HAND IN HAND

I sent my end of the year contribution to Hand in Hand today. There are so many worthy causes that are important, but unfortunately my budget is limited and therefore my contributions must be focused. I am a Jew concerned for the safety of my fellow Jews and all other people on Earth everywhere, but I am particularly concerned with Israel which has the greatest concentration of Jews (about 40 per cent of all the Jews in the world) and where that population still faces an existential threat. Israel/Palestine (the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River) also is home to a large number of our cousins, the Palestinian and Israeli Arabs. After about a century of conflict, bringing permanent peace and equality to the people in that land must come primarily from the bottom up, not just from negotiation by politicians at the top. Hand in Hand is supported by Reuven Rivlin (the president of Israel). Googling Netanyahu (the prime minister of Israel) and Hand in Hand comes up with no result, positive or negative.

HEALTHCARE

During his 2 terms in office, President Obama, despite obstruction by the Republican Congress, was able to craft a system of mandated, affordable, comprehensive quality health insurance which resulted in coverage for most Americans. It had a rough start but ultimately took root and became successful. During the 8 years of the Obama administration the stated goal of Senator McConnell the leader of the Republicans in the Senate was to make the Obama presidency fail. They failed in that goal despite controlling both houses of Congress by the end of the 8 years.
The goal of Trump during his 2 years as president has been to undo all accomplishments associated with the name Obama including Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act), but they failed. The American people had tasted Obamacare and they liked it. The people who especially benefitted from it included the blue collar Whites who had voted for Trump. When they realized that Trump wanted to take away their health care they rebelled. No matter how hard they tried, Trump and the Republicans could not come up with a replacement for Obamacare. So Obamacare remains, perhaps a little weakened but still there.
So now the task of the incoming Democratic Blue Wave House of Representatives will be to revive and enhance Obamacare. Some say the goal should be Single Payer. Although I would be OK with Single Payer health insurance if that is how it ultimately plays out, I don't think that should necessarily be an ideological goal. The goal should be, as it was under Obamacare, mandated, affordable, comprehensive, quality health insurance with no precondition. It has to be mandated because that is how insurance works. Well people have to pay in as well as sick people. If a person does not join and develops a potentially fatal illness or injury would he then say "let me die because I did not join when I was well?"  It has to be affordable so that everyone can participate. It has to be comprehensive and quality to include maintenance of wellness which will keep down the costs as well as making a better life for the population. It should not be a cheap predatory plan which does not produce the necessary services. I also think a public option would be a good idea to fill in the gap where effective private insurance is not available. It also would insure competition with private insurance. If the public option drives out private insurance because the private can't compete OK, but I doubt that that will occur in every case everywhere. In any event the goal should be mandated, affordable, comprehensive, quality health insurance with no preconditions however that comes about.

AFTER THE 2018 MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Now that the mid-terms are over and as predicted the Democrats won the House of Representatives, the Republicans kept the Senate and even gained a few seats there, and of course Trump is still the president, where do we go from here? What the Democrats in the House do over the next 2 years might be more challenging and consequential than winning the House. Some think the House needs younger, more Left leadership, but I think Nancy Pelosi is an experienced old warrior and the right person for the job. The Blue victory in the house was not just a victory for Democrats, but rather for reason, truth, compassion, and real American values. It included not just Democrats, but also anti-Trumpism Republicans and Independents. The challenge is to promote those values and negotiate with Trump and the Republicans without giving in to Trumpism.

Since I wrote the above first paragraph, Trump fired Jeff Sessions (resigned at request of the president = fired by the president) and almost immediately replaced him with Trump’s lackey Whitaker who has stated that he opposes the Mueller investigation and is known as a hard line Trumper. I was going to say that the Democrats in the House of Representatives might work in a bipartisan way while staying firm on the important issues. Well, this is the most important issue. Polls have showed that the most important issues to Americans are first of all healthcare and second immigration, but above all we must save our American democracy and system of laws. For Trump, law is whatever he can get away with. Trump knows what misdeeds he has committed. He is desperate to hide what he has done (which might actually be criminal) and is now going over the line to obstruct the Mueller probe which equals obstruction of justice. This is the point at which we must protect our democracy. Trump appears to be at the point of trying to turn America into a Putin-style dictatorship.

