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April 10, 2021

The Chestertown Spy

An Educational News Source for Chestertown Maryland

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Point of View Al Top Story

Gun Control: Go Upstream and Fix the 2nd Amendment by Al Sikes

March 31, 2021 by Al Sikes 24 Comments

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Mass shootings equal tragedy, a lot of talk and not much else. So let me make a radical suggestion. Go upstream, go to the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Change it, don’t argue about what can be done to circumvent it. Too many politicians use the persistence of gun control as an issue, as a political tool to raise money and enhance their position with single-issue voters.

It is time to let all Americans have a say! I am reminded of the Equal Rights Amendment initiative to assure the equal rights under the law for women. The amendment failed, but the “conversation” resulted in a number of laws that improved women’s rights.

Assault weapons should be carefully regulated. Common sense rules should be proposed and the overarching question should be what will work, not what will thread the needle of current political and constitutional objections. An amendment should provide constitutional room to write effective law.

Additions to the Constitution are difficult. If the Second Amendment is to be amended the addition should be simple, clear, limited and broadly appealing. My suggestion, a second sentence that says: The possession and use of military weapons and their facsimile can be regulated. Under current circumstances there are many efforts to regulate and often gun ownership or use that doesn’t need to be regulated gets swept up in our zeal to regulate military-style weapons.

By the way, I make this argument as a hunter who also does some recreational shooting at sporting clay ranges.

Automobiles that are potentially dangerous provide an interesting context. You have to be licensed to drive and you must have a key/fob to get into a car or truck that is locked. There should be a class of weapons that are treated similarly. When an applicant for a license to own a military-style weapon begins the application process, authorities should make sure past conduct does not disclose criminality or mental illness that might increase the propensity for violence. And, if I was writing regulatory law, there would also need to be a biometric identification before the weapon can be used.

Millions of persons hunt and shoot competitively with limited magazine guns. I cannot, for example, duck hunt with a shotgun that allows more than three shells. I have been to a number of sporting clay ranges; my experience is that you put one shell or at the most two shells in the chamber at a time. Any constitutional proposal should preclude interference with these activities. If that exemption is not clear an amendment initiative will fail.

I can hear the instinctive reactions. “Impossible”, “too slow”, “too demanding”. It is certainly true that amending the constitution is not quick nor easy, but it is also certain that real progress in preventing homicidal disasters will not occur without an amendment to the Constitution.

We are forever talking about the need for a national “conversation” on this or that. Attempts to amend the Second Amendment to the Constitution will assure such a conversation. It will also elevate the debate above the riven framework of recent decades. I say let the people decide, not the Washington lobby and their camp followers. But, yes there always seems to be a “but”. An important question is whether we can have a temperate debate? Should we be optimistic? We should find out.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

Filed Under: Al, Top Story

Biden’s Transition to the Left by Al Sikes

March 26, 2021 by Al Sikes 3 Comments

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Often the news is about the news; reporters and editors can’t help themselves. The month of March has been crowded with stories about President Biden not holding a news conference. And then it happens, and the only real story was that it happened.

President Biden specializes in anesthesia. When necessary, he administers a blend of words that force and then smooth the transition. He is, for example, transitioning from filibuster supporter to opponent, having absorbed a simple truth. A 50-50 split in the US Senate will preclude a historic presidency unless the filibuster goes or is modified.

Not surprisingly, he cares mostly about being leader, not whether the absence of the filibuster will at some point help the other side. And that is the greater truth. He believes or is forced to believe by the Left of his Party that foundational changes made during his time in office will change America for the better and not be completely rolled back. To me, that is the headline from the news conference.

The President was a caring parent when asked numerous questions about the rush to, and often through, the southern border. He was a moralist when talking about a federal takeover of voting procedures in the States. He was indignant with China, and he constantly returned to an overarching theme of helping working families. In short, what he might have missed in specifics, he more than made up for with tone. Ronald Reagan frequently wrong-footed a press horde that faulted him for being, let’s say, out of touch.

