10 things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving

Continuing the tradition I started on this blog last year, here are the 10 things I'm thankful for in 2017. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Sonora Pass, October, 2017

1. First and foremost, my family, who provide never-ending love and support, and tolerate my flaws and faults each day of the year (which is often no easy task). I'm thankful for their health and spirit and proximity (which hits home every year when I see the millions packing airports to travel long distances to be with family). 
2. The news media, who do so much to hold the powerful accountable and give the public the information they need to make decisions rooted in truth and facts, both for themselves and the nation. There's never been a time when the news media in this country have been under such assault, and never a time when its role has been more essential. Like all institutions in American society, the news media are not perfect, but the good they provide to a democratic, free society far outweighs their flaws. Of all my material possessions, my subscriptions to the New York Times, Washington Post and my own East Bay Times are among the ones I value most.
3. My colleagues at the East Bay Times and Mercury News who enabled me this year to experience the professional thrill of a lifetime, being part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team.
4. The brave women throughout the nation who have stepped forward in recent months to call out sexual harassment and abuse. This is a long-overdue reckoning of the need to combat the abuse of power at all levels, and I firmly believe their actions will change the landscape for all women who are subjected to such conduct, along with misogyny and gender discrimination. It makes me more hopeful for the world my own daughters will encounter when they reach adulthood in a few years. 
5. All Americans who have persisted and resisted over the past year in standing up against racism, hatred, nationalism and all the insidious ills that manifested themselves in last year's election. Those who stand for decency, truth and empathy for our fellow men and women may have lost a battle last November, but they are well on their way to winning the war. More and more, Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, are putting country and our shared values above party and ideology.
6. America's veterans, who have given and sacrificed so much for our nation. Ken Burns' "Vietnam War" series captured in gripping detail what the American soldier, airman and sailor has routinely been asked to endure and sacrifice on our behalf. Regardless of how we feel about any given war or the decisions that may have led up to it, we should never forget the burden carried by those whom our leaders put in harm's way in defense of our values and security. 
7. Our nation's first responders, who played such a critical role in responding to the wave of hurricanes, shootings and wildfires that devastated our country over the past year. For many people, their around-the-clock efforts literally meant the difference between life and death.
8. The political leaders of my state, California, for taking such a firm stand in defense of human rights and the security and safety of citizens here and around the world, whether it pertains to the plight of immigrants, the scourge of gun violence or the battle against climate change. As Washington D.C. and so many other states around the nation turn a blind eye toward the truth about these issues and retreat from leadership in favor of narrow self-interests, California, while not perfect, is stepping up to lead the way in creating a society that is more safe, just and caring for all its people.
9. The priests at Christ the King parish, who routinely tame my anxieties with words of wisdom and grace. Thank you for reminding me of the values of patience, humility and respect (for both myself and others) in a world that can so easily pull us in unhealthy directions.
10. And finally, I'm thankful for God's great gift of this planet and all the beauty, comfort and tranquility it provides. Nature is truly God's church. Our family adventures this year brought us to the awe-inspiring beauty of the Grand Canyon, the majestic waterfalls and formations of Yosemite National Park, the calm, cool waters of Bass Lake, and the snow-capped peaks of the Sonora Pass and hypnotizing flow of the Stanislaus River in the Sierras. But beyond all that, the simple beauty of seeing the leaves change color in my own neighborhood as I walk my dog, Theodore, on crisp autumn morning is a reminder of the priceless beauty of nature, which is accessible to each and every one of us, as long as we value and commit ourselves to preserving it (looking forward to spending Friday at Samuel P. Taylor State Park in Marin).
    

Yosemite National Park, August 2017

Happy Thanksgiving! 

How Bill Clinton's resignation would have changed history

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's comment this week that Bill Clinton should have resigned amid the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal has ignited a firestorm of debate within the Democratic Party, and a backlash against the New York senator who now holds Hillary Clinton's former seat and has long-standing ties to the Clintons.

