By David Amaya

It is a strange task to elucidate how the world’s most robust and influential military belongs to a liberal democracy that is not afraid to use its force to prop up democratic political regimes in foreign nations (i.e., nation build). American Exceptionalism would summarize this Wilsonian mission as benevolence. Germany and Japan are two shining examples of successful American nation building – both have successful economies and democracies. Since those two efforts (which have roots in World War II), public opinion seems to gravitate towards exiling nation building and instead align itself with ex-President Trump’s isolationist agenda – “America First.”

One bridge that connects the American political divide is the overwhelmingly negative response to America’s nation building attempt in Afghanistan. An ability to nation- build that once gave us credibility and respect (Germany’s and Japan’s democracies) has now become our folly and walk of shame as we exit Afghanistan. 

The question of whether America should continue or cease nation building efforts is suspicious. Respondents must realize their answers are a pseudo-prescient anecdote that doesn’t consider the volatility and unpredictability of our (that is, the world’s) human nature. No one should be against humanitarian intervention; the dignity of man is worth preserving across the globe and history. 

A separate question we hesitate to answer is whether nation building can succeed without the world's most powerful military placing bets it can successfully prop up an authentic democratic regime. Another: can a nation’s sovereignty and self-determination be persuaded through other means to believe in democracy for themselves? Suppose the United States ever finds itself nation-building without the use or threat of its military prowess. In that case, we will find ourselves in a new era of foreign policy that can bring honor to democracy and American Exceptionalism yet again. Today, I believe everyone wants our troops home so we can all have this conversation together. 

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By Todd Lassa

Search “nation building” and you’ll turn up an article reposted all over the Internet, including newly minted Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Maria Ressa’s website, Rappler, as well as a number of left-leaning outlets, that cite an interview former National Security Advisor John Bolton gave shortly before the fall late last summer of Afghanistan to the Taliban, in which he blames the U.S. failure there after 20 years on the “change in our mission from anti-terrorism to nation building.”

Bolton’s comments might surprise supporters of both ex-President Trump, who employed Bolton as his national security advisor from April 2018 to September 2019, and supporters of President Biden, who has sided with his predecessor on a couple of key policy issues, including the need to completely extract the U.S. military from Afghanistan. In this case, both Trump and Biden should be at odds with Bolton, who is known more for his push while working for the George W. Bush administration to invade Iraq after the September 11, 2001 attacks in order to remove Saddam Hussein despite no evidence he had anything to do with the terrorism, or had a secret stash of nuclear warheads. 

That brings us back to the present day. On Sunday, October 10, Iraqis held an election for its parliament, but turnout according to myriad news reports was low, Politico reports, with some voters simply vandalizing their own ballots in protest. Like Afghanistan, Iraq’s democratically elected government has been rife with corruption and incompetency, even with six such parliaments following the 2003 eradication of Hussein.

While our experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan are vastly different in the details – especially the post-U.S. fate of the Afghanis -- they raise the same key question: Was it a mistake to try and remake both these nations in our own image? One prevalent post-mortem on Afghanistan is that we fought not one 20-year war, but instead, 20 one-year wars. How did Iraq get to six national elections in 18 years? 

Conversely, advocates of American nation building counter that the U.S. has the responsibility to spread freedom and democracy among countries that suppress their citizens, or are suppressed by bigger, more powerful countries. In the much-repeated op-ed cited at the beginning of this column, author Waldon Bello, a senior analyst for Focus on the Global South and international adjunct professor of sociology at State University of New York at Binghamton, writes that American nation building did not begin with Vietnam, but instead with the Philippines in the late 19^th century, and worked in rare occasions, such as the rebuilding of Japan after its World War II defeat. He concludes, however, that nation building does not work. 

On October 28, Braver Angels will hold a national debate, Resolved: America Should Stop Nation Building. 

In the left and the right columns, you’ll find but two perspectives in preview of some of the points of view to be expressed. Go to braverangels.org for details on how to participate in the debate.

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By David Iwinski

While many claim the United States has never successfully engaged in the process of nation building and, thus, should swear off this process forever, it turns out that's not exactly the case. We don't have to go all the way back to the beginning of the Republic to find at least two superb examples of how the influence, funding and process of American engagement led directly to significant changes in political orientation and global cooperative participation.

