Part One:
A PARODY OF A STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS?
We discuss last night’s State of the Union address with Harold Meyerson, founder of The American Prospect. It’s shocking how far over-the-top Pres. Trump went in addressing Congress. It almost seemed like an intentional parody, flipping the whole world on its head. Trump took undue credit for the economy’s ten-year-long recovery from the Great Recession. He congratulated himself for the rise in real wages, even though most of the improvement is a result of many *states* having raised their minimum wages (over the strenuous objections of most Republicans).
And perhaps most disgusting of all was Trump’s theatrical awarding of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh, one of the country’s leading purveyers of hate, racism, mysogyny, xenophobia and homophobia. When American values should be inspired by the Statue of Liberty, Trump gives us the 180-degree opposite.
We also commiserate about the disastrous Iowa caucuses. Only Donald Trump and his ilk could be joyous about this tragedy for American democracy. The “software problems” that have delayed official reporting of the caucus results are one thing. But what about the surprisingly “average” voter turnout, after all the hype and (we thought) enthusiasm about the various candidates in this hotly contested race. Younger voters exceeded turnout expectations, but apparently older voters were not inspired enough to show up at the polls, which is as troubling as it is surprising.
In the aftermath of the caucuses, we marvel at Pete Buttigieg’s chutzpah in claiming “victory” before any of the facts had been determined. It sounds like something Donald Trump or Rush Limbaugh might do. Bernie’s statement sounded just like every other Sanders speech over the last two years, with no thoughts about the special meaning of this important moment in electoral history. Elizabeth Warren highlighted her inclusion as one of the three candidates who was actually awarded any delegates out of Iowa. She may be able to remain viable — pardon the word — as the presidential race progresses, and perhaps re-energize her campaign in the near future. That’s more than can be said for Biden and Klobuchar. What about Bloomberg? We’ll see.
Part Two:
TRUMP USES THE “PUBLIC CHARGE RULE” TO TURN AWAY CENTRAL AMERICAN FAMILIES SEEKING ASYLUM, REMINDING US OF HOW THE U.S. REJECTED HOLOCAUST VICTIMS OF NAZI HATRED.
Our guest is Laurel Leff, professor at Northeastern University. She illuminates the shameful way in which the U.S. government, in the 1930s, exploited a rarely-used part of our immigration law — the “public charge” exclusion clause — to justify turning away hundreds of thousands of Holocaust victims who were seeking protection in the US from Nazi hatred and physical brutality.
Leff notes the similarity between these Nazi-era events and Pres Trump’s recent decision to ramp up use of this same public charge rule in order to reject the asylum applications of brown-skinned Central Americans who’ve asked the US to protect their families from violence, kidnapping, rape and extortion in their home countries. Now, just like in the 1930’s, the president has the power to take this action even without any amendment or approval from Congress. The decision about how many people — or which specific people — the U.S. will exclude is a decision left to the discretion of the particular government officer handling each region along the border.
We are waiting for the Department of Justice to promulgate deportation rulings coming out of the new public charge framework. In the meantime, Leff and activist groups are trying to shine a light on some of the horrors that the current U.S. government is perpetrating under the radar. Perhaps with a little more transparency, the American people will invest some energy into seeking a legislative rejection of these cruel and un-American policies.
