President of the United States
Better to have a few rats than to be one
By BALTIMORE SUN EDITORIAL BOARD
BALTIMORE SUN |
JUL 27, 2019 | 6:36 PM
Baltimore Congressman Elijah Cummings, the House Reform and Oversight Committee Chairman. (Kenneth K. Lam / Baltimore Sun)
In case anyone missed it, the president of the United States had some choice words to describe Maryland’s 7th congressional district on Saturday morning. Here are the key phrases: “no human being would want to live there,” it is a “very dangerous & filthy place,” “Worst in the USA” and, our personal favorite: It is a “rat and rodent infested mess.” He wasn’t really speaking of the 7th as a whole. He failed to mention Ellicott City, for example, or Baldwin or Monkton or Prettyboy, all of which are contained in the sprawling yet oddly-shaped district that runs from western Howard County to southern Harford County. No, Donald Trump’s wrath was directed at Baltimore and specifically at Rep. Elijah Cummings, the 68-year-old son of a former South Carolina sharecropper who has represented the district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1996.
Rep, Elijah Cummings has been a brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border, when actually his Baltimore district is FAR WORSE and more dangerous. His district is considered the Worst in the USA……
….As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded. Cumming District is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess. If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place
It’s not hard to see what’s going on here. The congressman has been a thorn in this president’s side, and Mr. Trump sees attacking African American members of Congress as good politics, as it both warms the cockles of the white supremacists who love him and causes so many of the thoughtful people who don’t to scream. President Trump bad-mouthed Baltimore in order to make a point that the border camps are “clean, efficient & well run,” which, of course, they are not — unless you are fine with all the overcrowding, squalor, cages and deprivation to be found in what the Department of Homeland Security’s own inspector-general recently called “a ticking time bomb.”
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In pointing to the 7th, the president wasn’t hoping his supporters would recognize landmarks like Johns Hopkins Hospital, perhaps the nation’s leading medical center. He wasn’t conjuring images of the U.S. Social Security Administration, where they write the checks that so many retired and disabled Americans depend upon. It wasn’t about the beauty of the Inner Harbor or the proud history of Fort McHenry. And it surely wasn’t about the economic standing of a district where the median income is actually above the national average. No, he was returning to an old standby of attacking an African American lawmaker from a majority black district on the most emotional and bigoted of arguments. It was only surprising that there wasn’t room for a few classic phrases like “you people” or “welfare queens” or “crime-ridden ghettos” or a suggestion that the congressman “go back” to where he came from.
David Zurawik: Trump’s Twitter attack on Cummings and Baltimore: undiluted racism and hate »
This is a president who will happily debase himself at the slightest provocation. And given Mr. Cummings’ criticisms of U.S. border policy, the various investigations he has launched as chairman of the House Oversight Committee, his willingness to call Mr. Trump a racist for his recent attacks on the freshmen congresswomen, and the fact that “Fox & Friends” had recently aired a segment critical of the city, slamming Baltimore must have been irresistible in a Pavlovian way. Fox News rang the bell, the president salivated and his thumbs moved across his cell phone into action.
As heartening as it has been to witness public figures rise to Charm City’s defense on Saturday, from native daughter House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young, we would above all remind Mr. Trump that the 7th District, Baltimore included, is part of the United States that he is supposedly governing. The White House has far more power to effect change in this city, for good or ill, than any single member of Congress including Mr. Cummings. If there are problems here, rodents included, they are as much his responsibility as anyone’s, perhaps more because he holds the most powerful office in the land.
Finally, while we would not sink to name-calling in the Trumpian manner — or ruefully point out that he failed to spell the congressman’s name correctly (it’s Cummings, not Cumming) — we would tell the most dishonest man to ever occupy the Oval Office, the mocker of war heroes, the gleeful grabber of women’s private parts, the serial bankrupter of businesses, the useful idiot of Vladimir Putin and the guy who insisted there are “good people” among murderous neo-Nazis that he’s still not fooling most Americans into believing he’s even slightly competent in his current post. Or that he possesses a scintilla of integrity. Better to have some vermin living in your neighborhood than to be one.
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Tellingly, what set off this latest barrage of racist lies was Cummings’s very legitimate anger at and criticism of the Border Patrol and Kevin “Big Mac With Lies” McAleenan during a recent oversight hearing.
The Border Patrol atrocities that Cummings cited, and that “Big Mac” and his GOP backers deny, have all been documented beyond a reasonable doubt by countless reporters, lawyers, Congressmen, the victims themselves, and, most tellingly, the DHS’s own Inspector General. They aren’t “matters of opinion;” they are irrefutable facts that McAleenan disingenuously continues to deny, obscure, and cover up.
