September 2020

All Hail the King!

The Republican National Convention was an unprecedented misuse of the power and institutions of our democracy.   It felt as if he has set himself up as the King of America.

The last one I remember acting that way was Garfield Goose.

A Short Video History of His Reign

The artistry and sophistication of video in 2020 is dazzling. One that I just saw was done in time for the Republican National Convention by Eddie Colla whose early portrait work was sprayed on walls in Oakland, CA. It’s three minutes and a devastating history of the Trump years.  Check it out:

https://m.facebook.com/1122343656/posts/10218552451658834/?extid=0VjIDOZN3YVxrwQm&d=n

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“I’m Rich. I Don’t Need Anybody Else’s Money”

When Trump first announced he was running for President, on the gold escalator in 2015, he said he would fund his campaign entirely by himself.  It didn’t turn out that way in 2016.  And most definitely, it isn’t happening in 2020. Forbes Magazine has published a list of billionaires who have already donated $700,000 to $1.4 million to his reelection campaign. 

They aren’t names we usually hear about. I know about Joe and Marlene Ricketts of Omaha, NE.  They are #1. How many have you heard of?

10. Charles & Ann Johnson, $3.7 billion, source: Franklin Templeton Finance 

9. Kiel & Amy Warren, $2.5 billion, source: Pipelines

8.   Isaac Perlmutter, $4.2 billion, source: Marvel Comics

7.  Fertitta Brothers, $1.7 billion, sources: UFC, Casinos

6.  Jeffrey & Melinda Hildebrand, $2.5 billion, source: Hilco Oil

5.  Kenny & Lisa Troutt, $1.5 billion, source: Excel Cmctns, KY Horses

4.  Diane Hendricks, $7.8 billion, source: ABC Supply, Roofing, Beloit, WI

3.  Dennis & Phyllis Washington, $5.9 billion, source: Construction, Mining, Montana

2.  Andrew Beal, $8.1 billion, source: Texas Banking

1. Joe & Marlene Ricketts, $2.1 billion, sources: TD Ameritrade (+Chicago Cubs)

So, what does it mean?  To me, it’s plain scary. The Forbes list included 20 other billionaire Trump contributors. The reelection campaign is spending literally billions of dollars on in the 2020 election. The public may never know how Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. has spent its money.

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I Do What I Do…Not What I Say

It’s a constant barrage of objectionable double-talk hypocrisy.  At the monarchial convention, he spoke about China:

“We will go right after China. We will not rely on them one bit. We are taking our business out of China.”

Within minutes after he said this, the Republicans blasted several million dollars of Chinese fireworks over the White House.

The strategy has become clear: say anything that plays to the deep fears of voters.  Now, 64 days before the election, I can only hope their scare tactics don’t succeed.  But, as some of the brightest people are saying now, “Don’t bet against Trump.”

Ladbroke’s, the betting house in London, has an uncanny history of accuracy about the odds for politics in the US.  A week ago, the odds were that Biden would win by a small margin.  After the Republican Convention, it’s exactly even money.  You can follow the changes in odds right up to the election at https://sports.ladbrokes.com/event/politics/international/us-elections/2020-us-presidential-election/224912471/all-markets.

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Civil War?

I wrote a note to Rick Telander, a world-class writer whose insightful column appears on the sports section of the Chicago Sun-Times. He wrote back saying “Trump has made civil war almost possible.”

He did great reporting and writing that put Kenosha in perspective: https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/2020/8/27/21405038/protests-kenosha-wisconsin-2020-northwestern-1970-kent-state-jackson-state-alex-agase-mike-adamle    

[Note: I didn’t realize this edition would be so Trump-heavy when I started.  It’s something so many of us don’t even want to talk about anymore.  But, historically, there is nothing more important than calling attention to what we have and what we have to do on November 3.]

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Kentucky is key.  We must do all we can to end the 36-year domination of Senator Mitch McConnell. It’s an uphill battle. Most Kentuckians say they don’t like him, but they continue to vote for him every six years. He has everything it takes to win, starting with raw power and money. He and his wife Elaine Chao, Secretary of Transportation, are worth more than $30 million. Her family owns one of the largest shipping companies in China.   Mitch represents his own interests magnificently, far better than he does the people of Kentucky.

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The Rich Get Richer…

I just reread a 2019 piece by Jim Hightower, a columnist from Texas and the elected commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture from 1983-1991. He is a firm believer that wealth inequality is a root cause of the problems in this country: “It’s antithetical to our people’s democratic ideals, fundamentally unjust and socially destructive—in a word, un-American.”

