Nightmares End

The Nightmares End

2021 Brings New Beginnings

 

The start to the end of the long COVID-19 nightmare is here. With the widespread distribution of safe and effective vaccines, we all hope to see a return to some degrees of normalcy in the coming year.

 

My wife and I have been in lockdown mode far too long. We have not been able to see and hug our children or grandkids since early 2020. We have only seen a very few, similarly isolated friends in that time as well. I used to engage in friendly conversations with people I bumped into when I shopped. That too stopped as social distancing became the new temporary norm. Shopping for food is now masked and distanced and finished as soon as I can. I used to attend meetings of like-minded folks where energy and ideas flowed freely and replenished the spirit. I hope to shed the fear being in close contact with strangers, not knowing if they were infected or not.

 

In years past, the year-end holidays were usually celebrated at the home of one of our children and their families. Sometimes our other kids would make the trek as well for a semi-family reunion. This year it will happen over Zoom. Virtual hugs and laughter over an audio-visual connection are just not the same. This time next year, we hope to do it in person once again. 

 

My work has continued, but has been severely limited because I could not visit face to face with the people I work with due to COVID restrictions. As more staff and those living in long term care get their shots, the new year will see facilities begin to reopen to family and other non-essential outside visitors. I know it has been very hard on those who could not see their ageing relatives and hug them due to the virus. I look forward to seeing my wards and being able to gauge their condition for myself. 

 

The only bright spot in the COVID winter is the realization that what we used to take for granted, seeing those we love and care for in person, can be taken away by forces beyond our control. Once we get that privilege back, we will need to make the most of it. Our human connections keep us going and give us purpose. 

 

Our body politic will heal as well. Maybe not as quickly as we will from the virus’ grip but heal it will. We will see a return to more bipartisan efforts, a return to civil discourse as we work out our differences, a government that takes care of all its people instead of the privileged few and more even-handed justice for those too long oppressed. Hopefully, we will have learned how easily we can be lead down the path of hatred and division and will not fall for the con in the future. 

 

2021 will be a year of healing and rejuvenation, but only if we work together to make them happen. We have the opportunity to safely see family and loved ones again around a table of good, safe food. We have the opportunity to safely work together to solve common problems and make our shared home, Mother Earth, a much better place for generations to come. We have the opportunity to safely make our nation a place where all are welcome and have an equal shot at the American Dream. We have the opportunity to safely move about our communities without fear of becoming infected with a virus that can kill us. 

 

All these are possible, now that we awaken from the nightmares and work to regain our lives. 

 

As we enter 2021, it does well to remember that we are all in this together. 

 

Get the Shots

 Get Vaccinated

It Will Save Lives

 

Mixed in with the fervent anti-mask rhetoric so prevalent in our fair county amidst the skyrocketing number of those who test positive for COVID-19 and the staggering number of those being hospitalized with the disease lurks another COVID public health disaster. 

 

COVID vaccines have been developed, studied by the experts for both effectiveness and safety, and will soon be approved for use and generally available. According to those who have studied such things, we will need to see a 75% vaccination rate in the general public with a vaccine that is at least 70-85% effective, if we are to see a return to pre-COVID normalcy. 

 

A recent poll shows that only 50% of Americans are willing to get vaccinated, once vaccines become available. This shows significant resistance to acceptance of the COVID vaccines and widespread rejection of the notion that vaccination will help. If the polling is correct, then 25% of the population will have to be “forced” to get the shots if we are to get back to some degree of normalcy. 

 

This resistance is a direct consequence of “decades-long attacks on science by Republicans at all levels of government,” according to State Senator Chris Larson. Larson continues, “once Dr. Fauci and Wisconsin’s DHS signs off on a vaccine, I would urge all of you to take it. The thing about science is it’s true whether you believe in it or not.” Gov. Tony Evers and many other national and state officials have joined together to say they too will get the vaccine when it is their turn. 

 

The government will make the vaccines available as quickly as they are approved and can be manufactured. As with masks, social distancing, hand washing and other virus mitigation measures, the government will not be able to force people to get vaccinated, as good an idea as that may be. Governments can constitutionally require vaccination, but “forcing” vaccination is something else.

 

We will see public education campaigns about the benefits and safety of getting vaccinated and hear testimonials from those who got the shot with only mild side effects. All of that will fall on deaf ears on the heads of those who think they know better than the expert scientists.

 

Maybe, the next level of authority will have a greater impact on increasing the vaccination rate. Employers, many of whom have been complaining about not being able to keep their workforces intact due to COVID illness or exposure, can take the step of requiring proof of vaccination as a condition of new or continued employment.

 

If saving the economy is truly what people want, mandatory employee vaccination may be the key.

 

Many employers are already planning what to do when the vaccines become generally available in 2021. There is no present law, regulation or government guidance that directly addresses the issue. That being said, the notion of mandatory vaccination requirements is not new.

 

One example is found in the requirement for healthcare workers to receive certain vaccinations before they are hired. Both the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have set out mandatory flu vaccination policies in the past. Both agencies approved mandatory flu shots as a permitted employer mandate during the H1N1 epidemic in 2009. The only caveats are that employers have to give consideration to employee requests for exemption based upon disability or religious beliefs. Even when these objections are raised, employers can deny them if the failure to vaccinate would cause undue hardship.

 

The religious exemption argument has gained some popularity after the Supreme Court decision in the Hobby Lobby contraception case. More on point is a case out of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, Fallon v. Mercy Catholic Medical Center of Southeastern Pennsylvania, where the Court upheld Fallon’s termination for refusing to get a flu shot. Fallon’s religious claim was that the shot “would do more harm than good.” The Court rejected Fallon’s claim noting his reason was not a sincerely held religious belief. There are cases on both sides of the religious exemption issue so employers will need to be prepared for legal challenges to terminations or hiring refusals where they are involved. 

