Restoring faith in the American project and reseeding common ground. Can We Do It Again?
Posted on | June 4, 2020 | 7 Comments
Mike Magee
This is all too familiar. Criminal leadership at the top. Rampant injustice at home and abroard. Young leadership, with parents and grandparents in tow, erupting in the streets across our nation – courageous, frustrated, demanding better, not willing to take it anymore.
For people of my age, here we are again, 50 years later.
In place of Nixon, Vietnam, and rank injustice, we now face Trump, Covid-19, and rank injustice.
In bracing ourselves for what must happen next, it is useful to recall Sen. Sam Ervin’s words, delivered in 1974, at the end of a 20-year Senate career in response to a self-posed question “What was Watergate?” His response is worth absorbing in all its fullness. It was “a lust for political power that blinded them to ethical considerations and legal requirements.”
In reviewing a 2012 retrospective of Watergate written by Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, it becomes obvious that Trump and Bill Barr have been following the Nixon playbook carefully, and are far along in executing their plan.
The famous reporters could as easily be describing Trump as Nixon when they wrote, “…he is heard talking almost endlessly about what would be good for him, his place in history and, above all, his grudges, animosities and schemes for revenge. The dog that never seems to bark is any discussion of what is good and necessary for the well-being of the nation…Nixon had turned his White House, to a remarkable extent, into a criminal enterprise.”
Nixon’s five-front war has modern parallels to Trump’s assault on America ideals at every turn.
- The war on the anti-war movement then, is a war on “Black Lives Matter” now.
- Nixon’s war on the media, enshrined in John Erlichman and Pat Buchanan’s “Plumbers” unit, is Brad Parscale’s full throated “Fake News” campaign.
- Nixon’s war against the Democrats, fueled by intelligence and surveillance from a slumped over and criminal appearing John Mitchell, presages accurately the modern day sulking and gloating Bill Barr.
- Nixon’s war on Justice, directed by H.R. Haldeman, included directives from Nixon that could be transferred word for word to a conversation between Trump and Barr. Nixon is heard on tape directing, “Play it tough. That’s the way they play it, and that’s the way we’re going to play it.”
- Nixon’s war on history predicts Trump’s final years of life – filled with disgrace, isolation, and endless attempts to alter the facts. We think of Trump as a world-class liar, in a league of his own. But consider this: In his 1990 book, “In The Arena,” published four years before his death in 1994, he denies paying hush money to the Watergate burglars. And yet, on the March 21, 1973 tape of he and John Dean, he orders Dean to get the money and deliver the payments 12 times.
Will history repeat? The final moves remain to be played. When Sen. Barry Goldwater delivered his “Too many lies, too many crimes”, message reinforcing that Impeachment was assured, Nixon folded. Trump didn’t care, knowing that, with McConnell’s wife in the cabinet, and the majority and lifetime judicial appointments in play, Mitch would backstop the threat.
Likely Trump believes his and McConnell’s Supreme Court appointees will provide similar protection, say – for example – when he turns our military on its own citizens. And while that history remains to be written, we should recall that on July 24, 1974, it was the Supreme Court – with Nixon appointees Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, Justice Harry Blackmun and Justice Lewis Powell – that ruled 8 to 0 that their President would have to turn over the tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor.
We Cannot Afford Leaders Who Lie.
Posted on | May 30, 2020 | 1 Comment
Mike Magee
In the re-build of Germany and Japan under the Marshall Plan, we elected to start with a health plan – in part because we recognized that all other social determinants – justice, housing, nutrition, education, clean air and water, transportation, safety and security – would be enhanced in the process. We understood that this 1948 infusion of what would today amount to $128 billion would engender trust, improve health and productivity, and process fear and worry which might otherwise undermine the establishment of a civil society and stable democracy.
This is essentially the same challenge we as a country (having wandered so far off course as to elect Trump) are faced with today as we battle the dual scourges of a badly mismanaged pandemic response and the fires of historic and systemic racism.
Changing culture is a tall order. It is about compassion, understanding and partnerships. It is about healing, providing health, and keeping individuals, families and communities whole. And – most importantly – it is about managing population-wide fear, worry and anxiety, made all the worse by inequality and injustice at every turn.
What we are asking of the people, and the people caring for the people, is to change their historic culture (one built on prejudice, violence, self-interest, hyper-competitiveness, and distrust of good government). This is a tall order – something that parents, pastors, politicians and physicians equally recognize.
