The Washington Post - USA (2021-11-11)

A24 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11 , 2021

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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URING HIS campaign for the White House, President Biden promised to restore human rights to “the center” of U.S. foreign policy — in dealing with allies and adversaries alike. Specifically, he said that there would be “no more blank checks” for Egypt, a longtime U.S. ally that has been under the dictatorial rule of Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, a former general, since 2013. This created expectations for a policy markedly different from that of then- President Donald Trump, who hosted Mr. Sissi in 2017 for the Egyptian leader’s first White House meeting and, after a 2019 get-together, said Sissi “is also a good man, and he’s done a fantastic job in Egypt.” Mr. Trump had blurted out “Where’s my favorite dictator?” before that sit-down. Aides said he was kidding — which, given the former president’s known admiration for the world’s s trongmen, merely demonstrated S igmund Freud’s theory about the relationship between jokes and the uncon- scious mind. Unfortunately, there are signs that Mr. Biden’s administration will not meet the expectations he raised. Under

M r. Sissi, Cairo continues to stifle freedom of expression, restrict civil society organizations, detain thousands of political prisoners and practice torture, all in the name of fighting “terrorism.” Yet on Monday, Secretary of State Antony Blink- en stood next to Mr. Sissi’s foreign minister in Washington and extolled the Unit- ed States’ “strong” and “expanding” relationship with Egypt. Mr. Blinken took the opportunity to decry Iran’s detention of U.S. citizens, a sin of which Egypt itself has been guilty in 18 recent cases — though as of 2021 it had released them, except for one, Mustafa Kassem, who died in custody. The secretary welcomed Egypt’s ballyhooed but mostly cosmetic “human rights strategy,” whose name oddly implies that the systematic violations are unsanctioned and not the result of Egypt’s own official policies. Mr. Sissi recently lifted a state of emergency — then quickly had it mostly reinstated by the parliament he dominates. The United States has leverage on Egypt, in the form of a law conditioning up to $300 million in annual military aid on human rights. To its credit, the Biden administration decided in September to withhold $130 million of it, making it

“very clear” privately what it must do to get the funds. Officials say this kind of quiet diplomacy is the likeliest to get results. Yet Cairo may interpret it as similar to its experience under Mr. Trump, who withheld $195 million in 2017, and released it the next year. A more impressive show of support for Egypt’s beleaguered activists would have been withholding all $300 million based on publicly established human-rights benchmarks, such as the release of political prisoners and other reforms called for in an open letter from the bipartisan Working Group on Egypt. No doubt the United States has what a State Department spokesman described as a “multifaceted” relationship with Egypt, and needs its cooperation on regional issues from the Gaza Strip to Sudan — where military officers have just pulled off a coup, reportedly after con- sulting with Mr. Sissi. It would be stra- tegically unwise to ignore that reality. Nevertheless, Egypt’s dependence on the United States for military aid and other support gives Washington the power and the right — and the duty — to demand that Mr. Sissi respect his people’s basic rights.

Squandering leverage

Mr. Biden fails to deliver his promised hard line on Egypt’s abuses.

abusers among many. The law in question may seem esoteric, or even confus- ing: Where exactly is the line between the personal and the professional, or the professional and the political, for promi- nent public figures? Yet little about this case is in the eye of the beholder. These violations were flagrant and willful, oc- curring even after warnings from ethics attorneys. Ms. Conway, when asked about her transgressions in 2019, said, “Blah, blah, blah.” These offenses persist- ed without punishment for four years,

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FEDERAL investigation has now confirmed what the whole country saw for itself: President Don- ald Trump’s tenure was a parade of violations of the Hatch Act, the law that prohibits mixing governing with campaigning. The report is damning, not only of the previous administration but also of today’s toothless enforcement regime. The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) recounts over the course of 60 pages events that many already read about when they occurred. At least 13 senior officials exploited their roles and resources to boost their boss’s chances in the 2020 election, including in the days before the contest — creating “the condi- tions for what appeared to be a taxpayer- funded campaign apparatus within the upper echelons of the executive branch.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo deliv- ered a speech praising the president’s foreign policy from the roof of a hotel in Jerusalem during the Republican Na- tional Convention; acting homeland se- curity secretary Chad Wolf conducted a naturalization ceremony from the White House grounds, also as part of the convention; Kellyanne Conway repeatedly appeared on television in her capacity as a White House counselor to disparage candidates from the opposing party. These are only a few abuses and a few

