The Mixed Signals of American Politics – “The Sunday Political Brunch” April 4, 2021

Sunday, April 04, 2021

Mark Curtis, MINDSETTER™

 

View Larger +

First of all Happy Easter to my Christian readers and shalom to all my Jewish readers on the final day of Passover. The Islamic observance of Ramadan also begins on April 12, marking one of the rare times where the three nearly overlap. I did a half-hour TV special this week on the importance of faith during COVID-19 and other crises. In any event, it was another week of political mixed signals in many corners. So, lets “brunch” on that this week:

“Manchin to the Border” – I don’t need to remind folks of the growing and significant clout of Senator Joe Manchin (D) West Virginia, the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, and the key swing vote in the body. My last few columns have addressed this. This week Manchin was among the lawmakers visiting the Southern Border immigration crisis first-hand. The need for Congress and the White House to act is critical. "It is beyond time, past time, to do immigration reform. Immigration reform should be a pathway to citizenship. People that have been here, they might have come here the wrong way, but they came here for the right reason," Manchin said. In particular, he singled out the so-called “dreamers” who were brought here illegally as young children. He will likely tip the balance on whether an immigration bill gets done, or not.

“First Lady Teaching Full-Time” – She’s really going to do it. First Lady Jill Biden, Ed.D., will make history as the first First Lady to hold down a full-time job while her husband serves as president. Dr. Biden teaches English at Northern Virginia Community College, as she did when her husband was vice-president. No, it’s not some sort of honor society, but Wikipedia has a page listing, “Notable Doctors of Education.” The list includes Dr. Biden; actor/comedian Bill Cosby; the late self-help author Wayne Dyer; renown educator Gordon Gee; basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal; sex therapist “Dr. Ruth” Westheimer; and, yes, even your humble political analyst Mark Curtis, made the list of 23 people. I am honored and flattered.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

“The Death of the G-Man” – The death of convicted Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy this week at the age of 90, brought back a flood of memories. Liddy was a Nixon loyalist who spent four years and four months in federal prison. He was a military veteran and former FBI agent who was a tough conservative, who parlayed that into a career as a successful talk radio host for 20 years. At the height of his troubles, Liddy said he told President Nixon, “If someone wants to shoot me, just tell me what corner to stand on, and I will.” And he meant it!

“Gordon Liddy and Me!” – In April 1994, as a reporter in Washington, DC, I was assigned to prepare an obituary story on former President Richard Nixon. He was in failing health and not expected to survive. Among the people I interviewed was G. Gordon Liddy, at the radio station where he hosted his show in suburban Virginia. We got to shoot a video of Liddy hosting his show, and then sat down for an interview after. Liddy was worried. “Are you going to show any of this video before Nixon is actually dead? If you do, I’ll look like an ass,” Liddy said to me sternly. “If you show this interview before Nixon’s dead, I’ll find you and I’ll kill you!” Ironically, hours earlier I had the very same conversation with Sen. Strom Thurmond (R) South Carolina, who said, “Sonny, if you air this interview before Mr. Nixon’s dead, I’ll kill you!” True story. You can’t make this stuff up! That’s why I love covering politics!

“Contaminated Vaccines” -- I want to be careful here, and not point the finger of blame. Quite honestly, whatever mistakes were made might be a function of the intense pressure, complexity, and dynamics of the mass inoculations of millions of people with the COVID-19 vaccines. Yes, we need to run with the steady patience of the 26.5-mile Boston Marathon, but we want to do it with the intense speed of the 100-meter dash. The two strategies are not compatible. I say this because 15 million doses of the vaccine were mishandled this week and had to be thrown out. With the nation nearing 600,000 deaths, that kind of mistake is unacceptable.

“More Violence at the U.S. Capitol” – Like many, I was shocked by another fatal assault on the U.S. Capitol Friday. For unclear reasons, a suspect rammed his car into a security checkpoint at the Capitol. One police officer was killed. When the suspect exited his vehicle, he was shot and killed by police. His motivations remain unclear. But you must wonder about continued attacks, after the wake of the January 6 insurrection. I was a Capitol Hill reporter in DC in July 1998, when Officers Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson, were fatally shot by a capitol intruder. It upsets and frightens me that “the people’s house” is under siege of continuing violence. It remains though, a shining beacon of the strength of our democracy, “wounded, yet still standing strong!”

“The Importance of Faith” – As mentioned, this is one of those rare times where the Christian observance of Easter week and the Jewish observance of Passover sync up on exact dates. Even the Islamic celebration of Ramadan begins in one week. It doesn’t happen often that the three major religions’ Spring events occur so closely. Hopefully, despite our differences, we make time to find common ground and work towards the common goal, peace. God bless you all!

Given all the latest political turmoil, what do you think the nation’s priorities should be? Add a comment below.

 

View Larger +

Mark Curtis, Ed.D. is Chief Political Reporter for the seven Nexstar media TV stations serving West Virginia, its five neighboring states and all of the Washington, DC media market. He is a MINDSETTER political columnist for www.GoLocalProv.com and all of its affiliates.

 

Related Articles

 

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

 
 

Sign Up for the Daily Eblast

I want to follow on Twitter

I want to Like on Facebook