Category: Politics Page 20 of 35

Presidential caucuses have been Connie’s specialty in Iowa as she followed the elections of 2004, 2008, 2012 and wrote the 2 books “Obama’s Odyssey: The 2008 Race for the White House.” She also continues to follow politics by avidly reading everything she can get her hands on, including “Rolling Stone,” “Mother Jones,” “Newsmax,” “Time,” etc.

“FEAR:” Chapter 5 – The Kill Shot

By Connie Wilson

On September 18, 2018

In Books, Editorial, Politics, Pop Culture

In Chapter Five Trump wants to know, “Where the hell is the money?”

He harasses fund-raiser Chris Christie regarding his efforts to raise funds for the campaign. Bannon tells Jared Kushner that Donald Trump needs to pony up $50 million for the campaign, because a candidate is not constrained by limits as other donors are. Kushner tells Bannon that DJT is not going to contribute that much and, in fact, after several back-and-forth negotiations, Trump puts in $10 million, instead.

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Kathleen Willey (from TV appearance)

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Juanita Broadderick and Donald J. Trump

The debate is held, and Bannon plans for all of Bill Clinton’s female accusers to be right down front so that, whenever Trump’s Access Hollywood tape is brought up, DJT can say, “My offense was just words. Bill Clinton’s offenses were deeds.” The women make quite a rogue’s gallery of former accusers, including Juanita Broaddrick, whom Bill Clinton paid $850,000; Kathleen Willey who alleged that Clinton had sexually assaulted her in the White House; and Kathy Shelton, who accused Hillary herself of smearing her when she was defending client Shelton. While the debate organizers would not allow the 4 women to sit at the table with Trump or in the VIP box, in a scorched earth kill shot move, the women came in late and sat in the front row.

Woodward is in KEY2ACT in Fort Worth, Texas, and is quite surprised to see 200 hands go up when he asks who, in the audience, is going to vote for Trump. He was speaking on “The Age of the American Presidency: What Will 2016 Bring?”

Trump made a last ditch trip to North Carolina where Congressman Mark Meadows who represented the 11th District reassured him that North Carolina would go for Trump. (“The evangelicals are out. They’re ringing doorbells. I’m telling you, you do not need to come back to North Carolina. We’ve got this.”)

Pence made 23 appearances in Pennsylvania; 25 in Ohio; 22 in North Carolina; 15 in Iowa; 13 in Florida; 8 in Michigan; and 7 in Wisconsin. Bannon was surprised that HRC was not utilizing Obama, who had won Iowa in 2008 by 6 to 10 points, and that she never visited Wisconsin in the general election. Two days before the election when Woodward appeared on “Fox News Sunday” with Chris Wallace Woodward commented that those polled might be lying to the pollsters. Trump made a 5-state swing including North Carolina right before the election, but he also said, “If we don’t win, I will consider this the single greatest waste of time, energy and money.”

Meanwhile, Clinton had a big rally at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall where tens of thousands gathered and Obama whispered to her, “You’ve got this. I’m so proud.” (Well, maybe not.) The polls still showed HRC ahead, with a tie in Ohio and Iowa and Trump down 9 in Pennsylvania and down 7 in North Carolina.

The election was held and, on election night, North Carolina was called for Trump at 11:11 p.m. Ohio was called for Trump at 10:36 p.m. Florida was called for Trump at 10:50 p.m. Iowa was called for Trump at 12:02 a.m. Wisconsin was called for Trump at 2:29 a.m. Hillary Clinton called Trump and conceded. Trump made a traditional political speech about binding up the wounds of division, thanking his team members and singling out Reince Priebus. Putin called from Russia to congratulate Trump. Xi Jinping called from China.

Trump had no transition tem and was totally unprepared to take over the White House in 10 weeks at noon and staff it with 4,000 people. Bannon called the group “the island of misfit toys.” Priebus and Bannon agreed to call Bannon “chief strategist” and Priebus White House chief of staff.

Connie’s Cliff Notes, FEAR: Chapter 4

By Connie Wilson

On September 16, 2018

In Books, Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Politics

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James Clapper (Image courtesy of www.deadline.com)

The summer of 2015 saw the first sign of digital intrusions into our voting apparatus, first appearing in Illinois and later spreading to 21 states. Russian hacking and tampering put then-President Obama in a bad position. James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, was concerned that Russia might be using the data to change votes. “Russia?” he wondered.

The President’s Daily Brief (PDB) security briefing [something Trump supposedly rarely pays much attention to]contained this information. But what should Obama do? In July of 2016 WikiLeaks and DC Leaks began publishing e-mails from the DNC, obtained by Russian hackers calling themselves “Cozy Bear” and “Fancy Bear.” The National Security Council was deeply concerned as the intelligence regarding Russian hacking grew more and more convincing.

Obama was torn. If he went on prime-time national television and announced the findings it might look like he was attacking Trump, linking the Republican nominee with Russia. (*This would have been a very good idea, since his wife is Russian, his heroes are Russian and, in all likelihood, his secret helpers were Russian in the election of 2016). Obama did not want to appear as though he were meddling in the U.S. election by trying to tip the scales, but NOT telling the public could create a backlash in the (very unlikely) case that Trump did win.

John Brennan (Image courtesy of cnn.com)

John Brennan of the FBI argued against telling the public. He was protective of the department’s sources. Brennan, however, did tell Russian Intelligence Chief Alexander Bortnikov that we were aware of the hacking. (Bortnikov, like Trump, simply denied it.

Mike Morrell (Image courtesy of CNN.com)

Mike Morrell, acting director of the CIA twice, published an op-ed in the New York Times on August 5th that read: “I Ran the CIA: Now I’m Endorsing Hillary Clinton.” Morrell flat-out accused Trump of “being an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation.” Clapper was selected to brief the Gang of Eight consisting of 4 Republican and Democratic leaders in the Senate and House, plus the Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of the Senate and House intelligence committees.

Clapper was shocked by the partisan nature of the gathering, as the Republicans disliked everything. The Democrats loved every bit of the information. He left the briefing feeling that the intelligence apparatus in the country was becoming a political football.

Even though everyone still felt that Clinton was likely to win, Vladimir Putin’s influence campaign to undermine HRC’s campaign and coming presidency went into high gear.

Meanwhile, Clapper and Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson wanted to alert the public to Russian hacking. Friday, October 7th, they released a joint statement accusing Russia of trying to interfere in the United States election. “The U.S. intelligence community is confident that the Russian government directed the recent compromise of e-mails from U.S. persons and institutions. These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the U.S. election process.” The announcement went on to say that the authorization to do this must have come from the top in Russia. They sat back and waited for this to be a Big News Story.