 

Public schools, technical colleges and universities can also have an impact on the vaccination rate by requiring COVID vaccination of both students and faculty as a pre-condition to participation in in-person learning. One of the benefits of the development of remote learning technologies is that they limit the ability of students or staff to refuse to get the shots. We already have mandatory vaccination rules in schools for a host of other diseases, so adding the COVID vaccines to the list should not be difficult. If you want schools to reopen, get the shots.

 

We are all in this together and my getting the two shots will help keep you healthy. The same is true for you. Roll up your sleeve when your turn comes. 

 

Giving Thanks

Giving Thanks

We Are All In This Together

As we pause to give thanks this time of year, we remember the stories of our Pilgrim ancestors about how they were helped by those who lived here before they arrived on their shores. Some of the stories have morphed into visions of long tables filled with turkeys and all the trimmings where both newcomers and native peoples sat together and enjoyed the shared bounty. 

 

We know now that these visions bore little resemblance to the truths that followed those first encounters. Our ancestors survived their first winters with help from native peoples in what became known later as New England. As more arrived and they all had children, our ancestors forgot that early generosity. They took native lands, the water and the bounty and called it their own. 

 

The subsequent history of our relations with native peoples followed the path of Manifest Destiny, the Indian Wars, the Trail of Tears and Wounded Knee to forced relocation to impoverished reservations, just to name but a few.

 

Some take solace in a different view of our shared past through Indian mascots for public schools. They just perpetuate the myths and the obliteration of native cultures. 

 

Native wisdoms still survive, despite all the attempts to eradicate their culture and oral histories. We are reminded of some of those each year when the Thanksgiving stories re-emerge. We also hear them when the Water Protectors rise up to oppose fossil fuel pipelines that threaten and the foul the water. We also hear them when Water and Air Protectors rise up to oppose mining operations that threaten and then pollute the water and air. Native peoples know that we need the water and air in order to survive. We need to protect our shared Earth so all can share in nature’s bounty. We need to live together and protect the land, water and aid in order that we all may live. 

 

Wisconsin Bands celebrate our shared connections to Mother Earth with Honor the Earth pow wows where meals are shared, elders honored, and dancers and drum songs tell the stories, so the children learn, and warriors do not forget. Elders carry the history and tell the stories when memories need to be refreshed. 

 

The People, Anishnabe, as the Ojibwe call themselves, pass along seven teachings we can all adopt without fear of appropriation. 

Wisdom, Humility, Love, Bravery, Honesty, Truth and Respect form a core.

 

Respect is given to you and you give it to others.

 

Humility allows us to learn about ourselves.

 

To deal with Truth and Honesty, we must be truthful and honest in all our affairs.

 

Wisdom is to know the difference between Right and Wrong.

 

We must have the ability to Love ourselves.

 

All of these teachings require Bravery so they may be embraced. 

 

These teaching have become all the more important in this time of pandemic and division. None of us are immune and all are at risk. Embracing these will help lead the way to a shared protection of Mother Earth and those who live on her.

 

We are all in this together. 

 

 

Majority Rules

 Historic Election Must Stand

Legal Challenges Must Fail

We just witnessed history being made. More Americans voted in this presidential election than ever before. Former Vice-President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris received more votes than any other presidential ticket in American history. They currently have more than a five million vote lead over President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence. 

The Biden-Harris ticket is projected to receive 279 Electoral College votes and have slim leads to capture even more once Arizona and Georgia complete their tallies. Should they win both states, their Electoral College tally will exceed 300 votes, far more than the 270 required to win the White House.

Against these substantial, some say insurmountable, numbers, Trump and his ever-dwindling number of supporters continue to make baseless claims that Democrats stole the election. Social media is rife with conspiracy theories and false claims of wide spread voter fraud and election procedural irregularities in several of the states Biden won. 

To further stir the pot and try to convince us Trump actually won the election, his legal team filed lawsuits seeking to overturn the results in several battleground states while administration officials refuse to start the legislatively required transition process giving access to the Biden-Harris transition team.

Funny thing about going to court, you have to bring provable facts supported by legally admissible evidence coupled with sound legal theories in order to obtain relief. So far, Trump’s team has failed to convince a single judge to grant relief that might lead to changing the result of the election.

Legal observers tell us that Trump’s claims of sweeping voter fraud have only been supported by anecdotal reports by individual voters or poll observers in scattered voting locations. 

During a Pennsylvania court hearing reported by the Associated Press, the judge asked a Trump campaign lawyer of he found any signs of fraud in the 592 ballots being challenged. The answer was, “no.” In Michigan, one of Trump’s lawsuits was dismissed because it contained “inadmissible hearsay within hearsay.” Trump’s appeal from that decision was dismissed because the appeal was “defective.” 

Trump’s team gave up in Nevada when it asked the state Supreme Court to dismiss their appeal seeking to stop mail ballots from being counted. A Federal lawsuit seeking to stop the counting of mail-in ballots in Las Vegas failed to convince the judge to immediately issue an order to stop the counting. 

Trump’s team won one case in Pennsylvania. They convinced a judge to disqualify a small number of ballots where the voters failed to confirm their identification by November 9th. The number of ballots disqualified was not enough to change the result of the election which Biden won by more than 53,000 votes. They won another challenge and were allowed to move their observers closer to those processing mail-in ballots. 