I do think at some point, President Biden is going to have to find a common cause with some of the ten or so Republicans who seem to want to find areas of compromise. When the rhetorical fabric includes threads of unity, it will begin to fray if the only reconciliation occurs within your own political party. And especially if the compromise forcing filibuster is, for all intents or purposes, eliminated because you cannot get votes from the other side. The President should remember that almost half of the American electorate is more conservative and much more conservative than his Party’s left-wing.

Finally, let me return to my “news is about the news” opening. Our representatives in Washington just assured us that we will borrow $1.9 trillion to fund a so-called Covid relief bill. And stories have appeared in the last several days suggesting that an announcement is imminent on a multi-trillion dollar infrastructure package. Maybe there should have been one set of questions that probed for the President’s thoughts about extreme deficits and sources of additional tax revenue.

The press also let the President evade answers on gun control even though there were two horrendous mass shootings within days of the news conference.

President Trump, for the most part, faced a belligerent press. In part, that was his fault because variations on his charges of “fake news” were delivered almost daily. But, the reporters of the day, whatever day, should not let the carefully prepared words and phrases (talking points) of a President, any President, go unchallenged.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

Filed Under: Archives

An Uncommon Book on the Ultimate Question by Al Sikes

March 17, 2021 by Al Sikes Leave a Comment

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Everybody at some point thinks about transcendence. It is not possible to live and not wonder, is this all there is? This is a higher truth, not one science needs to engage or that pollsters need to survey. It is nature’s coding. But then who is behind nature?

Humanity has chosen to professionalize the answer. Untold numbers dig and study and write and preach but most begin with history spanning the Old and New Testaments. Since I write as a Christian, let me begin with the New.

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote the Gospels; Luke, it is thought, wrote Acts and Paul wrote the most influential letters to the early followers of Jesus Christ. Paul was enormously influential in the development of the early church. While these writings were informed by history, they were also informed by a deep faith that Jesus was God’s son. Plus, two of the Gospel writers, Matthew and John, were Apostles who traveled with Jesus. Paul had been converted on the road to Damascus.

Two millennia later each generation searches for an answer to the enduring question, is there a second life for the most distinctive characteristic of my existence, my soul? We confront untold numbers of religions or quasi-religions, biblical interpretations, worship protocols and writings, each attesting to their informed wisdom. As both a believer and earthbound explorer, I recognize the conflicting tides of thought and asserted authority that confront our need for faith in an ultimate answer.

Mako Fujimura

Some years ago, while Chairing the Board of Directors of The Trinity Forum, I met Makoto or as he is known, Mako Fujimura. Mako is a much celebrated American artist. He combines what I think of as abstract expressionism with deeply felt natural influences. His work is also informed by traditional Japanese styles.

Mako cares deeply about our moment on earth and how this moment and our use of it can be an expression of God’s will and creativity. In his latest book, “Art+Faith: A Theology of Making” he writes about our creativity, and how “making”—an expression of our creativity—can give us deep insight into both what we believe and how we live. He understands intuitively that creation did not start and stop in biblical accounts.

Analyzing our way to a conclusion about whether God exists is hubristic. Mako suggests a more insightful and soulful approach: finding our way by being a co-creator.

Have you ever wondered where the impulse to make something originates? It’s source? Mako’s voice is informed, in part, by his art. But his deeper insight is expressed in pairing the Bible’s creation narrative with divine gifts we have received and our need to express ourselves.

He begins Chapter 5, Caring and Loving, the Work of Making:

“I hold three fresh eggs from my Plymouth Barred Rock chickens; the eggs are still warm in my hands. I want to make the best omelette possible….So I do some research and come up with YouTube videos of French master chef Jacques Pepin making omelettes. I watch this video over and over and follow the recipe precisely. But no matter how many times I watch the video or read the recipe, I find it difficult to make a simple omelette the way he does it so effortlessly.”

Humility is often a source of insight and drawing on his experience he writes, “Caring and loving are the fundamental elements of the act of making. We need to be connecting the revelation of God as the Creator in Genesis 1 with 1 John 4:8, “God is love.” Making connects knowing with our acts of love, and with the greater reality behind materials and the body.”

Mako, looking back, notes, “I understand now what I did not understand as a child: that every time I created and felt (a charge or energy), I was experiencing the Holy Spirit.”

