Yes, but the question is, Are the Democratic members of congress willing to ask
the questions?
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Sunday, May 3, 2020 4:23 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Start Hearings Now!
Miriam,
Al Franken asks the right sort of questions. But they are questions that can
only be answered by people possessing the ability to reason, and will never be
asked or answered by Trumpkins(pumpkin heads with brains made of pumpkin seeds).
Carl Jarvis
On 5/3/20, Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Miriam and all, endorsing Biden makes sense since he is a throw away
candidate. The only person who can beat Trump is Trump. That female
senator of yours you speak of clearing the path for her White House
run in 2024 by getting rid of her Democratic rivals, Franken by his
resignation and Biden by is impending loss to Trump.
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of
miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, May 3, 2020 1:03 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Start Hearings Now!
This is a good article. Note who wrote it. This senator was forced by
his Democratic colleagues to resign because a Republican woman who had
been in show business when he was, accused him of touching her life
saving vest and kissing her when the cast of a film was fooling around
after a filming session and then several other women came forward and
accused him of inappropriate behavior. The female senator of my state
was one of the most insistent that he leave the Senate. That same
female senator has just endorsed Joe Biden who has been accused by
several women of sexually inappropriate behavior and by one woman of
sexual molestation. Joe Biden hasn't made any statement about anything
lately, that is as coherent as this one by Al Franken, but we are
being forced to accept him as a credible presidential candidate.
Miriam
Start Hearings Now!
By Al Franken, Al Franken's Website
03 May 20
Before President Trump offered the insanely stupid (and I do not mean
that
sarcastically) idea of injecting disinfectants into our bodies to
treat Covid-19, a good majority of Americans had already concluded
that Trump is not providing the wise, measured leadership of, say, a Lincoln
or an FDR.
Leadership has come from elsewhere. From governors, medical
professionals, and other essential workers on the front lines. But we
have no coherent national response to this pandemic. That response
really should come from the federal government.
There are three branches of our federal government. Donald Trump leads
the executive branch and has shown himself to be completely dishonest,
extremely paranoid, and, yes, stupid. Dishonest, disturbed, and stupid
are no way to lead a country, sir.
That leaves the other two branches. One of those is the Supreme Court,
which is ill-suited to lead in anything other than a Constitutional
crisis, let alone a pandemic. Also, the Court just fast-tracked the
appeal of the decision of both the district and circuit courts by a
purely partisan 5-4 margin. All in order to force the people of
Wisconsin to risk their lives to vote in the state election of a state judge.
The 5-4 margin exists only because Senate majority leader, Mitch
McConnell is a proudly transparent, shameless hypocrite, who recently
gave "a sly smile" when confirming that he would fill a Court vacancy
if one opens up between now and noon on January 20, 2021.
In the meantime, McConnell is suggesting that states declare bankruptcy.
So, that leaves the House, whose members are now back in their home
districts on recess. Most, I'm sure, are sheltered at home and working
hard, consulting with state officials, local businesses, hospitals,
schools, doctors, and (if they're Democrats) labor leaders.
A message to Speaker Pelosi. Tens of thousands of Americans are dead,
and tens of thousands more will die. Our economy is in freefall. Maybe
this would be a good time to have hearings.
Say, on testing. President Trump keeps saying that we've tested more
people per capita than any other country. He's lying! Shouldn't
Congress call expert witnesses, read and hear their testimony, and
then ask them questions?
Do we have a national plan for scaling up the testing as fast as possible?
What should the federal role be? The state role? Do we have every lab
working at full capacity? What kind of tests do we need and in what
quantities, and how do we make sure they are distributed and
administered strategically? Is the FDA on top of guaranteeing that
Americans aren't getting bad tests? Do we have the reagents we need?
No? Then where can we get them? Do we have a national plan for contact
tracing? How would that work? What is the most effective use of
testing to enable us to get people back to work? Do we need to spend a lot
more on testing?
That's just the tip of the iceberg. On testing.
How do we make sure kids aren't hungry?
What would the effect on worldwide markets if our states did start
declaring bankruptcy?
This is a worldwide pandemic. How are we working with the rest of the
world?
What exactly does the World Health Organization do? Is it really a
good idea to cut off our funding?
Is there a black market in PPE? What can we do to stop that? Should
Trump finally fully invoke the Defense Production Act so there are no
shortages?
And - how about a little oversight on the nearly $3 trillion dedicated
so far to addressing the pandemic and the economic disaster that has
come along with it. Yes, the Speaker has established an oversight
committee on the $3 trillion that Congress has approved thus far. But
why exactly aren't we having hearings now?
It's true that bringing the 435 House members together under one Dome
creates some real social distancing problems. But it's also true that
my three-year-old granddaughter, Avery, meets with her pre-school
class five days a week online. She has a staffer (my daughter) who gets her
connected.
And it works like a charm. Yes, the House would need to adopt new
rules to allow virtual hearings. Well - do that!
Now, Americans might say - "Hey, Congress! Suck it up and wear PPE at
hearings. Just like our medical professionals and so many other Americans."
Fine. Then do that! But, Christ! Do something!
America desperately needs leadership - right now. Donald Trump is not
providing it. The Senate won't provide it. If Mitch McConnell approves
an oversight committee, it'll be on Joe Biden. Or Hunter Biden. Or
another Biden.
Avery sees and talks with her teacher and classmates on this thing
called Zoom. They're working now on sounding out the letters of the
alphabet. I'm not sure how secure Zoom is. But my guess is that the
House could figure this out. Please. Start hearings now!