Spartan Future

With Larry Nassar now sentenced to 175 years in prison for assaulting countless female athletes during his tenure with USA gymnastics and Michigan State University, the focus now turns to the role those institutions played in fostering a culture where such abuse could take place.

MSU has been in the spotlight this week as its board of trustees deals demonstrated aplomb comparable to that of Marie-Antoinette in dealing with the scrutiny the case has put on the university. The board stumbled in dealing with the fate of President Lou Anna Simon and appears overwhelmed by the depth of their accountability in dealing with the Nassar scandal. 

Michigan Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley, an MSU alumnus, has stated publicly the university should set aside hundreds of millions of dollars to compensate victims and stop fighting lawsuits brought by those Nassar harmed. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schutte has launched an investigation to look into MSU's actions and culpability in the Nassar case. Such a strategy represents clear steps forward in both human decency and institutional accountability. It's also clear politics will play a role in the investigation and the future of MSU.

Both Calley and Schutte are likely to make a run for Michigan's GOP gubernatorial nomination. That in of itself may force them to break with the appalling track record of their party in selectively ignoring sexual predators but any outcome the university faces must deal with the failed individuals and culture responsible without crippling the state's largest public university for years to come. That will not be an easy task.

At a time when Detroit lost out on a bid to bring Amazon's second headquarters to southeast Michigan citing insufficient young talent, state politicians need to be careful not to allow the damage to one of the most important institutions for creating such talent to put Michigan at further disadvantage. The state and all its citizens will need to step up to make sure Nassar victims receive their due compensation and restructure oversight without making MSU unviable as a top educational institution.

State Republicans and Democrats will need to stand together against changes to Title IX that may weaken institutional responses to sexual assault. Ironically, it's a Michigan native, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, leading the charge to raise the standard of evidence in sexual assault cases to a higher bar than those that already allowed Nassar to thrive. DeVos is a national embarrassment demonstrating staggering incompetence given implications of the Nassar case. Michigan deserves, and can do, better.

Michigan State is one of three state public universities where trustees are elected on a statewide basis. MSU's ineffectual board comprised of ex-coaches, ex-jocks, and ex-politicians is a textbook example of parties how put forward name recognition candidates in a popularity contest rather than candidates serious about higher education. The opposite route of all gubernatorial appointees is equally distasteful. Michiganders need look no further than the other green and white state university, Eastern Michigan, who's appointed board of trustees has a distinguished history of dysfunction.

A mix of appointees, congressional district candidates, and at large state candidates is likely the way to build a functional board. However, a change like that will take an amendment to the Michigan constitution. 

MSU must recover. Viable, healthy, diverse and safe institutions of higher learning are key to Michigan's future. Michiganders everywhere must be part of the change to get there and must make it a priority. We are all accountable in preventing a future catastrophe like Larry Nassar and in preventing a spartan future for the Spartans of Michigan State. 

The Face of Immigration

Jorge Garcia was deported to Mexico last Monday after 30 years of living in metro Detroit. Garcia was brought to the United States undocumented at age 10. He works as a landscaper, has never been convicted of a crime, has a wife and two teenage daughters all of whom are American citizens. Too old for DACA protection, Garcia's wife says that the family has spent $125,000 in legal costs since 2005 trying to find a path for Garcia to legally remain in the country.

Living in plain sight as a working member of the community made easy pickings for the lazy thugs passing themselves off as agents in the Detroit Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. If President Donald Trump's statements about the sheer number of dangerous illegals in the country were true, ICE should have it's hands full corralling and deporting them at a pace that should make Garcia a pretty low priority.

ICE isn't overwhelmed on that front because Trump's statements are not true. The national debate around immigration, DACA, and enforcement is no longer a debate. The GOP side of the argument is based on lies. It's not possible to debate an untruth it's only possible to defend against it.

It's easy to armchair the Garcia case by saying the law is the law and Garcia was here illegally. While justice may be blind, it doesn't also have to be deaf and dumb. The law is imperfect. At best, it needs revision to accommodate the gray areas that have built up due to the imperfections; at worst it, violates the spirit of the constitution, the words at the bottom of the Statue of Liberty, and common decency.

Garcia's deportation may have been legal but it was far from just. The human face and family toll must not be overlooked as armchair pundits and hardliners bloviate from afar. How many immigration reform advocates could examine the situation, look Garcia's daughters in they eye, and tell them face to face their father is a criminal unworthy of this country? The only person unworthy of this country in such a scenario would be a person capable of saying that to those girls.

ICE agents did just that. Of course, they were just following orders. It's the classic Nuremberg defense, it's sickening, and begs the question of exactly what level of atrocity are these people capable.

The government is now closed as the battle over immigration reform and DACA escalates. It's a battle between those who value the importance of immigration and compassion versus a President and a Republican party that by all measure are xenophobic.