ACCESS HOLLYWOOD TAPE

One hour later, at 4:05 p.m., David Fahrenthold of The Washington Post released a headlined story: “Trump Recorded Having Extremely Lewd Conversation About Women in 2005.” This would later become known as the Access Hollywood tape. It literally blew away all other important news of the hour and day, such as the Russian hacking story. The “Grab them by the pussy” tape became “a political earthquake” and the announcement about Russia’s hacking in our election was lost in the shuffle.

WIKILEAKS

Less than half an hour later, at 4:30 p.m., WikiLeaks dumped thousands of e-mails from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s personal account. It included information about HRC’s speeches to Wall Street financiers. E-mails between Podesta and Donna Brazile (Chair of the DNC) were also released.

ACCESS HOLLYWOOD TAPE AFTERMATH

“I’ve never said I’m a perfect person…these words don’treflect who I am. I said it. I was wrong and I apologize. I pledge to be a better man tomorrow and will never, ever let you down.” (Donald J. Trump) Trump went on to pivot to Bill Clinton and saying he had done far worse and concluded, “See you at the debate on Sunday.”

A summit of the top advisers to Donald J. Trump convened and Priebus said, “It’s over.” Bannon did not agree (“What do you mean, it’s over?”) Mike Pence was dubious. “Are you fucking kidding me?” was Bannon’s response. “It’s a tape, dude.” Priebus insisted, “You don’t understand; it’s over.” Trump asked each of them to weigh in on the situation. Priebus felt he should drop out right now and avoid the worst loss in American history. Bannon insisted “Cut the bullshit; that’s bullshit.” Priebus floated the idea of Mike Pence stepping up and running with Condoleeza Rice, “W’s” former national security adviser and secretary of state. “That’s never going to happen,” Bannon said loudly. Chris Christie of New Jersey felt Trump should resign in order to protect his brand. Rudy Giuiliani felt that “Basically, you’ve got a 40% chance of winning.” Kellyanne Conway suggested contacting “60 Minutes” and doing a sort of public confessional with Ivanka on one side and Melania on the other, the women crying and Trump apologizing. Melania flatly refused.

Trump asked Bannon, “What do you think?

Bannon responded, “100%”

“100% what?”

“100% metaphysical certitude you’re going to win.”

Trump responded, “Cut the shit. I’m tired of 100%. I need to know what you really think.”

Although Priebus obviously was not a 100%-er, and he didn’t think Trump was, either, Bannon kept maintaining that Trump would win. He told the room: “We’re going to compare your talk with Bill Clinton’s action.”

“How are we going to do that?” (Trump)

Bannon suggested a Hilton Hotel ballroom at 8 p.m. that night with a hammerhead rally—which was a Bannon term for the diehard Trump fans wearing the MAGA baseball caps. Trump was delighted, while the others were opposed and a huge fight resulted with a compromise position at the end of it: Conway would have David muir of ABC helicopter in and do a 10 minute interview.

Bannon felt this was political suicide. Priebus again felt that Trump was toast. (“You guys don’t know what you’re doing. You’re going to go down.”) Various Republicans were coming out of the woodwork and telling Trump he should step aside for Mike Pence. Pence even released a statement: (“As a husband and a father, I was offended by the words and actions described by Donald Trump in the 11-year-old video released Saturday. I do not condone his remarks and cannot defend them. I am grateful that he has expressed remorse and apologized to the American people. We pray for his family and look forward to the opportunity he has to show what is in his heart when he goes before the nation tomorrow night.”

There were rumors that Pence had given Bannon a sealed letter that urged him to drop off the ticket.

Two hours later Melania released a statement defending her husband and saying, “I hope people will accept his apology, as I have, and focus on the important issues facing our nation and the world.”

At 3:40 p.m. Trump tweeted: I WILL NEVER DROP OUT OF THE RACE, WILL NEVER LET MY SUPPORTERS DOWN! #MAGA Preparations for the ABC interview were underway. Giuiliani and Christie gave Trump an apology statement to read. Trump was surly about reading the “all political” statement that screamed Giuliani and Christie. “I can’t do this. This is bullshit. This is weak. You guys are weak.”

Christie interjected, “Donald, you don’t understand” and Giuliani told Trump that he had to do this. Trump turned to Kellyanne Conway and asked her what were the steps to cancel out on the Muir interview. She waffled, saying all her credibility was on the line, but Bannon said, “It’s not going to happen. He ain’t going to do it. If he does do an introduction you can’t have him do a live interview. He’ll f****** get cut to pieces.” The apology was re-written, but it was still all Giuliani and Christie and polito-speak and Trump said, “I’m not doing this.” He delcared that he was going to go down to the roaring crowd gathered for the rally. The Secret Service insisted to Trump that he was NOT going to go outside. Trump headed out, saying “I’m going downstairs. This is great.” (*One cautious word for DJT: watch the movie about Huey Long.) Conway was telling Trump that he couldn’t cancel on ABC, but DJT said, “I don’t care. It was a dumb idea. I never wanted to do it.”

OUTSIDE THE ELEVATOR

Chris Christie (then Governor of New Jersey) and Steve Bannon had words outside the elevator. Christie said, to Bannon, “You’re the fucking problem. You’ve been the problem since the beginning.”

Bannon, dismayed, wanted to know what Bannon was talking about. Bannon, dismayed, said, “What are you talking about?” Christie responded, “You’re the enabler. You play to every one of his worst instincts…” The 2 men faced off and Bannon said, “Governor, the plane leaves tomorrow. If you’re on the plane, you’re on the team.”

Christie was not on the plane the next day. Trump, however, was, and, following on the heels of Rudy Giuliani doing all 5 networks, defending his client, he was the only one who completed a full Ginsburg (a term used for Monica Lewinsky’s attorney who appeared on all 5 network Sunday programs on Feb. 1, 1998.)

ON THE PLANE

After Giuliani had made the full Ginsburg–-a daunting task that must have been quit embarrassing and humiliating in many ways—the exhausted former Mayor of New York City who had pulled out every stop got to hear Trump say to him: “Rudy, you’re a baby! I’ve never seen a worse defense of me in my life. They took your diaper off right there. You’re like a little baby that needed to be changed. When are you going to be a man?” When Bannon defended Giuliani as the only one of the Trump forces who had gone to the wall for his boss, Trump responded, “I don’t want to hear it. It was a mistake. He shouldn’t have gone on. He’s weak. You’re weak, Rudy. You’ve lost it.”

Giuliani just took the abuse with a blank face as the plane took off.