I have the benefit of looking back over a long life. The world in which I was a boy was far from perfect, but it was certainly more emotionally balanced than today. And there were many more makers. Omelettes, yes, or at least meals prepared at home, not in distant kitchens scaled for mass production. And it was a time when people who wanted to meet customer needs didn’t have to look over their shoulder at big box stores or massive online sellers like Amazon. And those returning from distant battlefields, they wanted to make organizations that would help ensure a lasting peace.

But, my personal recollections are recalled with humility. The Parable of the Good Samaritan has been the font of creative outreach. Michelangelo’s inspiration did not start or stop at the Sistine Chapel. Across a broad sweep of divine gifts humans have created untold numbers of hospitals, educational institutions, research centers and on and on.

Mako is an artist who explores not just the inspirations and tools of art but as well the inspiration to create—its transcendent dimension. “Art+Faith: A Theology of Making” is Mako turning from fine arts to writing and opening up a world unlike any you have ever explored. This is an uncommon book, a timeless one.

Perhaps the deepest thread in Mako’s concept of co-creation is kintsugi. He converts this ancient Japanese art to our most personal need—healing. Kintsugi is an “art form of repairing broken tea ware by reassembling ceramic pieces, creates anew the valuable pottery, which now becomes more beautiful and more valuable than the original, unbroken vessel.”

In a sense Mako Fujimura’s book arrives when all of us are or should be reaching for the arts of healing. A shot or pill comes to our physical rescue, but we need so much more.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

 

Filed Under: Al, Top Story

Thoughts on Leadership by Al Sikes

March 10, 2021 by Al Sikes 1 Comment

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In February of the Joe Biden presidency, cable news spent 1,836 minutes reviewing the President according to the Stanford Cable News Analyzer. In the first February of the Donald Trump presidency, the number was 4,669.

My concern isn’t so much the demand side, but the supply one. Throughout the Trump presidency journalists were horrified, fascinated, preoccupied and missing-in-action on many of the consequential policy issues facing America. We got The Trump Show, every day.

During Trump’s four years, a morning scan of news commentary on Real Clear Politics produced a binary result: anti and pro-Trump. There seemed to be no in-between. On policy, if it was anywhere near the White House, it was panned. Media that worked overtime to shame Fox News were parroting their approach.

I don’t think it is too severe to say that Trump co-opted journalism. Unlike Biden, he had an insatiable appetite to be the top of the news. He held more informal news conferences than former Presidents plus sat for interviews with commentators he must have known would be critical. Indeed, when he went into the hospital with Covid 19 he felt a need to start a parade alongside Walter Reed Hospital. And the journalists and commentators ate it up. Trump gave them Page 6 (New York Post celebrity gossip page) fodder every day.

I have not gone back to count the number of columns I wrote that related to Trump. I do know that from time-to-time I said, no more, only later to break my fleeting promise.

We are now in President Biden’s honeymoon period. A month ago much of the media was laudatory about the President’s intent to be bipartisan citing among other things his meeting for two hours with then GOP senators who were perceived to be willing to meet him halfway. Looking back that seems to have been a feint. Too bad.

And while I am throwing a bit of shade at those who cover the news I hope, probably against hope, that some attention is soon paid to fiscal integrity. I wrote a column a month ago; it was too detailed. It dealt with various deficits caused by runaway government spending and the value of the dollar. Now I’m just going to say that the opposite of fiscal integrity, yes I said integrity, is the weight given by both Donald Trump and apparently Joe Biden, to accumulating debt that will have to be paid by our children and grandchildren. This will not end well.

My guess is that much of today’s news consumption is Covid related. And that President Biden is given a pass because first he is not Trump and is consistent in his efforts at leading the country’s response. While the conclusions of public health experts should be scrutinized, they should not be politicized.

An inescapable Trump legacy is severe polarization. President Biden can help reverse the momentum. But he will have to go beyond being a decent human being.

Senator Joe Manchin, the keystone swing vote in the U S Senate, said that with modest compromises several Republicans would have joined in the Covid relief bill. If that is the case, it is unfortunate that President Biden did not insist in that outcome. There will not be a rebalancing of the emotional spectrum of politics without his leadership.

