Valentine’s Greetings, Impeachment Now Over and Done, Looking Back and Forward

   Valentine’s Day greetings to one and all. We need something to boost our         spirits!

Gone are the days when I first moved to Capitol Hill, back when visitors could just walk into the Capitol building or large groups could rally outside on the national mall without barriers. Many changes have occurred over the more than a half century since I moved into my present home. What was once a racially and economically mixed neighborhood has now become totally gentrified, along with soaring property taxes.

Those of us living near the Capitol bore personal witness to the events of January 6, 2021. By walking only a few blocks, we could see rowdy crowds gathering that same morning; we heard shouts and sirens for hours all day long and well into the night. Did Mr. Trump ever tell his followers to stop or stand down? No, he urged them on, urged them to “stop the steal.” He could not win re-election legitimately, so he wanted to cheat. In fact, he never enjoyed majority support among voters.

Future historians will have access to full video and audio of Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric, the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and his subsequent impeachment trial, allowing them to readily reconstruct events. The Congressional impeachment hearings also have allowed voters and the American public to actually witness details of the attack and the extent of deaths, injuries, and destruction. Unfortunately, Mr. Trump could not be barred from future office without being finally impeached. He needed to be impeached first before the vote to bar him from future office could occur, that latter vote requiring only a simple majority, while impeachment required a 2/3rds majority. Barring Trump from future office was actually the most important part of the whole process. He could always be allowed to play golf and watch TV to his heart’s content, but it was most important for both major parties that he not be allowed to run for office again. His interference into the Republican Party had already impelled lawmakers to leave office and some voters to even leave the party altogether, sometimes to join what is pejoratively referred to as the “Democrat,” not Democratic, Party  

During his second impeachment, Mr. Trump’s legal defense team relied mostly on name-calling, describing the case against their client as “political theater,” “smoke and mirrors,” “a witch hunt,” “a brazen political act,” and “cancel culture,” motivated only by “Trump derangement syndrome” and “hatred” of Donald Trump, not very substantive or convincing arguments. Why would Trump particularly inspire “hatred”? It’s a question never addressed. Trump himself has often used name-calling in place of arguments. Were any facts actually presented? His lawyers bemoaned the lack of “due process,” but this was not a criminal trial, nor were there any criminal penalties. They played multiple clips of Democratic politicians urging followers to “fight,” used there only symbolically and without ensuing violence. In contrast, Mr. Trump was well aware of his cult-like hold on his followers, whom he had urged to come to Washington to fight the “stolen” election, and he knew they would take him literally. Granted, I was listening with a skeptical ear.

The former president, as our national leader needed to be held to a higher standard and not allowed to urge illegal activity and violence under the guise of free speech, but that seemed to be his main defense. His counsel also argued that he was already out of office, so not subject to impeachment any more. Trump was reportedly unhappy with his impeachment defenders at first, but his case had so little merit that he was lucky to get anyone at all to defend him. Later on, he apparently changed his mind about the job his counsel was doing, childishly enjoying clips of Democratic politicians calling on constituents to “fight.” In the end, especially after Senate Leader McConnell announced he would not vote to convict, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. Trump escaped a final verdict because of his hold on Republican primary voters, making party office holders leery of crossing him. He is already plotting payback to Republicans who voted against him. This was a partisan trial; Senate jurors were not impartial and did not vote according to the evidence or their conscience. Many Republicans had already decided to exonerate Trump before even hearing the evidence. But if there had been a secret ballot, Trump would have been barred from future office forever.

President Biden wisely mostly stayed out of the impeachment effort, though he reportedly watched some footage. As the impeachment hearings went on, both legislators and the public seemed to be growing weary and other Congressional activities were being put on hold. So, since the Senate vote was foreordained, it went forward as expected, not exonerating Trump but not convicting him either. The Senate needed two-thirds of the 100-member body to vote for conviction, but fell short of the 67-vote threshold with 57 members finding him guilty and 43 finding him not guilty, letting Trump off the hook once again, though his legacy had been further tarnished, not by impeachment itself, but by what the process had further revealed about him.   

Donald Trump, as our president, was certainly no hero on Jan. 6. Instead that honor goes to Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, soon to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, who is credited with steering Senator Mitch Romney and others away from danger.

Many of us remain anxious about the prospect of Trump’s return to public life. We still feel traumatized after four long years. My own shock and dismay first began back when he was declared the surprising and surprised winner around midnight on election evening, Nov. 8, 2016. How could that be when he had fallen behind by a record 3 million votes? Yes, he had won due to an unprecedented quirk of the Electoral College, which never before had given victory to a candidate with such huge vote deficit. The very next day, I was scheduled to give a talk on my Confessions book in Hillary Clinton’s hometown of Chappaqua, NY, a date set before anyone had expected Trump to win. The upbeat library announcement appears below. Dutifully, I set out early for Chappaqua via bus and train. Not unexpectedly, I found the planned celebration there had turned to gloom and only 8 people attended my talk. My whole book had been written expecting Hillary to win. Can we be selective about our memories, choosing to dwell mostly on pleasant memories and tamping down those causing distress? I would like to recall the few brave people who showed up to my talk and asked pertinent questions about Cuba and Latin America, topics far from the minds of most citizens on that day. Hillary's neighbors had put up a sign at her driveway that morning.  

