Features
The Republican Party showing signs of fracture?
by Vijaya Chandrasoma
Former president Donald Trump made one of the most breathtakingly incendiary and dangerous speeches at a rally in Conroe, Texas last week when he protested that “Mike Pence could have overturned his election defeat by Joe Biden”. Perhaps his first admission of his electoral defeat. There is also separate evidence that Trump had met with Vice-President Pence on January 4, to so “persuade” him.
He falsely stated that he (Pence) had the power to overturn the election when he presided over Congress at the Capitol on January 6, to carry out the constitutional function of formally certifying the November 2020 election results and the Biden presidency. Mike Pence demurred, as he had concluded, rightly, that he did not have the constitutional power to overturn the votes of the electors.
Hence the slogans from the insurrectionists on January 6 to “hang Mike Pence”, with a gallows built on Congress grounds for this specific purpose. Trump doubled down on his lie about Pence’s failure to “do his duty” in a subsequent statement, that Pence should be investigated for his failure to overturn the election. An election which has been confirmed by all the election authorities and the courts of the land, including the Trump stacked Supreme Court, as one of the fairest in the history of the nation.
At this rally, Trump further incriminated himself by announcing that he had incited the January 6 assault on the Capitol, declaring that he would pardon the convicted felons who had participated in the insurrection if he wins re-election in 2024. An admission of complicity in the insurrection that presents the January 6 committee with all the evidence it needs to indict Trump for seditious conspiracy, if not treason.
One of his staunchest supporters, Senator Lindsey Graham, took exception to Trump’s determination to pardon those criminals who had violated the Capitol on January 6. Graham made a public statement to this effect, saying “No, I don’t want to send any signal that it was okay to defile the Capitol….And those who did it, I hope they go to jail and have the book thrown at them because they deserve it”. Senator Susan Collins agreed with Graham, saying, “I don’t think President Trump should have made that pledge to do pardons”. She added that “it’s very unlikely” that she would support Trump for president in 2024 given the “many other” qualified Republicans.
These comments by Graham and Collins immediately met with Trump’s wrath, and he used the worst insult in his lexicon to describe them, that of being a RINOs (Republican In Name Only).
To complete the trifecta, Trump threatened all-out mayhem in the streets of Washington DC, Atlanta and New York, if he is arrested by law enforcement and justice personnel of these cities, who have been investigating criminal activities during his presidency. Trump’s chilling words: “If these radical, vicious racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal (translation: their job, by arresting him), I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protest we have ever had in Washington DC, in New York, in Atlanta, and elsewhere because our country and our elections are corrupt”. A clear signal to his base for violence if he is arrested.
The Texas speech explains Trump’s modus operandi, the ploy he has always used to maintain his continuing standing with his supporters. He loudly and proudly proclaims his involvement in the very crimes of which he is accused, so that his supporters are led to believe that there cannot be anything wrong or illegitimate in his actions if he publicly owns up to them. The statement he made during his election campaign in 2016, when he boasted “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters” is illustrative of his contempt for the rule of law, indeed his conviction that he is above the law.
Earlier, the January 6 committee stated that it is scrutinizing White House papers recently released by the Archives, on orders of the Supreme Court. These papers indicate that Trump was involved in the drafting of a “national security finding”, which typically is used as a prelude to an Executive Order, for the security agencies to seize voting machines after the election. The papers also contain false assertions about foreign interference in the voting systems in the 2020 election, to conclude that Trump had “probable cause to direct the military to begin seizing voting machines”.
An interesting fact about the White House papers released by the Archives is that most were torn up before submission; the Archives had to “repair” them before releasing them to the committee.
Both the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Secretary, Ken Cuccinelli and Attorney General, William Barr, both ardent Trump supporters, had stated that seizing of voting machines had no legal authority.
This is a reiteration of the Big Lie, which, against all evidence, is still believed by a majority of Republicans. A defeated, disgraced former president continues to command overwhelming support among a considerable section of the American people and the majority of the Republican Party, a staggering concept in the backdrop of overwhelming evidence of criminal action by Trump, up to and including sedition and treason.
The present situation in the country, under the Biden administration, contributes to the popularity of the Trump controlled Republican Party. It is widely felt that Biden is unable to rule effectively and pass legislation as he is unable to control his own Democratic Party.
The first few months of the Biden’s presidency were most successful, with the passing of Part 1 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act), “a once-in-a-lifetime investment in our physical and social infrastructure and competitiveness”. Part 1 of this Plan, the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion relief and stimulus package passed in March, 2021, provided financial relief to the most vulnerable Americans who needed help to meet their basic needs. It also served to give a jump start to a lagging economy. President Biden’s actions in controlling the virus, with an approach completely based on science, brought the hospitalization and death tolls down, a great improvement on the criminally incompetent virus mismanagement of the previous administration.
