First Dose

The First Dose

 

My wife and I received our first dose of the Moderna COVID vaccine last Saturday at the Froedert West Bend Health Center and saw several friends in our age group there to get their shots as well. Other than a slight soreness in the arms where we got the shots, neither of us had any side effects. We will get our second dose at the end of February and, hopefully, be able to visit our family by mid-March. We feel like we can see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. It has been a hard year in lock down and terrible not feeling safe out.

 

Our fear of catching the virus is due in no small part to our Legislature which has done little to nothing to slow the virus spread. Safely gerrymandered GOP legislative leaders resist common sense measures favored by a majority of their constituents and recommended by the Centers of Disease Control including mask mandates and social distance requirements. They object to Governor Evers’ public health emergency declarations implementing these popular measures, not because they are wrong or not based upon sound science, but because they imposed upon unfounded notions of personal liberty from governmental over-reach.

 

GOP objections to public health measures led our legislature to do nothing at all to combat the disease that has killed over 5,500 of our citizens and infected more than 500,000. 

 

This head in the sand response to the greatest public health crisis in decades shows just how far the failed “smaller government, less taxes” approach to government has devolved. It puts in stark relief just how irrelevant the modern Republican Party has become.

 

Coupled with the failure of the Trump presidency and the refusal to confront white supremacy and conspiracy theories now holding sway throughout their ranks, it is not surprising that the GOP is in full meltdown mode. 

 

Moderate republicans don’t have the ability or the moral fortitude to wrest control of the party back from the precipice. They stand idly by as GOP minorities in both houses of Congress are powerless to stop implementation of the Biden-Harris legislative agenda. 

 

Passage of President Biden’s COVID relief bill by budget reconciliation to avoid a Senate filibuster is all but assured. Biden has already undone a lot of the damage done under the previous administration by executive order and that too will continue without serious challenge. 

 

A majority of the American people want a government that cares about them more than it cares about the privileged few and the hallmarks of our racist past. President Biden is bypassing the GOP in Congress and seeking unity with the American people directly by putting forward policies and actions that the majority supports. 

 

GOP leaders in Congress struggle to find a way out. They failed to meaningfully censure Rep. Marjory Taylor Green, the former QAnon supporter from Georgia, to prove they can police their own. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s recent trip to see the previous president shows he believes that impeached twice president still commands respect and leads the party. They cannot continue to fail to disavow QAnon, white supremacy, insurrectionists and conspiracy theorists and maintain any claim to legitimacy.

 

Until both state and national republican leaders find a way to advance conservative values and policies without failing to separate themselves from white supremacy and conspiracy theories to secure an electoral majority, the GOP will remain no more than a marginal influence on American political life. 

 

Unfortunately, until Wisconsin has redrawn legislative district maps to make elections competitive again, we will remain in the backwater of a Covid plagued state which clings to a long-lost vision of an America repudiated by those who care about their neighbors. We will remain hamstrung by do-nothing legislators who bask in strained claims of personal liberty. 

 

Wisconsin has a long progressive history and there are still a lot of progressives here willing to work to bring back those policies that made us the envy of the nation. We just need to get vaccinated first.

 

  

Democracy’s Day

 Democracy’s Day 

Joseph R. Biden, Jr. was sworn in as the 46^th President of the United States this past Wednesday. Kamala D. Harris was sworn in as the Vice President of the United States as well. 

 

History was made when Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first woman Vice President and the highest-ranking woman of color and South Asian descent in America. She will be joined by other women of color in the most diverse administration we have ever seen. LBGTQ individuals have been nominated to cabinet and other administrative positions. Native Americans too will join the ranks of national leaders for the first time. President Biden’s list of appointees, while not perfect, are consistently educated, experienced, competent and ready to take on their assigned roles. With control of the Senate, all should be confirmed quickly.

 

President Biden’s inaugural address hit all the right notes. He called for the nation to unify, putting hatred and division away and replacing them with respect for one another, listening to one another, having empathy and compassion and working to find common ground. He also put forth a bold agenda to deal with the crises we face together, ending the COVID pandemic, addressing climate change, dealing with systemic racism, and healing the damage done to our democracy over the past four years. His inaugural ceremony recognized and marked well our multicultural and diverse society by including people of all races, creeds, religions and backgrounds.

 

The spirit of the inauguration and the incoming administration’s moral imperative was captured by Amanda Gordon. The young poet accepted the challenge and challenged the rest of us to rise above past divisions and hatred, “for there is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” 

 

The inauguration helped lift a dark cloud from our collective psyche and replaced it with the realization that people who care about us, all of us, are back in charge. They will act with respect, integrity, empathy and compassion. The ceremony, for all its pomp, renewed the American Spirit to seek “a more perfect union.”

