A bicyclist is in critical condition after a collision with a pickup truck in Berkeley Wednesday morning, a police spokesman said. 

The collision was reported shortly after 7:15 a.m. at Ninth and Cedar streets in northwest Berkeley, police spokesman Officer Byron White said. 

The truck was traveling east on Cedar Street when a bicyclist traveling south on Ninth Street struck it despite the truck driver's effort to swerve and avoid the collision, White said. 

The bicyclist, a 58-year-old Albany man, was taken to a hospital and was in critical condition as of midday, according to White. 

The 30-year-old Berkeley man driving the truck stopped at the scene and cooperated with investigators. 

The collision prompted the closure of the intersection for more than four hours. Police said it reopened as of shortly before 11:45 a.m.

A Nevada sheriff's deputy suffered a gunshot wound Friday while helping apprehend the suspect in three fatal Friday Bay Area shootings, police said Saturday.

Stefon Jefferson, 43, is a suspect in a homicide at People's Park in Berkeley Friday, as well as a shooting Friday morning in Oakland and another Friday afternoon in San Francisco's Bayview District. A fourth shooting took place when Jefferson was arrested, wounding a deputy, San Francisco police said. 

Jefferson is being detained in Douglas County on suspicion of crimes including attempted murder of a police officer, according to police. 

The People's Park shooting took place around 2:40 p.m. Friday, University of California police said. 

Officers said the People's Park shooting victim was shot by a male suspect who left the scene in a car. The victim died at the hospital, police said. 

Jefferson was arrested Friday evening in connection with a shooting Friday morning in Oakland and another Friday afternoon in San Francisco's Bayview District. University police now say Jefferson is a suspect in the People's Park shooting, as well. 

University of California police Sgt. Sabrina Reich said late Saturday afternoon that all four law enforcement agencies involved in cases in which Jefferson is a suspect are working with one another on the investigation. When asked what Jefferson's connection could be with anyone at People's Park could be, Reich said she didn't want to comment on that while that investigation is ongoing. 

Jefferson was taken into custody near South Lake Tahoe Friday evening by members of the Douglas County Sheriff's Department in Nevada, according to the San Francisco Police Department. It wasn't certain why he was in the South Lake Tahoe area, police said. 

Jefferson was booked into the Douglas County Main Jail in Minden, Nev. on charges of Attempted murder, Assault with a deadly weapon, Ex-felon in possession of a firearm, Battery on an officer, Eluding a Peace Officer along with numerous additional traffic related offenses. 

Oakland police said Jefferson was wanted in connection with a shooting in the 4100 block of Market Street in Oakland. 

Officers responded to the scene at 10:14 a.m. and located a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The man died at the scene. 

At 1:27 p.m., officers with the San Francisco Police Department responded to the 1100 block of Donner Avenue in San Francisco on a report of a shooting and located a man suffering from a gunshot wound. 

The victim was transported to the hospital and later died. Investigators determined Jefferson was a suspect in that homicide as well. 

At a news conference Saturday in Minden, Douglas County District Attorney Mark Jackson said that county has first shot at Jefferson's prosecution as he is in custody there. Jackson also said he will confer with the victims' families and the district attorneys in Alameda County and San Francisco before any legal decisions are confirmed.

Anyone who’s ever been responsible for managing a 2 ½ year old knows the trick. Is the child resisting getting dressed? At that age they’re resistant to almost anything you suggest.

So you ask this way: “Would you like to wear the red shirt or the green one?” and with any luck the child will be distracted from the pink sequined tutu which was her prior choice, or at least from her first idea, which was to finish building her block tower before dressing for pre-school.

That’s the paradigm for the techniques beloved of professional planners for getting citizens to go along with what they ought to think is good for them. Or at least what the planners think they ought to think.

Yes, it’s another chapter in my ongoing discussion of Manufacturing Consent which began last week. 

My first encounter with this plan was at the Tuesday Berkeley Farmers’ Market on Adeline, which is hands down the best place to find out what’s going on with the deathless schemes to wrest control of the area around the Ashby Bart Station from the undeserving hands of the local citizenry. Some of the notorious Friends of Adeline, who have the temerity to think that they should be consulted just because they happen to live there, can usually be found expounding on the latest outrage inflicted by Berkeley’s Very Important People on long-suffering neighborhood residents. 

A couple of weeks ago there appeared a fancy pop-up canvas pavilion, nicer than the shade tents used by the farmer merchants, complete with a counter, three very large schematic graphic diagrams and several winsome youth. They carried clipboards, always a bad sign, and one even had an IPad. 

I watched with interest as several locals whom I recognized as Those Not To Be Trifled With engaged the staffers in heated conversation, and finally my curiosity got the better of me. I went over and asked the young folks why they were there. 