Litigation in Georgia raised a new theory that the use of Sharpie pens, whose ink can leak through the ballot paper and onto the reverse side, caused ballots to be illegally rejected. Unfortunately, the Trump team could only produce affidavits from a few voters who saw their marks bleed onto the back side of their ballot. None established that their ballots were rejected and election officials testified that voters would be allowed to case new ballots if their original ballot was rejected by the machine used to count their votes. Trump legal actions in Georgia alleging that ballots were received after the voting deadline were dismissed by the court when his lawyers could not produce proof of their claims. 

The New York Times contacted election officials in all 50 states seeking evidence of fraud in the presidential election. Not one offered any evidence of wide-spread voter fraud and most indicated the elections in their state was fair and the process transparent.

Trump has failed to produce any credible evidence to back up his claims of voter fraud. None of those lawsuits, if successful, would produce results that would change the outcome of that state’s election. Trump’s most sweeping arguments against elections that allow voters to choose between mail-in and vote-in-person methods for casting a ballot run counter to established voting rules passed in most jurisdictions. 

It is interesting to note that Trump’s team is only challenging election results in states that he lost. There were similar surges in mail-in balloting in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Iowa and Montana which Trump won, yet we see no claims of voter fraud in any of them, even though Republican candidates down ballot lost in several elections. 

Trump has been able to raise a lot of money from those unwilling to accept his defeat. The fine print in GOP solicitations for these defense funds notes that significant portions of donations will be used to retire campaign debt.  These efforts are also seen as an attempt to stroke Trump’s ego and allow him cover to resist efforts towards a transition of power. 

An even more serious threat is found in the efforts to convince legislators in Republican controlled states to direct their state’s Electoral College votes to Trump even though he lost the popular vote there. Our own State Rep. Joe Sanfelippo from New Berlin publicly announced support for nullifying Wisconsin election results or requiring our Electoral College electors to cast Wisconsin’s votes for Trump, a blatantly illegal move disavowed by his GOP committee chair.

I have always believed we live in a democracy where elections are decided by a majority of the votes cast by eligible voters. I hope that remains true and that Trump and his enablers’ attempts to maintain their power illegally are rejected.

We Won't Be Intimidated

No Intimidation Allowed at Polls

Private Militias are Illegal.

 

I have worked as a poll worker in the Town of Barton and Village of Kewaskum. Before that I served as the county election protection supervisor for the Democratic party for every election from 2007 through 2017. I have closely followed election security issues locally, throughout Wisconsin and across the nation for many years. Even with questions about the integrity of electronic voting machines and network security in how votes are tallied and transmitted, I remain confident that our system for accepting and counting ballots leaves no doubt that all legitimate votes are counted and those few fraudulent ones are discarded. This view is generally accepted by election experts in and out of government and in both major political parties. 

 

Notwithstanding these views, there are a few extremists on the right and left ends of the political spectrum who continue to predict that the outcome of the upcoming election will not be legitimate and, for some, a reason for armed insurrection against the government formed after the vote tallies are announced.

 

Recent studies by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and Center for Strategic Studies all indicate that alt-right white supremacist groups are responsible for most of the recent terrorist plots and violence. Homeland Security officials see white supremacists as the “most persistent and lethal threat in the homeland.”

 

Some fear that these groups, emboldened by comments from certain national leaders, will appear in armed cadres at polling locations to intimidate voters seeking to suppress or change their votes. 

 

Wisconsin has a long history of so-called militia groups who have tried to influence politics through fear and intimidation. The Posse Commitatus was active in the 1970s, until law enforcement cracked down and their public leaders were incarcerated on various charges.

 

Wisconsin is among five states noted to be at the highest risk of increased militia activity before and after the election, depending on the outcome. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), which receives government funding, indicates the trends they identify “raise significant concerns for the security of the election period, how seriously the election results will be taken and the response to whichever winner is selected.”

 

The militia type groups identified as most problematic here and across the country include Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, Patriot Prayer, Boogaloo Bois and Three Percenters. 

 

The fascinating aspect of most of these groups is their claim to legitimacy under the Second Amendment’s protection of the right to bear arms and the First Amendment’s protection of the right to Free Speech and Assembly. Unfortunately, the courts and most legal scholars and analysts disagree. 

 

The US Constitution affords no protection to private armed militia groups that are unconnected to or outside the authority of the government.  All fifty states prohibit and restrict private militia activity with different kinds of laws, including provisions in state constitutions. 

 

The United States Supreme Court has directly ruled in two different cases, District of Columbia v. Heller and Presser v. Illinois, that while the Second Amendment protects an individuals’ right to keep and bear arms for self-defense, it does not protect militia-type activity or prohibit state restrictions on it. 

 

The Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law School released an analysis of Wisconsin anti-militia laws. It concluded that a private militia that attempts to activate itself for duty is illegal. Wisconsin’s constitution forbids private military units from operating outside state authority in Article 1, Section 20. Wisconsin statutes prohibit falsely assuming functions of a public officer with felony penalties. Wis. Stat. §946.69.

 

Notwithstanding these provisions, we saw militia type activities in the plot to kidnap and try Michigan Governor, Gretchen Witmer, that involved para-military training in rural Cambria, Wisconsin and in the para-military actions in Kenosha during the unrest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake that resulted in the deaths of two protesters at the hands of Kyle Rittenhouse.

 

With Tuesday’s election looming, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul has also warned those who might try to influence the outcome through an armed presence at polling locations that they will face prosecution and incarceration under Wisconsin election protection laws as well. There is no First Amendment right to strike fear in others to influence the exercise of the franchise.

