At last, Biden highlights good economy - Two activists on democracy & messaging. Liz Cheney excels
President Biden claimed his economy & admonished Republicans for their dereliction of duty. Tim Danahey & Greg Palast on messaging & democracy respectively. Kudos to Liz Cheney for staying the course.
Notes
HOME RUN! Joe Biden neuters Republican attack on his economy by turning the table on them.
Register: Ask Egberto Anything. It is Saturday, February 5th, at 11:00 AM Central.
Greg Palast discusses January 6th and the undemocratic nature of our Democracy. It’s SCARY!
Worthwhile Reads
Tim Danahey discusses Jan 6 and uses the appropriate language to describe what Trump represents.
Liz Cheney scorches her GOP on CNN: My party is not embracing truth, substance, and seriousness.
Notes
Happy New Year! This is our first edition of the “Egberto Off The Record” Newsletter of the new year. It is a tumultuous time. But I remain optimistic. This isn’t blind optimism. It is one grounded in everything that I learned from two devoted parents decades ago as I grew up in Central America, Panama.
I told a friend that I chose to leave my country of birth to become a naturalized American citizen. I will be damned if I will not do my part to ensure that this country that was founded and built by immigrants and slaves stays and/or become accessible and successful for all.
In that light, I see our fight as both existential and achievable. But it will take persistence and diligence.
Once a month I have a spinoff of my radio show Politics Done Right (PDR) where I meet many in our audience in a Zoom call. It is called, Ask Egberto Anything. It is held on the first Saturday of every month. Today’s zoom was inspiring. It cemented my resolve. I know this project is worthwhile. And thanks to all of you, I am able to do my part.Politics Done Right airs two days a week on KPFT 90.1 FM Houston (kpft.org) on Thursdays at Noon Central and on Fridays at 11:00 AM Central. We continue to stream LIVE daily on our internet networks at 3:00 PM Central at http://politicsdoneright.com/tv, Facebook Live, Youtube Live, Twitter, Twitch, among other streaming networks.
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HOME RUN! Joe Biden neuters Republican attack on his economy by turning the table on them.
President Joe Biden did what he needed to do to promote his successful economy as he slapped down Republicans'
intransigence.
Joe Biden did something many have been waiting for him to do for a long time. Biden first acknowledged his darn good economy and played it up.
"One leading economic analyst describes what we've accomplished in 2021 as the strongest first-year economic track record of any president in the last 50 years," Biden said. "Today America is the only leading economy in the world where the economy as a whole is stronger than before the pandemic now."
The President then neutralizes a Republican talking point about inflation.
"I hear Republicans say today that my talking about this strong record shows that I don't understand a lot of people are still suffering," Biden said. "They say that I'm not focused on inflation. Malarkey!"
I wish the President would have said then that the greed of the capitalist corporations is taking advantage of their pricing power. After all, there are no real shortages of most items. Moreover, the supply chain problem is a screwup of the private sector partially reliant on just-in-time inventory (JITI). Instead, the President said later that capitalism without competition is not capitalism. I beg to disagree. According to Milton Friedman, the sole purpose of executives are to maximize profits for the shareholders. Destroying competition is one of its tools. Free enterprise should be what America strives for going forward. But that debate is beyond the scope of this post but I cover it in my book titled “How to make America, Utopia.”
Joe Biden then slaps back at Republicans. He puts them on the defensive.
"They want to talk down the recovery because they voted against the legislation that made it happen," Biden said. They voted against the tax cuts for middle-class families. They voted against the funds we needed to reopen our schools, to keep police officers and firefighters on the job. Lower health care premiums. They voted against the funds we're now using to buy COVID booster shots, more anti-viral pills."
Biden then detailed his way forward.
"I refuse to let them stand in the way of this recovery, and now my focus is on keeping this recovery strong and durable notwithstanding Republican obstructionism," Biden said.
Every Democrat and Progressive should lean into the economy. Highlight how great it has recovered. Then point out that had they followed Republican policies, the financial support given to the poor, middle-class, and small businesses would not have occurred. After all, the Republican vote proved it. The economy would have tanked.