Let’s hope that Mueller has anticipated this event and has a plan. What has Mueller found concerning Trump? (obstruction of justice? using his position for personal financial gain? acting as an agent for Putin, a foreign dictator?). Americans (Democrats, non-Trumpian Republicans, Independents) must stand up for Mueller and do peaceful protest. Things apparently are coming to a head. Will American justice, freedom, and honesty prevail or will we descend into a Trumpian/Putinian dictatorship?

EVOLUTION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

The Republican Party began in Lincoln's time as a party that was the financially conservative party of the Industrial Northeast and the socially liberal party to end slavery. The Democratic Party was the financially liberal and socially conservative party of the rural South in which slavery existed. In recent years the Republican Party has remained the party of the very wealthy but has increasingly become infiltrated by people who are to the far right socially as well as financially. With the election of Trump, we now see a marriage between extreme nativism and a financial policy that serves the very wealthy big donors at the expense of ordinary citizens. Financially Trump especially represents the fast buck wealthy. A perfect example is the Republican plan to deregulate health insurance to the benefit of cheap fly by night junk insurance plans that lure in the unsuspecting with skeleton insurance policies that do not provide comprehensive health care. This is typical Trump. Do what looks good but is rotten underneath (whatever you can get away with). There are so many other things wrong with the Trump (formerly Republican) Party, but they are too numerous to mention here.
VOTE ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, TO THROW TRUMP'S GANG OUT OF CONGRESS AND BRING HONESTY AND INTEGRITY BACK TO OUR GOVERNMENT!

A THIEF'S HAT IS BURNING

There is a Yiddish expression, “auf a ganif brent der hittel” (a thief’s hat is burning). It refers to someone who keeps expressing his innocence because he knows he is guilty. This is what we are seeing with Donald Trump. He keeps repeating “no collusion” which indicates that he is probably guilty of collusion (conspiring with Vladimir Putin to influence the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election). He keeps calling the investigation of Russian meddling into our elections a “witch hunt” because he sees the investigators bearing down on him. It frightens him greatly because he is aware of his guilt and his “hat is burning.”

RUSSIA

Russia has excelled in the arts and literature. It has produced great musicians (Haifetz, Rubenstein, and others), composers (Tchaikovsky, Glazunov, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, and others), writers (Dostoyevsky, Chekov, Tolstoy,and others), ballet dancers (Pavlova, Nijinsky, and others). In the sciences, the Russian chemist Mendeleev formulated the periodic table of elements, the physiologist Pavlov did research in conditioning behavior. There have been many other great Russian scientists. One might say that out of one of the largest populations in the world one is bound to find some talented people, but nonetheless one can not deny that the Russian people have excelled in the arts and sciences.

However, when it comes to government, Russia has fallen behind both historically and in the present. Russia lived through centuries of oppressive Czarist rule, but during most of that time most countries were monarchies. The end of serfdom came late to Russia when Alexander II (probably the most progressive of all Russian czars) freed the serfs in 1861, but after he was assassinated in 1881 his son Alexander III became one of the most repressive czars. After the first Russian Revolution in 1917 the Provisional Government led by Alexander Kerensky attempted democracy but failed and was overturned after 8 months by the October Revolution which brought in the Communist government lead by Lenin, later Stalin, and then a succession of other leaders. The Communist government ultimately brought order and socialism combined with authoritarianism which became particularly repressive under Stalin. Communism ended and the Soviet Union broke up into 15 independent republics in 1991, leaving Russia as smaller than the Soviet Union but still one of the largest countries in the world. The socialist side of communism then ended in Russia bringing a reactive extreme capitalism. Russia under Boris Yeltsen became afflicted with chaos and poverty. Then Putin stepped in and brought order but also extreme authoritarianism, nativism, and repression of anyone who opposed him. Russia’s brief and poorly executed flirtation with democracy ended, which is where Russia is today.