 

Citizens must be allowed to cast their votes for candidates of their own choosing without intimidation from armed para-military groups or individuals. If militias or armed individuals are allowed to invade our polling locations, then the results will indeed not be legitimate.

  

Smaller Government

 Smaller Government is Not the Answer

 

Republicans usually believe in smaller government and less governmental intrusion into people’s lives. Unfortunately, that philosophy has taken the GOP controlled Wisconsin legislature to an extremely unproductive and dangerous place. Wisconsin’s legislature is now considered the least active full-time state legislature in the nation since the Covid-19 pandemic started and Wisconsin has become one of the worst states in the nation for virus spread.

 

A review by WisPolitics, a Wisconsin based news service that covers state politics, shows that our legislators have met 18 times less frequently that the other states with full time legislatures since March 12 when Gov. Evers declared the first public health emergency. 

 

With Covid cases increasing at rates faster than most other states, our hospital intensive care beds being filled to capacity and virus deaths topping 1500, our legislature has refused calls to convene in extra ordinary session to address the pandemic. 

 

Gov. Evers has tried to stem the spread of the virus with mandates for Wisconsinites to mask up and orders limiting capacity in public places where people gather only to find legislative leaders and representatives of the Tavern League take his orders to court challenging his authority. He has had to set up a large field hospital at State Fair Park to ease the burden on state hospital intensive care wards. 

 

Assembly Leader Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald have ignored the governor’s call to work with him to formulate a plan to deal with the virus and hospital system overloads. They have continued to assert that only the legislature has the power to approve public health emergency orders without doing so or offering any other alternative plans to deal with the crisis. They reject the need for state wide uniform action, leaving the decisions to local health departments and county units of government. 

 

This legislative abdication of responsibility has led to a hodgepodge of local orders limited to city or county boundaries. We now have cities with mask mandates and public space limitations right next door to other municipalities with none. Literally, we find streets where masks are required on one side, but not the other. Unfortunately, the virus does not honor geopolitical boundaries.

 

Washington county has been hit especially hard. Our health department notes that our communities are carrying a very high burden of virus case increases with an upward trending trajectory for new cases and a very high case status. All these point to more cases, hospitalizations and deaths in our future. Our county leadership counts itself among the GOP far right where decisions about wearing masks, gathering in large groups with little physical distancing and other precautionary measures are matters of “individual responsibility” even when the numbers show far too many do not take that “responsibility” seriously, if at all. 

 

When the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Gov. Evers’ first order in response to the legislature’s lawsuit, lawmakers claimed in their arguments to the Court that they were “ready willing, and able to work with DHS and at the same time craft legislation (which it is drafting even now) to respond to the pandemic in a comprehensive and balanced fashion and guided by federal recommendations.” Since that was submitted to the Court back in April, nothing of the sort has emerged from the Legislature.

 

Clearly, calls for people to voluntarily follow federal CDC and local health department recommendations have not worked to slow the spread of this deadly virus. Legislative inaction and court intervention have certainly contributed to virus spread and more deaths. 

 

It is time for new leadership that takes the current pandemic for what it is, an indiscriminate killer, and responds with what the epidemiologists and other infectious disease experts tell us are the steps necessary to get it under control. Only when these measures are required and enforced at every level will we see the economy start to rebound, schools open safely for children and staff and the health of the nation recover. 

 

We’ve done it before and can do it again. It just takes courage.

 

Trump's Very Bad Week

Trump’s Very Bad Week

There were two very notable revelations about Donald Trump this week that should lead decent people who support him to reconsider and withdraw that support for his re-election. 

 

One came during the raucous presidential candidate debate on Tuesday night watched by over 73 million Americans. Even if you put Trump’s bullying interruptions and personal attacks aside, his repeated refusal to condemn white supremacists exposed what many have long thought. Donald Trump is a full blown racist and depends upon white nationalist racists to secure his re-election. This man clearly does not understand, much less embrace, that we are a pluralistic society with a legal commitment to racial equality that is enshrined in the constitution. 

 

Trump’s refusal to condemn white supremacy was compounded by his instructions to the fascist and violent Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.” Proud Boy leadership immediately seized upon Trump’s instructions vowing to mobilize and to wait for further instruction from their leader. Reports following the debate show Proud Boy membership increasing as more flock to their banners of hate and violent extremism. Trump’s words were almost immediately turned into a shoulder patch for their body armor.

 

Trump tried to deflect the discussion about violence to “Antifa” as he repeated unfounded claims that those who identify as anti-fascist are more violent than alt-right white supremacists. Trump does not understand that we fought a world war against fascism where many of our relatives paid the ultimate price to secure our liberty. We, as a nation, are committed anti-fascists and will go to war again should it become more than a fringe element of our society. People of good conscience are anti-fascist. 

 

Trump’s reliance on this large part of his political base is even causing staunch congressional GOP supporters to distance themselves from Trump. Perhaps they are beginning to see that after the upcoming election what remains of the Republican party will be blowing tattered in the wind and they need to create some plausible deniability if they want to survive politically.

 

The other revelation that should give those pause who continue supporting Trump is the reporting by the New York Times about their review of Trump’s federal income tax data. The review finally exposes Trump for the con man he is. For many years, his businesses lost substantial amounts of money and he was only rescued by his earnings from the unreality TV show, The Apprentice, and loans which he personally guaranteed. His casinos, golf courses, office buildings and many other endeavors are a falling house of cards. Instead of the successful billionaire business tycoon he claims to be, we now know Trump is hanging on by a thread supported by what amounts to taxpayer bailouts as the secret service follows him to Trump owned properties, renting space and golf carts to protect him.