The country’s economy and job numbers remain strong, though a recent jump in inflation has caused concern among consumers and disapproval among voters. Biden’s approval rates have dropped to its lowest levels, at 43%, largely because of his inability to pass Part 2 of the Build Back Better legislation and the Voting Rights Act. Both bills have been voted out by the minority, intransigent Republican Senate, with help from two Democratic Senators. Manchin (West Virginia) and Cinema (Arizona) have voted with the Republicans in the Senate to turn down these two vital pieces of legislation proposed by President Biden. Senators from two traditionally Red states, they worry more about their re-election than their loyalty to the Democratic Party or the welfare of the nation.
The Build Back Better Plan, a campaign promise of President Biden, is designed in its entirety to “set the United States to meet its climate goals, create millions of good-paying jobs, enable more Americans to join and remain in the workforce, and grow the economy from bottom up and the middle out”. The John Lewis Voting Rights Act of 2021 would restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and combat the Draconian legislation recently passed by many Republican controlled state legislatures, especially in the “battleground states”, to suppress the right to vote of minorities and the poorer classes.
However, the present rantings of Trump, admissions of crimes and threats of further insurrections if he is found guilty, reeks of the desperation of a man who feels that the walls are closing in. Recent criticism by Senators Graham and Collins perhaps shows a chink in the popularity of Trump’s white supremacist base. Such disapproval of Trump will surely be followed by other centre-right Republicans, when they feel that Trump’s criminal and authoritarian behaviour is beginning to loosen the iron grip he once held over the Party.
There are increasing tensions as to why the former president has not been indicted by the Department of Justice in the face of convincing evidence against him. Does Attorney General Garland fear that such an indictment would unleash political violence in multiple cities by domestic terrorists who form the Trump “base”? As undoubtedly it will.
With a likely meltdown of the blind loyalty of moderate Republicans as evidence of Trump’s complicity in a violent coup, and his obvious ambitions of dictatorship, grows, the former defeated, disgraced and desperate president may be left with his armed, violent white supremacist base to carry out his orders for countrywide insurrection. Americans should fasten their seat belts, they are in for a rocky ride in these months leading to the midterms in November, 2022.
Donald Trump will not “go gentle into the good night”.
Millions of people are gathering in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh state to participate in the Mahakumbh Mela, the world’s largest gathering of humanity.
Devout Hindus from all parts of the world have arrived here and will continue to do so over the course of six weeks to take a holy dip at Sangam – the confluence of India’s most sacred Ganges river with the Yamuna river and the mythical Saraswati.
Hindus believe taking a dip in the sacred waters cleanses people of sins.
Authorities have set up a sprawling tent city spread across 4,000 hectares of open land along the banks of the rivers to accommodate the visitors, who are arriving at the grounds in colourful large processions, singing and dancing along the way.
Photojournalist Ankit Srinivas brings you some sights from the festival:
[BBC]
by Jehan Perera
The government has two sets of problems coming from the past, one external to it and the other internal, but both interconnected. The external problems include the vulnerable state of the economy which is on the mend by any objective standard. But the government is liable to face growing public disenchantment unless the benefits of development are more widely distributed. However, the last government’s negotiations with international creditors and the agreement with the IMF leave little room for the new government to manoeuvre. The reduction in the debt that was negotiated was around 20 percent overall, which is significantly less than obtained historically from similarly positioned countries. In 2020, Argentina restructured $65 billion in foreign bonds, securing a 50 percent reduction in debt payments over the next decade.
The second set of problems that are internal to the government comes from the fact that those in positions of political authority are mostly new to governance. It will take time for them to become accustomed to the complexities of decision making in complex situations as in Sri Lanka. Due to the self-interestedness and corrupt practices of those who previously held those same positions, the country reached the lowest point three years ago, which resulted in the landslide swing to those entirely new to wielding governmental power.
The problem for the new government is that it needs to face the challenge of rebooting the economy with a team that is new to governance. The unfortunate reality is that the corruption and priority given to parochial interests by the governmental decision makers of the past was accompanied by support and similar compromises by those in the state administration. This has meant that the new government leaders have felt it necessary to appoint a set of new administrators to be in charge of the government machinery. Some of them may take longer than others to learn on the job, with the result that the government machinery is not working as effectively as it could in the short term.
CLEAN LANKA
The problems that recently accompanied the Presidential Task Force for a Clean Sri Lanka and received adverse publicity may be attributed to taking on a mechanism that had its origins in an earlier initiative to deal primarily with environment related problems. According to this model the public sector is the “government or governmental institutions that provide policy directions, regulations and public services”. They are to work in partnership with the private sector which is “Business and private organisations that bring in resources, expertise and technology. They also contribute to the funding, innovation and efficiency of the partnership”. This model gave emphasis to public-private partnerships in which civil society would be the target to be “directly impacted by the partnership outcomes”.