Things evolve, and difficult things take time. But what happens if you run out of time, if the threats of delay or incrementalism create risks that outweigh or negate rewards? What if you chose the wrong President, the wrong police chief, the wrong prosecutor? What then?
What happens then is that the choices become quite stark – self-determination or self-destruction. Health reform offers a way back toward sanity. It offers our citizens the opportunity to embrace compassion, understanding and partnership as core pillars of a just society.
If we choose to go this route however, the mischief-makers who spent a decade undermining the Affordable Care Act must be effectively sidelined from the start. At the same time, we must disabuse ourselves of any notion that a cultural shift with health care as the leading edge will be simple or easy.
What we witnessed this past week in Minneapolis-St. Paul was a grim reminder of how deeply seeded racism and injustice are planted in America, and how far protectors of the status quo are willing to go to maintain their dominance. An epic struggle unleashed by our President and his political enablers threatens to engulf us all, awakening unpleasant flashbacks of 1968 and a country at war with itself. It is not a pretty picture.
But history instructs. In 1934, W.E.B. Du Bois, the first African American to receive a PhD from Harvard wrote, “Nations reel and stagger on their way. They make hideous mistakes; they commit frightful wrongs; they do great and beautiful things. And shall we not best guide humanity by telling the truth about all this, so far as the truth be ascertainable?”
We cannot afford leaders who lie.
So it is useful to acknowledge what our former military leaders stated as Germany and Japan sought to rise from the ashes. “We start with health care because it is an anecdote to fear, worry, and hatred.” As our vanquished enemies did, we start anew.
What Is The Next Shoe To Drop?
Posted on | May 27, 2020 | 1 Comment
Mike Magee
As Americans haltingly reemerge through the smoldering embers of the Covid-19 blaze, many wonder, “What will be the next shoe to drop?”
Most realize this crisis is far from over. Erratic leadership at the top will be with us at least until the November election. And even with a successful defeat of President Trump, the virus will likely give as good as it gets for at least another 12 to 18 months until a vaccine appears. Economic hardship and displacement will take years more to resolve.
But even now, we are forced to remind ourselves that there are other threats and concerns that demand our attention. To begin with, infectious diseases are only half of our dual disease burden. Chronic diseases from cardiovascular to neurodegenerative to cancer and beyond have not suddenly disappeared. They remain in force, demanding our attention, and taxing our broken health delivery system.
The same kind of misguided policies that created our health care system have also spawned other vulnerabilities. Take for example the recent drama in Sanford, Michigan. On May 21, 2020, the century-old Edenville Dam, stressed by nearly 4 inches of rain, gave way, but not without warning. It was one of over 2000 dams that were deemed by the Association of State Dam Safety Officers to earn an “F”- high-safety threat rating. (95,000 dams earned a slightly better D.)
Global warming has clearly played a role. The last four years have been among the 15 wettest in Michigan’s recorded history. 75% of the earthen dams in the U.S. are privately owned and have an average age of 56 years. They were mostly built to drive mills and generate modest amounts of electricity. Today, most generate no revenue, and repairs go unfunded.
In the case of the Edenville Dam, it is owned by Boyce Hydro Power whose license was revoked by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2018 for failure to make necessary repairs the company says would have cost 8 million dollars. They say that residential home-owners on the lake created behind the dam share the blame. They went to court to block the company from protectively lowering the lake level for extra security against sudden downpour. They thought it would ruin the view. Those same lakeside residents now look out on a mudflat.
Dams are emblematic of a wide range of neglected infrastructure problems that demand “good government” responses rather than “a thousand points of light” or “beautiful walls.”
In so many ways, the rent has come due. What all Americans need to realize is that a decisive rejection of this administration in November is only the first step. As important will be what follows – the establishment of “good government” driven by national policy that can efficiently deliver strategic planning, prioritization, budgeting, and execution on a national and equitable scale.
Tags: aging infrastructure > COVID-19 > dual burden of disease > health reform > trump > unsafe dams
Covid-19 and The Collapse of the Medical Industrial Complex: Imagining a Brighter Future.
Posted on | May 23, 2020 | 2 Comments
To our surprise, this online lecture explaining the birth of the Medical-Industrial Complex in America, and how it planted the seeds for the current pandemic disaster, maxed out its Zoom capacity within minutes of its offering. That left many of you in the lurch, and for this, we apologize.
But the good news is, we did a real time recording of Dr. Magee’s presentation, and offer it here to you open access, without charge.