 

The disclosure of outstanding loans of more than $400 million dollars that Trump personally guaranteed raise serious national security concerns. It appears that most of those loans will come due while Trump is president should he be re-elected to a second four-year term. It is suspected, given the bragging by his sons Eric and Don Jr., that much of that debt is held by Russian banks or individuals. Should that be the case, Trump will be very vulnerable to conditions on deferred repayment agreements by a hostile foreign government. 

 

The tax data exposed many questionable, if not outright illegal, tax avoidance schemes such as his payments to his daughter, Ivanka, of over $600,000 for consulting services all while she was also his employee. The Times reported that the IRS is looking into a multi-million-dollar refund Trump received by advancing claims of business losses. For many of the years covered by the tax data, Trump paid not one cent in federal income taxes through his creative accounting. In 2016 and 2017, he paid just $750 in each of those years in federal income taxes. Those reading this probably paid significantly more than Trump did in federal taxes. I know I did.

 

Trump denies the Times’ reporting, claiming it is just more “fake news.” He claims to have paid millions in federal taxes. All he has to do to show the Times was wrong is to disclose the signature pages of his Forms 1040 that show the amounts of taxes paid in each of the years he filed. I bet he will not produce even those single pages to prove the Times wrong.

 

Nobody likes paying taxes. We do so to support government services determined by our elected representatives to be in the overall public interest. We know that the tax code is weighted in favor of the wealthy and Trump’s tax cuts have put the thumb on that scale pushing it even further in that direction. Even with its imperfections, most of us want a tax code where everyone pays their fair share of the tax burden. Trump’s tax revelations show he took tax avoidance to a whole new level. He has played us all for suckers and losers. There will be some to come to his defense, praising his business acumen in avoiding taxes, but that will not include millions who pay their taxes because it is the right thing to do.

 

I hope that the Commission on Presidential Debates modifies its rules to give the next moderator a mute button so we can have a serious discussion of each candidate’s vision for the future of America without bullying and interruptions. Maybe then Donald Trump will be fully exposed as the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain who just blows smoke.

 

 

Trump Woodward Tapes

Trump Woodward Tapes Tell the Tale

 

Donald Trump’s hubris and arrogance is, once again, on full display as he tries in vain to avoid the fallout from the release of the tapes of his 18 interviews with journalist Bob Woodward. Woodward gained fame with his reporting about the Watergate burglary by people linked directly to then president Richard Nixon. Woodward’s reporting led directly to Nixon’s resignation.

 

For some strange reason, given Woodward’s history and credibility, Trump agreed to recorded interviews with the journalist back in March just as the coronavirus pandemic was exploding across America. In those recorded interviews, Trump clearly states that he knew then how deadly the virus was and that it was easily transmitted through the air. He further told Woodward that he was downplaying the threat posed by the virus so as not to create a panic.

 

At the same time and for some time after, Trump was consistently telling the American people that the virus was no more serious than the common seasonal flu and that it would soon vanish. He continued to downplay the threat even as the infection rates and number of death continued to climb nationwide.

 

When confronted with the tapes, he admitted knowing how deadly the virus is and maintained his claim that he did not want to create a panic. 

 

This is not a question of whether you should believe Woodward’s claims or not. You just have to listen to the tapes and compare them to Trump’s many televised briefings and statements at his mask free and not socially distanced political rallies.

 

Trump’s misleading claims about the virus in the late Spring were coupled with his administration’s lack of significant action to reduce the spread of the virus by promoting masks and social distancing or to invoke the defense production act to produce much needed personal protection equipment and ventilators for first responders and hospital workers. He continued to reject proposals to shut down parts of the economy to reduce large gatherings, instead holding large gatherings of his own.

 

We now approach 200,000 American dead from this killer virus. Most credible scientists in the area of infection control believe that Trump’s lack of action and misleading claims have cost many more deaths than were necessary. 

 

Trump’s lack of credibility and the pressure of the upcoming election make it all but impossible to believe his current claims that a safe and effective vaccine for the virus will be widely available before election day. His own expert scientist and Director of the Centers for Disease Control is only willing to say that the earliest a safe and effective vaccine might be widely available is by the Spring, 2021. Trump further strains credibility when he claims the scientist was mistaken or misinformed. 

 

The recent statements by Trump’s handpicked CDC spokesperson, about the agency’s anti-Trump bias and misinformation, followed by his recent leave of absence casts further suspicion on Trump’s assertions. The discredited spokesperson’s job was to bring CDC statements more in line with Trump’s pronouncements and he failed to accomplish that or even come close. 

 

All of this is convincing proof that Trump and his enablers reject science and those who have studied and worked on these problems all of their working lives in favor of a political agenda aimed at securing reelection in November. This anti-science agenda and the propaganda that followed led America’s premier scientific publication, Scientific American, to endorse Joe Biden in the upcoming election. Scientific American has never endorsed a presidential candidate before in its 175-year history. 

 

Trump has continued to claim that the economy must be protected by keeping it open and running. The economy will not return to any degree of normalcy unless and until the virus is brought under control with a safe and effective vaccine. It is somewhat reassuring that the pharmaceutical companies tasked with developing, testing and manufacturing the vaccine have all signed a pledge not to bow to political pressure for a quick fix or early release. They all agreed not to release a product that is not proven to be safe and effective. 

 

Notwithstanding the overwhelming scientific evidence on the need for masks and social distancing to reduce the spread, Trump’s Attorney General is now suggesting that masks requirements are a major civil rights violation. Trump now suggests that forced quarantine restrictions are akin to slavery. Trump’s comment at the recent ABC television Q and A with undecided Pennsylvania voters that the virus will be defeated by “herd mentality” shows his ignorance of the science.