At the end of World War II, Germany was not only in financial shambles but with the shattering of the dominant Nazi party and their ideology, they faced a crisis of identity and national meaning. One of their allies, Japan, was in even more catastrophic shape. Clobbered by two atomic bombs designed to rapidly end the war and stop both the deaths of American soldiers and Japanese civilians, they also faced the utter shock of coming to the reality that perhaps the Emperor was not directly connected to God and could not be considered omnipotent. They also had a long history of hyper-aggressive militant behavior that manifested itself in their outward relations with the world.

The Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program, was a U.S. program providing aid to Western Europe following the devastation of World War II. American money helped rebuild the cities, factories, railroads and other modes of transportation while simultaneously engaging in the reconstruction of governmental entities and policies with a focus on cooperative behavior and economic development. In short order, Germany became one of the leading manufacturers in Europe – it is the continent’s leader today, providing German citizens with not only a wealthy lifestyle but also a safe one promoting cooperation and peaceful engagement with its neighbors.

In Asia, General MacArthur went into Japan and after writing them a new Constitution, essentially restructured and rebuilt the nation from the ground up. He instituted such radical reforms as universal suffrage and other changes designed to not only modernize the landscape of Japan but also the thinking of the people. Japan embraced these changes to such an extent that within a couple decades it became a successful manufacturing colossus and is now one of the world’s leading economies.

What's interesting are the preconditions for these extraordinarily successful nation-building efforts. The first is that the aggressive and dysfunctional existing governments had to offer complete surrender and capitulation, not only being rejected by outside nations but the good citizens of their own country as well. The second is that the American efforts were direct and structural, going to the heart of what needed to be done and doing it fast.

As I see it, the major problem with nation building in the modern era is that dysfunctional governments we have attempted to reform may have been militarily conquered or humbled, but they have never surrendered nor acknowledged defeat. They have remained in a state of semi-power and, as a result, the people in these nations have not had the ability to fully embrace a new regime or a new way of thinking.  Peace was maintained by virtue of American troops, guns and money but there was no fundamental change of heart from people living in these nations on the ground.

Modern nation building, as it seems to exist today, tries (and fails) because we strive to be "kinder and gentler" and think of wholesale social change can be accomplished via soft persuasion and sweet slogans. We desire to change hearts and minds while leaving in place those negative elements that created the problem in the first place. We think if we can just be a good example and plant a few crops that the people who were brutally dominated under the old regime will have the intestinal fortitude to fight them off once we walk out the door. With that in mind, I would say that our post-World War II nation building efforts have had this fundamental flaw, making them a terrible waste of blood and money.

If we desire to truly help the beleaguered people of a nation run by tyrannical despots who shower brutality upon their own people, the rules of engagement must allow us to go in hard and fast to root them out and completely dominate the terrain of both the land and the political landscape so that they have nowhere to hide and either face, as the Japanese did in 1945 the decision to capitulate or be completely destroyed. Under those circumstances, we would have a chance of a successful effort in the participative democracy and the establishment of successful republics.

Is this vision likely to occur? Honestly, I think not. When we try to run wars based on calling back home for legal advice before we decide which terrorist we can shoot, we are so far away from helping the people we claim to be trying to save that we might simply be better off staying home. 

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Scroll down past News & Notes for a quick-take debate on a House bill to de-schedule marijuana as a controlled substance by federal law, and implications for state laws legalizing or de-criminalizing it. Join the conversation: email your comments to editors@thehustings.news.

Also in this column …

•Quick-take debate on the Pandora Papers released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. 

•A quick-take debate on the controversy surrounding Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff regarding his portrayal in the book Peril, by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. 

•Pundit-at-large Stephen Macaulay, “The Seriousness of China,” on the building Cold War with the country.

•The California gubernatorial recall and the future of Trump’s GOP, by Jessica Gottlieb.

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•Former President Bill Clinton, 75, is hospitalized in Orange County with an infection not linked to COVID-19, according to a spokesman and two of his physicians, the L.A. Times reports. Clinton was in Southern California for a private reception and dinner for the non-profit Clinton Foundation.

•A federal court has sided with Texas on its controversial abortion law, which will remain in effect pending further review.

Retail Sales Rise 0.7% in September – Here’s some good economic news: retail sales rose 0.7% in September according to the Commerce Department, despite supply constraints, the Delta variant of the coronavirus and the end of unemployment benefits, The Wall Street Journal reports. The September rate of inflation was 0.4%, although it stands at 5.4% for the year. 