“FEAR:” Chapter 3 – Refining Trump’s Tactics

By Connie Wilson

On September 14, 2018

In Books, Editorial, Politics, Pop Culture, Reviews

Steve Bannon (Image courtesy of NationReview.com)

In Chapter 3, newly-appointed campaign manager Steve Bannon travels to Trump Tower and—lo and behold—meets the ONE person in “the war room,” Andy Surabian. In his typical fashion, he asks, “Where the fuck is everybody?” and learns that this is a typical day in “the war room.” Bannon finds out that Ivanka and husband Jared are off gallivanting around on David Geffen’s $300 million yacht (one of the largest yachts in the world) off the coast of Croatia, on vacation with Wendy Deng (former wife of Rupert Murdoch).

BANNON MEETS MANAFORT IN TRUMP TOWER

Surprisingly, at this point, Manafort asks Bannon to come up to his residence in the Tower. Rather than being adversarial, Manafort says, “I really want to thank you for trying to step in.” He defends the drubbing he has just taken at Trump’s hands and tongue by saying, “That’s just Donald. This is the way he acts all the time.”

Paul Manafort and Michael Cohn (Image courtesy of TheGuardian.com)

Manafort then hands Bannon a copy of a draft story that the New York Times is going to run entitled “Secret Ledger in Ukraine Lists Cash for Donald Trump’s Campaign Chief,” because, (says Woodward’s book), Manafort has heard that Bannon is “good with the media.” It shows $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments from the Ukraine pro-Russian political party. Bannon is, to put it mildly, shocked and asks questions (“When is this coming out?” “Does Trump know anything about this?” “How long have you known about this?”)

It comes out that Manafort (who pleaded guilty today, September 14, and is now cooperating with the Mueller investigation, despite Trump’s having praised him for not folding as quickly as his lawyer, Michael Cohn) has known about the investigation for 2 months, although his wife apparently knows little to nothing about it, as she is startled to hear Bannon’s explosion upon reading about 10 paragraphs. (“It was a kill shot. It was over for Manafort.”)

Manafort shares that his lawyer told him not to cooperate, and Bannon remarks, “You should fire your lawyer,” which I found an amusing reaction. (Manafort responds that he’s “thinking about it.”)

Bannon’s reaction is listed as: “You’ve got to call Trump…go see him face-to-face. If this comes out in the paper, and he doesn’t know about it, it’s lights out for you. How do you even take $12.7 million in cash?” Bannon, in typical Trumpian fashion, says he “had expenses.” He blames it on “the guys.” Bannon calls Jared Kushner and tells him he has to get back to Trump Tower immediately. The New York Times article ran online that night and in the paper the next morning; The Donald was not amused.

Trump alerts Priebus that Bannon is in (and Manafort is out). Priebus stresses that they need 90% support from the GOP party apparatus, not the 70% polls are showing. Bannon tells Priebus he wants to see Katie Walsh, who supposedly has data on every likely Republican voter in the country from the Republican database. The pressing issue was to make sure that the RNC was not going to abandon Trump, since he didn’t have much of an organization of his own. The unprintable version of what Bannon accomplished during this time was: “I reached out and sucked Reince Priebus’ dick on August 15 and told the establishment we can’t win without you.”

Steve Bannon & Reince Priebus (Image courtesy of charismanews.com)

Priebus, an attorney from Wisconsin, had just spent a few years overseeing a massive effort to rebuild the RNC into a data-driven operation. They borrowed from Obama’s winning campaign strategy and poured in more than $175 million into analystics and big data that tracked individual primary voters and divided neighborhoods into “turfs” staffed with a multitude of volunteers.

The RNC was effectively the Trump campaign staff, and Bannon knew they could not afford to lose them.

Step #1: get an absentee or early voting ballot to those deemed pro-Trump who had scored 90 above on a scale of 0 to 100 in the national database. (Example: In Ohio, out of perhaps 6 million voters, 1 million would score 90 or above). That 1 million would be targeted for early voting ballots, with follow-up.

Step #2: Field staff would move to persuade those who scored 60 to 70, to convince them to vote for Trump.

Bannon told Trump: “I have metaphysical certitude you will win here if you stick to this script and compare and contrast with HRC. Every underlying number is with us.” Bannon, who was announced as the new leader on August 17, realized that he was “the director and DJT is the actor.”

ENTER KELLYANNE CONWAY:

Donald Trump & Kellyanne Conway (Image courtesy of spin.com)

Kellyanne enters the fray and says: “Their message (the Dems) is Donald Trump is bad, and we’re not Donald Trump. The rest of the message was race, gender, LGBT.” She is conveying this from attending four days of the Democratic convention in Philadelphia in July. This will underscore what analysts have said was one of the Big Flaws in the Democratic campaign. It had no message. Bernie had a message, but Bernie was derailed.

Much of the media, says Woodward, did not buy the hidden Trump voter line, but the database that Katie Walsh and Reince Priebus had access to, would tell what beer they drank, the make and color of their car, the age and school of their children, their mortgage status, the brand of cigarettes they smoked. Were they NRA supporters? Conway, said, by contrast: “There’s not a single hidden Hillary voter in the entire country. They’re all out and about.” Kellyanne said, “HRC doesn’t seem to have a message….All I can see from her so far is not optimism.” Add to that the fact that Clinton had not cracked 50% in 8 key states that Obama won two times with over 50% and Conway and Bannon agreed that if they could make the race about Hillary, not Trump, they would win the hidden voters who hated her. (Certainly running Russian troll ads about how she was running a sex ring out of a pizza parlor in New York was one tactic that Trump had help with to smear Hillary’s years of experience in the field, versus his lack of any experience and his questionable personality traits under pressure.)

REPRISE:

Bannon again felt that Trump was literally Archie Bunker, and he added a comparison to second century (B.C.) Roman populist Tiberius Gracchus, who advocated transfer of land from the wealthy patrician landowners to the poor. (Robin Hood style). Bannon took one look at the various “theme weeks” that had been scheduled (“Education Week; Women’s Empowerment Week; Small Business Week”) and said, “Throw this shit out.”

THE NEW PLAN

A 3-stage plan was formulated:

#1) The 6 weeks from Mid-August to September 26th (first debate): get within 5 to 7 points.

#2) Three weeks of debates. (“He’s so unprepared for the debates. She’ll kill him because she’s the best at debating and policy. We’re going to call nothing but audibles in these debates. That’s the only thing we’ve got, where he can walk around and connect.” His private opinion was that the Trump campaign was going to get crushed during the debates (and, quite frankly, that is exactly what it looked like to me. But I digress).

#3) Final 3 weeks to election day (from Final debate to Nov. 8th) Trump was going to have to pony up some money for his own run.

Bannon suggested that winnable states were: Ohio, Iowa, Florida and North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. It is noted “It all seemed like a giant fantasy” and Bannon privately says, “This is Gotterdammerung.”

Manafort leaves on August 19 and “Time” runs a cover of Trump on August 22nd entitled “Meltdown.”