Russia has long been an introvert country with a fear of intrusion from the West. The idea of their former republics and satellites joining the West and bringing NATO to their western border drives them crazy. In Putin’s view, his mission is to protect Russia by undermining and weakening the West, especially the USA. This policy is a continuation of what the Communist Soviet union did during the cold war. But now instead of the communist Soviet Union dictatorship it is an oligarchical kleptocratic Russian dictatorship. It is still the same Russian paranoia and anti-globalism. It is Putin’s view that democracy brings chaos and dictatorship brings stability. Now Putin’s intelligence services have compromised a number of leaders in their former satellites and beyond. It appears that they have been successful at the present time in compromising the American president (Trump) and a number of gullible Trump supporter including those in the American Congress. However, the election of Trump has awakened the American people to the threat. Since Trump’s election, Americans have demonstrated in large numbers and have joined campaigns to encourage voters. The free press which at first tried to be even handed finally realized that it is impossible to be even handed with a perpetual liar like Trump. Our intelligence services which Putin thought were asleep have been watching Putin’s hackers all along and compiling the truth.

Unlike Russia, we have an almost 250 years history of democracy, immigration, and diversity. Democracy appears to be fragile, but here in America now awakened, it will come roaring back. And when it returns, our alliance with NATO will be stronger than ever.

One last thing, we hear in the news about Russian hacking and the Russian threat. The enemy is Putin, not all the Russians. There are people in Russia who would oppose him, but it is not safe to do so. A number of his opponents have been assassinated. Democracy does not always come easily. Perhaps one day it will come to Russia.

A NOTE TO NETANYAHU CONCERNING TRUMP

Mr. Netanyahu,
Your love affair with Donald Trump goes against the interests of the Jewish people and makes Israel less safe. Most Jews in America oppose Trump and are turned off by your support of him. The American Jews are Israel’s most numerous and important supporters in the Diaspora, but your support of Trump drives a wedge between American Jewry and Israel. Most of us are ardent supporters of Israel but you create a conflict which weakens that support. We are now torn between our concern for Israel and our concern for our own country which has been taken over by a tyrant in the service of Vladimir Putin.

Trump colludes with Putin in his attack on democracy and has broken our alliance with the western democratic nations including Canada, Western Europe, and others. In the long run it is in Israel’s interest to be part of the democratic world and not part of an autocratic axis led by Putin and followed by Trump.

I know you are opposed to the Iran deal, but it is actually a fairly good deal with verifications that have been working and therefore protects Israel. If we are lucky, Europe will keep it going despite Trump. As for moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, any benefit to Israel is only symbolic while it further isolates Israel, removes America as a broker in future negotiations, and mainly benefits Israel’s enemies. The good that Israel is doing is being drowned out by the bad. And you can not blame it all on Israel’s enemies. Much of it is self-inflicted by the Hard Right leaders and settlers to whom you pander.

Trump is temporary. Americans are increasingly becoming fed up with Trump’s corruption, immorality, incompetence, and treason in the service of Putin. Mr. Netanyahu, your affair with Trump is putting Israel on the wrong side of history. The Mueller Investigation is closing in on Trump, and after the November election he will most likely no longer have control over Congress. Trump might very well be impeached and removed from the presidency. When Trump is gone, we Jews in America will still support Israel, but that support will be more difficult, and Israel will have to repair the damage it will have done to itself.

 

WHY I OPPOSE TRUMP

Trump lies continually.

Trump steals children from immigrants and holds them hostage for his unnecessary expensive border wall.

Trump is a bigot and bases his political successes on playing to bigots.

Trump's trade war and tax scam will lead to an economic crash like the one at the end of the Bush presidency which Obama was in the process of fixing.

Trump pretends to be a patriot and supportive of the military, but he dodged the draft during the Vietnam War.

Trump is alienating our allies.

Trump colluded with Putin and endorsed Putin's hacking of the American election in 2016.

Trump scuttled TPP and opposes NAFTA which appeals to his base but puts America at an economic disadvantage.

