"It is not upon you to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it."

             County Executive Ike Leggett (left) and Congressman John Sarbanes (right)

Yesterday I attended the annual Maryland District 14 Democratic Club Holiday Party at Catherine & Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett’s home.   The context: Clinton won Montgomery County with 75% of the vote; Trump received 19%; statewide, the margin was 60%-34%.  President Obama’s national approval ratings have been over 50% for most of the year, and the most recent poll (Gallup) shows him at 58% approval; and the nationwide popular vote shows Clinton beating Trump 48%-46%. 

But, as we all know, this did not translate to election results that would continue the Obama Legacy.  Instead, we now have in incoming Republican power structure that not only threatens to wipe out that Legacy, but to undo the progress not only of the Great Society, but of the New Deal, as well.  Everything that the federal government has done in the last 83 years to keep Capitalism from going off the rails and to move toward a fairer society is in jeopardy.

So the mood at the Leggetts was not what we thought it would be prior to November 8.  There was much discussion about where we go from here, nationally.  We all know that the next years are going to be difficult, and that we will have much work to do to win the next elections and then to rebuild from the carnage which now seems likely.

Ike spoke to the assembled crowd, as did Congressman John Sarbanes, whose congressional district encompasses much of D. 14.  Here, I will do my best to relate some of what they said.

As a matter of background, I have been a bit depressed, knowing that so much of what I hold dear is now on the Republican chopping block. The thought of having to rebuild at an age at which I would have hoped to be able to sit back and enjoy the view of the America I treasure is upsetting. 

But Ike’s remarks really put it into perspective, making my personal pain seem relatively small.  He spoke of meeting with elderly African Americans in our community – people in their 80s and 90s – who experienced the impact of legal segregation and state and societal discrimination from the time they were born, but then worked to change the country and saw things change radically for the better.  People who, in their last years, saw progress on the five yard line with the country ready to enter the end zone – the sports metaphor equivalent to the Promised Land.  And now they see that they (we) have been pushed back to the other end of the field.  They may not live to see us regain the ground.  So it is incumbent on the rest of us to keep up the struggles. 

I did not experience the pain of the people Ike spoke about.  America has always been very good to me.  Ike’s words inspired me for the work ahead.

Then Congressman John Sarbanes spoke.  He is the son for our former Senator Paul Sarbanes, and his district has included our neighborhood from the time it was created after the last Census.  My impression of him has always been positive.  I am more impressed now.  The most important thing he talked about was how Democratic members of Congress are not going to let the Republicans off the hook.  They will be the Opposition Party.  They will push to the public consciousness the outrages that are coming. And, he told us, the Congressional Democrats are organizing to do that.   It appears that Sarbanes will be a leader in that effort. 

I wish him well.  I wish all of us well. We have a responsibility to both past and future generations to work to get America back on the right track.  Earlier in the day, I attended a meeting with the District 18 Maryland General Assembly delegation at Temple Emanuel (my synagogue), hosted by Jews United for Justice.  On the written agenda, JUFJ included the following familiar, but very pertinent passage:

“Rabbi Tarfon said, ‘It is not upon you to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.’”   

Life Goes On: Advocacy for LGBTQ Youth

                  Life goes on in the weeks before the likely Trump Inauguration.  While Trump has designated three unrepentant homophobes to lead the Departments of Justice, Education, and Health & Human Services – all key agencies involved, in recent years, in protecting the rights and lives of LGBTQ people -- all is not lost.  The progress we have made at the grassroots in places like Montgomery County will not be reversed. We can and will continue to advocate for our LGBTQ friends and family. 

                  One important community group is the (Rainbow Youth Alliance, founded by Stephanie Kreps, a fellow PFLAG parent.  Today I met with a group of RYA teenagers to describe the excellent anti-discrimination policies established by the Montgomery County Public Schools, and to hear any concerns they have about implementation. Had a great discussion with these terrific, thoughtful kids, and discussed strategies for securing implementation of the rights set forth in the MCPS policies. They know that the leadership in Montgomery County has their backs, and that there are plenty of people in our community who will help them if the need arises. And just as importantly, they are learning how to be advocates for themselves.

                  Pasted below is the handout I provided at our meeting.  Others involved with MCPS might find it useful. 

