Steve Flowers: New Year Begins. It’s a Presidential Year
Steve Flowers discusses the upcoming Presidential election.
What to watch during Donald Trump’s State of the Union address
President Donald Trump, a uniter? That’s the approach advisers say Trump will take in his first State of the Union address delivered under divided government. A president who’s mocked everyone from women to the U.S. intelligence community, foreign leaders and members of Congress is expected to speak Tuesday night of setting aside hard feelings and moving forward. For an idea of how that goes over, keep an eye on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, seated behind him and over his shoulder, and the record number of women and minorities who dot the audience after the November 2018 elections. And listen for how enthusiastically Republicans applaud Trump’s outreach. AMPED ATMOSPHERE Everything about the event, including the date, is framed by the longest government shutdown in history. Pelosi suggested Trump postpone the scheduled Jan. 29 speech until the government reopened. Trump, who commands the armed forces, then put off Pelosi’s trip overseas on a military plane. She then formally yanked the welcome mat by refusing to hold a vote to allow Trump to address a joint session of Congress. The tug of war ended Jan. 25, when Trump lifted the shutdown without getting new money for the wall he wants to build on the U.S.-Mexico border. Pelosi then re-invited Trump to deliver the address on Tuesday and he agreed. Trump has vowed to get his border wall and has threatened to declare a national emergency to pay for it without Congress’ approval. ___ TRUMP’S ENTRANCE The pomp begins the moment House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving yells from the back of the chamber, “Madam Speaker, the president of the United States!” Trump will then walk down the center aisle flanked by Republican leaders, shaking hands with many of the lawmakers who grabbed seats earlier in the day in hopes of making it into photos and video with the president. Republicans will burst into raucous hoots and applause. Not likely to extend a hand to Trump: The star of the Democratic freshmen, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. “But I’ll be there and I’ll be present to see and listen to what’s going on,” she told TMZ. ___ WHO’S IN THE ROOM It’s a rare moment when members of the three separate and co-equal branches of government meet under the same roof. The night’s key visual will be Pelosi sitting behind Trump along with Vice President Mike Pence. All 535 members of Congress are invited, along with members of Trump’s Cabinet and the justices of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts. The balcony tells its own story. To the left, Trump will nod to first lady Melania Trump and the administration’s guests. Seated elsewhere in the gallery will be lawmakers’ invited guests, many chosen to send messages reinforcing each party’s agenda. This year the guests include people who have suffered because of the shutdown and those pushing for tougher immigration laws. ___ DESIGNATED SURVIVOR It’s not just a television show. By tradition, one Cabinet secretary is closeted away at a secure, undisclosed location to ensure continuity of government in case disaster strikes while government leaders attend the speech. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was last year’s “designated survivor.” But Trump’s choice this year could be limited by the number of “acting” secretaries in the Cabinet. Only Senate-confirmed secretaries (and natural-born citizens) in the line of succession to the presidency can assume control of government in a crisis. That means Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao can’t fill the role of designated survivor. Chao is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Taiwan. ___ WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE AUDIENCE Look for women on the Democratic side of the aisle wearing white, the color favored by early 20th century suffragettes and now worn by those who want Trump to easily spot his new opponents. Listen for boos, hisses or silence from the newly empowered Democratic side when Trump speaks. Note whether Trump can raise everyone’s gaze and hit feel-good themes that inspire both sides to applaud. For instance, who’s against “unity?” Both Trump and Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, who will deliver the rebuttal, have used that idea to preview their remarks. ___ DEMOCRATS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT Nearly a dozen Democrats who dream of succeeding Trump serve in Congress. They will be sizing up the president and each other as well. Watch the body language among the would-be Democratic presidents: Who’s talking to whom, who gets or gives a hug or a kiss, whose heads are bowed in hushed conversation. Also watch their body language toward Trump. Cameras will be trolling the audience — and the presidential dreamers know it — to see if they can be caught responding with an eye roll or head shake. ___ ABRAMS AFTER WORDS Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer chose Abrams to deliver the rebuttal in a nod toward the black women who anchor the Democratic Party. Doing so elevates her among Democrats as the leaders woo Abrams to run for the Senate. Abrams also will provide a contrast with Trump, who has a history of making racially inflammatory remarks. Abrams is filling a role that for others has proven thankless and generated brutal reviews. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio’s lunge for a water bottle became a meme after he delivered his party’s response in 2013. Then-Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, was panned for being dull in 2009. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, appearing on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” said he twice turned down offers to deliver the rebuttal. Why? “Because it sucks,” he said. … Follow Kellman and Superville on Twitter at twitter.com/APLaurieKellman and twitter.com/DSupervilleAP Republished with permission from the Associated Press