 

Americans deserve a President who levels with them about what is happening, one who tells the truth and accepts responsibility for his actions. Donald Trump is not up to the task.

Collective Progress

 Labor Day Recalls Collective Progress

 

This Labor Day weekend brings a time to reflect on how modern America was built by a thriving middle class, many of whom belonged to and benefited from union membership. 

            

My grandfather was part of the early labor union movement in the 1920s and 1930s and advocated for a movement not only concerned with wages and safe working conditions, but also education, healthcare, civil rights and political involvement for working people. He founded a college for labor union organizers and later a private high school the children of union workers that was in the forefront of progressive education.

 

I worked my way through the end of my undergraduate college education and all of my years in law school as a proud member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), Local 251, AFL-CIO in Madison in the early 1970s. The work was hard, with long late-night hours, and paid very well for the times. The union negotiated the pay scales and ensured the work was safely performed. I was trained my more experienced brothers and sisters.  My work putting on traveling shows for rock stars, ice shows, auto shows, ice hockey games, and Broadway musicals helped keep my family fed. I still have my union card.

 

As a lawyer, I am a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin. Not usually thought of as a labor union, the State Bar does look out for its members, lobbies for and against legislation affecting the profession and judicial system, provides ethics advice and financial benefits like insurance and discounts on purchases. I was Chair of the Bar’s Criminal Law Section in the early 2000s and helped lead the effort to defeat legislation that would have reinstituted the death penalty in Wisconsin. 

 

The common thread throughout is the notion that collectively working people in all of our society’s economic classes can bring about change for the collective good that individuals could not achieve on their own. 

 

In the current political climate, we seem to have forgotten the need for collective responses to broad collective threats. Nowhere is this more evident than in our lack of collective response to the Corona virus pandemic. The recognition of the need for a universal, collective response has been subverted by outmoded beliefs in individual freedom and autonomy.

 

I was born at the end of World War II. As a child, I can remember my parents talking about the sacrifices they had to make in order to focus on winning the war against fascism. Food was rationed, gasoline was rationed, certain building materials were rationed or not available at all, whole industries were converted from peace-time to war-time production, some individual freedoms were curtailed. Those of us who lived on the coasts had blackouts at night so enemy submarines and aircraft could not see the lights. The sacrifices were universal, went on for years and impacted every aspect of society in pursuit of a single goal, to win the war. 

 

Fortunately, we as a nation have not had to face anything near these lengthy and universal sacrifices since the end of World War II. There have been smaller, shorter lived sacrifices, like those we experienced after 9/11, but they only impacted proportionally few of us.  Individual freedoms have increased as a result and have taken over the body politic. We have descended into more tribal political stances and the correspondingly smaller collective actions pursue single issue agendas. We have forgotten the collective good as a core value.

 

Our upcoming presidential and congressional elections will pit two, very different, ideologies and the outcome will define our collective future for decades. 

 

Donald Trump’s view is that we are all in this struggle for what is best for individuals as they determine for themselves. His is a view of rugged individualism and individual success. “Let me get whatever I can for myself without regard for anyone else.” He advocates the use of government to support individual aggrandizement. He wants to end government interference with business and personal freedoms so that each of us can do as we please. 

 

Joe Biden’s world view is much more collectively oriented. He supports organized labor, environmental regulation to combat climate change, more universal access to healthcare and a host of other goals that would make America better for all of us, not just those who share a privileged status. His is not a Bernie Sanders’ democratic socialist agenda, but a more moderate, yet still inclusive, agenda where each of can work to succeed while looking out for and after the less fortunate and less abled. 

 

Should Trump secure re-election, we will ultimately be forced to require a period of lengthy universal sacrifice in order to undo the damage he will have caused to the republic and the democratic principles upon which it was founded. I hope it does not come to that.

Vote Biden and Harris

 Biden and Harris Deserve Your Vote

 

The Democratic National Convention this past week focused on all of the correct issues and highlighted the stark differences between our current president and the man who would replace him. 

 

The Democrats’ candidates, former Vice President Joe Biden and current U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, helped frame the new democratic coalition’s positions on the issues important to most Americans while showing their humanity, compassion and empathy. 

 

Over the past week, Democrats showed they value inclusiveness and diversity, opening their hearts to all Americans regardless of station, economic status, race or sexual orientation. Everyday working people were given a voice alongside of the wealthy and politically powerful. People of various hues and those across the gender spectrum highlighted America’s strengths and opportunities. No one was left behind or out.

 

To be sure, Democratic knives came out for the failings of the current administration to effectively address the current pandemic, to help shape an economy that works for everyone, to protect us from foreign intervention in our democracy, and to obey the rule of law. The attacks were grounded in policy failings, incompetence and corruption that are the hallmarks of Trump and his enablers. 

 

The Democratic vision for our future addresses these failings with bold proposals to contain and defeat Covid-19, to restore the economy by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and to create new opportunities and jobs while combatting climate change by investing in renewable energy and drastically cutting back on the use of carbon-based fuels. Voter suppression and interference in our elections will be eliminated. America’s standing as a world leader will be re-established as we stand with our allies and against our adversaries again.

 

These initiatives will be coupled with a renewed emphasis on leveling our playing fields through recognizing and ending systemic racism and income inequality. Expanding access to affordable health care for every American will increase opportunities for more to be productive members of society. These efforts will be paid for by making the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share in taxes and raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour.

 

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris also introduced themselves to the American people by sharing the high and low lights of their stories. They opened themselves so that we can rest assured that they are folks that care about all of us and are willing and able to do the hard work necessary to move us forward. 