Trump is guilty of obstruction of justice in doing all he can to stop the Mueller investigation and before that firing James Comey.

The list goes on and on.

ECONOMIC CYCLE

The Republican party claims to be the party of fiscal responsibility, but are they? Under the Republicans we saw the overheated economy of the roaring Twenties ending with the Great Depression beginning in 1929. Roosevelt and the Democrats came in 1933 and over the following years built the American economy back up. That growth continued during the post war years under both Republican and Democratic administrations, but eventually inevitably stopped. Bill Clinton brought in a Democratic economic policy of enough income tax that was able to balance the budget and maintain social policies. During the Republican Bush administration taxes were lowered to benefit the richest people while an expensive war was conducted on borrowed money in order to keep the low taxes low. This resulted in a collapse of the economy at the end of that administration. Then the Obama Democratic administration started the slow process of rebuilding the economy and reinstituting social justice. Now the Trump Republican administration has taken credit for the economic growth begun by Obama while instituting a tax policy which will rob our treasury and while creating isolationist tariffs against our allies which will adversely affect trade. The effects of economic policies take time to to take effect. After Trump is out of office and the damage becomes obvious, Trump will then blame anyone but himself.
So in summary, the cycles have been short term economic gains at the expense of the middle class and social programs until the economy collapses. The Democrats then come in to clean up the mess, but the results are often too slow for the public which then elects another Republican government, and the cycle starts all over again. To make matters worse, this time we have Trumpism mixed in the soup which brings in dishonesty, tribalism, bigotry, alienation of our allies, opposition to immigration, collusion with a foreign dictator, corruption, and attacks on American justice to protect that corruption. We have survived the economic cycles in the past. Let us hope that Trump's attacks on American norms and America's allies are also correctable.

FIRST TRIP TO ISRAEL

It has been almost 50 years since our first trip to Israel in November 1968. Rose and I had just been married about 4 or 5 months. I was in my last year of a dermatology residency training. It was the year after the 6 Day War and the territory controlled by Israel now included the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Sinai Peninsula as well as pre1967 Israel. Rose was working for Northwest Orient Airline. The trip was a package by El Al Airline for employees of other airlines at an unbelievably cheap price. Each airline would offer such trips to employees of other airlines to encourage referrals. It was a concentrated trip of about 5 days. Israel was young and we were young. We still were pre-children, mortgage, and other obligations. Israel was thrust from a position of underdog independent social democracy into being an occupier and guardian of unwilling Palestinian Arabs living in that occupied land.
The trip began with a flight from Chicago to New York. After a quick subway trip into Manhattan to visit relatives, we returned to the airport to meet up with the American segment of the tour. We left late at night and during the next day we stopped in Rome where we picked up 2 segments from Germany and Italy, then on to Israel. As it turned out the 3 segments were as interesting as the trip itself.
After arrival in Israel, we went to Jerusalem where we were housed in an Arab hotel in East Jerusalem. Apparently the reason for East Jerusalem was that the Israeli government wanted to encourage the economy in the Arab sector. The next day the tour took us to King David's tomb on Mount Zion. While we were standing there outside, we saw a puff of smoke in the distance and then heard a dull boom. We asked the guide what it was, but he did not know. Later after we were done visiting the tomb, we heard that a terrorist bomb had been set off in the Machane Yehudah Market Place. Later in the evening during supper at the hotel, we heard jeeps rolling in the street. At one point we heard gun shots. The Arab waiters then began drawing the drapes in the dining room. The waiters appeared to be silently resentful. The time was also an event in the Moslem calendar. So during the night as we tried to sleep, we could hear calls from  the minarets over loud speakers alternating with the sound of jeeps. We had planned to visit relatives in Jerusalem whom we had never previously met, but next morning the time in Jerusalem was cut short, and we left early on a drive across the West Bank to a Kibbutz in the Galilee. The Italians sat in the back of the bus and serenaded us with endless Italian songs. The Germans sat quietly and seemed somewhat ill at ease. This was 23 years after the end of the Holocaust, and we were in a land of Jews many of whom were holocaust survivors. We stopped at an Arab village in the West Bank for what our guide called "coffee in and coffee out." The Italians purchased noodles there, After leaving the village, the Italians asked the guide if they might make spaghetti at the Kibbutz in the Galilee. The guide promised to inquire when we would arrive. After arrival and after negotiating with the Kibbutz kitchen people concerning the kashrut of the noodles, it was determined that the noodles were kosher and the kibbutz kitchen would supply the rest of the ingredients. At dinner we each had a choice between the regular kibbutz dinner or spaghetti. After dinner Rose asked the guide if there was anywhere in the area for dancing. The guide responded that if Ari the bus driver would be willing to drive us, there was a discotheque nearby called the Blue Beat (or maybe it was called the Blue Beach). Ari agreed, so off we all went. The discotheque was dimly lit with blue light and was overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Our group made up a significant part of the clientele that night. The rest were young Israeli men and women. Most of the men were soldiers in uniform. There were a number of single young women in our group, mostly in the German segment. The Israeli soldiers went up to the German girls and asked them to dance. It was a magical evening, the discotheque, the location, the view, the blue light. It broke the ice for the Germans. They became relaxed for the rest of the trip. After Galilee and then Haifa, we ended our trip in Tel Aviv where after sight seeing with the group, we had some free time to meet relatives.
A number of months later, after I had finished my residency training and before starting a dermatology practice, we took a trip to Europe and included a few days back to Israel to see some of the things we had missed on the first trip and to meet our Jerusalem relatives. After that trip we progressed into adult life. We have not been back to Israel, but it appears from a distant view that along with maturity, much has changed there, some for the better, some for worse. But that is another discussion.