Final thought. Pope Francis, against advice, traveled to Iraq in a healing outreach. He is both older (by 6 years) than Biden and is, I would imagine, no less vulnerable and he went to the last place many thought he should go. Yes, I know he has been criticized for attracting crowds during a pandemic but risk-less leadership is not possible. I hope President Biden follows suit. Leave the White House. Travel to the hinterland. By all means, keep your mask on, but take it off before you speak. You are the leader of the USA.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

Filed Under: Al, Top Story

Free Speech by Al Sikes

March 3, 2021 by Al Sikes Leave a Comment

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Speech and censorship face off—the irrepressible against the dogged. This month’s headlines come from Russia, China, Myanmar and, unfortunately, the United States. The others are hopeless, but let me comment on our country.

Numerous debates are now underway on the constitutional boundaries of free speech and there are important reasons why none of us should be complacent. Let me look forward with a glancing look back.

I chaired the Federal Communications Commission when, attempting to protect children from Howard Stern’s vulgar national radio broadcasts, we fined his network company for breaches of what Congress called “indecent broadcasting.” This eventually forced the company to move Stern to a subscriber tier on satellite radio. But, deciding when speech can be constitutionally censored is not easy work.

A debate is now underway on the extent to which Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 enables Internet computer services to censor online sources of expression. There are many providers, but the headlines normally cite Facebook or Twitter. The law gives companies that have chosen to moderate their users speech the right to exclude speech that is “obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing or otherwise objectionable, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected.” Keep those words in mind.

Free speech talks back. I have noticed that readers of The Spy are not reluctant to express themselves, sometimes aggressively. And free speakers are frequently critics and power is not enamored with criticism.

Certainly many, if not most, recoil at the censorious aggression of the Woke culture as its outrage seeps into education, publishing and more. The Woke culture frequently sows division while claiming to preclude it.

Also, increasingly businesses have become censorious. For example, Amazon, which has a streaming service and is “promoting a wide array of films as a part of Black History Month, choose not to include a PBS produced show called “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words.” The film was available to stream on Amazon, but not anymore.

The political Right is angry believing it is being barred from Facebook and Twitter, among others. My concern goes beyond the current headlines. What about the potential to trigger attacks? Post-January 6th we don’t have to stretch our imaginations to envision mobs on the loose. Or what about intrusion from countries like Russia? Also we should remind ourselves that credulity is an invitation to manipulate. Indeed, can a democracy be healthy when a significant percentage of people accept outrage commentary at face value?

Historically when we think about speech, we think about words. Today hardcore agitation is frequently accompanied by images. Take a look at what Adobe’s Photoshop service lets you do with images. Or look up images of Tom Cruise in recent TikTok videos. These are referred to as deepfake productions which refers to the use of algorithms to replace the person in the original video with someone else. Images used to be primary evidence of truth. Not anymore.

What happens when manipulated images and incendiary words are paired with what I think of as outrage contagion by an organization whose name is a public relation agent’s concoction? Computer services know who is easily riled and again, after January 6th our imagination is no longer necessary in understanding what can happen.

The debate about online speech is underway. It is a debate that will test your span of attention, but remember your speech can count and if businesses offend you, shop elsewhere. Feedback, indeed pushback, are protected responses.

Let me close with some questions. Most importantly, what should be the limits of the free speech guarantee? Should online speakers have to identify themselves? Should the marketing of combustible speech have any effect on its constitutionality? There are many questions, but mostly difficult answers.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

 

Filed Under: Archives

Failure of Imagination by Al Sikes

February 15, 2021 by Al Sikes Leave a Comment

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Nobody alive today has experienced a fiscal pandemic affecting the dollar’s value. There have been ups and downs in value, but because of our country’s overall strength, the dollar illnesses have been relatively short-lived. But now, on the eve of adding trillions to our national debt, it should be noted that as a percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) U.S. debt has risen from 65% in 2008 to now over 107%. We should also remind ourselves of the dollar’s value as a dynamic variable in our country’s financial health.

