Can Georgia Save The Country Tomorrow Night?

Almost two months ago, I wrote about how I sure picked one hell of a time to move to Georgia and how I could become a small part of American history. A very small part.

I had very strong misgivings about Raphael Warnock. Under normal circumstances I would not have voted for Warnock. But these are not normal circumstances. Since I first wrote about how this was a hell of a time to move to Georgia more than 120,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 (going from 232,000 to 353,000 deaths in just under 60 days). 

So despite my very strong misgivings I made the decision to vote for Warnock (as well as Jon Ossoff) and wrote about it in The Forward. The article prompted an interview for an article which appeared in the Christian Science Monitor. I don't know if this will influence a single vote other my own, but I have made my stand.

While Republicans have agreed to modest COVID relief measures they fall far short of what is needed and it is clear that a Senate led by Mitch McConnell isn't going to deliver. All of which make Ossoff, Warnock and Democratic control of the Senate the only viable option. In this respect, I am far from alone at least in my neighborhood.

Midtown Atlanta is every bit as liberal and progressive as Jamaica Plain, Cambridge or the Upper West Side. But Massachusetts and New York are solidly Democratic states. The same cannot be said for Georgia at large. 

At this hour, President Trump is holding a rally in Dalton, Georgia on behalf of Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. It remains to be seen if Trump will sing in praise of Perdue and Loeffler or to condemn Georgia's Republican Governor Brian Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Voting System Implementation Manager Gabriel Sterling particularly in light of the release of Trump's phone call with Raffensperger demanding he find 11,780 votes and Sterling's subsequent rebuke of Trump's claims.

Yet there is a large audience in this state which accepts Trump's view as the gospel truth. Dalton is part of newly elected QAnon supporting Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green's district a hop, skip and a jump from Chattanooga, Tennessee. 

While Democrats will do very well in Atlanta, its suburbs and a few other cities like Savannah, Columbus, Macon, Athens and Augusta, Republicans rule the rest of the state. It is not inconceivable that they would prefer to vote for an empty chair and a Stepford wife over a Jew and an African-American.

I would like to think there are enough Republicans in Georgia that are pissed off enough with Trump for trying to push around honest public officials to vote for Ossoff and Warnock in protest, but it's probably wishful thinking although more than a few voted for Biden. If Georgia does turn Blue tomorrow night it will have been built upon a foundation of more than 76,000 registered voters on top of the work already done by Stacey Abrams and company. A few of those are brand new Georgia residents like myself. But I suspect a great many are voters under 30 and perhaps African-American, Hispanic or Asian. 

It is also entirely possible we could have a split decision. Warnock could win but Ossoff loses. Or vice versa. Either way going 1 for 2 won't be enough. Democrats have to go 2 for 2 to win control of the Senate. Frankly, without control of the Senate the incoming Biden Administration will be hampered even more than they have already during the transition period.

This isn't to say that Biden won't find a way. I just hope it doesn't come to that in the midst of all the death and despair around us. To quote Laura Nyro can Georgia "save the country?" Can it lay down the devil who came to Georgia?

Tanya Roberts, R.I.P.

The information in this blog post has been updated below.

Actress Tanya Roberts, best known for her short-lived stint on Charlie's Angels and later on That 70's Show, has died. Roberts evidently collapsed after taking her dogs for a walk on Christmas Eve, was hospitalized and put on a ventilator. She was 65. 

Roberts was maligned for a good part of her career. She was given the unenviable task of saving Charlie's Angels - a series whose popularity was already in decline. Only 16 episodes in, the show was cancelled. By the mid-1980's, Roberts had received Razzie nominations for Worst Actress in Sheena: Queen of the Jungle and A View to a Kill, the final James Bond film featuring Roger Moore. 

Her career would be revived in the late 1990's when she was cast as Donna's sexy mother Madge Pinciotti. However, Roberts would be written out of the show after three seasons in 2001 when her husband became terminally ill. After his death in 2006, Roberts would return to the show in a handful of guest appearances but would effectively retire from acting afterward.

