Democrats' strongest messages for the midterms

A version of this was published  in the Sky Hi News September 18-19, 2018

The Democrats’  messages for the November midterms are taking form. What may become  stronger is “  Put a check on President Trump’s behavior and  policies; vote for Democrats in November”.   Why stronger? It has  broader appeal than to just the Democratic party’s faithful since it  has already been championed by some well known Never Trump and traditional conservatives like  Joe Scarborough, David Frum,  George Will, and columnist/radio host  John Ziegler,   who see a defeat of Trump supporters in the mid-terms as a way to clean the GOP house of Trumpism for the future.
The Democrats’ message is strong on its own merits: “ The President personally is not fit for the job and a GOP Congress is complicit in keeping him in office.  Our system of checks and balances is not working when the same party controls all of the levers of power in Washington.  At least one part of the legislative branch needs to hold Trump accountable by holding hearings given their  power to subpoena witnesses testifying under oath.”  The anonymous op-ed in the New York Times, the release of Bob Woodward’s book “Fear”, and  insider insights into the White House chaos authored  by Omarosa  Manigault Newman could  kick  this political science approach into even higher gear.
The issue most on the minds of  voters under 65 per Kaiser Family Foundation polls is the rising  cost of health care and especially whether affordable coverage for pre-existing conditions will continue to be affordable. Trump rule changes would allow higher premiums for  all coverage of pre-existing conditions even for those with employer provided insurance.  A mid August Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed that the concept of Medicare for All is supported by 70% of voters, 85% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans.  In October, just before the midterms, the new premium prices will be announced and , based on the Congressional Budget Office estimates, Fox Business News reports that the  increase will be 15% due to Trump’s removing the individual mandate, resulting in fewer healthy participating in Obamacare. So far projections of the cost of Medicare for All  or shrill shouts that this is socialism has not dimmed the support. So long as the GOP dominated Congress controls the agenda, the issue will not be debated nor will credible light be shone on the funding challenges.
“Vote Democratic so you can impeach him” is a message that  is not gaining traction.   A mid-September poll by Quinnipiac indicated  56% Americans do not want impeachment proceedings to begin versus 36% who do. There are good  reasons impeachment and  using the 25th Amendment are not feasible. To remove Trump  using both measures requires a 2/3 vote in the Senate.  That  needs bi-partisan support no matter if the Senate turns more blue in November.
There are two wild cards that may make impeachment  more popular. The  impact of the Woodward, Omarosa, op ed tell-alls  is not yet known. The other is whether findings  from the Mueller investigation  would finger the President himself for obstructing  justice or conspiracy with the Russians to throw the 2016 election his way. The report will probably not be made  before the November 6 elections. As an issue, Mueller’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 elections  is still a matter of speculation though public opinion is turning against Donald Trump. Real Clear Politics polls saw a large dip in blue collar support after Trump’s fawning over Putin at Helsinki. Most recent polls .A Washington Post/ABC poll August 31: Nearly two-thirds of American adults support Mueller's ongoing investigation.  64 %  believe Trump should not fire Attorney General Sessions though Donald Trump says he will fire him after midterms, probably installing am interim  DOJ chief that could squash or cripple Mueller’s probe and report.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/midterm-elections-2018-the-conservatives-who-want-the-gop-to-lose-this-fall

https://realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval-6179.html
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/406236-poll-mueller-holds-steady-higher-approval-rating-than-trump-on-russia
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pre-existing-conditions-coverage-at-risk-more-than-thought-obamacare/
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/31/most-americans-support-robert-mueller-probe-and-ag-jeff-sessions-poll.html
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/heres-how-much-obamacare-premiums-will-rise-in-2019
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/403248-poll-seventy-percent-of-americans-support-medicare-for-all
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/07/24/trump_support_among_blue-collar_whites_dips__137616.html
http://www.people-press.org/2018/08/09/for-most-trump-voters-very-warm-feelings-for-him-endured/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/wealthiest-republican-supporter-in-ohio-quits-party/ar-BBNlUBg?ocid=ob-fb-enus-280