A tiny percentage of persons are monetarists and that certainly doesn’t include me. Most of us avoid the thicket of prevailing and countervailing theories and actions. Yet we all pay some attention to finance, since we must cope in a world of budgets and cash flow, starting with our own. Recently I have noted the emergence of cryptocurrencies. Is that supply and demand at work—too many dollars?

Analysts for several years have been looking over their shoulder at the Yuan, China’s currency. We know China’s economy is relatively strong and we know it has the assets to support large offerings of sovereign debt which one day will compete with our own. Plus, as of July, 2020, China held about $1.7 Trillion of U.S. debt. How dependent do we want to be on creditors with whom we compete in international markets?

It was said after 9/11/01 we weren’t prepared to protect ourselves because we couldn’t imagine the series of plane assaults that occurred. Even after the first plane hit the World Trade Center, on a clear day in September, many news commentators were assuming it was an accident. And when it comes to monetarist theory, it seems to me that those who are steeped in detail don’t have much imagination.

As I type, a legislative procedure known as Budget Reconciliation, is being threatened for the coronavirus relief bill (so-called). If this direction is taken, we will likely add a totally partisan expenditure of $1.9 trillion. In short, there is an active threat of a party-line vote on what should be a bi-partisan act. When bi-partisanship cannot be negotiated under pandemic relief circumstances, the imagination strains to know when it might work.

It wouldn’t hurt to stretch our imaginations. Here are some questions we should ask.

Is this the last pandemic until we have rebuilt our national balance sheet? And what does a healthy balance sheet actually look like?

Are there spending needs that cannot be anticipated that will have to be deferred or foregone because of the cost of borrowing? For example, infrastructure, green or not?

Will the huge gap in our nation’s balance sheet compromise us in our competition with China? Will the nation’s currency be degraded by fiscal profligacy?

It was said at the time (a couple of weeks ago) that President Biden’s meeting with ten Republican Senators who were hoping for a compromise was historic. He had been in the White House for days only and he was reaching out to the other side as he promised in the campaign. The meeting lasted two hours which seemed to foreshadow promise.

But on the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue there remained a hard-edged push behind the $1.9 trillion dollar package which also included a $15 minimum wage. In short, most Democrats in Congress were tactically keyed in to the insistence that an emergency should be used for a whole list of Party priorities. Sort of “damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead”.

This is, of course, not a partisan tactic; it is used by both Parties. But given our season of extreme division, perhaps early bi-partisan successes should be given a higher priority by the President—a rebirth of authentic Presidential leadership. If the relief package is driven through on a straight party-line vote many will believe that President Biden is following not leading. America needs a leader, especially now.

It will also be clear that the imagination of our elected officials is extreme in another dimension. In short, when adding a couple trillion more to our national debt does not result in real debate about the consequences we have been ill-served.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

 

Filed Under: Al, Top Story

Service Year by Al Sikes

February 8, 2021 by Al Sikes Leave a Comment

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Everything seems up for grabs. Disruption is thematic—establishments are on their heels. In 2027, looking back, how will our intervening work be measured? Status quo? No that is not possible. Progress? We’ll see.

Too many, and I mean way too many, look to politics to find hope. President Joe Biden will prove a much more healing presence, but then the bar is painfully low. Washington is, mostly, not a place to mine for hope. It is more likely to be found in our neighborhoods and communities—people helping people. Ultimately it must be found in ourselves and our relationships with others.

There is a light, although not nearly bright enough at this moment, which I find hopeful.

General Stan McChrystal, a consummate leader under the most challenging of circumstances, now chairs Service Year Alliance and has a profound hope: that “where did you do your year of service?” becomes as common as “where did you go to school?”

The CEO of Service Year Alliance is Jesse Colvin, an honored veteran who is especially known to Marylanders who vote in Maryland’s first Congressional District where he ran for Congress in 2018. Colvin is fortunate; he now leads an especially important mission rather than arguing as one of 435 in the halls of Congress.

My father, who served in the Pacific Theater in WWII, was fond of recounting the story of his bunkmate, a soldier from the Bronx, in New York City. Dad, from a small town in southern Missouri, received an education in humanity from the realities of life, well beyond his small town.