“FEAR” – Chapter 2: Bannon Comes Aboard

By Connie Wilson

On September 13, 2018

In Books, Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, Politics, Pop Culture

Image result for google images of Steve Bannon Steve Bannon

Chapter 2 describes how Steve Bannon came to be involved in the Trump campaign for the presidency on or about August 13, 2016. Bannon was reading an article entitled “The Failing Inside Mission to Tame Trump’s Tongue” in the New York Times (an article that would be just as timely today.)

Trump had no operation beyond the RNC at that point. His “campaign,” which he had announced in the infamous Trump Tower escalator speech, had been launched on July 21, 2016, and consisted of perhaps 7 people. The team was scheduling rallies in what I call Newt Gingrich territory, i.e., the cheesiest venues, “often old, washed-out sports or hockey arenas.” Bannon called Rebekah Mercer, one of the biggest and most controversial sources of campaign funding within the GOP. The family had an ownership stake in Breitbart.

Rebekah Mercer noted, “This guy Manafort’s a disaster. Nobody’s running the campaign now. Trump listens to you. He’s always looking for adult supervision.” In this fashion, Ms. Mercer urged Bannon to offer his services running the campaign, even though he admitted he had no firsthand knowledge of running such a large-scale operation. Ms. Mercer noted that Trump would accept him in this position because “This thing’s in panic mode.” She sized Trump, the outsider, up as “desperate.”

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The Mercers (Rebekah on right).(Image courtesy of jackrite blog)

That discussion between Bannon and Rebekah Mercer led to a meeting at the home of the New York Jets owner, Woody Johnson, for a fundraiser. The Mercers wanted 10 minutes with DJT. “Mananfort has got to go,” she told Trump. She added, “Steve Bannon will come in” and Trump’s response was that Bannon would never do it, to which Rebekah reassured him that Bannon most definitely would enter the fray.

Trump, in his usual style, blamed Manafort for his poor television skills (“He’s a stiff. He can’t do TV effectively.”)

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Candidate Trump and Reince Priebus (Image courtesy of Politico)

The next discussion revolved around 44-year-old Reince Priebus, a Wisconsin lawyer and chairman of the RNC for 5 years.Priebus viewed the month of August as a catastrophe (“A constant heat lamp that wouldn’t go away.”) Priebus had called Trump up after his negative remarks about Mexicans in his announcement of his candidacy, telling him: “You can’t talk like that. We’ve been working really hard to win over Hispanics.”

At this point, according to Woodward, Mitch McConnell had already told Priebus to shut the Trump funding spigot off and direct the RNC money towards Senate candidates. But Priebus decided to straddle middle ground: survival for the party and survival for him.“He had sucked up to Trump appropriately, but had also stressed his responsibilities to the RNC. He agreed to introduce Trump at rallies, referring to that as “extending a hand to a drowning man.” Priebus had said: “It wasn’t a campaign. It was a joke.” Priebus decided there was only one path forward, and that was to maximize aggression to conceal weakness.

Woodward then pivots to a meeting that took place at one of Trump’s golf courses at Bedminster (the Trump National Golf Club). Bannon was told to arrive at one o’clock and was given detailed instructions for finding the course (“Trump provided more detail than Bannon had ever heard him give on anything.”).

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Roger Ailes (Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

When Bannon arrived early, he met up with Roger Ailes, who was surprised to see him. Others supposed to be present were Chris Christie and Rudy Giuiliani. (Ailes’ reaction upon seeing Bannon was “WTF.”) Something was said (by Bannon) to Ailes to suggest that Trump was going to be “prepping” for the first debate with Hillary Clinton, which was upcoming on September 26th. Ailes was surprised that Trump was “prepping” and Bannon corrected him, noting that he, Giuiliani and Christie couldn’t get Trump to “prep” but they did show up and talk some of the potential relevant issues with him, as he played golf or after he played golf.

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Paul Manafort (Image courtesy of CNBC.com)

Paul Manafort, then the ostensible Campaign Manager (now a convicted felon), walked in dressed in yachting attire and both men were disgusted. Trump arrived and wolfed down a diet of hot dogs and hamburgers “the fantasy diet of an 11-year-old kid.” Trump chided Manafort, saying: “You’re terrible on TV. You’ve got no energy. You don’t represent the campaign. I’ve told you nicely. You’re never going on TV again.”

Trump constantly derided “the failing New York Times” but secretly considered it to be Gospel, and he was upset with the coverage. Bannon tried to convince him the story was BS, but Trump “wasn’t buying it.” (“The assassination of Manafort continued for a while.”) Typical commentary on Manafort, by Trump, to Bannon: “This thing’s so terrible. It’s out of control.. This guy’s such a loser. He’s really not running the campaign. I only brought him in to get me through the convention.”

Bannon laid out a battleground scenario where 2/3 of the country thought the country was on the wrong track and 75% thought we were in decline as a nation. That would set the stage for a “change agent” and Hillary was the past. Bannon underscored and emphasized that the goal was to “compare and contrast Clinton.” Steve Bannon outlined a campaign where HRC would be made the tribune and representative of a corrupt and incompetent status quo of elites who were allowing the nation to go down the tubes. Trump would become the tribune of the forgotten man who wanted to make America great again.

“And we’re just going to do it in a couple of themes,” Bannon said.#1: Immigration #2: Bring back manufacturing jobs, #3: Get out of pointless wars. Saying that those were the 3 big themes that Clinton could not defend against, Bannon went on to say, “We’re just going to hammer. That’s it. Just stick to that.” He noted that “even when she’s telling the truth, she sounds like she’s lying to you.” Trump did not.

Kellyanne Conway (Image courtesy of NYMag.com)

They agreed that Kellyanne Conway (who had previously worked for Ted Cruz) would be the designated campaign manager, but, to avoid any mention of Manafort’s ouster in the papers, he would retain a purely honorary title as Campaign Chairman but have no real power. Of Kellyanne he said, “We’re going to put her on television every day as the female-friendly face.” (They certainly did THAT! You could not avoid Kellyanne Conway on shows like “Meet the Press” and “Face the Nation” during this period.)

Bannon added that HE would never be on TV. Kellyanne told Trump that he was “running against the most joyless candidate in presidential history.” (One could have said the same of Cruz, had he prevailed.) Kellyanne told Trump there was “a path back.” Kellyanne told him: “You have built a movement. And people feel like they’re a part of it.” She counseled that the Trump campaign should never do national polling, as it was misleading. It was all about the electoral college and the 270 votes, so they needed to target the right states. She also said that “People want specifics” and “You need to make good on your promises.”

Asked if she was willing to devote months of time to help him win, Kellyanne acquiesced and said: “Sir, I can do that for you. You can win this race. I do not consider myself your peer. I will never address you by your first name.”

And so was born the trio of first-time campaign managers with a flawed candidate who did have a national reputation. “You’re fired!”)