permitting those in power to manipulate the business of the state in an effort to maintain that power. The problem is, there is only one avenue for punishment of political appointees under the Hatch Act: The president of the United States must impose it. And, in this case, the president of the United States was con- doning, a nd possibly directing, the mis- conduct. This week’s report is blistering, yet its material effect on the previous administration will be next to nil. An employee who has already left the job can’t be fired or demoted and, in any case, the OSC can only recommend such discipline. Wheth- er to impose it is at the president’s discretion. This renders the Hatch Act practically useless for restraining those most in need of restraint. Congress can change that. The Protecting Our Democ- racy Act in the House of Representatives would empower the OSC to seek fines on political appointees whom presidents decline to discipline, much as it does regularly for rank-and-file civil servants. The bill would also ramp up the maxi- mum penalty to $50,000. Members of the Senate rankled by the blatant undermin- ing of nonpartisan government could independently draw up reforms, too. No White House should be able to “blah, blah, blah” away the consequences of breaking the law.

‘Blah, blah, blah’

The Hatch Act report is damning — of more than Trump’s White House.

people with disabilities. And when he lost his Senate seat in 2002 — after Republicans disgracefully tried to impugn his patriotism w ith an ad juxtaposing his picture alongside images of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein — his dormant case of post-traumatic stress disorder was triggered, sending him back to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he had been treated nearly 40 years earlier after his loss of limbs. Compounding his PTSD was his torment over having voted for the Iraq War. He called it the worst vote he had ever cast

and said it was motivated by his effort to keep his reelection bid politically viable. Mr. Cleland said his recovery — through medication and counseling and spiritual help — was aided by being among veterans from Iraq and Afghani- stan. Mr. Cleland’s regrets over voting for a war in which so many felt the obligation, heard the call of duty and sacrificed so much should serve as a lesson to leaders who vote for wars but don’t fight them. They should endeavor to assure that our country, despite its divisions, remains worthy of those who serve.

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IS FATHER and most of his other male relatives had fought in World War II. So believing he too had an obligation to serve his country, Max Cleland joined the U.S. Army in late 1965. He volunteered for duty in Vietnam at the height of the war and, on a last rescue mission just days before his tour was supposed to end, he picked up a grenade and it detonated, blowing off his right leg and his right arm; within an hour, his left leg was amputated. Obligation. Duty. Sacrifice. That is what the life of Mr. Cleland was all about, but, as he would be quick to tell you, those words are not just about him. They define the countless men and women who over the ages have answered their country’s call to service. Mr. Cleland, 79, whose remarkable career included service as Georgia’s secretary of state for 14 years, leading the Veterans Adminis- tration and a term in the U.S. Senate, died Tuesday at his home in Georgia from congestive heart failure. There is a special poignancy that his death came just days before Nov. 11, when the country honors its veterans. Tributes poured in, including from President Biden, who called Mr. Cleland “an American hero whose fearless service to our nation, and to the people of his beloved home state of Georgia, never wavered.” More than anyone, Mr. Cleland knew that service and sacrifice don’t end on the battlefield or the date of discharge. As a triple amputee, he struggled with challenges, both visible and hidden. It took him 90 minutes each day to get dressed. “The little things you and I never think about, like buttons and ketchup packets,” former communications director Patricia Murphy wrote in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “were daily frustrations.” He used his experience to advocate for veterans and for

A veteran’s life

Max Cleland embodied the duty and sacrifice of those who serve our country.

I read with interest the Nov. 6 Sports article “Rodgers blasts ‘woke mob,’ virus protocols as he defends vaccination sta- tus,” about Green Bay Packers quarter- back Aaron Rodgers’s contention that he wasn’t “lying” to a reporter’s question this summer asking if Mr. Rodgers was “vacci- nated.” Mr. Rodgers responded that he was “immunized,” a distinction without a difference unless Mr. Rodgers had already had the coronavirus, which he hadn’t. Perhaps Mr. Rodgers prefers the term “dissembling” rather than “lying,” also a distinction without a difference. If anyone expects the National Football League to take action against its impor- tant “property,” Mr. Rodgers, they should also read an article on the same page of the Sports section titled “NFL’s response on WFT leaves leaders wanting,” revealing the NFL’s obvious “damage con- trol” in shrouding the odious conduct by the Washington Football Team, by initially directing attorney Beth Wilkinson not to provide a written report of her findings and now stonewalling Congress’s legiti- mate right to the internal investigation of the WFT. NFL action: Ain’t gonna happen! Dan Toomey, Lewes, Del.