Too few of the privileged today go beyond a textbook in a school compartmentalized by realities—the realities of parent’s ambitions with checkbook in hand. Today public schools, in the minds of many, are not the first choice. So many of those who go on to lead in private and public affairs go from school to school and then with their credentials secured, into business or the professions. Not only do they not sleep in bunks, but forfeit the lessons of life fully learned.

The military is now voluntary. And for many a real boost in life. Hopefully circumstances will keep military service voluntary. But national service should be experienced broadly. Service, as I have experienced it, is always hopeful—in our civic lives service organizations build our aspirations and our empathy.

I have friends and acquaintances that served in the Peace Corps and Teach for America. Each relate that their experiences were life-changing for them and they hope for those served. Alexis de Tocqueville, in studying and then reporting on America, found Americans selfless collaborations to improve their neighborhood and beyond especially hopeful for the nation’s future.

Jesse Colvin spelled out Service Year Alliance’s hope in a recent conversation.The goal: one million members helping to renew their communities as they enrich their lives. Jesse believes that going from the current estimate of sixty-five thousand who complete a service year experience, to one million will dramatize the importance of a service year. “One million will be an important tipping point towards making a year of service a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans” Colvin notes. “Reaching that milestone will result in “where did you do your service?”, being asked over and over.

Service Year recognizes 700 organizations that provide a service opportunity. But reaching the goal of one million in annual service will require a boost from Washington. Everybody who opts for a service year should be able to get by financially—sacrifice will be necessary, but basic support is essential. President Biden can underscore his efforts to unify Americans by recognizing the value of the long game. Politics often favors short term tactics; supporting a service year is strategic and can be an enduring legacy.

In some ways the ultimate question will be framed by those with discretion. Will those who think in terms of “gap years” begin to consider service in the gap? Will those with the discretion to choose job candidates from lists of dozens or hundreds begin to value candidates who have a service year on their resume? And what will parents think? Often parents and their offspring are pushed or pulled along by the prevailing sparkle—hopefully building communities shoulder to shoulder with the full spectrum of humanity will sparkle. It’s enduring contribution should always shine.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

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Precedent! By Al Sikes

January 29, 2021 by Al Sikes 1 Comment

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The spotlight will not be soft, it will be blinding. And the evidence will be clear—captured in 21st Century reality—tweets, videos and speeches all captured digitally, which means forevermore. History, not another political poll, will weigh actions.

The official record will go well beyond the evidence. Arguments will be made and this will not be a Sunday morning edition of Meet The Press. The arguments will be about the Constitution and about thresholds of behavior. Not about fiscal probity or taxes or abortion. When, it will be asked, is it not impeachable for the certified loser in a Presidential election to ask supporters to march, not on Washington, but in revolt on a Constitutional procedure to certify an election in the Capitol?

The voters, the elite 100, United States Senators all, will function not so much as jurors but as reflections of who we and they are. This will be easy for Democrats—they will all scream guilty. It is the Republicans who will have to decide between the broad gauge of history or the narrow gauge of political passion.

I have been ambivalent about the second stage of impeachment because America has new leadership and they have much to do and need to be measured as their nominations, plans and actions unfold. But, now that up or down will be a reality, it is a good test for the 50 Senators that sit on the Republican side of the aisle.

They should ask, what is the Republican Party? Does it still reflect, at least in some respect, the values of its founder, Abraham Lincoln, or its notables Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan or just the frothy passions and tumult of a raucous four years?

Editors at The Federalist, translate the prevailing question to politics, characterizing a vote to convict as, for Republicans, an act of “political suicide”.

The Federalist is walking along a trench well traveled; its sides have become steep and it takes some real strength to even try a path less travelled. Everything, and I mean everything, in Washington gets translated into “is it good for Republicans or Democrats in the next election?”. What about using the Constitution and the moral values that informed it as the gauge in this historic moment?

So, we will all be watching. We will be living room jurors. Conviction or no is on the table. Will we weigh the evidence or have we prejudged it? Is there a line—a line on the other side of which conduct should be punished? If there is no line then why is there a provision for impeachment? What is the more repugnant in a Democracy, stealing money or attempting to steal an election? Make no mistake, this vote will be definitional for some time to come.