For what it's worth, as someone who voted for Bill Clinton twice, I believed then and today that he should have resigned for the good of the country. His salacious conduct was unbecoming of the president of the United States and a betrayal to voters who twice looked past various allegations of sexual misconduct on his part to elect him to the White House. But most importantly, his resignation would have spared the country a long impeachment battle, lifted the cloud from his presidency, and allowed the country to move forward in confronting its various challenges, not least of which was the growing threat of terrorism.
Regardless of what people think about what Clinton should have done in 1998, it's interesting to speculate how the history of the past 20 years would have been different had he stepped down and not served out the remainder of his second term. We'll never know for sure, but my guess is that the country would have been better off as a result.
Here's a look at some key historical questions to ask about the events that would have followed Clinton's resignation:

• Who would have one the 2000 presidential election? 
• Would the 9/11 terrorist attacks still have happened?
• Would the United States have ultimately gone to war with Iraq?
• Would the 2008 financial crisis have occurred?
• Would Barack Obama and Donald Trump eventually been elected president?

Let's look first at the most obvious question. Would the outcome of the contested 2000 presidential election been different? It's far from guaranteed, but I think it's highly likely that Al Gore would have won the 2000 election running as an incumbent president who had restored a sense of order and normalcy to the White House following the Lewinsky sex scandal. Given the fact he would have almost certainly continued Clinton's core policies, Gore likely would have enjoyed an approval rating similar to the one Clinton had upon leaving office (66 percent). He would have avoided the uncomfortable dilemma of having to run on the Clinton record while distancing himself from Clinton's personal conduct, as he would have had nearly two years to build his own record. Given the razor-thin margin by which he lost the election (a few hundred votes in Florida), I think these factors together would have easily put Gore over the top. There's no way to know for sure what an Al Gore presidency would have brought, but the results most likely would have been better than the disastrous George W. Bush presidency, which included the worst terrorist attack in the nation's history, a misguided war in Iraq, and the beginning of the Great Recession. 

Which brings us to the next big question. Would the 9/11 attacks have unfolded the way they did? My guess is probably they would have, but the chances are at least marginally higher that they would have been foiled had Clinton resigned. For one thing, the year that was consumed with the sex scandal and resulting impeachment battle coincided with the time period when the 9/11 attacks were being planned. If not for the distractions that accompanied Clinton's scandal, the White House and Congress obviously could have focused more centrally on the looming terrorist threat. Of course, there's no guarantee that would have happened (they could have simply shifted their focus to other matters, and battles), but the impeachment drama certainly didn't help in keeping the country focused on what Osama bin Laden was doing in the desert of Afghanistan. Then there's the question of whether a Gore administration would have succeeded in preventing the attacks that a Bush administration failed to. Again, I think it's unlikely, but possible. A Gore presidency would have brought continuity in the fight against terrorism, and there's strong evidence that the new Bush administration didn't view the threat with the same urgency that existed under Clinton. It's hard to argue that the intelligence agencies that failed to prevent the attacks would have acted in a significantly different fashion had Gore occupied the White House, but we'll never know.

One thing that is safe to assume, however, is if Gore had been president during 9/11, there would have been no Iraq War. This was by far the most controversial, and misguided, decision of the Bush presidency. If Gore had been president, as I believe he would have had Clinton resigned, he would have focused on extinguishing bin Laden and his band of terrorists in Afghanistan and not gotten sidetracked in Iraq. 

But what would have become of the Gore presidency had he been elected and the 9/11 attacks still occurred? I think it's likely Gore would have been a one-term president. Of course, much would have depended on how he executed the war against terror and led the nation in the aftermath of 9/11, but he would have faced a stiffer challenge than Bush in maintaining the public's support. He would have received more blame for the attacks than Bush ultimately received as a relatively new president. Gore's critics would have been able to argue that he was part of the administration that had been in power during the years in which Al Qaeda grew as a threat and plotted the attacks, and had failed to take strong enough action to stop it. Bush's supporters could say that he had been president for less than 8 months when the attacks occurred, and that most of the planning for the attacks took place on Clinton's watch. 

So let's say Clinton resigned, Gore became president in 1998, won in 2000, then lost in 2004, likely to Sen. John McCain. That's my best guess on what would have happened in the years following a Clinton resignation. After that, the hypotheticals grow cloudy. How would a President McCain had executed the war against terrorism, assuming 9/11 had occurred? Would a war in Iraq eventually resulted? And would the 2008 financial crisis had played out the same way? Not knowing how Gore's and McCain's economic policies would have differed from Bush's, it's difficult to say, but many of the factors that led to the economic collapse were structural and beyond the relatively limited scope of any actions different presidents, or their administrations, would have taken in the preceding years (Congress likely would have remained in the hands of the Republicans during the majority of this period). So let's say the economic collapse would have occurred regardless of whether Bush, Gore or McCain were president in 2008. It likely would have doomed any re-election prospects for whichever party held the presidency at the time (I'm guessing McCain, but it's possible Gore would have won re-election). So perhaps Barack Obama would have been elected president in 2008 and Trump in 2016 regardless.