THREE BOOKS

Three interesting books have come on the market recently which touch on the Trump presidency. The first is "Fire and Fury" by Michael Wolff. This is a fly on the wall book. The author was able to get access to sit in the West Wing of the White House to observe the Trump administration. The strength of the book is not so much in the author's opinions as in in his observations. He demonstrates the chaos and dysfunction that many have suspected but were not sure about.
The second book is "The Plot to Hack America" by Malcolm Nance, an American intelligence person. This book is a cut and dried presentation of how the Russian intelligence service under Vladimir Putin has attacked democracy in America and other western nations by cultivating influence over compromised American and other western citizens and by hacking into internet emails and web sites to gain information and create fake information to influence and degrade democratic institutions in America and elsewhere. They even were apparently successful in compromising Donald Trump and tipping the scale to get him elected to the presidency of the USA.
The third book is "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership" by James Comey. I am still reading it having read about half way through. It is the most meaty and introspective of the 3 books. The author shows an obsession with honesty and integrity. He is also obsessively protective of the American justice system. It seems to me that it was those obsessions that got him into trouble in the matter of the Hillary Clinton emails. It goes into his personal life and how it influenced the various decisions that he has made. It discusses the recent events for which he has become famous, the Clinton emails, the investigation into the apparent collusion of Trump and Putin leading to Comey being fired as FBI director, and the efforts by Trump and his people to obstruct the collusion investigation, both that of Comey as FBI director and then of the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller.
All three books are important in understanding the present political situation in America and how America interacts with the world. Wolff presents information. Nance presents and assesses information. Comey presents, assesses information, and describes how a human being in an important position interacts with problems presented to him and makes decisions to meet those problems. While Wolff and Nance present and assess using the means at their disposal, Comey is actually part of his story and relates that story in great detail.

IMMIGRATION

I believe in promoting immigration and oppose the nativism promoted by Trump. Immigration is the life blood of America. It is wrong to allow only immigrants who are accomplished before arriving. Trump opposes “chain migration.” I am a product of chain migration. My parents were immigrants. Both my grandfathers came first, made money, and then sent for the rest of their families (including my parents). My grandfather helped his brothers come over and they in turn sent for their families. We are all normal Americanized productive citizens. My father was a dentist and my brother and I are both physicians. Our extended family includes people in various professions and trades. Many of us have served in the military when drafted (unlike Trump).