“FEAR:” Chapter One

By Connie Wilson

On September 12, 2018

In Books, Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, Local, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Politics, Uncategorized

Steve Bannon, The Man Behind the Throne

In Chapter One, Bob Woodward concentrates on Steve Bannon. He traces Bannon’s meeting with Trump back to August of 2010, when David Bossie, longtme House Republican investigator and conservative activist wanted to put Bannon, then 57, together with the Trumpster.

The chapter conveys Bannon’s linguistic style as very casual (“Dude” is one of the terms he uses repeatedly when speaking to Bossie). Bossie asks Bannon to come with him to New York to meet Donald Trump.:

“What about?” says Bannon.

“He’s thinking of running for president,” Bossie answers.

“Of what country?” Bannon responds.

It is casual insouciance like that exchange that gives us our first glimpse of the evil genie behind the throne, the Breitbach editor turned kingmaker. Bannon responds, “I don’t have time to jerk off, dude.” [Again, the casual insouciance].

David Bossie (“Politico” image).

Finally, the meeting does take place, and Bannon and Bossie inform Trump that his plan to potentially run against Obama in 2012 has some problems. For one thing, his record shows him to have bankrolled those who might be considered liberal, and to have underwritten causes for candidates who are pro abortion, while, they tell him, he must be “pro life.” They suggest that he become a “Populist” president, but Trump never seems to be able to repeat the word “Populist” correctly, repeatedly calling it “Popularist.”

At that point in time, Bannon found Trump to be “engaged and quick. He was in great physical shape. His presence was bigger than the man, and took over the room, a command presence. He had something.” Bannon felt that Trump was: “Archie Bunker, but a really focused Archie Bunker.” (Just what we all hoped for: Archie Bunker for President!) It is interesting to note how Omarosa talks about Trump’s physical and mental deterioration in her book “Unhinged”, based on having known and worked with the man for 15 years. It would be hard to imagine anyone today saying that Donald J. Trump was either “engaged” or “quick” and he is definitely not “in great physical shape.”

They reveal, to Trump’s amazement, that there are voting records that show he has only voted once in a primary in his entire life. (For Rudy Giuiliani, in 1989). Trump seems woefully ignorant of the most basic political facts and realities, but he keeps repeating that “that can be fixed.” The two old pols tell him to run in 3 states as though he were running for Governor. The three states are Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, the first 3 caucus or primary states. They instruct him to start contributing $2,400 (the maximum allowed by law) to Republican candidates in a handful of battleground states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida. They suggest he produce a policy book. (“You ought to do a book about what you think about America and these policies.”).

Later, leaving the meeting, the two men discuss the potential candidate. Bossie asks: “What about the policy book?”

Bannon responds: “He’ll never do a policy book. Give me a f****** break. First off, nobody will buy it. It was a waste of time except for the fact that it was insanely entertaining.”

And that (plus perhaps the Correspondents’ dinner roasting of Trump by Seth Meyer and Obama?) gave birth to the perfect storm of 2016 and Donald J. Trump’s candidacy.

Bob Woodward’s Book “FEAR”

By Connie Wilson

On September 11, 2018

In Books, Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Politics

(Image from “The Headline”)

Bob Woodward’s new book “FEAR” came out today, and I am reading it.

Bob Woodward (Twitter image), co-author of “All the President’s Men” and “Fear”

As with Omarosa’s book about the goings-on inside the White House (“Unhinged”), I will attempt to share with those of you with less idle time on their hands some of its revelations.

Today’s installment will deal only with the first 1% (I ordered it in e-book format), the Prologue. First, let it be known that Woodward had A LOT of help from his research assistant Evelyn M. Duffy, who has worked with him on five previous books.

PROLOGUE:

(General Mattis, Gary Kohn, and General Kelly from the ArmWood Opinion Blog)

Gary Cohn, the former president of Goldman Sachs and one of the president’s top economic advisers comes off as one of those who is trying to keep Trump from screwing up by signing things he shouldn’t. Cohn, who spent 27 years at Goldman Sachs, is 6′ 3″ and full of self-confidence, notes Woodward. He is also from GOLDMAN SACHS, and, if you remember, Trump made a Big Deal of Hillary Clinton’s speech to Goldman Sachs, but now brings its president on as one of his most trusted advisers. (Go figure).

The Prologue deals with Trump’s unhinged (Omarosa’s book title) efforts to withdraw from the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, or KORUS. It isn’t so much that we get economic good from this agreement as that we get the ability to detect any attack that might be heading towards the U.S. mainland from North Korea because of the work of the military infrastructure present in South Korea, which has been there ever since I was a little girl (the early fifties). The U.S. stationed 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea and operates the most highly classified and sensitive Special Access Program (SAP) providing sophisticated Top Secret codeword intelligence and military capabilities.

(Image from 9news.com.au)

Woodward’s book (“FEAR”) notes that a missile from North Korea would take 38 minutes to reach Los Angeles. Thanks to this treaty and the intelligence apparatus in place there as a result of it, we would know that it was headed for us in 7 seconds. Compare that to the time it would take for Alaska to let us know if an attack from the Russians (15 minutes) and you realize that the ability to detect a lunch “in seven seconds” would give the United States military the time to shoot down a North Korean missile.”

Does Trump recognize that fact?

Apparently not. Woodward notes that it is “Perhaps the most important and most secret operation in the United States government. The American presence in South Korea represents the essence of national security.”

Why, then, did Trump want to withdraw from this important strategic alliance? Because he was angry that the U.S. had an $18 billion annual trade deficit with South Korea, plus our troops there cost us $3.5 billion a year to maintain.

Woodward notes, “Trump was always shifting, rarely fixed, erratic.” Prior to that, Woodward says, “Despite almost daily reports of chaos and discord in the White House, the public did not know how bad the internal situation actually was.” (Or should we say “is”?).

The letter, which Woodward displays on the page, was dated September 5, 2017. It was the trigger to a potential national and international security catastrophe. And Cohn, therefore, removed the letter draft from the Resolute Desk and placed it in a blue folder marked “KEEP.”

Woodward: “In the anarchy and disorder of the White House, and Trump’s mind, the president never noticed the missing letter.” Rob Porter is then noted as contributing to this attempt to stop Trump from doing something stupid. Porter attended Harvard and Harvard Law School and was a Rhodes Scholar, something no one has accused Trump of being. “Cohn and Porter worked together to derail what they believed were Trump’s most impulsive and dangerous orders.” “Cohn at times would just yank it (an order), and the president would forget about it. But if it was on his desk, he’d sign it.”

(No copyright infringement is intended & there is no profit from the reprinting of this cartoon image.)