•••

Bannon Faces Contempt Charges – The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection meets next Tuesday to begin contempt charges against former Trump advisor Stephen K. Bannon for his refusal to respond to a subpoena, The Washington Post reports. Former Trump administration aides Mark Meadows and Kash Patel were initially expected to testify before closed doors this week but will be granted an extension or continuance. 

Dan Scavino, former White House deputy chief of staff for communications also has had his hearing before the committee postponed after delivery of his subpoena was delayed.

Note: While the House committee considers Bannon potentially the key witness in its investigation of January 6, his refusal to appear by excuse of “executive privilege,” which doesn’t exist (i.e., Trump is no longer president, so that privilege is moot), is nothing more than red meat for the most die-hard of Trump’s supporters. Bannon will revel in his continuing defiance of the “deep state.” And may find himself in an orange jump suit.

•••

You’re Not Fired, After All – Andrew McCabe, former deputy director of the FBI has had his full law enforcement benefits restored by the Justice Department, NPR’s Morning Edition reports, more than three years after he was fired in a dramatic television reality show-like Trump administration stunt. Trump fired McCabe hours before his retirement package was set to take effect after the ex-president’s Justice Department charged the career FBI official with “lack of candor” in a media leak investigation. 

Note: The “lack of candor” phrase came from then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions regarding McCabe’s authorization of a conversation between the FBI and The Wall Street Journal. McCabe became FBI director in 2017, after James Comey was fired by Trump. Sessions was to be fired by Trump in November 2018. All the best people.

•••

Pledge of Allegiance Made to January 6 Flag – Participants in a “Take Back Virginia” rally in which former President Trump endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin recited the Pledge of Allegiance to a flag apparently carried at the January rally preceding the Capitol insurrection, Newsweek reports. 

Youngkin has tried to distance himself from Trump in Virginia as the campaign heats up ahead of the November 2 election. He put out a statement Thursday that “While I had no role in last night’s event, I have heard about it from many people in the media today. It’s weird and it’s wrong to pledge allegiance to a flag connected to January 6. As I’ve said many times before, the violence that occurred January 6 was sickening and wrong.”

Outgoing Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a term-limited Democrat, and Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate running against Youngkin for governor both condemned the event, with McAuliffe calling it a “racist dog whistle,” according to Politico. A Fox News poll finds that Trump has a 53% unfavorable rating in purple Virginia, with McAuliffe, Youngkin and President Biden all more popular.

Note: We’ve for a long time said that the Virginia race for governor is the first true test of Trump’s post-January 6 popularity. Most recent polls have Youngkin pulling close to a dead heat with McAuliffe, but the pro-Trump rally and Trump’s endorsement of Youngkin is likely to wake up Virginia’s Democratic and independent voters despite the Republican candidate’s efforts to distance himself from the ex-president.

•••

DeSantis to Sue Over Vaccine Mandates — Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said he will challenge in federal court vaccine mandates proposed by President Joe Biden in September to be enforced by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Politico reports. According to Politico DeSantis said at a news conference, “Let's not have Biden come in and effectively take away — threaten to take away — the jobs of people who have been working hard throughout this entire pandemic. I am offended that a police officer could potentially lose their job.”

Note: Interesting that DeSantis is playing the law-and-order card when it seems that obeying the law is something that is selective according to many Republicans, including a resident of his state. While the duty of many police forces is “protect and serve,” (1) there have been 722,000 deaths associated with COVID and (2) studies show that the available vaccines have a high effectiveness of protecting individuals from contracting — and consequently passing — the virus, supporters of that ethos should have been first in line when the vaccines became available.

In addition to which, has DeSantis forgotten that the vaccines were the result of “Operation Warp Speed,” which was arguably his apparent role model’s only tangible accomplishment?

--Edited by Todd Lassa and Gary S. Vasilash

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2021

•A Moderna booster shot for recipients of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine triggered more antibodies than either Pfizer or J&J boosters, according to an FDA review and a separate ‘pre-print’ study (WaPo).

•Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Nicholas Kristof has left the NYT for a likely run for the 2022 Democratic primary for governor of Oregon (Politico).

Lowest Unemployment Claims Since Pandemic Began – New unemployment claims for the nation fell to 293,000 for the week ending October 9, compared with an adjusted 329,000 claims the previous week, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. The latest numbers represent the lowest initial claims since the beginning of shutdowns over the pandemic. New unemployment claims were 256,000 for the week of March 14, 2020.