[My library talk announcement] Looking into the Crystal Ball on U.S.-Cuba Relations.  What’s Next? 

Author and long-time human rights activist Barbara E. Joe (last name courtesy of late Korean father-in-law), a Spanish hospital interpreter in Washington, DC, and volunteer Caribbean coordinator for Amnesty International USA, will discuss her recent book, Confessions of a Secret Latina: How I Fell Out of Love with Castro & In Love with the Cuban People. The renewal of U.S.-Cuba diplomatic relations is a first step, but hardly the end of a longstanding fractious relationship, nor have the benefits trickled down to the Cuban people. Barbara will take a frank look at Cuba’s human rights record and the prospects for change. Her book is also a memoir of a life marked by challenges and tragedy. Signed copies will be for sale after her talk, along with those of her previous award winning book: Triumph & Hope: Golden Years with the Peace Corps in Honduras. Barbara, a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, has traveled frequently to Cuba and volunteers yearly with medical brigades and other humanitarian projects in Honduras. Proceeds from the Cuba book go to human rights defenders there, with those from the Honduras book used for humanitarian projects in that country. 

Wed. Nov. 9. 2016, 7-8:30 pm, Chappaqua Public Library, 195 Greeley Ave., www.chappaqualibrary.org  

Melania Trump has announced plans to continue her “Be Best” campaign, whatever that means, from Florida. Her parents have reportedly now joined her at Mar-A-Lago. From confidential reports, it sounds like she is getting a bit bored. Who knows what legal arrangements she has with Donald? It’s hard to imagine she is “in love” with him, as he does not seem particularly attractive to women, actually rather repulsive, which is why he has to lure them either by force or economic enticement. Of course, some female cult followers probably would do anything he asked. Melania is not one of them. She looks like she is gritting her teeth whenever he grabs her hand or nudges her to smile for the cameras.

Trying to figure out a public person from afar is risky and colored by our own prejudices, but Donald Trump has acted so contrary to our usual expectations for a US president that it’s hard to avoid speculating about what ails him. Late night comics are flummoxed, unable to caricature his behavior because it’s already so extreme. Yet his base gleefully identifies with his blatant breeching of common norms. In private, might The Donald actually be generous and funny, inclined to self-deprecating humor? Not likely. No tell-all books have ever depicted him that way. Rather, he comes off in confidential firsthand accounts as someone who has never loved nor felt loved, someone striving constantly for the adoration of a crowd to compensate, always seeking fulsome praise, whether genuine or false, from anyone and everyone. He seems only to derive self-confidence, self-worth, from expressions of adulation from others.

With impeachment over for now, hope everyone has managed to have a happy Valentine’s Day, despite the pandemic.

New virus infections do finally seem to be on a downward trajectory, at least in the US. I’ve had the first Pfizer shot myself. Double-masking is recommended, but makes it hard to breathe. The virus must get under control worldwide before life can return to “normal,” not that life before the pandemic was ever easy. What actually is normal? We’ve acquired a new found appreciation for folks we took for granted: mail carriers, grocery clerks, transit drivers.

From the Washington Post, Feb, 10, 2021, A French nun survived the 1918 flu pandemic and both world wars. Now she’s beaten coronavirus days before she turns 117. Wow! She is definitely a survivor, but would any of us really want to live to age 117?

Last month, the Brookings Institution updated a June survey on American fertility, concluding that 2021 would see a sharp drop in US births. The pandemic and its attendant economic recession would result in 300,000 to 500,000 fewer births in 2021, Brookings estimated, threatening what the thinktank called a “baby bust.” Brookings also cited a study by the Guttmacher Institute, a group that tracks data related to reproduction and health. That study – based on an internet survey of roughly 2,000 straight women of childbearing age – found that a staggering 34% of respondents had chosen to wait to get pregnant, or to have fewer children, as a result of the pandemic. With pandemic deaths added to lower fertility is it possible that world population will not increase or even actually shrink? Will US average life expectancy go down?

Changes are occurring in our national governance, not only domestically, but also internationally. Canada’s and Mexico’s leaders have now heard from President Biden, also China’s Xi, but Israel and Saudi Arabia no longer find themselves in a warm presidential embrace.

Bravo to Colombia for giving a million Venezuelans TPS, allowing them to live and work there, setting an example for us in the United States. How Maduro manages to still hang on is a mystery. Maybe Venezuelans are just too hungry and feeling too desperate to fight. Years ago, I began volunteering to advise beleaguered Venezuelan asylum seekers in this country. They are still coming. Maduro has outlasted Trump.

Below are a few headlines of special interest to me and I hope to you.