I leave you with Roberts appearing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in February 1981 shortly after being cast on Charlie's Angels. R.I.P.

UPDATE: It appears that Tanya Roberts passing has been greatly exaggerated. Her boyfriend that she had died in his arms at the hospital and that he subsequently inform her rep plus family and friends of her passing. However, while doing an interview with Inside Edition, he received a call from the ICU that she was alive. 

Obviously this poses a number of questions. Did the hospital determine she was dead? Or did he merely assume it? Or did he have some other agenda? 

While it is good news to hear Roberts is alive that does not necessarily mean she is well. Intensive care is intensive care. 

Let us also consider the reporting of rock star Tom Petty's passing in October 2017. First he was dead, then he wasn't and then he was dead. Hopefully Roberts doesn't face the same fate.

UPDATE: Alas Roberts' reprieve was temporary as she passed away last night. While her boyfriend's sudden departure from the hospital after he thought she had died without talking to anyone was weird, she evidently died of a UTI which spread to her kidneys and liver which was complicated by Hepitatis C. R.I.P.

Gerry Marsden, R.I.P.

Gerry Marsden, lead singer of the 1960's British invasion group Gerry & The Pacemakers, has passed away of a blood infection which caused heart failure. He was 78.

While The Beatles put Liverpool on the map, Gerry & The Pacemakers became its heartbeat. Formed in 1959, they would be signed by Beatles manager Brian Epstein and would have a string of hits during the mid-1960's - "How Do You Do It?", "I Like It", a cover of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "You'll Never Walk Alone". The group wrote "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying" while Marsden penned "Ferry Crossed The Mersey".

The group would dissolve in 1966. Marsden would remain in Liverpool and his rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" would become the theme of the Liverpool FC. 

Marsden would re-record "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Ferry Crossed The Mersey" following the fire at the Bradford City Stadium in 1985 and the Hillsborough tragedy in 1989, respectively. Both re-recordings would top the U.K. charts and the proceeds from both songs were donated to the victims of both tragedies.

I leave you with "Ferry Crossed The Mersey", my favorite Gerry & The Pacemakers song. R.I.P.

Six Observations of Trump's Call With Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger

I just finished listening to the hour long conversation between President Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger which took place yesterday and was leaked to The Washington Post. Here are six observations of the call.

1. To spend an hour on the phone with Donald Trump discussing any subject is cruel and unusual punishment. Under the circumstances, Raffensperger said very little and probably knew there was little he could say other than to stand firm without engaging in invective.

2. The big headline from this call is that Trump asked Raffensperger to "find" 11,780 votes for him. From where I sit this call should never have taken place much less lasted an hour. It isn't the Georgia Secretary of State's job to find votes for the President of the United States. But now it's on the record.

3. There was a huge disconnect between Trump and conservative attorney Cleta Mitchell. While Trump was making all sorts of claims, Mitchell was arguing that they didn't have enough information and was demanding Raffensperger furnish it to them. Trump also repeatedly claimed that votes at the State Farm Arena were counted thrice for Biden which at one point Mitchell said that she "didn't know about that" much to Trump's annoyance. The fact is that nothing Trump has claimed could ever repeated in a court of law because there are no facts or evidence to support his claim. Period. 

4. Trump repeatedly claims that he won Georgia by "hundreds of thousands of votes" ultimately settling on a figure of 400,000. I'm surprised Trump didn't say 2+2=5. Trump math is based on the number of people who attended his rallies. Yes, far more people attended his rallied than attended Joe Biden's rallies because Biden didn't want to cause any superspreader events. If you listen to this call you would never know there was a pandemic.

5. Speaking of the pandemic, if Trump had devoted this level of attention and energy to stopping COVID-19 that he has to overturning the election then perhaps we wouldn't have 350,000 dead Americans. But Trump cares more about 11,780 votes.