Beyond that, recent reports about the racist website in which many Border Patrol personnel, including Chief Carla Provost, participate show that the Border Patrol has a serious racism and lack of professionalism problem that is right out in the open that McAleenan has failed to solve and appears to minimize. No, he’s too busy abusing children and other migrant detainees and dishonestly promoting “Safe Third Country” agreements that violate the statute and his oath of office. In a normal times, McAleenan would be a strong candidate for removal from office and criminal prosecution. Here, he’s just another dishonest Trump stooge.
Hang in there Chairman Cummings! Don’t let the vile racists and White Nationalists who have taken over our Government and are trampling both our Constitution and human decency off the hook!
And, “Go Baltimore, a great American City!”
PWS
07-28-19
Rat Indeed! Also appropriate for the “rat” analogy is how “Climate” can multiply the “Rats” destructive power. Like the Rats that spread Bubonic Plague, after sudden Global Cooling due to volcanos accelerated their sex lives. Twice killed half of the West population in a few short years, mid 6th and 14th Centuries.
2019 Trump Time, USA is going through another “Fourth Turning” like Circa 1776, 1856, 1936 and now 2016, when we confronted and eventually adjusted to demographic reality and our relentless spread South and West. Demographic Climate Change! Happens regularly.
In 1936-WWII both Jewish and Italian Americans were upgraded to “White” status because it became self-evident both groups were quintessentially Americans. Our most visible achievers then, were Jewish and Italian Americans. We are practical people ad were so lucky our Depression/WWII Leader was FDR and not a Hitler or Mussolini. Like Churchill said: “Americans Always Do the Right Thing After They Try Everything Else”.
But we are now running out of minorities that can be credibly upgraded to “White” status. Hispanics come in every color. My Miami Cuban American friends think they are “White”, and after last census, 7% of responders who called themselves “Hispanics” (1.2 million) last Census, now describe themselves as “White”. Very Tempting Shortcut ! See https://www.latinorebels.com/2014/05/21/1-2-million-latinos-tell-census-theyre-now-white-and-nytimes-thinks-its-awesome/ .
But Middle East Muslims, and Northern Triangle refugees considered “White”? Not so much. Strains Credulity too far for Bigotry.
But I do remember a funny incident at a gas station, during a visit to Miami, when after watching 2 customers arguing at the Pump, one White (Alabama Drawl), the Other Dark as Cuban Coffee (but Bahamian lilt) . Neither looked Cuban to me. But the clerk whispered to my ear: “Those Cubans Think They Own Everything”. Since I couldn’t tell which of the 2 he was calling Cuban, I just nodded. Safer that way! It was mid-Winter, and I was visiting from Iowa. Lacking my present Tuned Up Sun Tan, I Could Pass! As long as I don’t talk too much. That’s Hard for me!
Maybe it’s true that members of the last group who crawled up the ladder get tasked by racist Demagogues with pulling it up behind them. Trump did carry Florida 2016. Gore/Lieberman Didn’t Carry Florida in 2000, despite both Al and Joe being the most anti-Communist Democrats in the 1980s. Being the “White Man’s Candidate “Trumped” anti-Communism.
Being Jewish for Trump now bring instant unspoken street credibility, like for Rapists who choose a female defense attorney for their jury trial for sexual assault. On Immigration, both Trump’s anti-immigrant Guru Steve Miller, and the Tanton Hate Network FAIR mouthpiece Dan Stein are Jewish, as well as our very own “Bagdad Bob” Nolan. Last weekend in the Sunday talk shows , Steve Miller blatantly used his being a Jew to dispel allegations that he is indeed a bigot at Chris Wallace’s Fox News Sunday July 22, 2019. See text and video at https://www.salon.com/2019/07/21/stephen-miller-says-he-is-profoundly-outraged-by-aocs-concentration-camp-remarks/.
BTW, John Tanton finally died a couple of weeks ago and is now, advising his mentor, Lucifer in Hell, on ways to keep untermensch like me Out of Hell, ASAP, since I’m almost 70 years old, already. Afraid we may Eternal Damnation Playing Bongos, or Something that ruins it. Hope It Works!
American Jews were the last oppressed ethnic group promoted to “White” status after WWII, when Hitler’s Holocaust proved how Hatred can rapidly turned murderous, given the right political climate (Weimar Republic Depression). Fortunately Jewish pro-Trump mouthpieces like Miller, Stein, etc., are still the Exception among Jews, not the Rule. Jewish Americans remain the most anti-Trump White political group, according to polls. See https://religionnews.com/2019/05/22/poll-american-jews-feel-threatened-blame-trump/. Proving Lincoln’s axiom that you can only fool some of the people all of the time.