He has said for years that the richest have amassed and expanded their vast fortunes by hiding in the forest of tax policies that let them avoid paying their fair share.  “Because of the sophisticated tax dodges, the top one-tenth of a percent and the top one-hundredth of a percent (about 1,400 taxpayers) rake in $35 million and $152 million respectively every year.  Dozens of top Wall Street executives take home more than a billion every year.” 

A few statistics:

–One in five Americans have zero net worth or are in debt and owe money.

–US wealth disparity is the greatest of any advanced country in the world: the richest 1% hold more of the nation’s wealth than the bottom 90%.

–Three individuals (Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffet) have more personal wealth that the bottom half of Americans combined. Three people have more money than 165 million of us!  In any reasonable country, some form of equalizing would be a priority. 

The gap continues to widen.  Nobody, including Elizabeth Warren, has shown exactly how to do it, but Hightower says a small tax on the richest “would begin to address the inequality that is devouring our social cohesion, economic potential, and democratic aspirations.”

More Black and Latinx people are officially in poverty than whites, in spite of the fact that there are about four times as many white people in the country. 

It figures that COVID-19 has killed a disproportionate number of minorities.

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What Do You Do?

I was on a Zoom last week with about 20 guys who spent four years together in college—more than 50 years ago at Michigan (University of, Ann Arbor.)   One of them asked me, “What are you doing these days?”

He knew about Media Burn. Our videos have been seen by 21 million people.  He and hundreds of my friends and acquaintances have contributed money for years to keep the nonprofit healthy.

But that’s only one part of what I’ve “been doing.”  I write something every day, including the PY-O-MY letter and notes for it. I’m still continuously reading, researching, and writing the book that has been decades in the works…my take on what TV/video and screens do to us, filtered through my lifetime involvement with them.

It has always been a challenge to answer “What do you do” or What are you DOING?”

I don’t sleep all that much. I’m on the computer something like ten hours every day, with e-mail and media projects occupying around three hours of that. This summer, I’ve been playing tennis three or four times a week, early mornings outside with a bunch of other old but stubborn seniors.  I usually work up a sweat exercising at home for an hour on the other days.  It takes several hours every week of pure maintenance personal and family. Then there are the doctors. Don’t ask!

Also, my lifelong friend, Roger Wallenstein, and my son, Jesse Weinberg have been recording a weekly podcast, HEY ROG!, about Baseball, the White Sox, and Life.

We’re getting it close to ready for prime time.  I’ll give you the link next month.

I like to think I have always tried to do new things.  I value spontaneity…though I’m discovering (all too frequently) that today’s idea is actually something I thought and wrote about before…and forgot, at least consciously.  It can be disconcerting, but it’s also comfortable, in a way, to be consistent!  Maybe Popeye knew something multi-layered when he said “I yam what I yam!”

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I Never Knew This

Shenzhen, China’s Silicon Valley, has gone from a population of 647,000 to over 12 million in the 20 years since it was designated as the first special business zone in China.  I’ve seen reports that 90% of the world’s electronics are manufactured there.  The scale and growth are mind-blowing.

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Scanning the Planet

You might remember Chris Fisher, the chief archaeologist on our discovery of the lost city in Honduras.  (You can read about him in Chasing the Lost City: Chronicles of Discovery in Honduras the book I wrote with Elan Soltes, still available here.

Chris, Ph.D., Professor, and Director of the Earth Archive at Colorado State University, has embarked on a fascinating new venture to map the entire world with the latest remote sensing technologies. 

His TED talk went national two weeks ago: https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_fisher_let_s_scan_the_whole_planet_with_lidar?language=en

It’s a wonderful and ambitious project. The first stop will be in one of the last undocumented regions on the earth, Chiribiquete National Park in the Colombian Amazon, where hundreds of examples of rock art have recently been discovered.

In these discouraging times, a breakthrough scientific project that permanently documents the current state of the planet and leads to the discovery of unknowns in history and archaeology is a breath of fresh air.   One goal is to establish a baseline for the planet so the damage (changes) over time can be measured. I wish him and his world-class partners’ great success.

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Back on Earth with the Grandkids

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Palms, Oliver and Eliza in Montana wilderness.
He’s four and she’ll be two tomorrow.

It could be worse…the summer weather has been terrific.  The White Sox have slugged their way into first place…it’s the best thing on TV, even with nobody in the seats.  Hope you’re finding pockets of joy in these days of quarantine and living in masks.

Seeya October 1,