Cohn: “It’s not what we did for the country. It’s what we saved him (Trump) from doing.” Porter said, “A third of my job was trying to react to some of the really dangerous ideas that he (Trump) had and try to give him reasons to believe that maybe they weren’t such good ideas.” After citing the technique of “slow walking” a bill or order that Trump might unwisely sign, Porter said: “It felt like we were walking along the edge of the cliff perpetually…It was like you were always walking right there on the edge.”

When confronted with arguments as to why the treaty with South Korea needed to remain in place, Trump said, “I don’t care. I’m tired of these arguments! I don’t want to hear about it any more. We’re getting out of KORUS.” The cooler heads told son-in-law Jared Kushner that a good draft needed to be prepared and, from there, “Cohn and Porter did not prepare a next draft. So there was nothing to show the president. The issue, for the moment, disappeared in the haze of presidential decision making.”

Concludes Woodward, as the Prologue winds to a halt: “The reality was that the United States in 2017 was tethered to the words and actions of an emotionally overwrought, mercurial and unpredictable leader…It was a nervous breakdown of the executive power of the most powerful country in the world.”

Omarosa’s Book “Unhinged” and What It Has to Say

By Connie Wilson

On September 7, 2018

In Books, Politics

(People image of Donald J. Trump and Omarosa Manigault Newman in happier days)

Omarosa’s new book “Unhinged” has been released and, as a service to readers, I have read it.

As a writer, I appreciate that Omarosa’s prose is readable and interesting. She shares her own life story, and I’ll have to admit that her image as “the villain of the piece” on “The Apprentice” was about all I knew about her. Who knew that she had worked in the Clinton White House, for instance?

Towards the end of “Unhinged,” Omarosa’s book begins to echo the forthcoming Woodward book, which I will also read when it is released to the general public on September 11th. (Nice timing there. One national disaster is chronicled on the date of another).

Here is a paragraph from near the end of Omarosa’s book that seems to echo Woodward’s forthcoming book: “Rest assured that there is an army of people who oppose him and his policies. They are working silently and tirelessly to make sure he does not cause harm to the republic. Many in this silent army are in his party, his administration, and even in his own family.” Sound familiar? It should, because that is one of the principal tenets of Bob Woodward’s book, according to preliminary publicity.

Omarosa also writes, near the end of her book, “Change is coming. To bring it about we must be participants and not spectators in the pursuit of equality and unity. Together, we can make this country honor the sacrifices of our ancestors.” She uses that tired cliche, “We are all in the same boat now,” and her apologies for putting us in that boat are not nearly intense enough. She had “a blind spot” where Trump was concerned. She didn’t believe the tape of DJT using “the N word” existed.

As a writer, that is one good thing that Omarosa has done in her book. She has structured it as sort of a treasure hunt or detective search for the Holy Grail of the MIA “N” word tape—outtakes from “The Apprentice” where Donald J. Trump used the “N” word and other perjorative terms. Why this matters so much to Omarosa is more easily understood when we consider that she is an African American woman, but, at the end of the book, the reader feels a bit cheated not to at least read a transcription of same. One of the magician duo Penn & Teller has come forward and said he heard it, but, aside from that, we have only whispered conversations on the phone between Omarosa and co-workers who assure her that he DID say it.

My response to that is, “Who doubts it?” If he would wander off-script during a ceremony to honor the last of the Navajo code workers who helped win WWII, and, instead, insult U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren by calling her “Pocahontas,” then who doubts that Trump will continue using derogatory name-calling, whether it is “Little Marco,” “Lying Ted,” or “Low Energy Jeb?” Also noteworthy is that the ceremony to honor the Navajo code breakers was held under a portrait of Andrew Jackson, who ordered the “Trail of Tears” movement of native Americans to reservations, an atrocity that saw many of them die in one of our nation’s most tragic avoidable acts of atrocity towards the people who originally inhabited this land. Using slurs, racial and otherwise, is baked in Donald Trump’s DNA. It’s usually a sign of a person with an inferiority complex, who is striving to make himself (or herself) feel more important. [It is telling that “W” used it extensively, also. One of his Cabinet members lost respect for George W. Bush when he assigned everyone a nickname. He famously called his Chief Strategist Karl Rove “Turd Blossom.”]

One of the book’s most interesting portions, for me, a 37-year veteran educator, dealt with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. DeVos has absolutely no experience in education and it can be said that she bought her spot in the Cabinet. She refused to give opening remarks to the HBCU all-stars that Omarosa was championing, and Omarosa had to approach head of Cabinet Affairs Bill McGinley to get him to intervene. DeVos had tried to shut down the event by sending a blast notice that it was off. She cost the U.S. government $75,000 in cancellation fees. (The event ultimately went forward). She writes, “By June I’d given up on Betsy DeVos…” She goes on to say that she had made it her priority to get congressional support for HBCUs and overall African American policy priorities and, therefore, invited the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) to meet with Trump on at least 2 occasions. (It did not go well.) Here are Omarosa’s words about Betsy DeVos:

“She is still serving and destroying the education system in this country. The depth and breadth of her ignorance is a travesty for the children. In each Cabinet meeting, I was seated in the row near her. I can tell you, after a year of sitting in those meetings and observing her, that she’s woefully inadequate and not equipped for her job. She is just as horrible as you suspect she is. When she recently visited New York City, she went to several schools, but not a single one that was run by the city. New York has more than 1,000,000 public school students, but she did not tour one public school. Not one. She does not care about your children. Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.”

Paul Manafort’s Trial/Verdict Under Attack by Trump

By Connie Wilson

On August 18, 2018

In Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, Politics

I’m not sure I’ll have a graphic to illustrate today’s Trump ruminations.

Having just heard Trump going on about what a “good person” Paul Manafort is (or was) in a news clip, when is it acceptable for a President to use his bully pulpit to interfere in the jury deliberations of a man against whom there is overwhelming evidence that he tried to defraud the U.S. government (and others) of rightful taxes by establishing overseas accounts in various tax havens? Shouldn’t the Donald be shutting up right about now?

But, no. He is ranting on about what a “great” and “good” person Manafort, his former campaign chairman, is, which has certainly got to be considered anything but objective weighing of the evidence against Manafort AND prejudicial to a jury that might have dyed-in-the-wool Trump supporters amongst the twelve.

Any fact-based person would take a look at the faked bills of sale from gardeners and others, (with the owners of those companies taking the stand to testify that that is NOT their legitimate bill), and would say, “Well, at the very least, he’s a crook.” And a liar. And an opportunist who worked for the worst of the worst amongst dictators in Russian countries, which is not undocumented and not in dispute.

When the money ran out, Manafort began creatively spinning various stories to get money to support what most of us would say was a lavish lifestyle,–unless you are “in” to $900,000 ostrich jackets. (Loved the skit where an ostrich takes the stand and testifies against Manafort, on Seth Meyer’s late-night TV commentary). There’s a fantastically revealing story about Manafort’s financial decline in the latest issue of “Vanity Fair.”