Mutiny in the Oval Office

A version of this was published in the Sky Hi News September 12, 2018
https://www.skyhinews.com/news/opinion/opinion-muftic-mutiny-in-the-oval-office/

History can be the stuff of fiction and fiction can become the stuff  played out in history.  This past week the pre-release of a  book by  Bob Woodward,  an anonymous op-ed in the New York Times, and the Senate committee’s hearing/grilling of the President’s nominee for Supreme Court Justice ,Brett Kavanaugh, read like fiction, but all were  far too disquieting. This was not movies like “Mutiny on the Bounty” or  “The Caine Mutiny ”.  It was  real life in real time unfolding before our very eyes,  except  the final scene has not been written.  Like one of those computer games where you can choose among story line options,  the Congress, the media, and the American people still have a chance to rewrite the ending.
A Senate  hearing about whether to approve Kavanaugh to the highest court unveiled a candidate who once opined a view of the Constitution that could save the current  captain from walking the proverbial plank.  He refused to comment on past stated beliefs  that no president in office should be subject to a criminal investigation while in office, leaving us wondering how he would vote should  Mueller investigation issues were challenged  before the highest court.  Kavanaugh in the past has also advocated giving the executive branch greater power in executing laws and regulations, weakening the concept of checks and balances and separation of powers. His view appears to be  the three branches of government are equal except the executive branch is more equal than others.(Apologies to George Orwell in Animal Farm: "all animals are equal though some animals are more equal than others"). Granting more  power to an anti-democratic, imperial wannabe president like  Trump is a scary idea.
Both the pre release excerpts the Woodward  book and the New York Times anonymous op-ed painted a picture of an Oval Office in chaos by a "senior official" who observed President Trump “continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic” and saw it was a duty to protect the country from an “the president’s leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective.” Senator  Bob Corker (R-Tenn) commenting on the Op-Ed: "This is what all of us have understood to be the situation from day one.”.. For the public not privy to such belt way cloak room  whispers, what was chilling was learning   how close we came to war or damaging our  ally by  removing a trade treaty with South Korea or  the issuance of   an assassination order on the Syrian president, which the staff  “resistance” said it thwarted.
 As predicted, the President called the Woodward book  “a total piece of fiction” and tweeted king-like about the op-ed as   “TREASON?” .. “If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!” and demanded the Justice Department find the disloyal author. Nevermind the writer had not committed a crime and did not conspire with a foreign power.  Trump  launched a hunt for the writer with obsessed rage like  the deranged captains of the Bounty and the Caine who were  determined to find who stole their cheese or strawberries.  With an NBC/you gov poll showing 60% of Americans considering him usually dishonest, his credibility carries little weight compared to the track record of Bob Woodward’s meticulous documentation and reputation from Watergate until the current era.
  That the  GOP controlled Congress would take any action to be a check on this executive's abuse of powers  is wishful fantasy.  If anyone is gutless, it is the GOP Congress . It was their inaction that left the in -White House “resistance” as a last resort to check what they saw as an out of control President.
 The last remaining  voice in this all is the court of public opinion expressed in the ballot box  this November that could give a backbone for Congress to perform a check on executive power as our founders envisioned.  Voters in November will have the ability  to shape the final chapter and set our democracy sailing on a corrected course.
https://www.axios.com/trump-senior-official-nyt-resistance-op-ed-382a1e34-5357-4bca-979a-f74bf7eef638.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/us/politics/trump-new-york-times-anonymous-editorial.html
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2018/09/06/trump-op-ed-allegations-no-surprise-senator-bob-corker/1212684002/
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/opinion/trump-white-house-anonymous-resistance.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Caine_Mutiny_(film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutiny_on_the_Bounty_(1962_film)
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/385779-nearly-two-thirds-of-americans-say-trump-is-dishonest-poll
https://www.thoughtco.com/unitary-executive-theory-the-imperial-presidency-721716
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/405546-watergates-john-dean-kavanaugh-confirmation-will-expand-presidential-powers
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-calls-justice-department-investigate-author-times-op/story?id=57673138
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/6466-all-animals-are-equal-but-some-animals-are-more-equal
https://www.factcheck.org/2018/09/kavanaugh-file-executive-privilege/