•••

Another 1/6 Committee Subpoena – The House of Representatives January 6 Select Committee Wednesday subpoenaed former Trump administration Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark as it took more than eight hours of closed-door testimony from former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen (per The Washington Post) regarding the final days of the 45^thpresidency. Rosen had replaced President Trump’s longest-serving AG, William Barr, just before Christmas. Leading up to the January 6 Capitol insurrection, Clark, as a Justice Department official who was ready to lend DOJ resources to Trump’s false claims of election fraud, was ready to replace Rosen as acting AG. 

Former Trump administration officials due to appear before the committee today include the ex-president’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, former deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, and Kashyap Patel, former chief of staff to then-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller. The fourth, ex-advisor Stephen R. Bannon, already has refused to testify on the grounds of executive privilege, despite that those grounds do not apply to former presidents, let alone their associates and staff.

Note: The House select committee is currently sorting out with the current DOJ how to enforce the subpoenas and force Trump officials, and Bannon, to testify on how close they had come to organizing an inside coup for the lame-duck president. In other words, expect more MAGA rallies like Trump’s appearance in Iowa last weekend, as he heads toward another run in 2024.

•••

Trumped Again? — Thirty-five percent of those surveyed in a Morning Consult/Politico poll say that Donald Trump should “definitely” (25%) or “probably” run for president in 2024. Of the Republicans queried, 67% give him the nod.

Note: Odd how a man twice impeached and twice soundly beaten in the popular vote would be of appeal to what has now become the Republican Party, a party once known for ideas and now known for conspiracy theories and little in the way of support of democratic principles and the rule of law.

The survey also shows that for those who don’t want Trump to run, 26% say that Mike Pence, the former vice president whose life was openly threatened by Trump supporters during the January 6 insurrection, should be the candidate.

•••

Dueling Parties – Capitol Hill may be gridlocked in place with Republicans stonewalling Democrats, and Democrats fighting against each other, but there’s plenty of action on the campaign front according to third-quarter fundraising reports, as covered by Politico. Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, raised nearly $8.3 million for the latest reporting quarter as he is expected to sail to re-election next year and potentially set up a run for the GOP presidential nomination for 2024. Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, reported $9.6 million raised in Q2, more than twice the second-highest number reported, by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, who also faces re-election in the midterms.

In addition, the Opportunity Matters Fund, a political action committee supporting Scott, received a $10 million contribution from Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Politico notes.

But Scott’s Q3 number was not number-one among all midterm candidates. Rep. Val Demings, D-FL, raised $8.4 million in the quarter for his bid to challenge Rubio in the November 2022 Senate election. 

•••

Former Michigan Congressman Kildee Dies – Former U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee, a Democrat from Michigan, has died. Described in Roll Call as the “Cal Ripken of Congress” for casting more than 20,000 votes in the House between 1977 and 2012, he was known for his “quiet work to protect the auto industry and labor unions,” and to improve public schools. His nephew Dan Kildee, who won the seat representing the Flint area in 2012, announced the former congressman’s death but did not give a cause. Kildee was 92.

--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Nic Woods

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2021

•The House of Representatives voted 219-206 yesterday to adopt the $480-billion increase in the debt limit as passed in the Senate last week, increasing the Treasury Department’s borrowing authority to about $28.9 trillion, Roll Call says. The hike prevents defaults that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin warned would have begun next Monday, instead through early December.

•Opening arguments in a Manhattan federal court begin today for Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, accused of illegally funneling $300,000 in Russian funds to U.S. political campaigns and groups, including a political action committee controlled by Trump allies (per Politico).

•William Shatner is spending the day in space, as the actor who portrayed Capt. James T. Kirk in Star Trek takes a ride on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin spacecraft, at age 90.

Inflation Rate Hits 5.4% for September – The Consumer Price Index was up 0.4% in September, for a 5.4% annual rate, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. Food prices were up 0.9% overall, with a food at home inflation rate of 1.3% for the month. 

Energy was up 1.3% for September, with gas and diesel at the pump up 1.2% for the month. New vehicle prices rose 1.3% reflecting in part the new 2022 model year, though the continuing computer chip shortage is contributing to a supply-demand imbalance. Used vehicle prices, a leading contributor to inflation until recently, fell 0.7%, though they are up 24.4% for the last 12 months. 