The defense would have you believe, “Well, his second-in-command (Gates) is reponsible.” But, as one talking head put it, “If Gates was the quarterback, Manafort was Jerry Jones and owned the team.” It is worth noting that Gates netted a salary of only (note: I say “only” because we’re talking in millions of dollars for Manafort) $240,000 a year for keeping the books, while Manafort supposedly was paying himself over a million and a half (or more) from off-shore accounts to himself, illegally. And, of course, Gates embezzled from Manafort, so: “birds of a feather.”

At the very least, the presence of multiple offshore accounts to keep from having to pay U.S. taxes does not make Manafort a “good” person when he was the ring master for putting Donald J. Trump in office. Nor does it make Betsy DeVos a good choice for a Cabinet post (Secretary of Education) when she doesn’t have ANY experience in education (or much in finance) and sails a ship that is NOT registered under a U.S. flag, to keep from paying normal higher wages to the ship’s employees and to avoid port taxes of a U.S. registered ship. But that’s the kind of “draining the swamp” we’ve had with the Head Alligator in charge. Trump charges the Secret Service for use of his golf carts and really gouged those who rented the floor above him in Trump Tower for a while (his security detail). Since then, an unsightly trailer has been established outside the Trump Tower and is set up as Command Central for Trump’s security detail, to avoid the fleecing that was taking place in billing the government outrageous sums for a roof over their heads.

And let’s not even get started on the many other ways Donald J. Trump and family are making out like bandits while in office. It sure makes the days when former Presidents like Harry S. Truman (“The buck stops here”) refused to even take his pension, or when Jimmy Carter said he would not take positions, post presidency, on boards that might make it appear that he was profiting from having held the highest office in the land seem quaint and long ago. Has the entire morality and ethics of the U.S. really gone this far downhill in such a short time?

A few (not many, but a few) of my smart friends voted for Trump and have the cojones to admit it. They thought they were getting somebody from “outside” politics who would stop wasteful spending and rid the government of people like those now exclusively running it. They were wrong, and, some day, they will admit they were wrong, but, for now, can we just agree that jacking the national debt up, the way it has been increased under Trump is NOT a good thing? (Oh, for the days of Clinton’s surplus) and removing Obama’s ban on selling the extremely accurate missiles and bombs that just killed a schoolbus full of children in Yemen (when aimed at them by the Saudis) was probably another “bad” idea. Why remove that prohibition, which was put in place precisely because the previous administration feared that the Saudis might use them in such a way. (Let’s not forget that most of the 9/11 bombers were Saudis, something that the Bush administration tried to have us conveniently forget.)

In fact, this entire Trump presidency: bad idea. Let’s figure a way to start over and push the restart button that Hillary Clinton famously offered Putin once. No, I don’t mean by putting the much-maligned and unpopular former First Lady in office, but simply by getting rid of Agent Orange (as Spike Lee calls him) as quickly as we can. Our very survival may depend on it as we teeter and careen from crisis to crisis without a sane or smart hand on the tiller and with the entire National Security apparatus under constant attack. (John Brennan, anyone?)

Trump Revokes Security Clearances of True Patriots Like John Brennan

By Connie Wilson

On August 16, 2018

In Editorial, News, Politics

Wouldn’t it be too perfect if a black woman (Omarosa) finally took down Donald J. Trump’s presidency? For her part, the reality TV star turned White House hanger-on has said, “Donald Trump has met his match.” And this sorry presidency marches on, revoking the security clearance of former CIA Chief (and CBS on-air expert) John Brennan.

Today, with the vindictive actions of Trump in regard to true patriots like former CIA Chief John Brennan, in revoking Brennan’s (and others) security clearances, primarily to divert attention from the release of and content of the Omarosa tapes (the original order removing the security clearances was dated July 27, but NOW is a better time to distract the public) there has been push-back. Trump has admitted he took his action in a vindictive fashion, much like dictators in tin pot banana republic might punish opponents by actions like this, or worse.

When will ALL members of Congress wake up and see this for themselves? Some have, but they are the ones (Jeff Flake comes to mind) who have deserted the sinking ship of state, even though Trump is ostensibly a Republican. Hard to believe that anyone believes he is really a Republican, but nevermind.

Attorney McNamara (also a woman) for Simon & Schuster has taken the grenade that Trump directed be thrown through their publisher’s window, picked it up and thrown it right back, with the response that they will not let their clients be intimidated and are planning on releasing Omarosa’s book. McNamara said they have documentation that sounds vaguely intimidating if you are Donald J. Trump, crouched in the White House in a stance that Richard M Nixon learned to know only too well. The guy has to be unraveling and this latest action—-erratic, unkind and ungrateful as it is—seems to be just another symptom of Trump’s spiraling status.

“Is it appropriate for you to punish your critics?” asked a reporter at the White House. Trump glowered and did not respond, as per usual.

“Mr. Trump’s claims of no collusion are, in a word, hogwash,” said John Brennan. A retired Navy Admiral called John Brennan “a man of unparallelled integrity and honor.” He went on to say he would consider it a badge of honor to have his own security clearance revoked by the current occupant of the White House, whom Spike Lee calls Agent Orange.

But Donald J. Trump a man of integrity? Not so much. I saw a “breaking news” bulletin that stated this even more baldly, declaring that “Trump has humiliated us abroad, embarrassed us, and divided us as a nation.” All true.

Fierce fall out has come from Congress, (but not fierce enough yet). Susan Collins (R, Maine) says she doesn’t see the grounds for revoking John Brennan’s security clearance. Senator Orrin Hatch came to Trump’s defense; really, Orrin? Trump’s unconscionable actions speak for themselves, including his dalliances with prostitutes and porn stars and other remarks (“dog” aimed at Omarosa) and embarrassments (remember him shouldering aside the head of another country at that summit meeting?).

In a free democratic society, freedom of speech is granted each of us and there is no excuse for this kind of vindictive action towards John Brennan or anyone else who has dared to point out the fact that it is very likely that Donald J. Trump colluded with Russia in order to win the 2016 election. He is entitled to his opinion, which is also my opinion and probably that of the majority of right-thinking U.S. citizens, at this point.

Only Trump’s most loyal base members think otherwise. Savvy customers like John Brennan can see for themselves what most of the rest of us admit, (some of us more grudgingly than others.)

None of us WANTS to believe that the plot of The Manchurian Candidate has become fact

As my former chemistry teacher, Bill Hatfield, used to say, “Facts and figures don’t lie.”

He also used to say, “Figures don’t lie, but any fool can figure.”