6. Getting back to rallies, Trump will be Dalton, Georgia ( a community on the Tennessee border now represented by QAnon adherent Marjorie Taylor Greene) ostensibly in support of Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. How much do you want to bet that Trump spends more of the rally decrying Raffensperger and Georgia's GOP Governor Brian Kemp (who he twice called a schmuck in the phone call) than defending Perdue and Loeffler? If that helps Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock on Tuesday night then wonderful.

COVID-19 Has Now Killed More Than 350,000 Americans Whatever President Trump Claims

This morning, the COVID-19 death toll in the United States topped 350,000. According to Johns Hopkins University, as of this writing, 350,357 Americans have died of COVID-19 among more than 20.4 million infections (20,451,310) representing a mortality rate of 1.7%. 

More than 50,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 in the past 20 days. 

More than 100,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 in the past 46 days. 

This country recorded its 100,000th COVID-19 deaths on May 27th, 111 days after the first known COVID-19 death.

In other words we have gone from 250,000 to 350,000 COVID-19 deaths in nearly a third of the time it took to go from 0 to 100,000 deaths. 

A normal, decent President of the United States would express some measure of sorrow. 

But Donald Trump is not a normal, decent President much less a normal, decent human being. 

On Twitter this morning, Trump claimed:

The number of cases and deaths of the China Virus is far exaggerated in the United States because of @CDCgov’s ridiculous method of determination compared to other countries, many of whom report, purposely, very inaccurately and low. “When in doubt, call it Covid.” Fake News!

I would be mildly curious to know what Trump thinks the actual death toll is. But only mildly.

When President Trump leaves office in 17 days from now the death toll will eclipse 400,000 - nearly equal to the number of Americans killed during WWII. That's not much of a legacy to leave.

Of course, the deaths will continue for sometime to come. Due to rate of community spread, lack of adherence to social distancing, slow distribution of vaccines and the large number of existing COVID-19 cases, the number of COVID-19 deaths under President Biden will likely reach the six figures in the first months of the new administration. In which case, Trump will tweet that Biden has been "a disaster."

At least Dr. Fauci isn't having any of Trump's nonsense stating, "The deaths are real deaths."

In the grand scheme of things this is about Trump's fragile ego. He also tweeted:

Something how Dr. Fauci is revered by the LameStream Media as such a great professional, having done, they say, such an incredible job, yet he works for me and the Trump Administration, and I am in no way given any credit for my work. Gee, could this just be more Fake News?

Again what decent, normal human being behaves in this manner?

In 17 days this country will once again have a decent, normal human being in the White House. There will be more pain to come, but at least we will have a President who seeks to end the pain while not seeking his own glory.

Ted Cruz Picked Trump Over America Long Before January 6, 2021

Can we really be so shocked that Ted Cruz would see fit to lead a group of a dozen Republican Senators in announcing they will object to the electoral college results when Congress meets this coming Wednesday?

After all, this is the same man who only last month volunteered to argue in favor of overturning Pennsylvania's election results before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Shortly thereafter, President Trump reportedly asked Cruz to make oral arguments in the suit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton which sought to overturn election results in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia. Again, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case. 

Consider what Cruz wrote about Trump in Time Magazine in April 2018:

President Trump is a flash-bang grenade thrown into Washington by the forgotten men and women of America. The fact that his first year as Commander in Chief disoriented and distressed members of the media and political establishment is not a bug but a feature.

The same cultural safe spaces that blinkered coastal elites to candidate Trump’s popularity have rendered them blind to President Trump’s achievements on behalf of ordinary Americans.

Cruz's description of Trump as "a flash-bang grenade" is apt when one considers the deaths of nearly 350,000 Americans under his watch during the pandemic and the economic devastation which has followed. Many of those who have lost their lives and are struggling to make ends meet are those forgotten men and women of America about whom Cruz speaks so fondly.

