Concerned Families of Westchester Newsletter
October 13, 2019
Hello All – It was inevitable that the mere initiation of impeachment proceedings against President Trump would generate a torrent of irrational and potentially dangerous acts on his part, some of which would amount to impeachable offenses themselves. (See Marjorie Cohn's essay, "Trump's Stonewalling of Impeachment Inquiry Is an Impeachable Offense.") And this week Trump's incoherent stance toward Turkey's invasion of northeast Syria has generated protests from previously durable allies in the Republican Senate. The arrest while trying to flee the country of two of Mayor Giuliani's henchmen, and the unraveling of the Trump team's prohibition on current and former administration officials testifying to Democrat-controlled investigating committees is a further sign of Trump Besieged.
It is clear that the wheels are falling off the Trump presidency. The loose screws in our president are on full display. The pressures coming from congressional investigations and the rising dissent from Trump's former staff and supporters are causing the president to act more irrationally. As Rebecca Solnit wrote in the article linked below: "President Trump and the upper echelons of the executive branch are at war with the legislative branch, the rule of law, the constitution, federal civil servants and the American people. Tuesday's White House refusal to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry only escalates their defiance and their chaos."
Where will this lead? It is increasingly clear (at least to me) that Trump's refusal to cooperate with whatever remains of an "impeachment process" has moved the power struggle among the US political elite to a new level. Even the Watergate impeachment of President Nixon did not seem to hold the same promise of high-intensity sword fighting among the main players. Below I've linked good/useful essays that address the widening conflict. Interesting Times!
President Trump is at war with the rule of law. This won't end well
, The Guardian [UK] [October 9, 2019]
---- Do Americans still have a government? I do not know. What I do know is that President Trump and the upper echelons of the executive branch are at war with the legislative branch, the rule of law, the constitution, federal civil servants and the American people. It's a conflict that pulls in many directions, and if the president threatened civil war the other day as something that could happen if he doesn't get his way, we can regard the ordinary state of things as a low-intensity civil war or a slo-mo coup that's been going on from the beginning. Tuesday's White House refusal to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry only escalates their defiance and their chaos. The chaos takes so many forms. Innumerable stories have made it clear that even the president's own aides and cabinet members treat him like a captive bear or a person having a psychotic breakdown – like someone unstable who must be kept from harming himself and others. They have done that by heaping on the flattery, and by warping and limiting the information he receives, and often by doing their best to prevent his directives from being realized. [Read More]
Trump Is Mentally Unfit, No Exam Needed
[FB - Three mental health professionals who contributed to "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump" cite recent actions that confirm their worries.] [October 11, 2019]
To the Editor: Re "Trump Flies Into the Cuckoo's Nest" [Link] [Gail Collins, October 10, 2019]
---- Gail Collins makes a point that we have been articulating seriously since the publication of our book, "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump," two years ago: President Trump is mentally unfit for office. Our publications have been derided as violations of the Goldwater Rule, "armchair psychiatry" and political bias dressed up as professional opinions. But, as mental health professionals, we have felt a duty to address a public health crisis: a mentally unfit person in charge of the world's most powerful military and its nuclear weapons. We have found ample evidence of his instability and grandiosity in the president's own words and public statements, most recently confirmed in his referring to "my great and unmatched wisdom," coupled with yet another threat to "totally destroy and obliterate" a foreign country. [Read More]
News Notes
When we were younger, October 12th was Columbus Day. Today 8 states and more than 130 cities in 34 states observe Indigenous Peoples Day as an alternative to Columbus Day. For an interesting guide re: how this came about, read "Indigenous Peoples' Day: Rethinking How We Celebrate American History," Smithsonian Magazine [October 11, 2019] [Link]. And if another example is needed of how racism lurks in every corner of American history, recommended is "How Italians Became 'White'," by Brent Staples, New York Times [October 12, 2019] [Link].
In the UK, a slanderous campaign vilifies the Labour Party and its leader Jeremy Corbyn. Led primarily by rightwing interests, the campaign alleges both the party and the leader are guilty of anti-Semitism. In a letter to the UK's leader liberal newspaper The Guardian, Noam Chomsky and many UK intellectuals and political leaders claim "Flawed reporting on antisemitism claims against the Labour party." [October 11, 2019] [Link]
The "School Strike for Climate," pioneered by Sweden's Greta Thunberg, has come to Hastings. For the second Friday in a row, a Hastings middle school student has taken her spot in front of Village Hall from 12:30 to 3:15. If you see her, give her some love and join the strike.