Politics and Sean Spicer take center stage at Emmy Awards
Weeks after leaving his job, former White House press secretary Sean Spicer was onstage at the Emmy Awards on Sunday joking about one of his first – and more dubious – claims from the press room. Host Stephen Colbert, playing the straight man in his opening monologue, said it was difficult to tell how many people would be watching the show. At that point, Spicer wheeled a podium onto the Los Angeles stage. “This will be the largest audience to witness an Emmys period, both in person and around the world,” Spicer said. The reference was to his Inauguration Day claims, contradicted by photos, about how big the audience was for President Donald Trump’s oath of office. “Wow,” Colbert replied. “That really soothes my fragile ego.” Even without Spicer’s surprise appearance, politics couldn’t help but make its way onto the Emmy Awards stage, especially since Colbert noted that Trump was the biggest TV star of the year. Spicer’s joke rubbed several people the wrong way on social media, and Colbert didn’t let him off the hook, either. Pointing out Robert DeNiro in the audience, he noted that the actor had been nominated for his role in the HBO movie “Wizard of Lies” (about Bernard Madoff). Colbert joked that he thought the movie was “The Sean Spicer Story.” On Twitter, actor Zach Braff contended the Spicer appearance was too soon: “I’m not ready to laugh ‘with’ Sean Spicer,” he tweeted. One of former President Barack Obama‘s top aides, Dan Pfeiffer wrote, “congrats to @seanspicer for his new job as the punchline to an unfunny joke.” But he got some sympathy backstage from an unexpected source in Alec Baldwin, who won an Emmy for his memorable portrayal of Trump on “Saturday Night Live.” “I think the average person is very grateful for him to have a sense of humor and participate,” Baldwin said. “And Spicer obviously was compelled to do certain things that we might not have respected, we might not have admired, we might have been super critical of in order to do his job, but I’ve done some jobs that are things you shouldn’t admire or respect me for, either.” Colbert blamed the Emmys for Trump’s election as president. He suggested if Trump had won an award for “Celebrity Apprentice,” he might not have run for president. He showed a clip of a presidential debate where Trump said he should have won an Emmy. “Unlike the presidency, Emmys go to the winner of the popular vote,” he said. Baldwin couldn’t resist picking up that baton when he grasped his trophy. “I suppose I should say, at long last, Mr. President, here is your Emmy,” he said. “SNL” had a smash year with its political comedy, led particularly by Baldwin and Melissa McCarthy‘s impersonation of Spicer. It dominated the Emmys, too, with the show winning for variety sketch series and Kate McKinnon, who portrayed Hillary Clinton, taking a supporting actress award. McKinnon thanked Clinton from the stage for her “grace and grit.” Lorne Michaels, the longtime top producer at “Saturday Night Live,” said he knew it was an important year for the show to get things just right. “It was one of the most amazing years we’ve ever had because everything changed every day,” he said backstage. Donald Glover, best actor winner in a comedy for his role in “Atlanta,” brought up the president his acceptance speech, saying that “I want to thank Trump for making black people No. 1 on the most oppressed list.” A number of nominees wore blue ribbons, distributed by the ACLU in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. “They asked us if he would wear these ribbons to bring attention to the DACA children – the 800,000 vulnerable children were waiting for Congress and our administration to give them permanent, safe homes – and not keep them in this limbo that is terrifying all of them and really affecting lives,” said actor Mandy Patinkin. Three acting veterans got in the toughest shot at Trump – without mentioning his name. Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, the stars of the movie “Nine to Five,” appeared to present an award. “Back in 1980 in that movie, we refused to be controlled by a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot,” Fonda said. “And in 2017,” Tomlin added, “we still refuse to be controlled by a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot.” Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Steve Flowers: Roy Moore, a fundamentalist hero looking to be Senator
When the race for the open Jeff Sessions seat began, it appeared to be a Roy Moore versus Luther Strange contest. Well, folks, that’s how it ended last Tuesday. We’ve got a runoff between our Ten Commandments Judge, Roy Moore and Big Luther Strange. Roy Moore has been around Alabama politics for a while now. Alabamians know who he is and what he stands for. He has been standing up for Fundamentalist Christian values since his days as an Etowah County Judge where he displayed his initial wooden Ten Commandments plaque on the walls of his courtroom. He became so famous for his stand that he rode that notoriety to being elected Chief Justice of Alabama’s Supreme Court. Alabama is undoubtedly one of, if not the most, fundamentalist Bible-believing states in America. Most of the hard-core fundamentalist Moore followers put more credence in the Old Testament than the New Testament. Therefore, Moore’s emphasis on the Ten Commandments resonated then and still does today. Judge Roy Moore became emboldened when he became Chief Justice. In the dark of night, he had a 5,000-pound monument placed in the Supreme Court building’s rotunda. A federal court asked him to remove it. He refused and they removed him. It made him a martyr among the brethren. He ran twice for governor but failed to make the runoff each time. It appeared to be a chink in his armor. It became obvious to those of us who follow Alabama politics that voters thought highly of him as a judge but for some reason did not see him as a