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Greg Palast discusses January 6th and the undemocratic nature of our Democracy. It’s SCARY!
Greg Palast lays it out. And it turns the constitution never guaranteed us a real Democracy where the vote really mattered.
January 6th‘s genesis was the big lie. The lie said Donald Trump won the election and that Joe Biden stole it. Biden finally forcefully slammed Trump and his sycophants for their unpatriotic attack on our nation. On this day, I wanted to talk to someone who had no fear of discussing our country’s flaws and successes. Greg Palast fitted the bill.
Too often, we believe our rhetoric at our peril. Not understanding precisely the intent of our constitution is what allowed Donald Trump and his sycophants to attempt a coup. The thing is, after this interview with Greg Palast, Donald Trump may be in legal jeopardy not for his constitutionally sanctioned coup opportunity. Instead, his ineptitude and the ineptitude of his sycophants derailed its success.
Over our history, our indoctrinated view of the constitution kept the semblance of a democracy. We have been lucky that the Electoral College mostly tracked the popular vote. No state had the gall to use its constitutional powers to ignore the popular vote. Donald Trump decided, along with a group fearful that they were about to lose their supremacy permanently, began the constitutional process to mitigate that reality.
It is scary that the Founding Fathers built a mechanism to abolish Democracy. Many will attempt to disregard this analysis. I strongly urge all to read the constitution. There is much we assume that is not there. Please listen to the entire interview. After hearing from Greg Palast, he convinced me that the Republican soft coup occurring in plain sight is constitutional and will depend on widespread pushback for eradication.
Worthwhile Reads (Make great holiday gifts as you help our cause)
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Tim Danahey discusses Jan 6 and uses the appropriate language to describe what Trump represents.
The Radio show host, activist, & entrepreneur Tim Danahey puts Jan 6 into perspective as he discusses Trump’s constitutional jihad.
Tim Danahey and I go back a very long time. We were both on the Coffee Party USA Board of Directors. I always considered Tim a moderate. He refers to himself as a Progressive who knows how to get things done. The thing is, we respect each other’s point of view as ultimately we are trying to get to the same place.
When I got a text from him, I contacted him and asked him to interview, especially today, Jan 6, 2022. After all, this is the first anniversary where the USA almost lost its Democracy.
Curious: Would it be effective wordplay to associate Trump with a word negative to right wingers by saying, “Trump has declared jihad on the U.S. Constitution”? Silly, but it might provide a context for those enamored with him. One could also say, “Trump declares political fatwa on anyone who disagrees with him.” Words used with Khomeini and bin Laden could be associated with Trump. No need to respond. ‘ just musing.
I thought this was genius because we know that the Right plays this game incessantly. The difference is that while Tim claims that he was just musing, the jihad and fatwa in those contexts are apropos.
Tim got back to me and conducted the interview a few minutes later. Our electronic world sure allows us to communicate and organize much faster. Please listen to the entire interview. It is very enlightening.
Liz Cheney scorches her GOP on CNN: My party is not embracing truth, substance, and seriousness.
Liz Cheney is proving to be a very tough woman, more so than anyone of either party as she does not let up on Republican lies.
In a recent interview on CNN, Liz Cheney did not hold back as she criticized her party, one that is no longer in sync with her.
"The chairman and I are on very different ends of the political spectrum," Liz Cheney said. "And there are many things on which we don't agree, but we both agree that you have to have healthy political parties in this country so we can engage in that debate on those issues. And right now my party is not embracing truth, is not embracing substance, and seriousness."
That is a stark statement coming from the daughter of one of the deans of the Republican Party and a bona fide Conservative in her own right. Cheney has been consistent in recognizing the danger her party represents. Many times her urgency superseded that of many Democrats in leadership.
If we change the path and make the necessary changes to democratize America in a codified manner, she will emerge as one of the stars.
Many of us are completely against her policies and politics. But when it came to fighting for our Democracy, Liz Cheney should never be doubted.
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