Summary of Materials re MCPS and Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity for the Rainbow Youth Alliance (December 4, 2016)

                  David S. Fishback, Maryland Advocacy Chair, Metro DC Chapter of PFLAG

                  Believe it or not, fifteen years ago MCPS pretended that everyone was straight. Teachers were forbidden from even mentioning sexual orientation or gender identity. But in 2002, that began to change, and, even though some forces tried to prevent progress, now MCPS enables full discussion of these matters in its secondary school health education classes See https://www.pflag.org/blog/curriculumvictorymontgomerycounty and

https://www.pflag.org/sites/default/files/Curriculum%20Victory%20in%20Montgomery%20County%202.pdf.   Health education teachers develop their own curricula, based, in part, on guidance from the American Psychological Association.  See http://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/orientation.pdf and http://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/transgender.pdf

                  And MCPS now has comprehensive policies for barring discrimination based on sexual or  gender identity.  These policies are set forward in:

The MCPS Employee Code of Conduct

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/staff/Refresh_2013_Content_Pieces/0047_17_EmployeeCodeofConduct_BOOKLET_ENG_web.pdf (page 6)

A Student’s Guide to Rights and Responsibilities http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/students/rights/StudentRightsResponsibilities-English.pdf (third unnumbered page and page 9)

MCPS Regulation JFA-RA (Student Rights and Responsibilities)

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/jfara.pdf (pages 1 and 2)

MCPS Regulation RGT-RA (User Responsibilities for Computer Systems,

Electronic Information, and Network Security)

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/igtra.pdf (page 2)

MCPS Regulation JHF-RA (Bullying, Harassment, or Intimidation) http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/jhfra.pdf (pages 1 and 2)

MCPS Form 230-35 (Bullying, Harassment, or Intimidation Reporting Form)

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/forms/pdf/230-35.pdf

(This form is also available in Spanish, French, Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese and Amharic: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/forms/detail.aspx?formID=40&formNumber=230-35&catID=1&subCatId=44

                  In addition, last August, MCPS published comprehensive Guidelines Regarding Student Gender Identity Matters. 

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/departments/studentservices/gender-identity-matters.pdf 

(The Metro DC Chapter of PFLAG and the Rainbow Youth Alliance formally alerted all high school LGBTQ club sponsors to these Guidelines in October.  All principals, school nurses, and guidance office personnel have or should have received notification of these Guidelines. )

Building on the American Non-Trumplican Majority for Political Victory in the Future

An update for all of us who are trying to figure out what the Nov. 8 voting portends for future elections.

First, as of close of business November 22, it appears, contrary to earlier reports, that 2016 turnout (134,041,442) actually exceeded the 2012 turnout (129,085,410). That gap will be larger when the remaining votes are tabulated.

Second, Clinton, as of November 22, has received 64,500,489 votes (48.1%) to Trump's 62,371,681 (46.5%) -- a plurality of more than two million votes. In 2012, Obama received 65,915,795 (51.1%) to Romney's 60,933,504 (47.2%). We must remember that the Democratic Party won the popular vote in the last three, and in four of the last five, presidential elections.  

Third, in the seven swing states won by Trump, he received a majority of the votes in only two: Iowa (51.%) and Ohio (51.8%). And all this with a Democratic candidate who carried some significant baggage and did not carry it very well.

The electoral future can be bright. In seeking to ameliorate -- or at least call to the nation's attention -- the damage that Trump and the Congressional Republicans will cause, activists most focus principally on strategies for building on this American majority so that the Electoral College and the gerrymandered Congress can return to their normal states of reflecting majority will. This must include a coherent message that will convince the 5.4% of the electorate who could not abide Trump, but could not accept Clinton, that the 2020 candidate is worthy of full trust. And this coherent message should not back away from the Democratic Party Platform.  

Most importantly, the Democratic message must include a forceful plan, forcefully presented, to help those left behind by technological change -- the very voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa who voted for Obama, but did not trust Clinton.

Sources:

http://cookpolitical.com/story/10174
http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2012/federalelections2012.pdf (p. 5)

The Smug Style in American Liberalism: How Did We Get There?