With great enthusiasm, they handed me some expensively printed materials and directed me to an included survey, which they wanted me to fill out on the spot with one of the pens they seemed to be giving away. Since I still needed to get my veggies, I demurred, but did agree to listen to a quick explanation of the big pictures. 

They turned out to represent three choices for possible ways to improve San Pablo Avenue, helpfully labelled Concept A, Concept B and Concept C, each copiously detailed. 

Because I am an experienced mother of three, grandmother of three, and frequent babysitter, I immediately recognized that they were using the “You Get to Choose! “ ploy. 

Because I’m a retired high tech manager, I immediately thought of one of the small number of useful slogans I acquired when dealing with software developers: If It’s Not Broke, Don’t Fix It. 

Let’s just start by asking what’s wrong with San Pablo Avenue. 

I recently had dinner with a European friend at the estimable LongBranch restaurant on San Pablo, in the same block which also houses the Ecology Center and Caffé Chiave (formerly Trieste) in charming vintage storefronts. As usually, the food was good, not too expensive, and parking was easy. 

(Here, a pause for the OMG moment with the bicycle enthusiasts. Why did I have a car? Well, I have a bum knee, I’m an old lady, and the dog was with me, okay? There are quite a few of us out there who have one or more of these issues which keep us off bikes. And don’t get me started on AC Transit.) 

My European friend, who lives in Oakland, said with a sigh that she thinks San Pablo is one of the most interesting streets in the East Bay because of the number and variety of the businesses it supports. 

I couldn’t agree more. For many years now my breakfast has been one and a half slices of super whole grain raisin toast from Vital Vittles, a distinctly funky bakery on San Pablo, to which I credit my generally vigorous health. I have purchased lots of replacement items to fix my elderly house from Omega Salvage and the Sink Factory. Discount Fabrics has supplied my family with upholstery materials and costumes galore. If I want to go out after a musical event, La Marcha Tapas Bar is one of the few places open until midnight in stodgy Berkeley. And all of these terrific operations are just on the west side of San Pablo between University and Ashby. Many more can be found east, north and south of this stretch. 

People live on San Pablo too, happily. For the perspective of one of them, see this piece from frequent Planet contributor Carol Denney, who also encountered the “improvement” proposal this week. 

So of course our public officials are planning to gentrify the life out of all that fun, right? 

I reluctantly agreed to let the polite young woman read me some survey questions from her I-pad, all from the “You Get to Choose One” play list. (Here I must admit that part of my motivation was the pile of key chains with useful small plastic whistles which they were giving away to participants.) 

But my patience only lasted through about four idiotic multiple choice questions, I’m sorry to report. None of them offered “Just Don’t Do It” as a choice, which is what I really wanted to tell them. I said I needed to move on to finish getting my veggies, and I did. 

They seemed to be contractual consultants from Baltimore hired by the Alameda County Traffic Commission, an organization I’d never heard of. The glossy handout had the sponsor’s website address: 

https://www.alamedactc.org/programs-projects/multimodal-arterial-roads/sanpabloave/ 

It linked to a Survey Monkey poll: 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SPACorridor 

Since I took their keychain, I made a cursory effort to finish the poll from home, but it was just too depressing to contemplate as I got further into the gory details of my three “choices”. 

Folks, have you been on Van Ness in San Francisco lately? Regardless of the predicted merits of the proposed redecoration of this major artery, any of the remodeling processes described would surely kill off a large percentage of the successful small time operators now doing business on San Pablo, just as the Van Ness reconfiguring has bombed the businesses there.  

There is still just a little time if you’d like to get involved. From the website: 

“The project is currently at the conceptual design stage, exploring what improvements can fit within the existing roadway. We have developed different concepts for how the space on San Pablo Avenue could be used differently in the future and want to hear from you. “Please complete this quick SURVEY to provide your input on trade-offs between different types of improvements for San Pablo Avenue. The survey will close May 5, 2019. 

“Public Workshops [remaining]

“Tuesday, May 14, 2019, 7:00-8:15 p.m.
Environmental Quality Committee Meeting
El Cerrito City Hall
10890 San Pablo Avenue
El Cerrito, CA 94530  

“Thursday, May 23, 2019, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Francis Albrier Community Center (at San Pablo Park)
2800 Park Street
Berkeley, CA 94702 “ 

 

 

 

 

 

l 

 

Not everybody has a computer. I know, half of you think that that's just no longer the case. And I bet you don't live on or near San Pablo Avenue. I tried to take the computer online survey being passed around regarding transit on San Pablo Avenue since I live on San Pablo Avenue. I found myself forced to choose between untenable options and finally realized the whole survey would be used against my neighborhood's best qualities in a wholesale sacrifice to people who want to skip the freeway. We're not just an end-run for drivers; we're an enviable mix of residential and commercial neighborhoods with the most historic roots in Berkeley besides the shellmounds. I left a lot of questions blank not knowing what else to do.

