Holding people responsible is no waste of time

 

Bill Knight column for 2-8, 9 or 10, 2021

 Sixty-four years ago this week, Illinois’ Argonne National Laboratory activated the first nuclear power generating system, and now energy of another sort is about to start in Washington. There, the Senate trial of ex-President Donald Trump is set to consider charges levied by the House’s impeachment stemming from inflammatory statements he made leading to January 6’s Capitol insurrection but also from months of false claims about a “stolen election.”

Despite comments from staunch Republicans like former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor – who said, “Our elected officials work for us, and they fail us when they decline to tell us truths that we, the people, don’t want to hear” – two House Republicans from Illinois, Mike Bost and Mary Miller, voted to overturn the results, joining 137 other House  Republicans and 8 Republican Senators. In particular, Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri led Senate efforts to deny the certification of states’ ballots, yet they and six traitorous colleagues haven’t recused themselves from taking part in the Senate “jury” deciding on what’s essentially a House “indictment.”

Rand Paul (R-Ky.) moved to dismiss the trial as unconstitutional because Trump’s already out of office, a move defeated but with just five Republicans joining Democrats.

Illinois’ Sen. Dick Durbin and others concede that it’s unlikely that there will be the 17 Republicans needed to join the 50 Democrats to convict Trump, so alternative ways to hold him accountable are being considered.

Durbin has floated the idea of censure, and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) has drafted a condemnation resolution, which would need just a simple majority to prohibit Trump from holding office.

“If he ever were to decide to run again, which may not happen, then likely a court or somebody would say. ‘OK, what about your behavior in January of 2021 including the congressional fact finding?’,” Kaine said. “Congress finding the facts would be given great deference by a court.”

Trump’s new lawyers Bruce Castor and David Schoen (replacing his previous team, which reportedly resigned rather than stress false claims of voter fraud) filed a legal brief saying he didn’t really incite the riot, and even if he did, he’s no longer in office.

Constitutional experts discount the latter argument. Indeed, the Constitution’s Article I, Section 3, Clause 6, states: “The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments,” not some, and Clause 7 says, “Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States, but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.”

Trump was impeached while in office, and the Senate must try him. He’s been removed from office by voters, but conviction would also bar him from public office – and seemingly makes him vulnerable to criminal prosecution.

Another compromise needing just a majority instead of the two-thirds vote comes from the 14^th Amendment. Its Section 3 states that no public official who’d “previously taken an oath” to support the Constitution will hold office if they’ve “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

Last week, House impeachment managers spelled out the “incitement of insurrection” accusation, writing, “He summoned a mob to Washington, exhorted them into a frenzy, and aimed them like a loaded cannon down Pennsylvania Avenue.” They also called on Trump to appear under oath about “incontrovertible facts about his conduct” culminating in the melee, which killed five that day, and led to two Capitol Police suicides and almost 140 officer injuries ranging from damaged spines to brain injuries. (He declined to voluntarily testify.)

Polls show many Americans support impeaching Trump. Monmouth University showed 56% backed impeachment and 57% supported prohibiting him from holding office, and Marist found 50% supporting impeachment and 9% unsure.

So: This exercise won’t waste time. If nothing else, it will present evidence, and even if the Senate acquits the defeated president, it will serve to publicly condemn Senators who show they lack the courage to hold him accountable for his words and deeds.

Game on! (Or, game over?)

 

Bill Knight column for 2-4, 5 or 6, 2021

 A couple of words come to mind after a large number of small stock buyers last week contributed to huge hedge-fund investor losses and to Wall Street’s worst week in months: “game” and “stop.”

A few phrases also seem apt, topped by legendary baseball manager Casey Stengel’s remark, “Can’t anybody here play this game?” but also including “all bets are off” and “stop and catch fire.”

Days after the stressed video-game retailer GameStop started closing some of its 5,900 locations, including some in Illinois, people in an online Reddit chat room launched a campaign to buy shares of GameStop, which had hedge funds holding some through a “shorting” scheme, betting against the company. The mostly little interlopers’ mischief-making was like Loki, Bugs Bunny or other tricksters causing chaos AND revealing hidden truths.

Speculators such as hedge funds – in which institutional investors and rich individuals pool their resources to play the market without many restrictions that others face – are like the Harlem Globetrotters; they almost always win. Their financial maneuver “shorting” lets them profit by predicting when stocks will drop in price. They essentially borrow corporate shares from a broker and sell them, planning to buy them back when prices fall. Then they return them to the broker and keep the difference. Their risk is the stock value rising, when they lose their bets and OWE the difference.

Since 2008, policymakers have said some high-rollers are “too big to fail” (although everyone else can), and the day after the GameStop campaign started, New York Times’ Thomas Friedman’s column “Socialism for the rich. Capitalism for the rest” shared thoughts that government does more to help the market than the actual economy.

“So, America’s richest 10%, who own more than 80% of U.S. stocks, have seen their wealth more than triple in 30 years, while the bottom 50%, relying on their day jobs in real markets to survive, had zero gains,” he wrote.

Yes, in good times, rich folks prosper and the rest of us get by, and in bad times regular people struggle and the rich do REALLY well: “Heads they win, tails we lose.”

However, tossing a tool into the gears of casino capitalism, the upstarts caused GameStop’s paper value to skyrocket, increasing from around $20/share to almost $500/share. For a while, GameStop’s value was more than ExxonMobil or Apple, and one hedge fund, Melvin Capital, reportedly needed billions to cover its previous GameStop strategy and sustained a 53% loss, reports Financial Times.