Note: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin maintains the nation’s high inflation remains a temporary problem, which will be overcome once supply chain bottlenecks free up. Her guidance on inflation is a counter-argument against Republicans who say President Biden’s $3.5-trillion Build Back Better budget reconciliation will simply boost sky-high inflation. With energy prices hitting record highs and with container ships clogging ports worldwide, high inflation globally could be measured in years, rather than months.

•••

No Apparent Movement in Budget Reconciliation Deal Among Democrats – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, said that crucial decisions need to come “in the next few days” about how to cut parts of the White House’s $3.5-trillion Build Back Better budget reconciliation package in order to meet deadlines, Roll Call reports. The deadlines already have slipped past September. 

Much of the delay appears to be coming from the Senate side, where even Sens. Joe Manchin III, D-WV, and Krysten Sinema, D-AZ, have different priorities. What should be cut? “That’s a negotiation,” Pelosi told reporters. “That’s not something I would be announcing here and I don’t even know what that would be.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-WA, and a leader of the party’s progressive wing in the House, seems to be much less intransigent, and is leading the way on cutting the package by years of lifecycle rather than by specific dollar amounts on the “social infrastructure” programs. The $3.5 trillion package is designed to cover child care, family leave, climate change and other such programs for 10 fiscal years and must be cut to somewhere in the $2- to $2.3-trillion range to satisfy Manchin and Sinema.

Note: While it first seemed like progressive House Democrats were trying to maintain their high expectations by passing a sweeping package with wafer-thin majorities in both chambers, it now seems the two moderate senators are holding up negotiations.

•••

Michigan Protestors Call for “Forensic Audit” of 2020 Results -- Approximately 300 protestors assembled at the state capitol in Michigan yesterday calling for a “forensic audit” of the results of the 2020 presidential election, the AP reports. Donald Trump, who lost the state by 154,189 votes, had urged attendance at the protest. According to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, there have been more than 200 audits conducted, proving that the election was not fraudulent.

Note: The “forensic audit” in Arizona, which found no fraud, will cost taxpayers some $3 million to replace the vote-counting machines that were compromised by being turned over to the Cyber Ninjas. The protestors in Michigan should keep that in mind. A lot of potholes can be filled for $3 million.

And here’s a question: if they are concerned about election integrity predicated on what are admittedly close results, where were they in 2016, when Trump took Michigan by 10,704 votes?

One of the arguments that is raised about so-called election fraud is that in some states Trump was leading . . . and then he fell behind and lost.

Perhaps this will make things clearer for some people to understand why the person who is leading at the start doesn’t necessary end in front: according to the The Daytona Beach News-Journal, the driver on the pole of the Daytona 500, which has been run since 1959, has won the race just seven times.

•••

U.S. Border to Reopen to Canadians – The U.S. will open its northern border to fully vaccinated Canadians, and its southern border to fully vaccinated Mexicans, in November, Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced in a news release Tuesday, according to The Globe and Mail. Opening of the northern border affects land and ferry crossings and is based on recommendations by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

No exact reopening date has been reported. Canada opened its border to vaccinated U.S. citizens last August. The border had been closed off due to the pandemic since March 2020.

Note: No reaction so far, from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Charles Dervarics

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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021

•Members of the House of Representatives return to the Capitol to approve the $480-billion hike in the debt limit ceiling, which the Senate approved 50-49 last week in order to keep the federal government’s lights on through December 3. President Biden is expected to sign the bill this week, the Associated Press says. Next Monday marks the day Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin says the government would begin defaulting on payment for programs approved in the past, without the extension.

•Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay writes about Sen. Chuck Grassley’s fealty to Donald J. Trump at Sunday’s MAGA rally in “Iowa: Maybe Not What You Think.” Read his column at thehustings.substack.com.

Believe Science Now? – At least 85% of the world’s population have experienced weather events made worse by climate change, a new study in the journal Nature Climate Changereports. The study used machine learning to analyze and map more than 100,000 studies of events, according to The Washington Post, paired with a well-established data set of population shifts caused by fossil fuel use and other carbon emission sources.

“We have a huge evidence base now that documents how climate change is affecting our societies and ecosystems,” said lead author Max Callaghan of Germany’s Mercator Institute of Global Commerce and Climate Change. 

Note: All too obviously, this study comes as moderate and progressive Democrats argue over the large components in President Biden’s $3.5 trillion Bring Back Better budget reconciliation bill that attempt to address climate change and heading toward a carbon neutral fossil fuel use. Sen. Krysten Sinema, D-AZ, has proposed $100 billion in cuts to the bill’s environmental provisions, while Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-WV, of course is trying to protect his state’s  already dwindling coal economy.