 

Biden’s history of familial loss and grief and what he did to move past them shows his resilience and purpose. The loss of his first wife and children stays with him and helps him relate to and help others experiencing similar loss. His decades of public service give him a breadth of understanding of the issues American face and how to navigate the governmental system to address them effectively. His acceptance speech on Thursday night laid to rest any claims about his ability to command and deliver what he believes in and how he plans to move us all forward. Even Fox News pundits thought his speech was very effective, “a home run.” 

 

Kamala Harris made history as the first woman of color and east Asian ancestry to be nominated for vice-president by a major political party. Her background and life experiences make her uniquely qualified to address racial inequality and systemic racism, especially in the criminal justice system. She is strong and tenacious and provides a progressive slant to Biden’s more centrist positions. She will help make him a better president.

 

The most telling part of Biden’s acceptance speech came as he sought to reassure Americans that he would be the president for everyone, not just those who vote for him. That being said, he reminded us of the choices we will have to make moving forward.

 

“America is at an inflection point,” he said. “A time of real peril, but of extraordinary possibilities. We can choose the path of becoming angrier, less hopeful, and more divided. A path of shadow and suspicion. Or we can choose a different path, and together, take this chance to heal, to be reborn, to unite. A path of hope and light. This is a life-changing election that will determine America’s future for a very long time. Character is on the ballot. Compassion is on the ballot. Decency, science, democracy. They are all on the ballot. Who we are as a nation. What we stand for. And most importantly, who we want to be. That’s all on the ballot. And the choice could not be clearer.”

 

This is a ticket and a vision we can all support. 

Mask Compliance Excuses

 Government Mask Mandate Compliance Excuses Debunked

 

I was nine when the US hit the top of the polio epidemic in 1954. During the 1940s and 50s polio infections spiked during the summer and I can remember the fear my mother expressed about our going out, swimming or having picnics. I remember being told I could not go some places as a result. While the polio death totals did not come close to the number of current Covid-19 deaths, polio caused long lasting damage.

 

Our caution was increased by the experience of the family whose house was on the other side of our back fence. Their polio infected daughter lived in their living room in an iron lung that kept her alive by forcing air into her lungs until she died. While many survived polio, most who did were left with lifelong effects from the paralysis they suffered. 

 

I cannot remember if there was a concerted effort to resist the cautionary measures adopted to reduce polio’s spread like we see now. The fear was not erased until the now universal vaccine came out and was proven effective. Thank you, Dr. Jonas Sauk for refusing to patent his vaccine formula so it could be made available to all.

 

In our current Covid -19 pandemic, we see misplaced resistance to the simplest of measures shown to effectively reduce the virus’ spread. Masks and social distancing are no brainers. 

 

Unfortunately, some businesses want to be seen as honoring the current mask mandate while giving a “wink and a nod’ to those who refuse to wear one, effectively inviting the unmasked in to their establishments. Businesses can and should refuse entry to those who refuse to mask up, even if the person has a valid medical reason not to wear one in order to protect others. If they want to allow entry of a maskless person by honoring a medical reason, the best practice is to require proof of the claimed medical justification before allowing entry. 

 

Signs have appeared on local business doors indicating that masks are required to enter, but noting that they are prohibited from asking those not wearing one why they are not complying with the requirement. The signage lists a number of “legal” reasons they cannot or will not ask why the customer is not masked up. None of them are valid.

 

The most common “wink and nod” excuse offered is that asking for a valid medical reason for not wearing a mask or requiring proof of a qualifying medical condition is a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA protects your medical information in the hands of healthcare providers and insurers from disclosure without your consent. It does not apply to and cannot be used by fast food restaurants or gyms to justify not asking why a potential customer is not masked.

 

The next erroneous “legal” justification used to not ask is a claimed reliance upon the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). The ADA prohibits public facilities from discriminating against those with recognized disabilities and requires accommodations for those with disabilities who use the facility. Reasonable accommodations are already in place with curbside pick-up or online ordering with delivery for those who cannot wear masks. Neither provision prohibits asking the unmasked why they are not wearing one or requiring proof of a qualifying disability. Businesses are free to refuse entry to one not wearing a mask as long as they refuse entry to all those not wearing one. 

 

The most creative excuse offered for not asking for justification for going maskless is reliance upon the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This provision of the Bill of Rights applies only to unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. It does not apply at all to private businesses or public establishments and most certainly does not prohibit one from asking why you are not wearing a mask.

 

Finally, there is the claim that asking why you are not wearing a mask violates your right to privacy. We all have a limited right to privacy. It is not absolute. You have to disclose your identity in order to vote. You must prove who you are by showing a driver’s license when stopped for a traffic violation. We all relinquish certain private matters when we venture into public spaces. Nothing in the small recognized bubble of privacy we have in public spaces prohibits others from merely asking for your justification for not wearing a mask before being allowed to enter a business establishment.

 

All of these claimed “legal” reasons for not asking merely cover up the business owner’s unhappiness about having to exclude a potential customer from entering their business and spending their money because of a government-imposed measure put in place to protect our health. Get over it and protect yourself, your employees and your masked customers.

Mask Mandates are Constitutional

My column in today’s West Bend Daily News.

Government mask mandates don’t violate constitutional rights

Many on the conservative side of the political spectrum claim that government mandates to wear a mask violate their individual constitutional rights.

A not-so-shining example of these claims was evident at the recent meeting of the Washington County Board of Supervisors, where all the members of the board met in a small room, sitting in their usual close-to-each-other seats with not one wearing a mask. In that clearly unsafe setting, the board debated Resolution 17 that reminded the members of the oath they took to defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and Wisconsin. Much of the debate centered around their claimed duty to protect our citizens from overreaching state mandates requiring masks because they violate an individual’s constitutional right to “liberty.” The so-called “sanctuary” resolution passed unanimously.