 

After laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, President Biden got to work signing Executive Orders, memorandums and proclamations aimed at reversing some of the damage done during the previous administration.

 

President Biden went right after the COVID pandemic, immigration, climate change, protecting the environment, systemic racism in our government, ending discrimination against LBGTQ Americans, pausing evictions and foreclosures, ethics in his administration and freezing pending administrative regulations. His first day actions started to fulfill campaign promises and will shore up support in Congress for a bold legislative agenda. 

 

On Thursday, President Biden released a comprehensive plan to speed up the federal response to the pandemic, increase vaccine distribution, mandate travel restrictions and other measures to combat Covid-19. 

 

Clearly, President Biden’s bold strokes will make those who oppose his actions on social or religious grounds wonder how they will unify the country. His agenda makes a clear statement. We can disagree and debate how to achieve the goals he set, but not the goals themselves. We will debate based upon facts and science, not lies and alternate realities. 

 

While much remains to be done and the work to get it done ramps up, let us relax and take a deep breath and enjoy the moment.

 

Trumpism Ends

Trumpism Ends in Violence

Democracy Prevailed

 

January 6, 2021 will be recorded in the annals of American History as only the second time a group of armed insurrectionists stormed the Capital Building in Washington D.C. demanding the United States of America surrender to a dictator. 

 

The first was during the War of 1812 when the Capital was burned buy those supporting a return to British rule. The second was when supporters of soon to be former president Donald J. Trump, incited by him directly that very morning, stormed the Capital Building, overwhelmed the Capital Police and attempted to disrupt the Constitutionally required certification of the election of Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris as the next President and Vice-President of the United States.

 

Both attempts failed miserably, and our Democracy prevailed. Congress completed the people’s business and certified the election results.

 

What we witnessed on January 6^th was the culmination of the death-throws of the current Republican Party, dominated by the cult of Trump, which rose to power on promises to change the culture of Washington and support for law and order. Those early promises were followed by a take no prisoners brand of divisive politics the likes of which we have not seen since the days leading up to the Civil War. Those early promises dissolved completely as Trump grifted his supporters and mobs of supporters attacked police on the steps and in the halls of the Capital.

 

The brand of pluralistic white supremacist nationalism that became the Trump presidency was on full display this past Wednesday. The overwhelmed Capital Police later supported by the DC Metropolitan Police and still later by the DC National Guard demonstrated for all to see the stark difference in how protests and rioting by people of color and identical behavior by white people on the alt-right are met with a law enforcement response. 

 

The Black Lives Matter protest in Washington last year was met with an overwhelming law enforcement presence from the outset. Even though Trump had been calling on his supporters for weeks to come to Washington on January 6^th to resist the peaceful transition of power to a Biden-Harris administration, there was little advance law enforcement preparation for what most knew was coming. When fringe alt-right groups vowed to show up to support the unproven false conspiracy theories that the election was stolen from Trump and his supporters, the die was cast. The resulting invasion and seizure of the people’s House was completely predictable and should have been met with a much stronger law enforcement response. 

 

Trump’s continued claims to a stolen election were supported and enabled by those members of the Republican Party, in and outside of Congress, who supported him throughout his term even has he became increasingly unhinged. Trumpist republicans are just as much to blame for what happened in the home of democracy as Trump himself. Unless they disavow Trump and all he stands for, the GOP will forever bear the stain of his failed coup and rightfully lose the trust of principled conservatives. 

 

Some have called for Trump to be removed from office immediately as a result of his actions in inciting the insurrection and then failing to condemn it or meet it forcefully. What remains of his Cabinet has the power to invoke the 25^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to declare him unfit for duty and suspend his powers. Vice-president Pence would have to sign on and would become acting President for the remaining days of the term, but he has signaled he will not. This would be the quickest way to prevent further damage short of a Trump resignation. The more cumbersome path would involve congressional impeachment proceedings which would require two-thirds of the Senate to agree to Articles of Impeachment passed by the House of Representatives. It looks like this is what will be attempted. 

 

Others outside of government have already moved to limit further Trump incitement to sedition. Most of the major social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others have blocked his on-line accounts, slowing down his access to his followers. Major media outlets have uniformly called the insurrection for what it is and condemned Trump’s actions. They report his actions accurately and are calling them what they are, acts of treason based on unsupported claims and lies. 

 

The leadership of the Republican Party from the Republican National Committee down to local party leaders in every state need to publicly disavow Trump and his enablers. Those betting on Trump’s continued influence, support or blessing must be shown the door from elected offices and party leadership.

 

We cannot begin to heal as a nation and a democratic society as long as the evil festering in our body politic is allowed to remain.

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.