Lines, of course, are drawn by people who come to the definition with some prejudices. I can say without question that if Trump was a Democrat, the line drawn would not even be close on the Republican side. And if that is true and if this is a historic, not just another political vote, then we, citizens and Senators alike, should all be careful because the vote is not about the man (he is already out of office), but about the precedent.

When Senators explain their vote their words should be elevated above campaign rhetoric. Were various Democrats underhanded in associating Trump with a Russian collusion narrative? Yes, but that question is not before the Senate; the influence of the Russian collusion allegations was determined in the last election. The question before the United States Senate was precipitated by the assault on the Capitol and events implicating the President that led to that rebellion.

The penultimate poll on the impeachment of Donald J. Trump has been taken. On the Republican side, only ten Members in the House of Representatives found Trump’s actions impeachable. Most of the arguments against impeachment sounded like a continuation of the political campaign. Of course the Senate, with a lofty self-regard, believes one of its important tasks is to cool the passions of the House—to seek wisdom, not to rubber-stamp the other assembly. We’ll see.

The political campaign ended on November 3, 2020. Arguments, investigations, and court decisions followed concluding that President Biden won. So the question now is about inciting insurrection. All in favor?

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.

Filed Under: Al, Top Story

Thoughts on the Beginning by Al Sikes

January 25, 2021 by Al Sikes Leave a Comment

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Tone

Rancor can be thought to be good; as in free speech and opinion differences will inevitably lead to some rancor. But, as I watched Inaugural activities that began the President Biden and Vice-President Harris Administration, I was transported back to the two Inaugurals I attended. Both were upbeat, optimistic, and in various words and phrases called for unity.

There will be plenty of time for disagreement, hopefully the civil kind, but it is clear that President Biden considers civility as government content. In short, if every course change is a flashpoint, we all lose. This will be especially true as circumstances serve up the unexpected.

Poet Amanda Gorman, in her inaugural reading, beautifully summed up our aspirations; light was transcendent. America is at it’s best when light infuses our thoughts.

Shopkeepers

I penned Son of a Shopkeeper a month or so ago. Noting the difficulties faced by small businesses, I also noted how big businesses operate within a framework of tax advantage. They retain a variety of international experts to help them minimize taxes. Tax specialists guide them through the intricacies of reduction as they move manufacturing, sales, distribution and even headquarters to tax-advantaged locations.

President Biden is recommending a corporate tax increase going from 21% to 28%. Specific tax thresholds can get very complicated and are well beyond these several paragraphs. But, the burden of any corporate tax increase should not fall on the shopkeepers—rates and filing intricacies should be reduced and simplified.

Legislative Acts and Edicts

Aside from the swearing-in the big story was President Biden’s Executive Orders. The quantity and sweep of the orders underscored the failure of the Congress to make laws and the rapidly depreciating reality of Executive Orders. It’s like successive poker games with each pot won and then lost the next night. And, I will add, the conflicting swirl that the governed have to navigate undermines our foundations.

And, avoiding specifics for now, it seems to me that forces within the Biden coalition are urging him to roll back everything that happened in the previous four years. Remember, the last four years happened — they happened because President Trump was voted into office by voters who felt abused by the elite; an elite that often seems to want a perpetual easement on our lives. When significant change moves through elected Representatives — Congress — it is more likely to represent a broader range of living and thinking. We can vote out the Representatives we don’t like, but have little sway over the experts that write executive orders.

Confirmation Bias

Media trust is quite low. President Trump blasted the media almost every day. Fake News, he screamed. Toward the end he even turned on Fox News. And now we have news outlets whose business model turns on attracting conspiracy theorists and a range of grievance victims—move over pornographers.

I spent time at the Federal Communications Commission looking at allegations against media, but almost always the ultimate decision affirmed the Constitutional guarantee of free speech. A revered conservative jurist, Justice Scalia, even extended the freedom to flag burning, saying the act was speech.

In short, seeking legal restraint on speech is mostly a fool’s errand. A wise errand by consumers of news is to be curious — to go beyond the comfortable media that confirm our biases.