The financial frenzy forced Robinhood Financial to find emergency cash to continue to be able to trade during the disruption. Robinhood, Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade (founded by the Chicago Cubs ownership Ricketts family) were among brokerages to reportedly prevent purchasing GameStop, and Robinhood plans to continue limiting GameStop purchase, CNBC says.

In Illinois, Chicago billionaire and Citidel hedge-fund owner Ken Griffin (key to the defeat of Illinois’ proposed Fair Tax amendment) was criticized for ties to Robinhood, and Naperville lawyer Richard J, Gatz filed one of several lawsuits about the chaos.

Robinhood investor and rapper Ja Rule commented, “We’re getting to see, in plain sight, how broken this system really is, and how it’s leaned toward one particular group of people.”

Indeed, the main purpose of the stock market was supposed to be assessing the value of corporations based on investors’ information.

Besides Ja Rule, outrage about hijinks like short-selling has come from other high-profile investors such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk, plus conservatives Donald Trump Jr. and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and progressive Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez )D-N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).

Wall Street rebounded this week, but now – possibly (and finally) – the federal Securities and Exchange Commission may investigate – along with the House Finance Committee and the Senate Banking Committee.

Senate Banking Committee chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said, “American workers have known for years the Wall Street system is broken. It’s time for SEC and Congress to make the economy work for everyone, not just Wall Street.”

Regardless of the uprising with GameStop (or, now, silver, according to some reports), financial markets will keep enriching the rich and inequality will worsen unless rules and regulations – fairness – are restored.

Lastly, a cautionary thought from Stengel: “Most games are lost, not won.”

Youth organizer shows a way to reach out

 

Bill Knight column for 2-1, 2 or 3, 2021

 Carl Cannon pushes himself.

The longtime weightlifter, soldier, policeman, family man and mentor also pushes others – to condition themselves to meet future challenges; to bear life’s burdens.

In “Full Cannon,” published this fall, the 61-year-old Peorian who founded several programs for kids and ex-inmates offers something that’s part inspiration and part perspiration, full of memories of hard work and hardships, presidents and prisoners, struggles and successes.

Subtitled “Love, Leadership and Making a Difference,” the 409-page book is also part memoir and scrapbook, featuring photos from a past of hurdles and miracles, achievements and tragedies that offer personal insights into the life of a public figure, a man recalling everyday doubts, wonder and gratitude.

Available online and at some bricks-and-mortar bookstores, “Full Cannon” (War Press) was co-authored by Lance Zedric, and the readable result is not only structured well and paced briskly, it avoids the self-righteous self-promotion of too many titles by innovators.

It’s no cliché to say Cannon had a humble beginning, growing up in public housing until his dad got hired as a local police officer and the family moved to a better neighborhood. He remembers selling Kool-Aid and shoveling snow and being a mischievous pupil in grade school before benefiting from key coaches and teachers and excelling in junior high, then successfully navigating his time in high school as an accomplished athlete before hitting the obstacle of college.

He also worked at a park district and retailer until a sense of aimlessness had him impulsively enlisting in the Army, where he matured into manhood while stationed in Korea, the Pacific and Germany plus Alabama, Kansas and Missouri. After serving, he worked at a downstate Illinois prison and following retirement there, at a park district again

“I loved to work, I loved to compete, and even more, I loved a challenge,” he writes.

Challenges in his community efforts include fundraising through grants, donations and generated income, and the work itself. Beyond programs serving disadvantaged youth, adult re-entry and K-8 audiences, Cannon has organized many outreach efforts: “Officer Friendly” school presentations, “Straight Talk” (on crime and punishment), “Don’t Shoot” (violence), and “Don’t Start” (gangs)

The award-winning advocate’s interactions and collaborations range from Barack Obama and FBI director James Comey to the late segregationist George Wallace and former First Lady Laura Bush, as well as associations with dozens of volunteers, luminaries and lawmakers. (The book’s acknowledgments section runs three pages.)

Also active as a board member at a community college and a public housing authority, Cannon seems most pleased by his faith and extended family. His evangelical zeal draws on Jesus, but also Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and a couple of Army generals.

Among a few brief passages from his wife Melinda and daughters Summer and Danielle is a telling nugget showing that despite Cannon’s imposing physical presence (he has a handshake that could crack rocks), his attitude goes beyond size and shape: “Dad has made a tremendous impact on people by leading with his heart,” Danielle writes.

Cannon’s had setbacks, naturally. A knack for self-criticism shows he recognizes his mistakes. In the military, he recalled, “My own carelessness, lack of attention to detail, and failure to do my homework had created my mess, not the Army.”

Other observations reveal heart-felt compassions and reasoned conclusions, too. After visiting Nazis’ Dachau concentration camp, he remarks, “If anyone doubts that evil exists and that people are capable of such inhumanity, they need to visit the camp.”

Watching the killing of George Floyd on TV, Cannon – a former MP and prison guard – comments, “It was murder.” And, after Caterpillar moved its central Illinois headquarters to Chicagoland, the corporation dropped funding assistance to the community programs. Cannon says it hurt but “I learned that working from the ground up is better than falling from the top down.”

For curious and casual readers, “Full Cannon” doesn’t push any One True Path for social progress. Instead, reflecting on an approach that instills mutual respect and pride, Cannon merely demonstrates that engagement and encouragement can lead to improvement,

And that’s a load many can carry.