There's an option for stripping all the parking to create protected bike lanes on San Pablo Avenue. I love protected bike lanes. But if there's one thing left the authorities can do to us after allowing rents, commercial and otherwise, to skyrocket so far that local businesses can't function without prices we can't pay, it's to remove the last little bits of parking we compete for as residents, workers, and shoppers. Here it comes. There's only so many of us who can walk ten blocks to the grocery store and carry the produce home. Our bike lanes are currently just off San Pablo Avenue on side roads with lower speeds where a protected lane wouldn't require stripping out our lovely, winding medians of historic trees, trees which in this plan get no discussion. 

It certainly saves time and trouble to avoid more traditional democratic fora, especially if for some reason you're trying to avoid meeting your neighbors. But the allegiance to online surveys here in Berkeley and in this transit county study is silly; Berkeley's multi-unit housing smoking regulation survey, for instance, included a solid quarter of respondents who had no idea what the law was but merrily participated anyway. People in single family homes participated. And as Daily Planet Editor Becky O'Malley deftly demonstrated, those motivated to skew the results can sign up and complete the survey over and over again. 

Developer-driven surveys only offer limited, pre-chosen, non-grassroots options-- and none of our historic trees, in the case of San Pablo Avenue's transit survey. Right now on San Pablo Avenue we're a mix of buses, bikes, and local traffic. The slower we travel the safer we are sharing our shady, historic road. Our oldest trees are somehow absent in every single survey option, trees rhapsodized about in the earliest remembrances of this area. And trees are remarkably unwilling to fill out online surveys. 

There is lots of angst among the Brits these days as they agonize over the terms of their messy divorce with the European Union. Prime Minister, Teresa May, managed to gain a postponement until the end of October which she hopes will give her time to negotiate better terms. Much like the tribal warfare in the US between pro and anti-Trumpeters, England is beset between the Leavers and Remainders. Meanwhile there is a side show in Ireland where they have to decide on how to separate Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland with what the French call “le Backstop”. The Brits have got themselves in a pickle with their divide and rule strategy separating the small island between Protestant North and Catholic south. Both sides support a soft backstop rather a separating wall which could reignite the paramilitary war over the status of Northern Ireland. It’s a major stumbling block on the path to a smooth and orderly Brexit.

These squabbles bring back memories of my early life in pre-Brexit England.

I grew up in Birmingham, England amidst the horrors of World War II. Birmingham was the center of what is commonly known as the “black country” a group of cities in the “Midlands” notorious for their smoke stack industries, a favorite target for German war planes during the Second World War. 

I was 5 years old when Britain declared war on Germany. What followed were unrelenting bombing raids with German bombers dropping their payloads on terrified Brits on a daily basis. Birmingham and other major manufacturing cities were especially targeted. The bombs were preceded by flares lighting up the night sky to expose heavily camouflaged factory buildings. Air raid wardens patrolled neighborhoods to ensure complete blackouts. Double summer time was enacted to save electricity. Gas mask drills were enforced in all schools to protect us from possible German gas attacks. 

Throughout those terrible years British radio comedians kept us entertained with much needed form of escapism and maintained our morale against terrible circumstances. Fuel and food were strictly rationed which was especially challenging during Britain’s bleak winters. To add to our woes we were targeted for adhering to the symbols of our faith as Sikhs, most prominently the turban. My father had a very difficult time establishing a medical practice in a blue color neighborhood of Birmingham. We had to endure racial slurs which often morphed into fist fights. I was the youngest of 3 husky brothers who often came to my rescue during nasty physical altercations with local bullies. Jobs, hotel accommodations for non-whites Brits were scarce. All non-Brits were identified as “colored” a derogatory term that has since been banned in England. Overt racism was rampant. 

Following college graduation I visited India, the country of my heritage, where I witnessed abject poverty, offering me a wider perspective on life and its many challenges. Fast forward to 1967 when I arrived with my wife and two children to the US to seek a better life. It was an idyllic time. All the basic necessities of life were affordable from gas prices at 29 cents per gallon and home prices in the range $35,000-$50,000. How times have changed.

Tune: Chiquita banana song with la la la chorus. UC regents: hats and ties, suits/suit coats if you want, a little crazy works. Continually and gratuitously shake each others' hands in a macho, insider kind of way.
You're an official UC regent if you sing it with me on the 50th Anniversary of People's Park on April 28.