Things to Do/Coming Attractions
Sunday, October 20th – The United Nations Association of Westchester invites us – and especially "motivated students" – to join them for a county-wide showcase of student projects and campaigns that respond to the climate crisis. The event will be held at the Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 468 Rosedale Ave in White Plains, from 3 to 5 pm. To register, and for more information, go here.
Sunday, November 3rd – The next CFOW meeting is on Sunday, November 3, from 7 to 9 pm. We will have lots to discuss, as the impeachment saga will be over the top, with many collateral impacts on foreign and domestic policy. I'm thinking about asking another speaker, as the last two meetings w/a speaker were successful. Any thoughts or suggestions?
That's it for this week.
Best wishes,
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
Some Interesting/Useful Reading
Non-violently hitting our stride
From Extinction Rebellion [October 13, 2019]
---- As we approached the first weekend of the October Rebellion, it was humbling and inspiring to see that rebels showed no sign of slowing down. In fact, day 5 was marked by a series of exciting milestones: XR Dublin had their first arrests; XR Israel reached a new level of direct action, as rebels glued themselves to the National Stock Exchange in Tel Aviv; and Aussie rebels pioneered the delightful new concept of 'Civil Disco-bedience'. While some sites have been cleared of permanent roadblocks, rebels stayed resilient everywhere: hunger strikers in Italy entered their fifth day, and declared their intent to continue until the Italian prime minister agreed to meet them. … In the words of a rebel in France: 'each in our own way, but ultimately together.' That is how we will win. [Read More] Also very useful is "Can Extinction Rebellion Build a U.S. Climate Movement Big Enough to Save the Earth?" by Alleen Brown, The Intercept [[Link]. Justin Gillis is a former environmental reporter for the New York Times. Recommended is his op-ed, "Fire, Floods and Power Outages: Our Climate Future Has Arrived," [October 12, 2019] [Link]
Inside the Deportation Courts
By Madeleine Schwartz, New York Review of Books [October 10, 2019 issue]
---- Because immigration courts are under the control of the attorney general, the executive branch can issue new rules that send lawyers scrambling for new ways to represent their clients. Both Sessions and Barr have done this, limiting the meaning of asylum by redefining who counts as a legitimate victim. Immigrants who fear for their lives because of domestic violence find it much more difficult to obtain asylum, as do immigrants whose lives are threatened because their relatives were threatened or killed. One immigration official I talked to compared the attorney general's role to that of the appeals courts, whose decisions bind judges in lower courts. But appeals courts are meant to act independently of the executive branch, not to further its interests. Trump has often called the idea of asylum a "loophole" in the immigration system. … Trump's attempts to close possible paths to immigration have meant ramping up activity in court. Some immigration judges operate out of courthouses, others work out of detention centers, and some have been transferred—both in person and virtually—to courts along the border. Over the course of a week in the Rio Grande Valley, I visited four courts: two immigration courts, one federal court, and new tents set up for immigration hearings. It was common to see people be forced to leave the US after hearings lasting minutes. [Read More]
Pathways to Peace
[FB – Mairead Maguire is the co-founder of Peace People and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for her work in organizing nonviolent action to end the fighting in Northern Ireland. She gave this speech on October 4th at NoWar2019 in Limerick, Ireland.]
---- I am very happy to be with you all at this conference. I would like to thank David Swanson and World Beyond War for organizing this important event and also all those attending for their work for peace. I have long been inspired by the American Peace activists and it is a joy to be with some of you at this conference. A long time ago, as a teenager living in Belfast, and social activist, I was inspired by the life of Dorothy Day, of the Catholic Worker. Dorothy, a nonviolent Prophet, called for an end to war and the money from militarism, to be used to help alleviate poverty. Alas, if today Dorothy (RIP) knew that one in six individuals in the USA is in the Military-Media-Industrial-Complex and armament costs continue to rise daily, how disappointed she would be. Indeed, one third of the USA military budget would eliminate the entire poverty in the USA. We need to offer new hope to a humanity suffering under the scourge of militarism and war. … We are also challenged to build structures through which we can co-operate and which reflect our interconnected and inter-dependent relationships. .. I believe if we are to survive as the human family, we must end Militarism and War and have a policy of general and complete disarmament. In order to do so, we have to look at what is sold to us as the driving forces for militarism and war. [Read More]
Rojava: Millions of civilians in northern Syria threatened
By Bülent Gökay and Lily Hamourtziadou, Links [October 11, 2019]