As together we mourn all those we have lost, we encourage you to share this presentation with family, friends and colleagues this Memorial Day as together we pursue a brighter future.
Access the Slide Lecture HERE.
Tags: Code Blue > COVID-19 > MedicalIndustrial Complex > MIC > online lecture
Covid-19 Financial Impact on Nursing Homes
Posted on | May 21, 2020 | Comments Off on Covid-19 Financial Impact on Nursing Homes
“Obamagate” – Why Trump Shouldn’t Go There.
Posted on | May 18, 2020 | Comments Off on “Obamagate” – Why Trump Shouldn’t Go There.
Mike Magee
President Trump’s latest ploy to distract us from his remarkable covid-19 failure, as American deaths approach 100,000, is tossing out the vague term “Obamagate.” He presents the term in the same conspiratorial whisper voice he once used to launch and sustain the “birther campaign.”
It is a mark of understandable desperation that he would mine past territory. Yet, he will likely live to regret drawing attention to this very popular and very competent past-president. The facts are especially damning. If there was ever a pro-science president, it was Barack Obama.
In June of 2009, President Obama first convened his President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST), and offered this challenge, “So if you guys are so smart, how come you’re still making this (vaccines) with eggs?” At meetings end, the council had its first assignment – Answer this question: “What does the president need to do to prepare for an influenza pandemic?”
5 weeks later, on August 7, 2009, the council delivered a detailed plan. That plan became a 69-page roadmap titled, “Playbook for early response to high-consequence emerging infectious disease threats and biological incidents.”
The new President’s support for science and scientists was given full voice on his 100th day in office. He said, “Science is more essential for our prosperity, our security, our health, our environment, and our quality of life than it has ever been before. I want to be sure that facts are driving scientific decisions — and not the other way around.”
The President provided both time and access to his top science leader. John Holden, a plasma physicist, headed up the committee and carried a title of Assistant to the President that gave him the privilege of direct access and communication. It was not unusual for them to meet several times a week.
The council’s recommendation that a single individual with security experience be assigned to take the lead during a pandemic led to the president’s appointment of John Brennan in 2009. In 2014, Ron Klain, former chief of staff for VP Joe Biden, took over. During this period, Ebola, Swine Flu, and H1N1 were managed without incident.
As the president’s 2nd term drew to an end, Ron Klain wrote, “The next president should put a coordinating unit together before an outbreak begins.” The 69-page playbook was handed over to Trump’s transition team. It went point by point, including:
“Determine whether to implement screening and monitoring measures, or other travel measures within the U.S. or press for measures globally.”
“What are the key services and critical infrastructure that need to come back on line for society to return to normal?”
On January 21, 2017, Trump was inaugurated.
On January 22, 2017, the PCAST website was erased, including all reports.
Over the next two years, no new director of PCAST was appointed, and two-thirds of the staff was let go.
The new PCAST director, appointed in November of 2019, was a professor of meteorology from Oklahoma. Committee members are now primarily from industry.
In December 2019, the Trump administration was informed that covid-19 was breaking out of China.
The committee met on February 3 and 4, 2020. There was no discussion of covid-19.
On March 10, 2020, President Trump remarked, “Just stay calm. It will go away.”
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the global outbreak a pandemic.
On May, 11, 2020, Washington Post reporter Phil Rucker asked, “In one of your Mother’s Day tweets, you appeared to accuse President Obama of ‘the biggest political crime in American history, by far’ — those were your words. What crime exactly are you accusing President Obama of committing, and do you believe the Justice Department should prosecute him?” The president stuttered this response, “Uh, Obamagate. It’s been going on for a long time,…some terrible things happened, and it should never be allowed to happen in our country again…You know what the crime is. The crime is very obvious to everybody. All you have to do is read the newspapers, except yours.”
By June 1, 2020, over 100,000 Americans will have officially died from covid-19.
The History of Presidential Inability and What to Do About It.
Posted on | May 8, 2020 | Comments Off on The History of Presidential Inability and What to Do About It.
Mike Magee
As Medical Historian at the President’s College at the University of Hartford, I’ve been asked to explore the 25th Amendment and its’ utility when confronted with Presidential “inability”. During the current crisis, this one hour lecture is offered free of charge and reviews the history of Presidential inability and succession planning from 1787 up to our present crisis. Q&A is encouraged.
Tags: 25th Amendment. Presidential Inability > medical history > U. of Hartford > White House Physician
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