The Art of the Bully

All the king’s threats and all the king’s ultimatums couldn’t put this humpty-dumpty of a healthcare bill back together again. As of 4 p.m. Friday afternoon House Republicans scrapped the American Health Care Act, aka Trumpcare, after House Speaker Paul Ryan made a hasty trip to the White House to inform Donald Trump that they just didn’t have the votes.

It looks like endless threats and ultimatums weren’t enough to overcome poor planning, the evisceration of medical benefits, and the steadfast determination of an electorate that called, wrote, emailed and even faxed their pleas to save the Affordable Care Act to their elected officials. In the end, the Republicans decided to save themselves from embarrassment, and save members in divided districts from losing re-election, by not allowing the bill go to a vote.

The magnitude of the bullying involved with the ACHA has been mind boggling. Trump’s last-minute visit yesterday to the conservative Freedom Caucus included forcing chair Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) to stand and declaring, “I’m going to come after you” because “honestly, a loss is not acceptable.” This is how bullies—not talented businesspeople—cut deals: through threats and false promises.

The Republicans tried to make excuses for Trump’s behavior or laugh it off, but the Democrats weren’t having it. U.S. News & World Report quoted House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer as saying, "When Trump threatens people, he usually means it. I see no reason to believe he was kidding… that was a threat, not a wink and a nod."

In the end, credit goes to Americans who are resisting Trump. In my book, From Bully to Bull’s-Eye: Move Your Organization Out of the Line of Fire, I devoted a chapter to how people can fight back against bullying in the workplace. The most important thing to know is not to try to do it alone. You need allies who will support you and back you up. Today the American people and the caring members of Congress teamed up to resist the gutting of the ACA. None of the bullying made a difference.  Perhaps Press Secretary Sean Spicer put it best when he told the press, “At the end of the day, you can’t force somebody to do something. At the end of the day, this isn’t a dictatorship.”

Let’s hold him to that. This is just one victory, but resisting tyranny is never a race—it’s a marathon. Rest up. We have a lot more work to do.

Photo credit: Associated Press

Manipulation, Deception, Denial, Deceit and Deflection at the White House

There are certain traits that define a bully, but as I discuss in my book, From Bully to Bull’s-Eye: Move Your Organization Out of the Line of Fire, most prominent are manipulation, deception, denial, deceit and deflection. All of these were on full display this week as it was revealed by the Associated Press that Paul Manafort, Trump’s former unpaid campaign chairman, created a plan in 2005 to help an oil billionaire friend of Vladimir Putin influence American politics. Manafort’s ties to Russia Must have been known by the Trump campaign. According to Slate, Manafort was asked to resign when the AP revealed his secret lobbying campaign for Ukraine’s pro-Russia party.

So how has the Trump administration handled all of this? The White House quickly backpedaled, claiming that Trump had no idea of Manafort’s ties with Russia. Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s official response was, “Obviously there’s been discussion of Paul Manafort who played a very limited role for a very limited amount of time.”  However, according to Politco, Manafort and Trump continued to stay in touch through November and Manafort continues to live in Trump Tower, where he has resided since 2008.

Trump supporter and fellow bully Newt Gingrich told the press that he didn’t see how this issue “becomes Trump’s problem. All Trump has to say is, ‘None of us knew about it and when we did know about it, he was gone.’” Clearly this is another lie. A Fox News clip has surfaced of Gingrich talking to Sean Hannity last August where he acknowledges, “Nobody should underestimate how much Paul Manafort did to really help this get this campaign to where it is right now.”

Another Trump operative trying to run interference for the Bully-in-Chief is House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes. He told the press late today that he had seen reports from the U.S. intelligence community that included communication from the Trump White House transition teamthat were part of a broader surveillance effort. He declared himself “alarmed” and said he had personally reported this to Trump—but nothing was reported to the ranking Democrat on the committee, Rep. Adam Schiff.

Trump seemed to be delighted by the news and said he was “somewhat vindicated” by the Nunes’ report—which basically says nothing. Schiff on the other hand had harsh words for Nunes. "The chairman will need to decide whether he is the chairman of an independent investigation into conduct, which includes allegations of potential coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russians, or he's going to act as a surrogate of the White House. Because he cannot do both," Schiff said.

The layers of manipulation, deception, denial, deceit and deflection are mind boggling. They should make anyone ask—why should we believe anything that comes out of the White House?

Credit: Bloomberg

Death in the Family

I have gone through many emotions since the last election. Last night, after listening to Press Secretary Sean Spicer desperately defend his boss, it suddenly hit me: I am going through a stage of mourning.  I lost my father when I was 26 and I now feel a similar enormous loss, but this time the loss is one of confidence. We cannot believe the person who acts as the American paterfamilias, the person we look up to protect and defend the Constitution of the most powerful nation on earth. 

Spicer was on television yesterday trying to walk back Trump’s accusation of the Obama administration wire tapping Trump Tower during the election. This is just the latest conspiracy theory trotted out by the Commander in Chief. Lest we think this is just the prattling of a warped mind, the increase of conspiracy theories in the news cycle is a reason for alarm. Ivan Krastev discusses this in his op-ed, “The Rise of the Paranoid Citizen,” in the New York Times.

“Conspiracy theories disempower people. In a worldview shaped by conspiracy theories, political leaders can get away with making bad decisions by simply blaming invisible, putatively powerful enemies conspiring against them. What makes conspiracy-theory politics more dangerous than ideological politics (and lest we forget, the 20th century showcased just how deadly extreme ideologies can be) is that conspiracy theories can be dazzling in explaining what has happened and who should be blamed. But they lack any kind of vision for the future or any claim about what kind of world we want to live in,” Krastev writes.

If that isn’t worrisome enough, Trump’s other actions continue to make sure that our respect for his office remains moribund. Certainly cutting programs that provide food to hungry schoolchildren and seniors has done no good for our confidence in him as a caring leader—especially when his wife cheerfully pretends to eat diamond jewelry on the cover of—wait for it—Vanity Fair Mexico.

I feel a tremendous loss. My only comfort is that I’m not mourning alone.

Photo credit: BIGSTOCK 

The Dire Consequences of Not Speaking Out

At a time when too many refuse to say what they really think, Steven Goldstein, the fearless and outspoken new executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect in New York isn’t pulling any punches. A self-described social justice advocate and former Rutgers University political science and law professor, Goldstein had a short answer when a conservative commentator on CNN asked him if he believed that Donald Trump was anti-Semitic.

“You bet,” he replied.

The man is willing to point out wrongdoing and bullying where he sees it—that’s why he’s our Revolutionist of the Week. The Anne Frank Center in New York, founded by Anne’s father, Otto Frank, is dedicated to standing up for the equal rights and mutual respect of all people. My mother fought with the Dutch underground during World War II and her deepest regret was that she didn’t do more to save her friends and neighbors during that awful time. I am heartened to know that the Center is fighting on in Anne’s name.

Goldstein, who writes all the press releases and tweets from the organization in plain language has taken Trump to task for his belated expression against anti-Semitism as “too little, too late” and engaged with Sean Spicer on Twitter about it. In a written statement he said, “The President’s sudden acknowledgement is a Band-Aid on the cancer of anti-Semitism that has infected his own administration.”

It’s this kind of revolutionist who inspires and motivates those around him. He is crystal clear about what a revolutionist needs to do in this political climate: “We have no pecking order in which we fight Anti-Semitism first, and Islamophobia and other hatred second,” he said. “We have to save every Anne. Never again must mean never again to anyone. Never again is now.”

Credit: Wikipedia Commons