•••

North Korea Creating First-Strike Capability — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, while reviewing a parade of missiles that are said to be capable of reaching the U.S. mainland with nuclear warheads, said; “The U.S. has frequently signaled it’s not hostile to our state, but there is no action-based evidence to make us believe that they are not hostile,” and “The U.S. is continuing to create tensions in the region with its wrong judgments and actions,” according to the Associated Press, citing the official Korean Central News Agency. Kim is also quoted as saying they are working to develop an “invincible military capability.”

Note: According to the CIA World Factbook, commodity exports of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are watch components, fake hair, iron alloys, instructional models, tungsten.

If a nuclear power that makes those exports isn’t frightening, we don’t know what is.

•••

Texas Governor Bans Vaccine Mandates – Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has signed an executive order banning any entity in Texas from mandating coronavirus vaccines for workers or customers, The Washington Post reports. His action expands prior executive orders that placed such restrictions on state government office from imposing similar requirements.

Abbott also has asked the Texas legislature to enact his ban into law, Texas Public Radio reports.

Note: At this point, Abbott’s actions appear to be an attempt to pile on beleaguered President Biden’s failed promise to bring COVID-19 under control, which was partially undermined by last summer’s Delta variant, vaccine deniers and people like Abbott, who previously banned mask requirements. It is worth noting that the governor’s actions run counter to traditional Republican values of hands-off attitude toward private business -- apparently, these values belong to the “RINO” arm of the GOP.

Also note: WaPo reports in a separate story that two Wisconsin mothers are suing their children’s elementary schools after their sons contracted COVID-19. The children were required to wear masks when they returned to class during the last school year but were not required to do so when classes resumed this fall. The mothers, Shannon Jensen and Gina Kildahl, required their sons to wear masks to a Waukesha and a Fall Creek school, respectively anyway, but that did not prevent them from contracting the virus. Lawsuits filed in two Wisconsin federal courts blame the schools for lax attitude toward masks, quarantining and social distancing.

•••

Prison Labels Russian Dissident ‘Terrorist’ – Alexei Navalny says the prison that has held him since he returned to Russia in January after treatment for a nerve agent has changed his designation from “escape risk” to “extremist” and “terrorist,” Politico EU reports. Navalny is serving two years, eight months for alleged parole violations, and in June, a Russian court banned his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) from operating, labeling it “extremist.” In an Instagram post, Navalny said the new designation requires him to confirm his presence in the prison via video recording every two hours.

Note: One assumes that prison authorities know precisely where Navalny is and what he is doing every moment. The check-in requirement is undoubtedly just another way to keep the prisoner in line.

--Edited by Todd Lassa and Gary S. Vasilash

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2021

•It’s the U.S.’s first Indigenous People’s Day (and traditionally, Columbus Day).

•Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay comments on Donald J. Trump’s Iowa rally and the changing demographics of the state, today at The Hustings/Substack; 

thehustings.substack.com.

Grassley Accepts Trump’s 2022 Endorsement – Donald J. Trump gave his “complete and total” endorsement to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-IA, already the oldest senator at 88, in his bid for an eighth term next year, at a rally the former president held at the Iowa State Fairgrounds Sunday. “I was born at night, but not last night,” Grassley said at the rally, according to the Des Moines Register. “So if I didn’t accept the endorsement of a person that’s got 91% of the Republican voters in Iowa, I wouldn’t be too smart. I’m smart enough to accept that endorsement.”

Note: Funny how Grassley almost grudgingly accepts Trump’s endorsement. The Iowa senator has danced around the former president’s lies and two impeachments, voting against conviction along with the majority of his fellow Republican senators, but not quite hanging with the group of Trump’s most loyal sycophants. On February 13, after the second impeachment, Grassley put out a statement that says, in part:

“The reality is, he lost. He brought over 60 lawsuits and lost all but one of them. He was not able to challenge enough votes to overcome President Biden’s significant margins in key states. I wish it would have stopped there. It didn’t. President Trump continued to argue that the election had been stolen even though the courts didn’t back up his claims. He belittled and harassed elected officials across the country to get his way. He encouraged his own, loyal vice president, Mike Pence, to take extraordinary and unconstitutional actions during the Electoral College count. My vote in this impeachment does nothing to excuse or justify those actions. There’s no doubt in my mind that President Trump’s language was extreme, aggressive, and irresponsible.”