The NFL’s inaction

The Nov. 7 editorial “A factor that can’t be ignored” pointed out that the current rule trying to prevent the exclusion of Black people from juries does not work well. It is hard to prove that jurors are being excluded on the basis of race. I propose the solution to this problem is to always replace a Black juror who is excluded for any reason with the next eligible Black person. This way the exclusion of a Black person will not change the racial composition of the jury. Jury pools should also be selected from a list of all residents. If you could be charged with a crime and tried by a court, you should be eligible to be on the jury. Dean W. Smith, Kingstowne

In any assessment o f the importance of racial diversity in jury composition in criminal trials, we must keep in mind that the jury trial is designed to protect the defendant from the power of the state. When, as in Batson v. Kentucky, the defendant is a racial minority, the need to restrict pre- emptory challenges of minority jurors is at its highest. The prosecutor, the state’s law- yer, has a duty to enforce the law, but also an ethical duty to ensure that the law is enforced fairly — that justice is done. When the defendants are White and the victim is a racial minority, as in the trial of the alleged killers of Ahmaud Arbery, the need for a diverse jury is significantly reduced. Defense lawyers should be ac- corded a wide latitude in fulfilling their ethical obligation to “zealously” represent their client, and, if the challenges are justified, as in the case of the alleged Arbery killers, they should not be over- turned simply because they result in the seating of only a single minority juror. If the non-minority jurors all vote to acquit, the single minority juror’s vote to convict will produce the same result as the similar votes of multiple minority jurors: a hung jury. John J. Duffy, Bethesda

How to seat a fair jury

Regarding the Nov. 7 Sports article “For coaches, the lines have blurred”: My first year on the junior varsity football team in 1966, I encountered a coach who was a screamer, somewhat of a bully and who taunted us. He dared anyone to knock him off the two-man sled during tackling drills. He would situate himself atop the back of the sled, gripping the two iron posts, whistling each guy to take a turn tackling the sled. One practice, I carefully observed his body language after each guy hit the sled. I saw that he relaxed momentarily before he whistled the next guy to go. When my turn came, I didn’t wait for his whistle; I timed it to hit the sled when his body was at rest and I knocked him into the air and flat on his backside. It was a cathartic moment for the team. Many years later, it’s clear to me that many of my early experiences helped in- fluence my decision to later work with children and teenagers in the field of mental health. I knew the importance of positive peer and adult connections and that it didn’t come easy for too many kids. I made a career of helping change that. Andrew Malekoff, Long Beach, N.Y.

Athletes need positive adults

I was very disheartened and alarmed to read the Nov. 8 front-page article “Democrats’ highs, lows bring crisis of identity.” It might seem ironic to hold up Israel as a model, but it was able to form a governing coalition of eight very dispa- rate constituencies from the very far left to the very far right, including an Arab party. Their sole purpose in staying together is to prevent a demagogic former prime minister from regaining power and continuing to inflict great damage to their economy and the social fabric of the country. Are the Democrats in Congress not terrified at the prospect of losing both houses of Congress in 2022 and the White House two years later? How can they not realize that any disagreements about policy and funding must be superseded by the goal of saving our democracy, which is in mortal danger as never before in history? It is urgent that the Democrats prove they can coalesce and overcome differ- ences to save our country from the horror of former president Donald Trump or an acolyte of his regaining the White House. Norma Fenves, Rockville

Coalesce to save the nation

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So whereas Ms. Parker lamented that Democratic policies that try “to relieve us of the burdens of responsibility” ultimate- ly weaken freedom, we should be far more concerned about Trump supporters’ rejection of “the burdens of responsibilities” of citizenship — beginning with the responsibility to respect electoral outcomes — a rejection that is steadily, tragically and, I fear, fatally destroying our democracy. Michael Moriarty, Charlottesville

Kathleen Parker was right in her Nov. 7 op-ed, “Take note: Voters have a problem with authority,” that “Americans hate being told what to do” and that “opposi- tion to faraway authority was among our founding battle cries and today remains a big part of our nation’s DNA.” Another part of American DNA is the desire to be left alone. You do your thing, I’ll do mine, and we’ll both be just fine. What to do, though, when one person’s loathing of being told what to do runs right smack into someone else’s desire to be left alone? And there’s the rub, the one that doubters of democracy have voiced since the earliest days of the republic. The conflict is acute with respect to our em- barrassing inability to strike a reasonable balance on guns and the coronavirus. As The Post reports about the Jan. 6 attempted coup, though, it’s evident that the stakes in this conflict between Ameri- cans hating to be told what to do and our desire to be left alone are greater than ever. For all intents and purposes, one of our country’s two major political parties culti- vated domestic terrorists who attacked the seat of our government.

The stakes are too high

DRAWING BOARD JOE HELLER

B Y JOE HELLER

BRIDGET BENNETT/BLOOMBERG NEWS Kellyanne Conway speaks i n Las Vegas on Saturday.

The Washington Post - USA (2021-11-11)

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