Jorge Garcia is just one of the faces of immigration. Another can be found in a mirror. Is the one seen there one capable of telling Garcia's daughters their father is not worthy? Is it capable of telling Dreamers to leave the only country they've ever known? If not, demand Republicans come back to the table with facts, not Trump lies, and find a truly American solution.

Words Said, Words Unsaid

Comedian Patton Oswald correctly noted that last Wednesday, a Google search of the words "Trump + shithole" returned results for nothing more than hotel reviews. All that changed Thursday when Trump, the most powerful racist in the world, use the term shithole in reference to a number of countries primarily populated by people of color.

Trump continues to be an abhorrent stain on all things decent. Republican politicians in general remain complicit refusing to denounce the President in equally "tough" language. In short, those not standing against Trump are racists, cowards, and deplorable.

The entire shitholeghazi episode is an outstanding reminder of why words matter. Mastery of language is one of the most powerful tools we have to elicit emotion and action. Trump can barely put a coherent sentence together most days and the limited vocabulary he uses diminishes the message and fails to lead the country toward any deliberate outcome other than chaos.

Trump's oratory style seems to register with some on a basic level. Supporters say they infer a clarity of word from Trump other politicians don't deliver. In actuality, the audience is often left to fill in the blank themselves on the message. Even in the instances where Trump doesn't put forth a statement in direct opposition to the position of his administration, staff and supporters routinely have to explain what the President meant to say.

One of the hallmarks of a leader is the ability to use language to deliver a message that bridges differences and moves them towards a common goal. Ronald Reagan could deliver a scripted speech with an aplomb even his detractors had to admire. Barack Obama's eloquence of delivery is without political match. Trump is neither accomplished or eloquent. His merely delivers emotionally charged statements, offering scapegoat over substance, that resonate with supporters looking for someone to blame for their socioeconomic situation.

Adolph Hitler used a similar strategy. Fortunately, Trump can't match Hitler's mastery of word and discipline of message. Hitler workshopped his delivery, hand gestures, and body language while practicing his speeches. Trump tweets the first thing that comes to mind while watching Fox News. That seems to indicate Donald Trump isn't even a stable genius by comparison to Adolph Hitler.

The fact the Republican establishment cannot bring itself to strongly condemn Trump for his words is astonishing. Words left unsaid also matter. Two of the three Republicans in the room during shitholeghazi said they didn't recall the remarks. They are either tone deaf to racism or lying. Either way, the message the Republican party is sending is that it is complicit with racism.

Trump and the Republicans must be held accountable for the words they've used as well as those they haven't.

A Tale of Two Geniuses

Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, the Michael Wolff tell all book on the inner workings of the Trump White House tops the best-seller list and, at face value, seems to confirm all the worst fears of the Trump resistance. What's less than clear is how much of Wolff's work should be passed off as gossip and how much is fact. Wolff has faced some controversy around the accuracy of the some content but some of the most damning quotes against Trump came from former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon who has apologized for some but denied none of them.

In the end, it is Trump himself that has given the book the most credence by replying to the questions it raises about his mental fitness in a way that gives anyone pause to question his mental fitness:

....Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018

....to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius....and a very stable genius at that!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018

The label of stable genius with which Trump brands himself is too close to Wile E. Coyote's self proclamation of super genius not to be found ironic and comical. Yet there really is nothing comical about Trump or his administration.

While the sensational highlights of the book has captured public attention the past week, the Trump administration continues its malevolent march into history. Thursday, the administration unveiled a plan to open vast new stretches of federal waters to oil and gas drilling going against decades of bipartisan agreement to the contrary. On Friday, federal immigration officials said they will proceed with the deportation of an Ohio man who is the sole provider and trained medical caregiver of a 6-year-old paraplegic boy.

The former continues the doctrine of pillaging the planet for profit Trump notably began with the Paris climate accord withdrawal. The latter continues the deliberate torture of individuals Trump sanctions at the hands of the common thugs into which he has transformed agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The values demonstrated by those two decisions do not reflect those of much of the nation but they were enacted by the man rightfully elected president. Or were they? The most concerning question raised by the Wolff book may not be about the President's mental fitness to govern but rather, while Trump flails about in a childlike manner, who is actually drafting and executing policy?

Fire and Fury purports Senate Leader Mitch McConnell allegedly saying, “He (Trump) will sign anything we put in front of him.” However, during the press tour for the book Wolff also said of the administration, "the train will hit the wall." It's easy to believe the cabal of GOP leaders are deliberately trying to squeeze as much loot out of the country for their rich contributors before the end of the line. Trump and his disorganized band of ideologues and lackeys provide the perfect cover.

Trump finds himself in a spot familiar to that of fellow genius Wile E. Coyote. The latter is no stranger to train wrecks. Two geniuses, one a cartoon, the other a coyote. Both have illusions of grandeur destined to fail, often being out thought and out maneuvered by those around them.

Beep Beep.