What happened to that sentiment? Does Trump know about it?

Expect more political shifting and groveling from other Republicans who want to avoid being “primaried” for the midterms next year, as Trump teases his inevitable ’24 presidential campaign.

•••

Contempt for Bannon? – The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection may issue former Trump political advisor Steve Bannon contempt of Congress referral to the Justice Department, if he doesn’t comply with a subpoena issued last Thursday. Bannon has said he won’t appear in front of the committee, claiming executive privilege. Conversely, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and former Defense Department official Kashyap Patel have indicated they are “engaging” with the committee, The Hill reports. 

Dan Scavino, former deputy chief of staff for White House communications under the Trump administration, was not mentioned in a joint statement issued by committee chairman Rep. Bernie Thompson, D-MS, and vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney, R-WY, Friday, the day after the October 7 deadline to respond to the subpoenas.

“While Mr. Meadows and Mr. Patel are, so far, engaging with the Select Committee, Mr. Bannon has indicated that he will try to hide behind vague references to privileges of the former president,” they said in their written statement. 

Note: Trump cannot claim “executive privilege” for himself or for any former associates as a former president, himself. President Biden, who can make the claim, says he will release documents from the last administration for the investigation. 

--Edited by Todd Lassa and Gary S. Vasilash

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To comment on any of these issues, please email editors@thehustings.news

Scroll down past News & Notes for a quick-take debate on a House bill to de-schedule marijuana as a controlled substance by federal law, and implications for state laws legalizing or de-criminalizing it. Join the conversation: email your comments to editors@thehustings.news.

Scroll down past News & Notes for a quick-take debate on the Pandora Papers released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Join the conversation by emailing your comments to editors@thehustings.news.

Also in this column …

•Quick-take debate on the Pandora Papers released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. 

•Quick-take debate on the controversy surrounding Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff regarding his portrayal in the book Peril, by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. 

•Right-column pundit Bryan Williams, “New Competition May Do Us Some Good,” on the growing Cold War with China.

•Williams again, on the California gubernatorial recall and the future of Trump’s GOP.

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To comment on any of these issues please email editors@thehustings.news

Don't we think it's about time that the federal law that classifies marijuana a Class 1 narcotic gets thrown out? We think so. Since the Nixon era, several hundred thousand Americans have been jailed for simple possession, and several thousand more for dealing, even if they weren't dealing any serious weight. With so many states already selling medical and recreational marijuana to adults, it's pretty clear that the national opinion is pro-marijuana. The tax benefits to the states are huge, but they probably don't offset all the money that police agencies continue to get from the feds for drug enforcement equipment and personnel. 

Once again, it's the cops against the rest of us. I have been a consistent user since 1968, so I am vehemently in favor of getting rid of this stupid law.
--Jim McCraw

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Decriminalizing marijuana is not enough. We need it to be legal.

--Jessica Gottlieb

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Eighteen states plus the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana use. Another 18 states have made it legal for medical use, some of them also decriminalizing it recreationally. But marijuana remains a Schedule 1 controlled substance by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, which makes it dangerous for users to transport it across state lines and for the burgeoning marijuana retail industry to procure conventional banking services, including business loans. 

Though not a priority on Capitol Hill these days, there is an ongoing movement to change federal laws restricting marijuana use. Late in September, the House Judiciary Committee voted, 26-15, to advance a bill that would decriminalize and deschedule cannabis, following a two-day markup. 

Two Republicans, Matt Gaetz of Florida, and Tom McClintock of California, joined 24 Democrats on the committee in favor of moving it forward, according to Roll Call. The vote came after a two-day markup in which the panel also approved a bipartisan[CD1]  plan to lower drug prices.

The proposed legislation is based on a bill that Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-NY, introduced in 2020. That bill passed the House but stalled in the Senate, which last year was controlled by the GOP. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, now majority leader, proposed similar legislation last year. 

But even with apparent support in the House of Representatives and the Senate, it faces a potential veto from President Biden, who has endorsed decriminalization but not legislation removing it from the DEA’s list of controlled substances. Biden’s position means that even more states could decriminalize or legalize, but marijuana consumers still will not want to carry it on an airplane, and banks will still be reluctant to give business loans to head shops.

What do you think? Legalize it, or no? Read the left and right columns for a few of our contributing pundits’ opinions.

--Todd Lassa

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 [CD1]I was checking the Hustings site and you sometimes use bipartisan and other times bi-partisan.  I’d go without the hyphen.