And when it comes to social media enforcing blanket bans on individuals or organizations, that too is self-defeating. The companies should, in the world of artificial intelligence, be able to red-flag and curate content that arguably falls outside of the acceptable principles. The principles should be clearly stated.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

Filed Under: Al, Top Story

2021 by Al Sikes

January 20, 2021 by Al Sikes Leave a Comment

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New year predictions are often general and most unmeasurable. A technology prediction, for example, is advanced—it happens some years later. Prediction or musing?

So I will stick to 2021 and will avoid miraculous technologies and not opine on how the Pandemic will change America as we know it. Except to say—never discount the force of decades-long patterns of living.

Along with the Pandemic, politics was the big story of 2020. In an attempt to be re-elected, President Trump put his “social movement” on steroids and then abused his supporters with his manic need to command the spotlight. And yes, I said social movement.

Trump conceived, with Steve Bannon and others, a social movement orbiting around the notion of the “forgotten man” and “yesterday’s glory”and used a political party that was mired in yesterday’s dogma to gain power. Shrewd.

Social movements are often led by one person who is charismatic, idiosyncratic and sees means as just tools. Ethical boundaries are of no real importance. Movement heads don’t play well with others—except for servants. Ultimately, in America, social movements and political parties cannot co-exist as political parties must be comfortable with distribution of power. When Republican Governors and Secretaries of State and even his Vice-President exercised their rightful power Trump attacked. And then the Capitol, the symbol of institutional strength, was attacked. Absent Trump, there would have been no attack.

The Republican Party is now coming face-to-face one more time with the Trump social movement. Even though he is leaving office, so-called Party leaders cower and retreat. Liz Cheney, an unquestioned stalwart Republican who is in the Congressional leadership, finally had enough, voted for Impeachment and was rebuked by her lessers. To them the movement was first, not the Party.

Equally telling in the movement’s formation was the capitulation of significant elements of the evangelical movement. Trump found transcendence useful and seduced Franklin Graham, Eric Metaxas and other minor evangelical gods with the limelight. They entered some kind of contorting inner sanctum and came out full of personal glory and a pungent substance that is found in pastures. I believe that support will wane.

This strange fusion of institutions with Trump as savior will get sorted out, but on the political front it will probably take multiple election cycles and perhaps Trump’s death (social movements often are monarchical so maybe next up Don Jr. or Ivanka). But for now, the Republican Party’s largest stockholder is the Trump social movement. 

The real power in the body politic belongs to Centrists. The problem: where does the Centrist politician go if he/she wants to be elected President? Is there another Joe Biden on the horizon? At this moment the bases of both political parties are wrenched Left or Right. So my prediction is that “Gangs” of legislators will emerge and their members will be willing to forfeit the long odds of sleeping in the White House for actually making legislative history.

Centrists worked together to shape much of the virus package. They were known as the Gang of Eight and contained some able legislators led by Senators Joe Manchin and Mitt Romney.

But, and this is a very big “but”, polarization and entrenched interests are powerful foes. The Gangs, regardless of how big, will need President Biden to use the powers of the Presidency to persuade and when necessary, punish. President Biden’s opportunity will be to lead the shaping of legislation that will work as he can tell the Left that in an evenly divided Senate, its the only political formula that will work.

Trump’s four years set the table for Biden. He will take advantage of this fact. Biden’s critical mass of support is tired of MAGA parades and the poisoned tweet. Biden will use the tools of moderation. If he uses identity politics in an effort to divide and conquer, he will fail.

So where might he succeed? Job one: an effectual vaccination operation. Ultimately Trump’s erratic response to the challenge of managing a national response to a virus resulted in his defeat. Again, Trump set the table for Biden.

Joe Biden will get off to a good start. But, I predict trouble ahead in 2022. If Biden gains political good will in 2021, it will be very hard to maneuver around the Left of his Party who will want his popularity translated into a Woke Agenda. 

And the Republican Party? Turmoil will persist in 2021. Republicans, not the soon to be sworn in President, will be the biggest allies of the Woke—stridency on one side tends to enable stridency on the other. President Biden will need to keep a firm hand on the tiller.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

Filed Under: Al, Top Story

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