---- On October 6, the White House declared US troops would be withdrawn from northern Syria and no longer be in the immediate area ahead of a Turkish military operation. It also added the US would not support or be involved in the operations, and that Turkey would now be responsible for the fate of all Islamic State (IS) fighters captured during the last two years (totalling 12,000 men and 70,000 women and children) and currently held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Defence Forces (SDF), a group of Kurdish and Arab militias. … Trump announced his intention of withdrawing US troops from the region in December, claiming there was no reason for US troops to stay there since IS was on the verge of complete defeat. Following this, the US administration came to an agreement with Turkey to establish a 10-15-kilometre-wide safe zone, referred to as a peace corridor, along the Turkey-Syria border in northern Syria. As a result, in August some of the Kurdish forces removed their posts and left this zone under the joint control of US and Turkish troops. It seems that this was not enough to satisfy Turkey's security concerns. … This area is not just a military zone occupied by fighters; it is home to between 500,000 and 1 million Kurds and approximately 1.5 million Arabs, Assyrians and Yezidis, many of whom are refugees who have escaped from war zones in Syria and Iraq. The 2014 population estimate of Rojava was 4.6 million. Sandwiched between the Turkish army, the Turkey-supported Free Syrian Army and the Kurdish-Arab SDF militias, these civilians face the risk of losing their homes, lands and lives. This is the unfortunate fate of millions who happen to have been born in this geographic region; in Middle Eastern countries that, in the recent past, have experienced foreign occupation, violent wars and civil wars. [Read More] Also insightful: "Kurdish Fighters Always Feared Trump Would be a Treacherous Ally," by Patrick Cockburn, The Independent [UK] [October 11, 2019] [Link]
---- On October 6, the White House declared US troops would be withdrawn from northern Syria and no longer be in the immediate area ahead of a Turkish military operation. It also added the US would not support or be involved in the operations, and that Turkey would now be responsible for the fate of all Islamic State (IS) fighters captured during the last two years (totalling 12,000 men and 70,000 women and children) and currently held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Defence Forces (SDF), a group of Kurdish and Arab militias. … Trump announced his intention of withdrawing US troops from the region in December, claiming there was no reason for US troops to stay there since IS was on the verge of complete defeat. Following this, the US administration came to an agreement with Turkey to establish a 10-15-kilometre-wide safe zone, referred to as a peace corridor, along the Turkey-Syria border in northern Syria. As a result, in August some of the Kurdish forces removed their posts and left this zone under the joint control of US and Turkish troops. It seems that this was not enough to satisfy Turkey's security concerns. … This area is not just a military zone occupied by fighters; it is home to between 500,000 and 1 million Kurds and approximately 1.5 million Arabs, Assyrians and Yezidis, many of whom are refugees who have escaped from war zones in Syria and Iraq. The 2014 population estimate of Rojava was 4.6 million. Sandwiched between the Turkish army, the Turkey-supported Free Syrian Army and the Kurdish-Arab SDF militias, these civilians face the risk of losing their homes, lands and lives. This is the unfortunate fate of millions who happen to have been born in this geographic region; in Middle Eastern countries that, in the recent past, have experienced foreign occupation, violent wars and civil wars. [Read More] Also insightful: "Kurdish Fighters Always Feared Trump Would be a Treacherous Ally," by Patrick Cockburn, The Independent [UK] [October 11, 2019] [Link]
Our History
WBAI Signs Off. Its Future Remains Uncertain.
By Arthur Schwartz, The Nation [October 11, 2019]
---- For 59 years, in the center of the FM dial in New York City, WBAI has been a beacon of unabashedly leftist "community-based" radio. On Monday, October 7, at around 7 am, WBAI-NY essentially went off the air. … The Pacifica radio network remains, after 46 years, one of the more fascinating institutions of the postwar counterculture. The first successful experiment in listener-sponsored radio, Berkeley's KPFA began as an idea of Lewis Hill and his allies in 1946 who envisioned a radio station that would promote pacifist awareness in the face of the looming Cold War. … KPFA's iconoclastic programming led New York philanthropist Louis Schweitzer to donate the license of his commercial FM station, WBAI, to the Pacifica Foundation in 1959. In the late '50s and early '60s, the radicalism of Pacifica's broadcasts was exemplified by its eclectic musical programming and educational and political series on issues rarely dealt with by the mainstream media—such as the Kennedy administration's subterfuge in pursuing a nuclear arms buildup. While these elements remain vital aspects of broadcasts now, the Vietnam War and the upsurge of protest against it had an immense impact on the role played by the network's then-three stations during the '60s. WBAI's changing moniker indicates the course of its transformations from the '60s until today: "Free speech radio" evolved into "free radio," finally "community radio." https://www.thenation.com/article/radio-pacifica-wbai/