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Should marijuana be made legal at the federal level? Somehow this seems as though it is going to be inevitable for the simple reason that the Feds are going to want to get as much tax revenue as they can get, and given that there are a number of states collecting their cut from what some fondly recall as a “nickel bag,” the Feds won’t be far behind.

--Stephen Macaulay

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Please email your comments to editors@thehustings.news

Scroll down past News & Notes for a quick-take debate on the Pandora Papers released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Join the conversation by emailing your comments to editors@thehustings.news.

Also in this column …

•A quick-take debate on the controversy surrounding Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff regarding his portrayal in the book Peril, by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. 

•Pundit-at-large Stephen Macaulay, “The Seriousness of China,” on the building Cold War with the country.

•The California gubernatorial recall and the future of Trump’s GOP, by Jessica Gottlieb.

•Reader comment on the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate.

•Macaulay on the vaccine mandate.

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Scroll down past News & Notes for a quick-take debate on the Pandora Papers released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Join the conversation by emailing your comments to editors@thehustings.news.

Also in this column …

•A quick-take debate on the controversy surrounding Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff regarding his portrayal in the book Peril, by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. 

•Right-column pundit Bryan Williams, “New Competition May Do Us Some Good,” on the growing Cold War with China.

•Williams again, on the California gubernatorial recall and the future of Trump’s GOP.

•David Iwinski on the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate.

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Good luck trying to close the tax loopholes, I’m unclear how much this would affect the wealth gap. I have a hard time caring.

I am obviously the problem.

--Jessica Gottlieb

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Please email your comments to editors@thehustings.news

The Pandora Project was released this week, a years-long investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which examined more than 11.9 million financial records, private emails, secret spreadsheets and clandestine contacts to uncover politicians, business leaders and even celebrities who have tucked away billions of dollars’ worth of assets in tax shelters around the world. 

So far, the fallout has not been severe. Billionaire-turned-politician Andres Babis, who is up for re-election as the Czech Republic’s prime minister in a vote held this Friday and Saturday, was revealed to have used offshore companies to buy a $17.7 million French mansion, according to one of the partners in the ICIJ investigation, The Guardian.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie, saved the equivalent of about $408.6 million in taxes by purchasing a London office building after acquiring part of an offshore, British Virgin Islands company co-owned by Bahrain minister Zayed bin Rashid Alzayami, The Guardian says in a separate news report. The office building was sold to them for $8.85 million, and it presumably will further bring in a tidy sum in lease revenues.

King Abdullah II of Jordan was another of the prominent names in the investigative data dump. His name grabbed its share of headlines early in the week, when the ICIJ report dropped, because he spent $106 million on 12 luxury homes, mostly in Malibu, California. But Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi told the Associated Press there was “nothing secretive” about the purchases, and that the king used none of the billions of dollars-worth of international aid that has gone to Jordan in recent years.

What’s the big deal? It’s true that all of these transactions detailed appear to be completely legal. It’s also true that offshore accounts and numbered bank accounts can be a haven for money laundering and other illegal activities. To detractors of such bald-faced displays of wealth, the Pandora Papers serve as another coat of gold paint on the layers of the 21^st century Gilded Age, obscene as the Gilded Age of more than a century ago. To those neutral on the use of offshoring, or even supportive of it, it’s simply another capitalistic defense against profligate taxing and spending by government bureaucrats addicted to ineffective social programs. 

Opinions from some of our contributing pundits are adjacent in the left and right columns in a quick-take debate. To add your comment to one of these columns, please email editors@thehustings.news, and let us know whether you count yourself as part of the left or the right.

--Todd Lassa

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First, the terms. According to the IRS, “tax avoidance” is what someone or something does to “lessen tax liability and maximize after-tax income.” That is not illegal. But “tax evasion,” “the failure to pay or a deliberate underpayment of taxes”—that is where the proverbial line is crossed. According to the ICIJ, the documents it and its colleagues obtained includes “the creation of shell companies, foundations and trusts; the use of such entities to purchase real estate, yachts, jets and life insurance; their use to make investments and to move money between bank accounts; estate planning and other inheritance issues; and the avoidance of taxes through complex financial schemes. Some documents are tied to financial crimes, including money laundering.” So much of that is in the avoidance category. “Some” is criminal.

This rises to the incredulity of gambling in Casablanca.

--Stephen Macaulay

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