From Newsday, the Small Kingdom that Has Kept Coronavirus at Bay https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p096shjd

Yes, that's what Bhutan folks tell me, that isolation has kept them safely

sealed off in their mountain kingdom, away from the rest of the world. Fortunately, they still have internet to communicate with the rest of us.  
One of my former Bhutan visitors just sent me this message today: Bhutan was lockdown twice as they detected community spreading COVID and me and my family were inside the house from December 20 to January 30. Now we are moving around and office and shops are opening. My son is going to school by March now. Well, I have been watching CNN news and had seen trump supporters protesting Capitol Hill and also watched the inauguration of joe Biden as 46th president of United States. Also watched the COVID death rate rising tremenously.
[Son's photo appears above.]

Here’s something from one of my former Peace Corps hometowns, La Esperanza.

The Guardian, Death of nurse detained over Covid curfew highlights violence faced by Honduran women, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/12/honduras-femicide-keyla-martinez-women-violence

This happened in La Esperanza, the “Hope” of my book title, Triumph & Hope. My first Peace Corps site, was El Triunfo, “The Triumph,” followed by La Esperanza, “The Hope,” where I moved when I extended my tour, which readers will already know if they've read my Honduras book. I've been back there many times since to volunteer with medical brigades in nearby villages. I've already asked friends there and elsewhere about this case. No replies yet. 

 Honduran president target of U.S. investigation, court filings show, https://www.yahoo.com/news/honduran-president-target-u-investigation-193129036.html

 

ABC News, US botched initial response to diplomats' brain injuries in Cuba: Declassified report, https://www.yahoo.com/gma/state-dept-botched-initial-response-200600862.html

Three Cubans survived for 33 days on deserted island eating coconuts and             rats, Associated Press, Wed, February 10, 2021,                                

https://www.yahoo.com/news/three-cubans-survived-33-days-                           015649832.html

Here’s what I told a friend who asked me about these 3 Cuban survivors: They are in medical treatment and detention right now. Since Obama ended Bill Clinton's "wet-foot/dry-foot" policy, most Cubans, like anyone else, now have to prove asylum claims, perhaps a little easier for Cubans because the Cuban government is especially harsh on suspected dissidents, though getting corroborating documents from Cuba is also pretty hard. However, deporting this trio would raise quite a ruckus, especially in south Florida. 

I know personally of a young couple who fled Cuba after the wife was allegedly attacked by the police and suffered a miscarriage. Her great uncle, now living in the US, was formerly a 22-year political prisoner, which would make her suspect in Cuba. She had evidence of the miscarriage, but no proof that the police had caused it, only that it was caused by a physical attack. A couple of years ago, the couple crossed the Texas border, asked for asylum, and were sent to detention in different states. At an asylum hearing, the husband was conditionally released, but the wife's subsequent claim was denied, so she remained in custody in Louisiana. (I’ve been an interpreter for asylum hearings whose outcomes seemed to depend a lot on the particular asylum officer.) The intervention of several Republican lawmakers finally won the wife’s release, but she had contracted Covid, so had to remain in detention. I believe now, after more than 2 years, she has finally been released, but the husband has changed his email and phone number, so I am unable to contact him to find out for sure. 

 

AP, Biden administration to allow 25,000 asylum-seekers into US, https://apnews.com/article/biden-25000-asylum-seekers-782c8495f29d9d73f2ffc80d5b2a2aef

Reuters, Haitian envoy to U.S. calls for international support to                 resolve crisis, https://www.yahoo.com/news/haitian- envoy-u-calls-                international-224131069.html

 NYTimes, Feb, 7, 2021, Haiti Braces for Unrest as President Refuses to Step Down, Constitutional Crisis Looms, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/07/world/americas/haiti-protests-President-Jovenel-Mois.html

The issue is whether President Jovenel Moïse’s presidential term ended on February 7th, 2021--or, as he claims, one year later.

Outcry as more than 20 babies and children deported by US to Haiti, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/08/us-ice-immigration-customs-enforcement-haiti-deportations?CMP=share_btn_link

Mexican leader says Biden offers $4B for Central America, Wall Street Journal, January 23, 2021
https://wjla.com/news/nation-world/mexican-leader-says-biden-offers-4b-for-central-america

Thanks in part to a boost by Tesla entrepreneur Elon Musk, Bitcoin’s popularity has been soaring. Like any currency, its value depends on the trust people give it. Any form of money depends on what human beings collectively decide it’s worth. Eons ago, barter involved the exchange of tangible goods. That gave way to representative forms, maybe sticks and stones at first, then metal coins, then paper bills. In cash-strapped countries like Cuba, actual US dollar bills are carefully hidden at home. There is nothing intrinsically valuable about a $100 bill; you cannot eat or wear it, but you can exchange it for something useful. Yet an almost identical counterfeit is worthless. Now we have bank balances only on paper or even just in cyberspace, but still exchanged for goods and services. So moving on to the even more abstract bitcoin is not a stretch, though its use and value are still evolving.

I’ve been asked to repost my Central America photo collages in a larger format for better viewing, so here they are again. Believe me, these maneuvers are not so easy, as what looks right when I post it may turn out appearing quite different on the actual blog.