THE DANGER IS BEHIND THE CURTAIN

I see the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump similar to watching the movie Godfather III. The official entertainment is in the Senate chamber, much like the stage of the Sicilian opera house, surrounded by pomp and circumstance.  The outcome on the stage is not in doubt.  However, the important political action is up in the balcony with the cannolis and out on the street, as the enemies of Don Corleone are eliminated, out of sight and out of mind. Behind the Trump operatic curtain a similar well designed intrigue is under way. 

Trump has become the daily entertainment in American politics.  A classic American Opera.  l watch the Senate proceedings because they are first rate theater.  But going forward, my attention will be focused behind the curtain on Vice President, Mike Pence; Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo; and Attorney General, William Barr.

Why have the three most important individuals in the President’s administration hooked their political futures to this opera? After all, none of them were Trump supporters before the 2016 election.  None of them have  given a favorable review of Trump’s personal conduct as a private citizen or while in office.  In my opinion, none of them cares what happens to Trump after he leaves the White House or about his place in history. None of them will support a Trump national political dynasty featuring his children or son-in-law.

Those who believe the conduct of these three, along with countless others who remain invested in the Trump administration, is based on blind loyalty to the Republican tribe or based on the need for personal power and recognition are wrong.  Moreover, the motivation for the big three and  others within Trump world springs from an ideological vision well beyond loyalty to one man.

There is a concerted movement to turn President Trump’s highly flawed Presidency into a political juggernaut for decades to come.  Behind the curtain, the groundwork has been laid for a Christian conservative coalition, based on the legal, social and religious right wing fringes of both Catholicism and Protestant evangelical thought.  I am not proposing an outlandish conspiracy theory with no evidence.  I am simply following the path of bread crumbs left by the Vice President, Secretary of State and Attorney General.

First, Vice President Pence.  He has staked out his core beliefs on numerous occasions: Christian, conservative and Republican, in that order.  According to Richard Land, president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary: “I do not know anyone who is more consistent in bringing his evangelical Christian worldview to Public policy.”  There is a quiet confidence that if Trump blows up during his presidency or even if he survives for eight years, Pence will be ready to inherit the Trump political base and the White House. 

To a conservative evangelical, this means a glorious return to the Christian values upon which they believe America was founded. To a secular democrat, this sounds like descent into the dystopia of The Handmaid’s Tale as a theocrat assumes the presidency.

Second, consider Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. Before entering politics, he spent much of his career running a struggling Wichita Kansas aviation company.  The billionaire, conservative Koch brothers have their headquarters in Wichita and supplied financing for Pompeo’s business interests, before urging him to enter politics.  According to the Center for Responsible Politics, from 2010 through 2016, Pompeo received more campaign funds from the Koch’s network than any other candidate in the country.

In 2016, Pompeo followed the Koch’s disdain for Trump, after the brothers announced they could support any primary candidate other than Trump.  After all, Trump seemed destined to lose the election and the Kochs had donated over 100 million to tea party and conservative candidates. Following the election Pompeo changed his allegiance to Trump after his close friend Mike Pence was able to recommend him to head the CIA.  When Rex Tillerson was dismissed as Secretary of State, Pompeo took his place, in large part because his views on Iran were aligned with the President.

Like Hillary Clinton, Pompeo is a Secretary of State deeply involved in politics.  He has higher political goals that are more in touch with the Koch money machine and Pence than with Trump.  In fact, he may be the most conservative, ideologically driven Secretary of State ever to serve.  His positions on gay rights, abortion, human rights and climate change are often expressed on the job and closely dovetail with the goals of a post Trump Christian Conservative Coalition.

The last path of breadcrumbs leads to the curious case of Attorney General, William Barr. A wealthy lawyer with little left to prove, many were surprised when he auditioned for the AG position by submitting an unsolicited legal memo to the Justice Department in June of 2018.  The letter elaborated on his long held position that a President’s Article II constitutional powers renders him essentially immune from accusations of obstruction of justice.

After replacing two weak candidates for Attorney General, Barr has become both ‘Sword and Shield” to the President. (See the New Yorker Profile by David Rohde, 1/20/20.) However, Barr’s interests in executive power and long standing concern about the role of religion in civic life have little to do with supporting Trump as an individual. In 2016, he gave over half a million dollars to Republican candidates and only $2,700.00 to the Trump campaign.  His vision is to build a strong foundation, post Trump that will support many decades of Christian, conservative governments in which the executive is given unrestrained Presidential power.

Not far from the White House, is the Catholic Information Center, run by the arch conservative Catholic group, Opus Dei.  Barr is a member and has served on the Center’s board.  He is also a long time member of the Federalist Society, with a mandate to shift the American Judiciary to the right.

This past October, Barr gave a speech at the Notre Dame Law School to make a case for ideological warfare in America.  In essence, he blamed the spread of “secularism and moral relativism” for the increase in every form of social pathology from the loss of family values, to mental illness, to drug use.  He believes that only a return to Christian religious precepts can save the country.