Claims that the Constitution prohibits requiring individuals to wear a mask are ridiculous and wrong.

Many of these so-called constitutional arguments are based on a misunderstanding of the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution and the similar provisions of Wisconsin’s Constitution. These provisions generally prohibit government from passing laws impinging on freedom of speech, press, petition, assembly and religion. A mask does not keep you from expressing yourself. It may limit where and how you can speak, but these “time and place” restrictions are not prohibited unless they discriminate based upon the content of the speech. You cannot campaign within certain distance of a polling location is a perfect example.

First Amendment liberties are not absolute. All constitutional rights are subject to the government’s authority to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public according to the Supreme Court in cases like Prince v. Massachusetts.

Similarly, claims that mask mandates violate the “right to liberty” are just as ill-conceived. The right to liberty is really an embodiment of the principle of individual autonomy summarized succinctly in the phrase, “my body, my choice.”

The decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Jacobson v. Massachusetts puts the argument that only you can control your body in the scrap heap. The court ruled that the state could require smallpox vaccinations without violating Jacobsen’s right to personal liberty or “the inherent right of every freeman to care for his own body and health in such way as to him seems best.”

The court continued, “There are manifold restraints to which every person is necessarily subject for the common good. On any other basis, organized society could not exist with safety to its members.” State courts have also ruled that an individual with active tuberculosis could be forcibly detained in a hospital for appropriate medical treatment.

This “police power” doctrine commands that all constitutional rights, including liberty, speech, assembly, freedom of movement or autonomy are held on condition that they do not endanger others or the public welfare.

A general pandemic, like the one in which we currently live where a deadly communicable disease can be transmitted by those who show no symptoms, justifies a wide range of reasonable restrictions on our liberties. Believing otherwise turns the Constitution into a suicide pact.

The government can force you to wear a mask to protect others, just like it can ban smoking in public or make you use the seat belt in your car. Doing so does not violate your constitutional rights. 

States, under the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution, retain broad powers to protect the health and safety of their citizens, even if the federal government cannot or does not act.

Businesses that require masks for their employees and customers do not violate individual rights either as long as the requirements are applied in a manner that does not discriminate against a protected class. Think about it as “no shirt, no shoes, no mask, no service.”

Those who continue to believe that wearing a mask is just a personal choice have no respect and do not care about their fellow citizens. They should stop claiming a mantle of constitutional right to justify their selfishness.My column in today’s West Bend Daily News.

Government mask mandates don’t violate constitutional rights

Many on the conservative side of the political spectrum claim that government mandates to wear a mask violate their individual constitutional rights.

A not-so-shining example of these claims was evident at the recent meeting of the Washington County Board of Supervisors, where all the members of the board met in a small room, sitting in their usual close-to-each-other seats with not one wearing a mask. In that clearly unsafe setting, the board debated Resolution 17 that reminded the members of the oath they took to defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and Wisconsin. Much of the debate centered around their claimed duty to protect our citizens from overreaching state mandates requiring masks because they violate an individual’s constitutional right to “liberty.” The so-called “sanctuary” resolution passed unanimously.

Claims that the Constitution prohibits requiring individuals to wear a mask are ridiculous and wrong.

Many of these so-called constitutional arguments are based on a misunderstanding of the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution and the similar provisions of Wisconsin’s Constitution. These provisions generally prohibit government from passing laws impinging on freedom of speech, press, petition, assembly and religion. A mask does not keep you from expressing yourself. It may limit where and how you can speak, but these “time and place” restrictions are not prohibited unless they discriminate based upon the content of the speech. You cannot campaign within certain distance of a polling location is a perfect example.

First Amendment liberties are not absolute. All constitutional rights are subject to the government’s authority to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public according to the Supreme Court in cases like Prince v. Massachusetts.

Similarly, claims that mask mandates violate the “right to liberty” are just as ill-conceived. The right to liberty is really an embodiment of the principle of individual autonomy summarized succinctly in the phrase, “my body, my choice.”

The decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Jacobson v. Massachusetts puts the argument that only you can control your body in the scrap heap. The court ruled that the state could require smallpox vaccinations without violating Jacobsen’s right to personal liberty or “the inherent right of every freeman to care for his own body and health in such way as to him seems best.”

The court continued, “There are manifold restraints to which every person is necessarily subject for the common good. On any other basis, organized society could not exist with safety to its members.” State courts have also ruled that an individual with active tuberculosis could be forcibly detained in a hospital for appropriate medical treatment.

This “police power” doctrine commands that all constitutional rights, including liberty, speech, assembly, freedom of movement or autonomy are held on condition that they do not endanger others or the public welfare.

A general pandemic, like the one in which we currently live where a deadly communicable disease can be transmitted by those who show no symptoms, justifies a wide range of reasonable restrictions on our liberties. Believing otherwise turns the Constitution into a suicide pact.

The government can force you to wear a mask to protect others, just like it can ban smoking in public or make you use the seat belt in your car. Doing so does not violate your constitutional rights. 

States, under the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution, retain broad powers to protect the health and safety of their citizens, even if the federal government cannot or does not act.

Businesses that require masks for their employees and customers do not violate individual rights either as long as the requirements are applied in a manner that does not discriminate against a protected class. Think about it as “no shirt, no shoes, no mask, no service.”

Those who continue to believe that wearing a mask is just a personal choice have no respect and do not care about their fellow citizens. They should stop claiming a mantle of constitutional right to justify their selfishness.