But Trump’s demagoguery against Muslims over USA pro-Israel foreign policy, also has street cred with other USA pro-Israel Christians. Keeps the 42% MAGAHatters close enough for another Putin Miracle Play in 2020. Trump’s daughter Ivanka married into the Jewish Faith and he has many Jewish friends. Like Jeffrey Epstein. Trump can lightly straddle the uneasy Alliance between White Supremacists and Neo-Nazis retaining their active support in 2020. That was what the August 2017 “Unite the Right” Charlottesville Neo-Nazi Torch Parade chanting “Jews Will Not Replace Us. Trump can navigate the “straddle”. See https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/16/charlottesville-neo-nazis-vice-news-hbo. Because Trump lives in NYC and South Florida, our most Jewish American locales, he presumably can still profit politically from unspoken prejudice, except when he doesn’t. Like after Charlottesville when he called Neo-Nazis “good people”.
Trump siding with Neo-Nazi “Good People” was probably just political opportunism, or simply his persistent character flaws. Let’s Hope next election that Character is indeed Destiny for US Presidents, and that Karl Marx was right when he opined that History Repeats Itself, First as a Tragedy, Then as a Farce. Last “Fourth Turning” (1930s), Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, etc, were the tragedy, Trump Today as the Farce. He sure looks the part.
Where is my comment from this morning? Did I die and go to Heaven? Where are my 80 Virgins? Allah Willing, of course! But in case my “failure to communicate was self-inflicted, here it is again, with emphasis:
“Rat Indeed! Also appropriate for the “rat” analogy is how “Climate” can multiply the “Rats” destructive power. Like the Rats that spread Bubonic Plague, after sudden Global Cooling due to volcanos accelerated their sex lives. Twice killed half of the West population in a few short years, mid 6th and 14th Centuries.
2019 Trump Time, USA is going through another “Fourth Turning” like Circa 1776, 1856, 1936 and now 2016, when we confronted and eventually adjusted to demographic reality and our relentless spread South and West. Demographic Climate Change! Happens regularly.
In 1936-WWII both Jewish and Italian Americans were upgraded to “White” status because it became self-evident both groups were quintessentially Americans. Our most visible achievers then, were Jewish and Italian Americans. We are practical people ad were so lucky our Depression/WWII Leader was FDR and not a Hitler or Mussolini. Like Churchill said: “Americans Always Do the Right Thing After They Try Everything Else”.
But we are now running out of minorities that can be credibly upgraded to “White” status. Hispanics come in every color. My Miami Cuban American friends think they are “White”, and after last census, 7% of responders who called themselves “Hispanics” (1.2 million) last Census, now describe themselves as “White”. Very Tempting Shortcut ! See https://www.latinorebels.com/2014/05/21/1-2-million-latinos-tell-census-theyre-now-white-and-nytimes-thinks-its-awesome/ .
But Middle East Muslims, and Northern Triangle refugees considered “White”? Not so much. Strains Credulity too far for Bigotry.
But I do remember a funny incident at a gas station, during a visit to Miami, when after watching 2 customers arguing at the Pump, one White (Alabama Drawl), the Other Dark as Cuban Coffee (but Bahamian lilt) . Neither looked Cuban to me. But the clerk whispered to my ear: “Those Cubans Think They Own Everything”. Since I couldn’t tell which of the 2 he was calling Cuban, I just nodded. Safer that way! It was mid-Winter, and I was visiting from Iowa. Lacking my present Tuned Up Sun Tan, I Could Pass! As long as I don’t talk too much. That’s Hard for me!
Maybe it’s true that members of the last group who crawled up the ladder get tasked by racist Demagogues with pulling it up behind them. Trump did carry Florida 2016. Gore/Lieberman Didn’t Carry Florida in 2000, despite both Al and Joe being the most anti-Communist Democrats in the 1980s. Being the “White Man’s Candidate “Trumped” anti-Communism.
Being Jewish for Trump now bring instant unspoken street credibility, like for Rapists who choose a female defense attorney for their jury trial for sexual assault. On Immigration, both Trump’s anti-immigrant Guru Steve Miller, and the Tanton Hate Network FAIR mouthpiece Dan Stein are Jewish, as well as our very own “Bagdad Bob” Nolan. Last weekend in the Sunday talk shows , Steve Miller blatantly used his being a Jew to dispel allegations that he is indeed a bigot at Chris Wallace’s Fox News Sunday July 22, 2019. See text and video at https://www.salon.com/2019/07/21/stephen-miller-says-he-is-profoundly-outraged-by-aocs-concentration-camp-remarks/.