The conservative Christian ideologues in the Trump administration are thrilled when those of us who oppose Trump get caught up in the day- to- day Opera orchestrated by a pathological liar and self-serving narcissist. Concerned Americans would do better to look behind the curtain and discover the agenda that they have in mind for our political future.

IMPORTANT CHANGES FOR PENNSYLVANIA IN 2020

Two of the most important rights we have as Pennsylvania residents will undergo significant revisions in 2020. First, our right to withhold private information from the government will be altered by the federal REAL ID Law.  Beginning on October 1, 2020, Pennsylvanians will need a compliant driver’s license photo ID card or other form of federally acceptable identification (such as a passport) to board a domestic commercial flight or to enter a federal/military installation that requires ID. Second, seven major changes to how we vote in PA were signed into law by Governor Wolf on October 31, 2019.  This was a bipartisan piece of legislation that both Republicans and Democrats are calling the most important election law reforms in eighty years.

The Pennsylvania Real ID Law.  Pennsylvania was among the final states to adopt the federal REAL ID Law.  In 2005, Congress passed the law in response to the findings of the 9/11 Commission to limit the opportunity for terrorists to move about the country under aliases, using fake driver licenses.

 At first, many states, including Pennsylvania, were defiant over concerns about privacy. The REAL ID Law was seen as an internal passport to track U.S. citizens. Initially, Pennsylvania passed legislation prohibiting the Department of Transportation from participating in the program. However, as the federal deadline got closer and the implications for Pennsylvania domestic travelers became clearer, the Pennsylvania legislature reconsidered and in 2017 repealed the non-compliance law.  The compromise was that the new driver’s license/ID mandated by the REAL ID Law were made discretionary, depending upon the needs of each resident.

The federal government extended the compliance deadline to October 1, 2020, giving Pennsylvania more time to gear-up for the new license/IDs. The start-up costs were around 30 million with annual maintenance of the program estimated at upwards of 17 million.  Now each of us has a decision to make in the coming months.

My wife and I decided to bite the bullet and obtain the new REAL ID licenses. This involved an extra trip to the local PennDot office; the gathering together of documentation to prove both identity and residency; and a not insubstantial check in the amount of $60.50, for each of us.  The only good news was that time left on our old licenses was added onto the new four year REAL ID license.  Because we each had valid passports, we needed to provide less documentation than those without passports.

Our decision to go through with this inconvenience was twofold.  First, we did not want to be forced to carry our passports on domestic flights, already a major hassle when traveling overseas.  Second, we understand Murphy’s Law and the fact that someday, without warning, we would be required to present the ID in order to enter a federal facility that requires identification. (post offices, Social Security offices and other federal offices dispensing benefits do not require ID)

For Pennsylvania residents who occasionally travel domestically by air and who do not have passports, getting the REAL ID will be a necessity in order to board a plane.  For older residents who never travel by air, the inconvenience and expenses in obtaining the new ID might make little sense.  Unless, of course, Murphy’s Law strikes again and the unexpected domestic air travel becomes a necessity.

Pennsylvania Election Reform Bill.  For over a century, Pennsylvania voters were only able to vote by either physically going to a designated polling site or by formally requesting and being approved for an absentee ballot. Once a voter arrived at the polls there was always a lever available to vote for one party or the other, without considering the credentials of individual candidates.   This will all change for the May 2020 primary, all but guaranteeing a larger percentage of registered voters will actually vote and give some thought to their choices.

The new law provides for “no excuse mail in voting” permitting registered voters to vote by mail by requesting their mail-in ballot up to 50 days before each election. (The 50 day period is the longest vote by mail period in the country) The request may be made in person at the county election office, by calling the office, or online at votespa.com. 

The procedure is the same as the absentee process, but now no excuse to receive a mail-in ballot is required.  In addition, the new law provides for a “permanent mail-in and absentee ballot list” so that voters can request and receive ballots for all elections held in a given year. Voters can now submit mail-in and absentee ballots until 8pm on election day as opposed to the former time limit of 5pm the Friday before each election.

 The deadline to register to vote is extended to 15 days from the prior 30 days before the election.  This voter friendly deadline provides more time to register to vote than 24 other states.

Removing barriers to voting absentee allows more people to vote in the manner most convenient for them.  As more people learn about this option, a no-excuse absentee voting system is likely to reduce both polling site lines and the administrative burden on election officials, thereby decreasing the total cost of administering elections.

Perhaps the most controversial election reform relates to eliminating “straight-party voting”, the option of pushing one button to vote for all the candidates in a single party in general elections. Voters will now have to check off their choice for every contest in the general election, as opposed to simply voting for all Democrats or all Republicans.

Lastly, county commissioners are breathing a sigh of relief because the law authorizes the borrowing of $90 million by the state to reimburse counties for up to 60 percent of the cost of replacing their voting machines with voter-verifiable paper trail election systems.

I am personally excited about the election reforms. I can now obtain a paper ballot in advance and go about my business on Election Day without interrupting my schedule.  More importantly, a no excuse mail-in ballot will give me more time to study the issues and candidates that appear on the ballot, in the privacy of my home, before casting my vote.  After all, voting responsibly is as important as voting in the first place.