For What it’s Worth: Warren Hecht

It looked like the government was going to shut down due to the Musketeer (someone else’s nickname idea) Elon Musk and Trump’s objection to the bipartisan spending bill that was negotiated in the House of Representatives. Trump wanted a provision to increase the debt ceiling. First, he said for two years, and then he said until the end of his term. Trump said he wanted it to be done on Biden’s watch. Due to their pressure, the Republicans in the House backed away from the deal.

Last week I wrote about whether the Senate would have the courage to vote down Trump’s clearly unqualified picks who have baggage or views beyond the pale. It did not take too long to find out. Despite calls made by Trump, and VP-Elect Vance accompanying Matt Gaetz to meetings with key senators, it was clear that there was a group of senators who were not going to budge no matter what. So, the bully backed down and Gaetz withdrew his nomination.

Before I address the merits of President Biden giving his son Hunter a full pardon, I want to address the timing. It was done on December 1. Various reasons were given as to that particular date, such as it was after Thanksgiving, and it was before Hunter was going to be sentenced.

On November 13, Trump accepted the invitation of President Biden and met the president at the White House. Traditionally, that would not have been a big deal. However, it did not happen four years ago because Trump refused to meet with Biden. At that time, and to this day, Trump has refused to admit he lost the 2020 election.  In contrast, despite Trump not meeting with him in 2016, when Trump won, Biden met with him even though Biden’s vice president lost. There was little opposition to the meeting in Democrat Party circles. That is how adults act. Melania Trump did not accept First Lady Jill Biden’s invitation to meet at the White House at the same time. It just proves that Donald and Melania have one thing in common: They engage in boorish behavior.

In last week’s column, “Senate 1, Trump 0,” I wrote that “I would not be surprised if Trump fires FBI Director Christopher Wray and tries to bring in an unqualified loyalist such as Kash Patel.” An FBI director’s term is 10 years, which was set to be longer than any president’s term to gain independence from the White House. This was due to President Richard Nixon’s misuse of the FBI. Nixon’s acting FBI director and nominee for the permanent post, L. Patrick Gray, resigned in 1973 after it was revealed that he was giving the White House daily briefings on the FBI’s Watergate investigation and that he destroyed documents relevant to the inquiry.

Kristallnacht occurred on November 9, 1938. Although the word Kristallnacht has been translated as the “Night of Broken Glass,” much more occurred. There were attacks on Jews in the streets along with arrests, arson, and looting. One would have thought that those days were gone. Sadly, they are not.  On November 7, Israeli soccer fans and other Jews were chased and attacked in the streets of Amsterdam by Palestinian supporters. History repeats itself.