governor. This became clearly apparent when five years ago he disposed of two well-financed opponents in a race for his old post as Chief Justice. He won handily even though he was outspent 3-to-1. Folks in Alabama like Moore as a judge. However, it appears that they may like him as a U.S. Senator. If you think he was thought of as a martyr for being removed from the bench for standing up for his Ten Commandments monument, folks in Alabama really resented some vague judicial inquiry commission asking him to leave his seat as Chief Justice for telling probate judges in the state to stop marrying gay people. In the “Heart of Dixie” you cannot ask for a better entree into a governor’s race or senate race. Early polling showed Moore was so far out front in the governor’s race that he would have beaten the current field without a runoff. This judicial inquiry group coronated Moore and made him a folk hero. Ole George Wallace would have loved to have been dealt these cards. I can just hear him now, “Well I’ll tell you right now if two homosexual people want to get married in Alabama I’ll be the first one to stand in the courthouse door and stop ‘em. I’ll even get them a one-way bus ticket to California where they can just stay, and I’ll tell you this too, if one of those transgenders protests in front of my car they may as well get ready to get run over. And if y’all send me to Washington, I’ll ask for a seat next to the left wing socialist wackos, Bernie Sanders and ‘Pocahontas’ [Elizabeth] Warren, and I’ll ask them what bathroom they think the transgenders should go to. Then I’ll introduce a resolution requiring all transgenders be sent to California to live with those communist sympathizing, left wing movie stars and appear on the Stephen Colbert and Bill Maher shows.” Wallace would have had a field day. Wallace was a master politician; some would say a demagogue. Moore was dealt this hand. He is not the politician that George Wallace was. He actually is a true believer. He is not a demagogue. He has put his money where his mouth is. He lost his job not once but twice over his beliefs. Believe me, George Wallace would not have left his job as governor if they told him he was going to be sent back to Barbour County if he did not get out of that school house door. Folks in Alabama feel like Moore was done wrong and they set out to right that wrong. They were going to elect Moore governor next year. However, they rather have him as their Senator. As expected Moore led the field last week. Next week we will analyze the race and runoff and how his opponent, Big Luther Strange, stacks up against Moore. See you next week. ___ Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state Legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Stephen Colbert to air live after Donald Trump – Hillary Clinton presidential debates
Stephen Colbert, who capitalized on the political conventions with live airings of his late-night show, will do the same for the presidential and vice presidential debates. “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” will air live on CBS after the scheduled Sept. 26 and Oct. 19 debates between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and following the Tim Kaine–Mike Pence debate Oct. 4, the network said Wednesday. Colbert, who is in his first-season transition from his Comedy Central series “The Colbert Report,” clearly reveled in making his CBS show more topical with convention comedy. It also yielded what the network called his “biggest viral clips to date,” a measure beyond ratings of how much attention a show is attracting. Those popular bits: fellow Comedy Central alumnus Jon Stewart‘s guest appearance and Broadway star Laura Benanti‘s impersonation of Melania Trump. The host also has introduced a version of the faux Colbert he played on “Colbert Report,” using him to crack biting political jokes. Colbert told viewers that lawyers from his old company said the blowhard cable news host he had played was not his intellectual property — so he introduced “Stephen Colbert’s identical cousin.” CBS entertainment chief Glenn Geller was asked at a meeting of TV critics Wednesday if negotiations were underway to allow Colbert to use more of his old character. Geller ducked the question, saying that Colbert addressed it on his show and that he would let him speak for himself. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Stephen Colbert one-ups Jeb Bush raffle with one of his own
Score one for Stephen Colbert. Jeb Bush, a scheduled guest on Colbert’s first night hosting CBS’ “The Late Show” on Tuesday, recently sent a letter to potential supporters raffling off a “VIP ticket” to the taping in exchange for a $3 donation to his presidential campaign — a move a CBS entertainment spokesman said wasn’t a coordinated tie-in with the show. So Colbert took things into his own hands: In a video posted Wednesday, he praised the contest as “a great idea.” “But here’s the thing,” he said. “No one from Jeb’s campaign asked me if this was OK with me to raise money off my first show. Where’s my cut of that sweet three bucks, Governor? Huh? “Two can play at this contest,” declared Colbert, unveiling his own raffle: For a $3 (or greater) contribution, you can enter for a chance to be his VIP guest to the premiere taping. The winner gets to bring a friend, and the package also includes flights and accommodations at a four-star hotel. And another thing: “The lucky winner will get to submit one non-obscene question that I will ask Governor Bush on September 8th,” says Colbert in the video. “For example, one question might be: ‘Don’t you wish you’d consulted Stephen before launching your contest?’” This “raffle-adjacent” experience is being conducted in partnership with Omaze (an online platform that gives people the chance to win remarkable experiences while supporting social missions), and will benefit The Yellow Ribbon Fund, which supports injured service members and their families. The show airs at 11:35 p.m. EDT. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