BTW, John Tanton finally died a couple of weeks ago and is now, advising his mentor, Lucifer in Hell, on ways to keep untermensch like me Out of Hell, ASAP, since I’m almost 70 years old, already. Afraid we may Eternal Damnation Playing Bongos, or Something that ruins it the atmosphere there. Hope It Works!
American Jews were the last oppressed ethnic group promoted to “White” status after WWII, when Hitler’s Holocaust proved how Hatred can rapidly turned murderous, given the right political climate (Weimar Republic Depression). Fortunately Jewish pro-Trump mouthpieces like Miller, Stein, etc., are still the Exception among Jews, not the Rule. Jewish Americans remain the most anti-Trump White political group, according to polls. See https://religionnews.com/2019/05/22/poll-american-jews-feel-threatened-blame-trump/. Proving Lincoln’s axiom that you can only fool some of the people all of the time.
But Trump’s demagoguery against Muslims over USA pro-Israel foreign policy, also has street cred with other USA pro-Israel Christians. Keeps the 42% MAGAHatters close enough for another Putin Miracle Play in 2020. Trump’s daughter Ivanka married into the Jewish Faith and he has many Jewish friends. Like Jeffrey Epstein. Trump can lightly straddle the uneasy Alliance between White Supremacists and Neo-Nazis retaining their active support in 2020. That was what the August 2017 “Unite the Right” Charlottesville Neo-Nazi Torch Parade chanting “Jews Will Not Replace Us. Trump can navigate the “straddle”. See https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/16/charlottesville-neo-nazis-vice-news-hbo. Because Trump lives in NYC and South Florida, our most Jewish American locales, he presumably can still profit politically from unspoken prejudice, except when he doesn’t. Like after Charlottesville when he called Neo-Nazis “good people”.
Trump siding with Neo-Nazi “Good People” was probably just political opportunism, or simply his persistent character flaws. Let’s Hope next election that Character is indeed Destiny for US Presidents, and that Karl Marx was right when he opined that History Repeats Itself, First as a Tragedy, Then as a Farce. Last “Fourth Turning” (1930s), Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, etc, were the tragedy, Trump Today as the Farce. He sure looks the part.
BTW. In case I am misunderstood, I come from a long line of Jews, who mostly converted into Cafeteria Catholics. My ancestor Rodrigo Mexia (now spelled Mejia-like Mexico and Mejico), came as Christopher Columbus military aide in Columbus second trip to the Americas (1493) and stayed in the Dominican Republic (DR) founding many towns there.
Rodrigo Mexia did engage in typical 15-16th Centuries “Conquistador” behavior, burning Indians alive, etc. See https://books.google.com/books?id=QvVDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA150&lpg=PA150&dq=Rodrigo+Mexia&source=bl&ots=XL9ZsOVk7M&sig=ACfU3U3odganY7XvHdedpuftoZMY0CPSFA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiguvKAo-TjAhVnxFQKHZo1Dfk4ChDoATACegQIBBAB#v=onepage&q=Rodrigo%20Mexia&f=false, and https://books.google.com/books?id=SsE6AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA64&lpg=PA64&dq=Rodrigo+Mexia&source=bl&ots=NKVSO9sdoZ&sig=ACfU3U1ypecvvBmdkoooEd37CH2b00OtVg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwihuI3GouTjAhWOAnwKHf9pD3I4ChDoATAAegQIAxAB#v=onepage&q=Rodrigo%20Mexia&f=false.
And I don’t claim being that special. There are many more prominent Dominican Mejias, including a recent Dominican President Hipolito Mejia. My Grandfather Gustavo Mejia and his son have streets named after him. I am probably considered a “black sheep” there like at EOIR, LOL! Plus my genealogy source is a distant cousin who married a Jewish man and converted back. She recently visited DR and saw some of her ancestors tombs that had typical Jewish adornments like Stars of David, etc. Consider the source.
But in addition to hoping not to be labeled anti-Semitic for my comment above, and like Bill Cosby once said long before becoming Damnatio Ignomini, the reason I told you that was so I could also you this funny IJ story.
When I was an IJ at Krome, one of my cases was a Black Dominican named Mejia. Keeping my tradition of being the Miami IJ “with a heart” I told him my mother’s maiden name was also Mejia and her father was Dominican. He then told me about being a descendant of the same Rodrigo Mexia, had his picture taken with me and gave me his address in the DR in case I visited. He was happy to go back after a couple of months eating insipid Krome food and missed his wife and children.
The Mejia were a fertile bunch. My Great Great Grandfather Pedro Mejia had 27 legitimate children. 12 with his first wife. When she died, Pedro married her Sister, my Great Great Grandmother Maria and had another 12 children with her. And managed to have another 3 legitimate kids with other women. VOTE FOR PEDRO!