WHAT'S IN A NUMBER? — The Weekly Opine

Remember the old Yellow Pages tag line? It’s time to let your fingers do the walking. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

A valuable commodity

During a scene in the 1987 movie “Wall Street,” stock and real estate speculator Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, uttered a great line. Demonstrating to his protégée, Bud Fox (played by Charlie Sheen), the importance of intel Gekko said, “the most valuable commodity I know of is information.” Among big screen favorites, that line has been seared in my memory for years.

Information based on facts and accuracy (or lack thereof) makes a big difference. The dissemination of information is also a key determinant of success or failure. Are messengers credible? Is communication properly repeated to reinforce the message(s) so the information becomes top-of-mind? Equally important is the receptiveness of the audience. For example, voters strongly affiliated with a particular party may cling to biases that are difficult to breach. Are there new channels available to persuade doubters whose heels are dug in?

Recently, Katie Couric (pictured with me below) gave the gift of valuable information to all of us. It’s a tool especially relevant during the tumultuous opening weeks of the Musk-led Trump administration. Couric, one of the great journalists of the last 50 years, is known for a direct, get-to-the-point manner. Couric embodies yesteryear professionalism that’s often absent from the current era of journalism.

A few weeks ago, Katie Couric took to social media and posted the phone number of the U.S. Capitol switchboard. The number is 202-224-3121. That’s 202-224-3121. Thank you, Katie! Everyone should take this information commodity and call at least one member of each party in Congress. Express your feelings about what is happening to our country at the hands of fascist, MAGA Republicans.

My surprise encounter with Katie Couric, in a suite at a Knicks game in 2012, did not include (despite appearances) Couric asking for my phone number. (Photo credit Chris W.)

Hidden figures

On Monday, I called the U.S. Capitol to speak with the four highest ranking members of Congress. The process is straightforward. Dial 202-224-3121 and a recorded voice answers. You are asked to name the senator or representative you want to speak with and are connected to their office. Piece of cake.

First stop, Speaker of the House (and America’s newly minted #1 Fake Christian) Mike Johnson. After being connected to Speaker Johnson’s office, the phone rang about 25 times before I was disconnected with the dreaded “click” sound. Not only did no one answer, I wasn’t even given the opportunity to leave a message nor was I provided information how to contact Johnson via his website. The fake Christian turns out to also be a real chicken, hiding from the American people.

Next, I called Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. A recorded message answered, although I was not given the option to leave a message. The recorded message did provide information re: contacting McConnell through his website. Still, it felt like McConnell is also hiding.

OK, on to Democratic leadership. My attempt to reach House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was a comparative success! A Jeffries staffer – a live body – answered the phone. I explained that although I do not live in Jeffries’ district, as minority leader he is my representative, too. My message to the staffer was that Jeffries and Democrats are doing a good job applying pressure. But Dems must more aggressively resist Musk and Trump’s unlawful directives to federal agencies and their employees. In closing, I let the staffer know how refreshing it was to have my call answered by a real person.

My call to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer resulted in a recorded voice inviting me to leave a message – which I did. It was a similar pitch to the one given to Hakeem Jeffries’ staff member.

Now that I’m warmed up, I will be making frequent calls to the U.S. Capitol switchboard as well as to politician’s offices in their home districts. Possibly, a spring trip to D.C. is in my future.

How long?

“I Have a Dream” gets most of the attention, but my favorite Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speech is “How Long? Not Long!” a speech delivered March 25, 1965, in Montgomery, Alabama.

With his expressive, rhythmic, minister’s cadence, rising dramatically as the speech neared its conclusion, Dr. King brought the audience to a crescendo exhorting, “How long? Not long because no lie can live forever! How long? Not long because you shall reap what you sow!” King continued vigorously, “How long? Not long because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice!”

Will MLK’s “How Long? Not Long!” apply to our current malaise? (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

No one knows how the pickle we find ourselves in will play out. The venerable American political consultant James Carville, like MLK a progressive southerner, recently conjured up visions of King’s “How Long? Not Long!” speech. Last weekend, Carville predicted the Trump administration will collapse “within 30 days.” Carville, when pressed, said he believes Trump’s approval rating – already heading south faster than any new president in history – will collapse in 30 days, maybe six weeks. (Two things to note here: last fall, Carville emphatically stated Kamala Harris would win the election. And approval rating collapse is different than the collapse of an entire administration.)

Still, it’s interesting to see infighting already developing within Trump’s inner circle as Pete Hegseth and Kash Patel openly defy Musk. More importantly, it’s heartening to witness MAGA senators, who stupidly confirmed unqualified cabinet candidates, now questioning decisions made by Trump and his unelected co-president, Elon Musk. Several GOP House reps are raising their eyebrows, too.

Even more importantly, on social media and in town hall meetings, we watch as exasperated, loyal Trump voters whine and beg and, gulp, angrily complain about their man Trump and his boss Musk. Some moan over lost federal jobs. Some fear they’ll lose lifelines like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and/or food stamps. Some worry whether they’ll receive subsidies if tariffs begin ruining their farming businesses. Others have seen family members snatched away as part of Trump’s indiscriminate deportations. (Wait until these MAGAs realize grocery prices are not going down!)

I’m confident there is a time limit on Trump’s distractions, even among the most duped MAGAs. Foolishness like buying Greenland, annexing Canada, forcefully taking the Panama Canal, renaming the Gulf of Mexico, etc., will eventually fade as hoodwinked MAGAs discover life ain’t so good with a fascist despot and his oligarchs at the helm. Meanwhile, this month the Consumer Confidence Index sank by the largest amount since August 2021.

As people lose their jobs, and if routine basics like mail delivery become chaotic and unreliable, and as more Americans can no longer make everyday “ends” meet, it does feel like a recipe for disaster for the Trump administration… beyond approval ratings.

How long? Who knows. But this mess seems unsustainable.