WHAT'S WRONG WITH TRUMP PRESIDENCY

Those who apologize for the Trump presidency say that the Trump group should be given some slack because they are new to government and because the American people voted for Trump because they wanted someone new. I want to reply to that argument.

1. All new presidents are new to the presidency. There have been variations in each one’s learning curve, but until now there has been a learning curve in each case. Trump unfortunately has no learning curve because he claims to be smarter than everyone else, knows everything, and therefore does not have to learn. He also appears to surround himself in his inner circle with a number of unsavory people who think they are also geniuses and give him poor advice (for example Bannon, Manafort, and Flynn).

2. It is not clear that the American people voted for Trump. Actually he lost the popular vote. He won the electoral college narrowly by a successful campaign that targeted key gerrymandered states. His campaign was also aided greatly by illegally working with the intelligence service of a foreign adversarial government to hack his opponent’s emails and plant fake news on social media.

3. Trump did not separate himself from his personal financial interests. Therefore decisions concerning the United States (including relations with foreign governments) are influence by how they affect Trump’s money. In fact, it appears that he uses his position as president to promote his personal business. For example, foreign businesses and governments give his businesses (including many business interests in foreign lands) preferences to gain favor with the US president.

4. Trump demeans the free press and favors fake news organizations like Breitbart and Fox News. A free press is a cornerstone of democracy.

5. Trump’s fake “America first” policy actually puts America last by pulling us out of international agreements, free trade, and favors old fossil fuel industries over new renewable energy. China is now overtaking us as the leader in renewable energy and climate control, not because they are better than us but because under Trump we are abandoning our future. The Chinese leader recently boasted that their authoritarian government is better for the ordinary citizen than western democracy while Trump is trying to turn us into a fossil fuel kleptocracy like Russia. The tragedy of Trump is that he is throwing 250 years of American progress into the toilet.

DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS

I grew up in a Democratic environment. My parents were Democrats. As an adult for many years I considered myself an Independent. For years, I did not register with either party. However years ago when I was living in Illinois I registered once as a Republican because I wanted to vote in the Republican primary for Anderson, a moderate Republican, who was running against Reagan to be the Republican candidate for president. When I went in to the booth to vote, there was no Anderson on the ballot and no Reagan, just a bunch of strange names. I went out of the booth to the judges table and asked why Reagan and Anderson were not on the ballot and who are all these strange people? There was no answer from the Republican judges, but the Democratic judge took pity on me and led me far away from the polling booths. She explained that the names are electors. Thompson, the head of the Illinois Republican party, put the only electors names on the ballot instead of the candidates they represented. Apparently Thompson and the Illinois Republican establishment favored Reagan, and in this way the party faithful were clued in to who was the elector for Reagan, but outsiders like me would be clueless. Needless to say, Reagan carried Illinois in the nomination and ultimately carried the nation to become president. I went back to being an Independent who usually voted Democratic.

In recent years since the Radical Right has radicalized the Republican party, I have given up the illusion of being an Independent and have become a registered Democrat. I consider myself slightly left of center. Those on the extreme left might derisively call me a neo-liberal. I believe in a well regulated capitalism that serves the public, not just a few fast buck gluttons who think only of how the wealthiest few can gather as much $ as possible without consideration for the rest of us or who they must trample on to achieve their goals. On the other hand we don’t have to demonize all of the corporate world as long as they share some of those $ for the public good.

Since Trump has become president, I have joined the Resistance. I wrote post cards for Doug Jones who is now a senator from Alabama. And I wrote post cards for a Democrat in Florida who is running for state representative. I don't like to demonize anyone, but Trump really has taken the Republican party to a new low. He lies. He conspired with Putin, the Russian dictator, to hack America to give Trump the edge he needed to eke out a majority in the electoral college (although he lost the popular vote) to win the presidency. Now the Radical Republicans and Trump have pushed through a tax bill which will impoverish America by raiding our Treasury to give $ to the gluttons at the expense of the rest of us. We can only hope that the Democrats can win the Congress next year to put a brake on the Republican rape of the American economy.