree. Family members nurtured it on what they consider sacred ground.

We were luckier than many friends and neighbors who saw their grand oaks and majestic pines tumbled by Michael. That tree landed on our driveway. God blessed us and we are thankful.

Mac Gordon is a native and part-time resident of McComb. He is a former reporter for the Clarion-Ledger.  

Mississippi opinion about Donald Trump - echo about failed leadership

Even Mississippians are voicing anti Trump opinions, like this letter published in the Sun Herald by Bill Crawford*.  Although the original opinion was published one year ago, in retrospect, the message seems as though it was prophetic. I read it and now am blogging it, one year later.

Neo Nazi swatsika burning in Georgia from the Atlanta Journal Constitution

Trump the strongman sets dangerous example

Dictators rule. In the U.S., presidents are supposed to govern. The differences between ruling and governing are stark, e.g., Russia's Vladimir Putin rules, Germany's Angela Merkel governs.

Unlike Ronald Reagan, our current president just doesn't get it. President Donald Trump tends to praise the Putins and disdain the Merkels.

Donald Trump's affinity for authoritarian leaders across the globe has been one of the few constants during his chaotic time in office," CNN reported. "From Russian President Vladimir Putin to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Trump has gone out of his way to lavish praise on some of the world's most notorious strongmen."

In 2016 ,Trump told NBC news regarding Putin, "He is really very much of a leader. I mean, you can say, 'Oh, isn't that a terrible thing' — the man has very strong control over a country."

In November 2017 he boasted of having "great relationships" with Philippine despot Rodrigo Duterte and China strongman Xi Jinping. He also touted his “great friendship” with Turkey dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

(MaineWriter- Recently Trump said that he is in love with Kim Jung Un of North Korea!)

Meanwhile, Trump has literally given Merkel the cold shoulder, even refusing to shake her hand at a White House meeting last year.

In February, Trump allegedly lost his temper in a call with Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto that resulted in a canceled state visit to the White House. Trump cut short a phone call with Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. (reports indicated serious divisions remain.)
Dictators set policy. Leaders who govern have to work with other factions and often must seek a compromise to establish policy.

It's evident that Trump admires dictators' power and resents having to work with others to get his way?

When China's Xi got himself anointed president for life, Trump commented, "He was able to do that. I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot someday.”

It's no secret that Trump was dissatisfied with (now former) Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He regularly slamed him on Twitter. Trump complained how he couldn't get his appointees at the Department of Justice "to do my bidding." He even told a NY Times reporter, "I have absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department."

Moreover, Trump sheds leaders in his administration who don’t do his bidding. He abruptly fired National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Gary Cohn quit as director of the National Economic Council and top White House Economic Advisor. (United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley has resigned.)

Then, there were his controversial firings of FBI Director James Comey, who wouldn’t drop his Russia investigation, and Acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she refused to defend Trump's original immigrant travel ban.

The U.S. presidency was designed to be held by a leader who governs, not a dictator who rules!

How far Congress and the American people will let Trump go before reining in his strongman tendencies, is one question.
A more important one may be, will Trump's strongman example become the norm for future U.S. leaders.

(MaineWriter- very scary. Trumpzi's have substituted wearing white shrouded hoods and swastika's with red hats.)

*Bill Crawford is a columnist from Meridian Mississippi

Health care debate - must go to 2018 voters

All across America, ordinary people took to the streets and attended political "town hall" meetings to protest the series of Republican plans targeted to take away health insurance coverage from millions of people. Although the repeal efforts failed, the fact is, they almost passed!

Those same people who gave invaluable time and energy to defeat the Republicans' "repeal and replace" debacle, must take up the momentum to defeat the candidates who will continue these efforts to deny Americans the human dignity of have health coverage. If those Republicans who supported the repeals continue, they'll go after the ACA again, and they won't stop there

Here is an echo from the Atlanta Journal Constitution- an opinion by reporter Tamar Hallerman, from Georgia!

Shock, anger, relief in Georgia after health care effort tanks

by Tamar Hallerman
Christy Nelson survived thyroid cancer but has been fighting insomnia for months, terrified of the GOP effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. She and her husband, who has Crohn’s disease, depend on protections for pre-existing conditions to afford health coverage, and following the collapse of the repeal effort their relief is only slowly starting to bloom. “We are a family scared to death,” she said. “This has been a terrible fear.”

Georgia patients, medical workers, hospital officials and taxpayers on all sides of the issue have lived with anxiety for months as Washington Republicans’ tried to repeal the federal health care law known as Obamacare (Affordable Care Act). 

They awoke in wonder Friday, after an early morning dramatic vote with Senator John McCain voting with Senator Susan Collins and Senator Lisa Murkowski — those who didn’t stay up to watch the dramatic moment on TV — to the news that it was over. At least for now.

Senators did not let the dust settle on the health bill before they skedaddled out of town for the weekend.

Many House Republicans were shell-shocked and livid that a central campaign pledge could be left flapping in the wind by a divided Senate.

Which is precisely the reason why the people who successfully influenced the Senators to block the ACA repeal must be even more diligent! We must demand efforts to improve the law, expand coverage and remove all who voted in support of this horrible repeal out of Washington. 

Let the unemployed Republicans find jobs where they need to buy their own insurance, rather than have the taxpayers fund their coverage.