But the one wild card in all this is how a Bill Clinton resignation would have affected Hillary Clinton's political career. The fact that Bill was able to prevail in the impeachment battle and serve out his term certainly made it easier for Hillary to run for and win her Senate race in 2000. But would she have run and won even if her husband had resigned? My guess is yes. Voters largely absolved her of any blame during the Lewinsky scandal, and her standing in voters' eyes actually improved as she became a sympathetic figure, and the scandal shifted focus away from her own controversies, specifically the Whitewater ordeal. But while I think she would have run for and won the Senate seat regardless, I think it's much more doubtful she would have been able to mount a presidential campaign. The Democratic Party's views toward the Clintons and the Bill Clinton presidency would have shifted dramatically had he resigned from office in disgrace, and it's highly doubtful that the Clintons would have been able to maintain their powerful position within the party, particularly if Gore had won election in his own right. And if there had been no Hillary Clinton foil for Donald Trump in 2016, the chances are very high his campaign would have crashed and burned. 

So there you have it. Bill Clinton should have resigned in 1998 not only because it was the right thing to do, but because it likely would have spared us the disastrous presidency of George W. Bush, possibly prevented the 9/11 attacks and the Iraq War, and ultimately kept Donald Trump far away from the White House. 

At least that's my best guess. 

Journalist, martyr and saint. The amazing story of Maximillian Kolbe

In honor of All Saints Day, I wanted to share the story of a saint I only learned about a few months ago, during an audio lecture series I listened to titled "The Lives of Great Christians." Of all the saint stories I heard over the course of roughly 15 hours of lectures, none inspired or touched me as much as Maximillian Kolbe.

Kolbe was a Catholic priest during World War II who ultimately starved to death at Auschwitz when he volunteered to sacrifice his own life in the place of another prisoner. How did Father Kolbe end up in the most infamous of concentration camps despite the fact he was a Catholic and not a Jew? He also happened to be a fearless journalist who built an amazingly successful newspaper publishing operation in Poland and later Japan in the years before and then during the war (the monastery he founded in Nagasaki was spared in the atomic bombing because it was protected by a surrounding mountain). Somehow, Kolbe managed to prosper as a newspaper publisher when the economic challenges were even more daunting than they are today, building a circulation in the hundreds of thousands and eventually launching his own radio station.

Kolbe was passionate both in his faith and his belief in the power of newspapers to educate, inform and inspire. He wasn't afraid to take on those in power, whether Stalin's Soviet Union, the Polish government, or later the Nazis, and use the power of the pen to take a stand for human rights. During the war, he also sheltered Jews from the Nazis in his Polish monastery.

When Kolbe's newspaper accounts ran afoul of the Nazis, he was shipped to Auschwitz. But that wasn't his greatest sacrifice. One of the many horrific practices employed by the Nazis was their method of deterring escape attempts. When one prisoner escaped the camp, they would randomly choose 10 people to starve to death in a "hellish dungeon."

When a fellow prisoner who was chosen among the 10 cried out to be spared because he had a wife and children, Kolbe stepped forward and volunteered to take his place. For some reason, the Nazis accepted his offer, and Kolbe was the last to die in the dungeon, eventually being administered a lethal injunction when starvation wasn't enough.

The man whose life Kolbe spared, Francis Gajowniczek, survived the war and spread word of Kolbe's sacrifice in the years that followed. He lived to see Kolbe canonized a saint by Pope John Paul II in 1982.

In a world where we're buffeted daily by stories of hate and division, the story of Maximillian Kolbe's love and sacrifice for his fellow man during humanity's darkest days embodies the meaning of All Saints Day. And regardless of religious faith, his belief in the power of journalism to educate citizens, right societal wrongs and hold those in power accountable should serve as an inspiration at a time when the news media are regularly threatened and attacked by those in the highest rungs of power, both here and around the world.