The truth of the matter is that Ted Cruz chose Donald Trump over America long ago. That he continues to choose Trump after his presidency was rebuked demonstrates he doesn't give a damn about the will of the American people. 

Of course, the same could be said for the Republican Party at large. Indeed, Cruz was something of a late arrival to board the Trump Train. 

During his address to the 2016 Republican National Convention, Cruz would not endorse Trump and appeared on his way to becoming a maverick of conscience. As I wrote in The American Spectator at the time in a blog post titled "The Courage and Conscience of Ted Cruz" (I shall never write that headline with a straight face ever again):

Obviously, Cruz has made a calculated risk in choosing not to explicitly endorse Trump. This is all looking forward to 2020. Yes, Trump could get elected and succeed beyond anyone’s expectations. But there’s a good chance that a) Trump will lose to Hillary or b) Trump will get elected and completely fall on his face. Either way, Cruz will be ready to pick up the pieces. Of course, even if these two scenarios come to pass, Republicans might never forgive him for refusing to endorse Trump and will pass him by for some other savior. It is entirely possible his political ambitions may never be viable again after tonight.

But I think Cruz is well aware of this possibility just as he was well aware that millions of people would see him get booed tonight for not endorsing Trump. Given the vitriol Trump’s supporters have towards anyone who views him as anything less than a deity, Cruz’s willingness to speak his conscience took a hell of a lot of courage.

P.S. If Ted Cruz’s political career is indeed over then he died standing tall instead of living on his knees.

Well, Ted Cruz's political career is far from over and this is because he chose to live on his knees with the rest of the GOP.

As for me, just under a month after singing Cruz's praises, I quit writing for The American Spectator when I was told that Trump was above criticism. I'm glad I did it when I did because I would not have lasted long otherwise. Granted, I'm not a U.S. Senator, much less an elected official but I am not prepared to live on my knees to worship at the altar of Donald Trump. As it turned out, he was far worse then I could have ever imagined. Worse enough to vote for Joe Biden and then subsequently vote for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock albeit with reluctance and reservations.

The Democratic Party does not have a monopoly on common sense or virtue. But they appear to have a monopoly on respecting the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power. At this point, it's not Democratic vs. Republican; it's Democratic vs. Authoritarian. 

In four days from now, Cruz's stunt will fail. Joe Biden will be the next President of the United States because that is what the people wanted. Cruz will be stained by obstructing the will of the people. He will be further tainted should violence encouraged by his fellow Republicans come to pass and result in the loss of life. 

These are the kind of things which happen when you choose Donald Trump over America.

2021 Begins With U.S. Topping 20 Million COVID-19 Cases

There's a very good chance 2021 will be a better year than 2020.

But this year begins with a stark reminder that where it concerns COVID-19 things are far from over.

Today, on the first day of 2021, the United States recorded its 20 millionth COVID-19 case. According to Johns Hopkins University, there have now been 20.074,798 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. along with 346,894 deaths. This represents a mortality rate of 1.7%. 

To put this in further context the number of COVID-19 cases has doubled from 10 million to 20 million in only 53 days. It took 293 days to get from zero to 10 million cases. In other words, it took more 9 months to reach the first 10 million COVID-19 cases. It then took less than 8 weeks to add the next 10 million. How long will it be before we go from 20 million to 30 million? 40 million?

Yes, we have vaccines but they're not getting distributed. Even if the vaccines are distributed efficiently it still takes time for them to take effect. With respect to the Pfizer vaccine, it takes 12 days after the first dose and a week after the second dose. That's a good month there and then add millions of people into the equation. 

It's going to take months for the vaccines to have their desired effect. Which means public health measures such as mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing must be adhered. Yet we know millions of Americans disregarded these measures during Thanksgiving, Christmas and while ringing in New Year's Eve last night. We will be paying the price for this in disease and death for many months to come. 

2021 might still end up being better than 2020, but not by a lot.