The early initiatives of the Clean Lanka task force did not have the positive impact that was envisaged as it was non-consultative and attempted to enforce its views of the public-private partnership on target groups who felt victimised by the decisions made. The owners and drivers of private buses and trishaws who were the first targets have protested the decisions made. The environmental pollution and dangers to traffic that they were judged to be responsible for, was to them the outcome of their efforts to beautify and upgrade their modes of livelihood and which they had invested money in. The government has now agreed to a compromise where the proposed reforms have been given a time frame of three months to be implemented.
One of the initiatives of the government to deal constructively with this issue post-facto has been to invite civil society organisations to discuss the concept of the Clean Lanka task force and obtain their feedback. The government’s NGO Secretariat acted as the intermediary, inviting a select group of civil society organisations to a dialogue with the task force. This was a positive development as civil society groups have not been invited to participate in many of the government’s new initiatives. This has created an impression that the new government has been marginalising them and relying instead on the government machinery and private sector. This negative impression has been strengthened by the sudden emergence of a set of government regulations that would erode their independence.
MODIFY INTERVENTIONS
Civil society organisations are part of the system of democratic governance, particularly in filling gaps left by the public and private sectors such as in the case of marginalised groups, be they ethnic or religious minority groups, women and those from the LGBTIQ community. They also act as part of the system of checks and balances through the monitoring of abuse of power and human rights violations. The space for CSO/NGOs is constantly under threat worldwide. Their actions are often not appreciated by those in power who find civic groups to be inconvenient and troublesome to them.
CSOs in Sri Lanka have faced multiple attempts to restrict their independence for a variety of reasons. During the period of the war, some of them were accused of supporting the LTTE or undermining the government’s war effort. During the immediate post-war period they were accused of trying to revive the spirit of rebellion in the Tamil people and making the government vulnerable to international sanctions by supporting human rights initiatives. At the present time, there are claims that NGOs pose a threat to international law by engaging in criminal money laundering. A new set of NGO regulations have suddenly emerged to subject them to government control.
Discussions with government leaders, however, presents a more nuanced picture of reality. The government position on CSOs has not been formally conveyed but it is reported that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has expressed his desire for an NGO-friendly government position. These positive sentiments and intentions will take some time to manifest themselves as the new government leaders and administrators become more familiar with the issues and apply their values and principles to administer the country. In the meantime, interventions coming from the past may need to be altered and modified like the directions of the task force on a clean Sri Lanka to fit in with the values and principles of the new government.
Of late, we have had some internationally known acts, of a few decades ago, do their thing in Colombo. The most recent were the Gypsy Kings.
Wonder if the present generation, or, let’s say, teeny-boppers, have heard of the Backstreet Boys!
In the good ole days, in the ’90s, they were considered one of the most successful boy bands in history, and had a huge following in Sri Lanka, as well.
Formed in 1993, the band members were AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, and Brian Littrell.
The girls here went gaga over Nick Carter and, I believe, he still has a huge following in our scene.
Well, the good news is that although the Backstreet Boys are no more, as a group, Nick Carter is still on the move and is scheduled to perform, right here, in Sri Lanka, in March.
Ed Sheeran: In action, in Abu Dhabi, on 26th April, 2025
The date mentioned is 23rd March, 2025, and the venue Waters Edge, Battraramulla.
His ‘Who I Am Tour’ will see him do concerts in several countries, including the UAE, India, Thailand, Qatar, Malaysia, China, Japan, Singapore, and the Philippines.
Some of the concerts Nick did last year received excellent reviews, and this is what fans, who had the privilege of seeing him in action, had to say:
* I attended this show, with a VIP upgrade, and it was amazing! Nick was so kind and sweet. The VIP allowed me to attend sound check and then a Q & A. After that, VIP holders got to meet and take a picture with him. Once the show started, the screams were deafening! Nick was amazing and absolutely rocked the entire show! The entire experience was very memorable!
* The energy Nick brings on his shows is amazing! He really loves his fans and has a super line up of songs. The different costume changes are also superb. Nick was unwell that day but he performed and put out a fabulous show! Great energy all around!
Nick Carter: ‘Who Am I Tour’ concert on 23rd March
* Nick’s concert was amazing! I was literally singing and dancing with all the music he played the whole time! His voice is so good! I could listen to him all day long! So talented. I have been a fan since ’99 and it took me 25 years to finally meet him! He was so nice and caring to his fans. He treats everyone like his friends and family. I wish Nick to have an amazing long, long career! He deserves everything! I love you always and forever, Nick! See you on your next tour!
The Backstreet Boys hits include ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,’ ‘I Want It That Way,’ ‘As Long As You Love Me,’ ‘Quit Playing Games With My Heart,’ ‘Larger Than Life,’ and ‘Get Down.’
Yes, there were plans to host an Ed Sheeran concert, in Colombo, in January, this year, but nothing materialized.
However, Sri Lankans are being given an opportunity to see Ed Sheeran, of ‘Perfect’ fame, in action, in Abu Dhabi, on 26th April, 2025.
The only worry, at this point in time, I would say, is the HMPV virus which is reported to be spreading in China and has cropped up in Malaysia, and India, as well.
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