My son Mike has been posting some very wise and perceptive pieces on Facebook. Six days ago, he pointed people to this Vox article by Emmett Reisin, entitled "The Smug Style in American Liberalism."

Here is Mike’s introduction to it:

“To my fellow liberals/progressives: Bookmark this essay, which was published back in April. Place a reminder note on your calendar for, say, a week or two from now, once the election shock has worn off and the initial anger has run its course, to read this essay in full. You won't enjoy it. It was emotionally painful for me to get through. But it's such an important reference point as we collectively begin the journey of extricating ourselves from the political crisis we now find ourselves in.”

I just read it, and I agree with most of what is said. It should be read when you have the time to read and think about it. 

I have a few additional comments:

This dynamic has been going on since the mid-1960s, when our society's attempt to grapple with our racial past came at the same time when world economic changes began to threaten the newfound stability of America's white working class. These economic changes have been accelerating with each passing decade. Our inability to deal with these economic changes led, more than anything else, to the result in the 2016 presidential election. 

While Democrats had some ideas on how to deal with the problems faced by the newly displaced, those ideas were blocked by the Republican Congressional Party. The Democrats have held the Presidency for 16 of the last 24 years, but have only held both houses of Congress for four of those years. Still, most people hold the President more accountable for results than the Congress.

Thus, too many on the “left” found it easier to blame voters who, in our view, did not see this political dynamic, rather than to consistently and exclusively challenge the moneyed interests and ideologues who blocked efforts to ameliorate the collateral damage caused by a changing world economic order. This failure was due, I suspect, in large part to the sharp decline in the strength of the Labor Movement and the increasing dependency of Democratic politicians on Wall Street money. So, by and large, many took refuge from the failure to soften the rough edges of American Capitalism by focusing principally on social issues. (This was a big part of the Hillary-Bernie divide during the primaries.)

In any event, the thesis that it was easier to be smug about being “right” than to fight more vigorously for the economic health of the working classes seems true. That Trump was able to end-run the Democrats with a faux concern for the newly displaced may seem outrageous, but it should not be surprising.

A deeper dive into what would happen if no one gets a majority in the Electoral College

OK, I hope and pray that this will not happen.  Every chance I get, I have been phone banking for the Clinton Campaign.  While she has her flaws, I strongly believe she would make a good President -- and is far better on every issue than Trump/Pence: Climate change, economic equity, women's reproductive rights, LGBT rights, for example.  Trump, on the other hand, has proven to be a dangerous, amoral or immoral demagogue; and Pence's strongly-held policy views are an anathema to every piece of progress our society has made in the last 80 years.

Hillary Clinton is most likely to win on November 8.  Still, recent polling indicates that there could be a tie in the Electoral College or, if Evan McMullen carries Utah, that no one would win a majority (see here ).  Last March, I laid out a scenario of what would happen if no candidate secured a majority of the Electoral College votes and the presidential election went to the House.  See here.    So it is time to take a deeper dive into that subject.

Under the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, if no one gets a majority in the Electoral College, selection of the President goes to the House of Representatives and selection of the Vice President goes to the Senate.  The House chooses among the top three Electoral College vote-getters; the Senate chooses among the top two. 

To be elected president in the House of Representatives, a candidate (who must be in the top three in the Electoral College) needs a majority of the 50 state delegations.  Assuming no change in the balance of the state delegations following the November 8 election, the Republicans will have a majority in 30 delegations.  See here  Of those delegations, nine have an even number.  If five of those delegations deadlock, then the House cannot select a president.  Why would that happen?  Because some Republican members of Congress from those states might prefer to stop Trump in the House and leave it to a Republican-majority Senate to choose Mike Pence as Vice President – and, therefore, Acting President under the 12^th Amendment.  (Of course, if the Democrats take back the Senate, then the dynamic obviously would be different.)

It should also be noted that of the 30 delegations presently majority Republican, Colorado is 4-3 Republican and Wisconsin is 5-3 Republican.  A flip in one seat in each state in the upcoming election would reduce the number of majority Republican delegations to 28.  That would mean that only three state delegations would have to deadlock to effectively throw the Presidency to whoever is elected Vice President in the Senate.

 Again, I hope and pray that it does not come to this.  Either a Trump or a Pence Presidency would be a disaster, each in its own ways.