This is Ken Scott Baron from the National Association of Black and White Men Together.
At the NA we believe health care is a right, diversity is a strength, the economy should work for everyone, and facts and truth matter.
So, in this podcast, once again, I will look at our values and now we, in a non partisan manner, can look at the “big picture” of the current impeachment inquiry and see how our representatives are portraying this.
Here is the first quote on this subject:
“In the course of my official duties, I have received information from multiple U.S. government officials that the president of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.” This is from the whistleblower complaint, declassified Sept. 26
And a second:
“You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? The spies and treason, we used to handle it a little differently than we do now.” This is from President Trump, Sept. 26
A Third one:
“If that perfect phone call with the President of Ukraine isn’t considered appropriate, then no future President can EVER again speak to another foreign leader!” — President Trump, Sept. 27
And lastly:
“If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal.” this was quoted by President Trump, Sept. 29
Not so long ago, President Trump’s impeachment was once politically risky for Democrats. This has changed based on new events.
One reason is that the supporters of the President have yet to develop a strategy to fight impeachment.
Over the past several days, Republicans have repeatedly been unable to unify or even outline a response. As for Trump, he’s tweeting about a “civil war” and an attempted “coup”.
Polls show support for an impeachment inquiry is growing. The poll responders are equally for and against.
Back in October 1998, the vast majority of Americans were against impeaching and removing President Clinton from office. In a CNN poll 31% favored impeaching and removing. The vast majority, 63%, were against it. This -32 point gap for impeaching and removing Clinton stands in contrast to the +1 gap for impeaching and removing Trump.
President Trump has admitted he froze military aid to Ukraine and then suggested to the Ukrainian President Zelensky that he investigate Joe and Hunter Biden. And he released the rough transcript of his call with Zelensky that confirms all of this.
However, a poll released by Monmouth University on Tuesday showed a plurality believes the accusations against Biden. Although these accusations have been debunked, many voters instinctively believe there is something wrong with the fact that Hunter Biden could be helped by his dad. It’s quite possible Trump and the Republicans can damage Biden.
On the other hand, that same poll also shows more than 60% believe it is “not appropriate” for a president to make such requests of a foreign leader, based on prohibitions on such acts in the Constitution.
A more recent poll, by the Progressive Change Institute, found that 49 % say they strongly or somewhat support an impeachment inquiry. Many who oppose impeachment agree with Democrats and are just scared about the politics.
The Republican talking points may not work. The Democrats appear to have a strategy with real substance and real facts is always better.
So, what, if any, of the Republicans are concerned about the actions of the President?
Senator Mitt Romney has been critical of the President’s Ukraine phone call. He now has the opportunity to lead his party out of this. The Republican Party separated itself from Nixon and was able to form a new identity.
So are the Democrats going to pay for opening the impeachment inquiry? Or is the right path to proceed based on what is right? Although it’s very natural for people to look at this and see what’s most amenable to maintaining power, and doing things to preserve that power, it’s my opinion that righting a potential grave wrong, follows the values of the NA.
This also represents a possible abuse of power, that the NA has fought hard to stop over 40 years.
The idea that we would have foreign nations influencing the votes, fought hard for, is wrong.
Only the procedures enshrined in the impeachment process have the power to prevent powers used against us. Thus, the House House of Representatives will probably move to investigate this threat to democracy, national security, and the separation of powers.
New revelations about the depth of Trump’s abuses, and the involvement of his team are likely and that team and other, are seeking to daze and disorient the public It is sadly so, that our attention is usually focused on the latest breaking news.
So, correct process is crucial to making legitimate decisions. Impeachments must therefore be fair and there is clearly much more to this story than is yet known publicly.
But wait, President Trump is discussing the idea of launching a state-run television station! His team thus will report on him the way he wants to be reported on. The president has recently expressed frustration over media outlets chasing stories about his possible impeachment. CNN had announced that it would not air a 2020 Trump campaign ad advancing some of those narratives, which they concluded have been proven demonstrably false.
At the same time, Trump has laid out his vision for Medicare. This is a topic near and dear to the NA members and allies, and his plan does not look good. Health care is a major issue for many voters and is one that has dominated the presidential campaign on the Democratic side.
He gave a speech and signed an executive order, on health care, casting the “Medicare for All” proposals from his Democratic rivals as harmful to seniors, which he characterized as socialism.
The executive order had previously been titled “Protecting Medicare From Socialist Destruction” but has since been renamed “Protecting and Improving Medicare for Our Nation’s Seniors.”
The executive order would develop proposals to expand plan options, encourage innovative plan designs and payment models and improving the enrollment process to make it easier for seniors to choose plans.
The president outlined very little specific policy. Recall that Trump promised to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and replace it with something better. Those efforts failed, and the administration has struggled to get substantive policy changes on health care.
In summary, we can see that the battle has started to resist possible Presidential abuse. This is being denied by others. The Constitution gives protection against such rogue actions, and protects the values of the NABWMT. As you can see, decent health care is one of our values that may be under attack.
We recently issued our quarterly newsletter, Q-Visions and our co chairs summed our fight as:
“We cannot, and must not remain passively silent. This is
no time to be fatigued because fatigue can be fatal.
This is why NABWMT will launch a voter education and
registration drive this fall. The goal of this initiative is to
educate our communities about candidates who wish to
serve about their proposals and policies that align with
the values of NABWMT.
We also know that education without action will
not lead to the positive changes we seek and need in
our country.
That is why we will follow up our education
with the second goal. A voter registration drive. The
goal of this drive is simple: To register educated and
informed voters regardless of political affiliation in each
state and in The District of Columbia.
No board of directors or organization can do alone. We
are We are calling on all of members and supporters to
join us. THIS MEANS YOU!
Join Us! By researching the records of your members of Congress as well as candidates running for Congress.
Join Us! By helping us to register of voters in your county or state
Join Us! By helping us educate voters about where candidates stand on issues that are most important to you.
Join Us! By giving of your time and talents
Join Us! By voting with your feet and with your money
Join Us! To recreate our future.
This is Ken Scott Baron from the National Association of Black and White Men Together signing off this podcast. We are at nabwmt.org and on Facebook and Twitter.
Thanks for listening, and remember to subscribe where you get your podcasts.