This guy in the White House is a verified serial liar who can’t get the facts right,— if he even knows them. Nor can his Press Secretary, who released incorrect data during a recent press conference on the number of jobs for African-Americans that were created under Trump vs. Obama (Trump’s nemesis and constant target.)

When will those in Congress and the Senate decide that “enough is enough” and impeach this guy?

San Antonio Film Festival, August 1-5 in San Antonio

By Connie Wilson

On August 2, 2018

In Mexico, Movies, Politics, Reviews, travel

The 24^th Annual San Antonio Film Festival kicked off at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts at 100 Auditorium Circle, San Antonio, Texas, on August 1^st, 2018.

Longtime director Adam Rocha, who has led the group for 24 years, did not greet us as we drifted in to get our credentials, and my badge, listing me as a Screenplay Finalist for THE COLOR OF EVIL, was MIA. (I was given a VIP badge, instead.)

Most of us waiting for the 6 p.m. kick-off films were directed to a small café across the street called Pharm Market that was heavily in to health food(s). There were literally no soft drinks (like Coca Cola or 7-Up) but there was a table serving free alcoholic beverages (beer and wine) and many strange delicacies that I did not have the time nor inclination to sample.

We headed over to the opening film(s) at 6 p.m. selecting between “Tecumseh, the Last Warrior” directed by Alvarez Studio and Larry Elikann or “They Call Me King Tiger,” directed by Angel Estrada Soto.

6:00 p.m. Premiere Showing was here.

My husband chose the latter film, which had this synopsis:“In June, 1967, the court of Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico, was assaulted by armed men under the command of Chicano leader Reies Lopez Tijerina. The outcome of such bold action was the largest manhunt in the recent history of the United States. Tijerina managed to survive prison, a psychiatric hospital, and several assassination attempts. The Chicano movement faded away, and everyone thought the same of Tijerina. People spoke of him as a saint, a man illuminated, a man that used violence looking for a fair cause. They called him King Tiger. King Tiger is alive and he wants to tell his story.”

Some of this was misleading, as King Tiger recently died at age 88 (and insisted that he be dressed in his coffin as a Muslim to illustrate his conviction that he was a prophet; people had to be flown in from Chicago to accomplish this).

The story as told by Director Larry Elikann had a meandering documentary quality that did not serve the extraordinary story well. There definitely was feature film potential in the story of King Tiger, but this treatment, witnessed by only 9 people sitting on hard-backed chairs, was probably not it.

San Antonio, Texas, Aug. 1-5, 2018

For one thing, this was the Premiere of the film and the Director was not present.

For another, as we moved into the main substance of the story, it was still unclear what injustice, exactly, King Tiger was trying to rectify. It purports to be the story of New Mexico’s Hispanic peoples losing their land to “the gringos,” much like the Indians lost their land to European settlers. Quote: “These lands were robbed, and we want them back.” The 1848 Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty was at the bottom of much of the dissent, but the terms of that treaty are never spelled out for the viewer.

There were allusions to such historic figures as Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez and Malcolm X, but King Tiger’s followers never numbered more than 14,000 to 20,000, from the film’s reckoning, and, when he was a handsome firebrand of a man who had “boundless courage because he was always living in some other realm” he didn’t exercise his power as skillfully as MLK.

A conversation is recounted that supposedly took place between Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy and Chicano leader Reies-Lopez Tijerina. Bobby Kennedy supposedly said, to the firebrand leader, “There was a war. You lost it and we won it. Go home.”

Tobin Center for the Performing Arts

A Treaty of Hidalgo is constantly mentioned, supposedly transferring one-half of what was then Mexico’s land to the United States. The statement is made: “They lost their lands through diverse legal movements, so he (King Tiger) led a campaign to reclaim those lands.”

How devoted the followers were seemed to be one problem. A friend and acquaintance of Reies’ recounted a rally at which Reies asked how many of those present “will fight like a she-dog fights to protect her puppies” to get back the land. He asked them to stand up, if willing. One-third of the men present stood up. Reies then told his followers that those who didn’t stand up should be among the first killed. This took me back to a horrifying documentary I saw at the Chicago International Film Festival about just such neighbor purging neighbor that happened in the Philippines, when the U.S. encouraged the removal of Communists and atrocities were perpetrated, neighbor upon neighbor.

Interior of Tobin Center for the Performing Arts

The film consisted largely of interviews with the extremely elderly (age 88) Reies himself, who wandered on about dreams and angels and was a shadow of his former firebrand self. If anything, it was an object lesson in how death comes for us all and the most dynamic among us will be weakened and withered by time, as Reies definitely had been. His three wives are interviewed and many of his numerous children, some of whom recount beatings at Reies’ hand. The prettiest daughter from his first marriage was incarcerated after Reies formed a small band of armed men and marched on the courthouse.

He then was arrested in a manhunt (2,000 National Guardsmen were searching for him) that was not as dramatic as the program claimed. He said he was in the back seat of a car on the way to Coyote when he was apprehended. Reies is quoted as saying, “I’m chewing up the gringos no matter who is in the middle.”

One of his wives—a second wife who left him—said, “He wanted to be fighting, fighting, fighting. I didn’t want to do anything.” His son by a second marriage remembered that Dad told him: :You are nothing. You are never going to be a man like I am.” The prettiest daughter, Rosita, who went to prison after the attack Reies engineered on the courthouse, said, “I don’t want to talk about or remember any of that. I think that people saw him as a terrorist. All my 6 brothers and I were beaten by him.”

So, not overwhelmingly positive as a leader and Man of the People.

The English subtitles were also rife with errors. Example: “”Take this (sic) pills, please.” This was in reference to what was said to be psychological torture that Reies underwent in prison. His first trial, when he defended himself, he was found innocent, but the film suggests that he was a victim of double jeopardy or that various trumped-up charges kept recurring. One of his wives, Maria Escobar, had a house that was attacked and Reies swears that the attack was by thugs from the government.

Tobin Center for the Performing Arts

As nearly as I could determine from the meandering plot and lack of focus, Reies was declaring that all those lands were taken illegally by District Attorney Alfonso Sanchez and that they were taken from Mexican and sold to white people and Sanchez was the person they hoped to get when they marched on the courthouse.

Just before his death, Reies told the interviewer, “What happened, happened, my friend.” His wife said he asked for forgiveness before he died.

The Awards Ceremony for the San Antonio Film Festival will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday night and the world premiere of “Stella’s Last Weekend,” a new comedy from writer/director Polly Draper (“Thirty Something”) will follow at 9 p.m.

Formerly of “Fame.”

A debut film from Director Jesse Borego (“Fame”) “Closer to Bottom,” will screen on Sunday, August 5^th. It deals with two brothers who are coping with the death of their father when both fall for the same girl.

The San Antonio Film Festival began on August 1^st and will conclude with the showing of Boreo’s film on Sunday, August 5^th.