(I'm a) UC regent and I'm here to say
(we're) monetizing public lands in every way
(we spent) so much money on de football stuff
(no ) matter what the students pay it's not enough
la lala lala, la lala lala, la lala lala, lala lala la! (x2)

(we pay) ten million dollars to de football coach
(but in de) student housing you live with a roach
(you get) special admission if you've lots of dough
(and if you) cheated to get in well, we don't want to know
la lala lala, la lala lala, la lala lala, lala lala la! (x2)

(de) People's Park well she's a way too old
(and de) free speech stuff she really leaves me cold
(the People's) Park's a landmark but we don't care
once it's gone you won't remember it was there
la lala lala, la lala lala, la lala lala, lala lala la! (x2)

(Bridge:) 11,000 students more? let them sleep on someone's floor!
we've no place for them to go - they can commute from Fresno! Modesto!
la lala lala, la lala lala, la lala lala, lala lala la! (x2)

(it's been) fifty years and that's-a way too long
(the People's) Park should end-a just-a like our song
I'm a UC regent and I guarantee
(that if) somebody gets killed oh well it won't be me

la lala lala, la lala lala, la lala lala, lala lala la! (x2)

It seems like America went through a long dark night of the soul with Donald Trump for the last three years. The Trump presidency has, from the first represented a threat to truth, democracy, and the rule of law. Donald Trump's contempt for basic governance is accompanied by a lack of decency, empathy, and psychological stability. Trump has the psyche of an emotionally damaged toddler. You hear this not only from his ideological opponents but from countless departing confidants, lawyers, and advisers. He is devoted not to public service but to feeding the demands of his ego and his appetites. 

It is impossible to imagine Trump changing his behavior. Trump's affinity for autocratic types suggests that he might even refuse to give up power thus undermining the legitimacy of the American political system.

The public is generally aware that many foods are unsafe to consume. But it is surprising to learn that even many delicious foods are permeated with dangerous pesticides. The Environmental Working Group (EWG), which studied this issue, released its grim findings on contaminated fruits and vegetables. Just one strawberry contained 13 different pesticides. Each grape tested contained 15 pesticides. EWG found 13 different pesticides on each cherry tomato. Among the fruits, apples are the most contaminated. Very disappointing, the pesticides have remained in the foods even after the fruits and vegetable were washed or peeled. 

Unfortunately, the poisonous pesticides do not only attack their target. They cause many health problems in humans, from respiratory diseases to cancer. They even damage the mental capacity of children. For example, exposure of a women to pesticides during pregnancy increases the risk that their children will suffer from autism and other serious developmental problems by 60 percent. 

Undoubtedly, consuming organic food is a safer bet. But it is not risk free. Many producers of organic food are unable to avoid the drift of sprayed pesticides from conventional to organic farms. The drifts can travel long distances where they can be very destructive to the crops. It could make it impossible to sell the assaulted produce. Most often these neighboring organic farms still sell their products, imperfect as they may be. 

The phrase "pesticide drift" can be misleading because it implies that the drift is always unintentional, that is, its force and direction are determined by nature only. However, most conventional farmers have not taken the steps to control the flight. Although, for example, although pesticides should not be sprayed during windy days, these farmers continue to do so. 

Of course, economic considerations play a role. But also the conventional farm grower is not interested in protecting the agriculture of organic farmers. In fact, they view organic farming as a threat to their interests. Their propaganda has publicly accused the organic industry of using deceptive marketing practices and even using pesticides that are more toxic then what conventional farmers use. But although some organic farmers have engaged in successful law suits against agribusiness to curtail their assaults, the so called pesticide drift problem continues to haunt organic farmers. 

Also, the non-organic producers have developed an effective strategy to market their food by convincing consumers that their non-organic food is actually organic. On this issue they have benefited from the cooperation of the federal Food and Drug administration (FDA). The trick has been to mislabel many of their products as "natural", "All natural", or "100 percent natural". According to one poll, 86 percent of consumers believe that the term "natural" indicates that the food does not contain any artificial ingredients. Unlike the organic label, which is required to sell food as organic, there are no legal prohibitions to deceiving the public. Except for some regulations by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that apply to chicken and meat, producers of food products can be labeled as natural no matter what ingredients they contain. Despite pressure from knowledgeable food experts, the Food and Drug administration has been unwilling to impose any requirements. 

Longevity in the United States for many reasons has been stagnating and even declining. Whatever the tendency, this is not among the issues that the corporate food industry is concerned about. 

- 

After 18 years of unchallenged power and success, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suddenly finds himself in the middle of several domestic and foreign crises with no obvious way out. It is unfamiliar ground for a master politician who has moved nimbly from the margins of power to the undisputed leader of the largest economy in the Middle East. 

His problems are largely of his own making: an economy built on a deeply corrupt construction industry, a disastrous intervention in Syria and a declaration of war on Turkey’s Kurdish population. All of these initiatives have backfired badly. In the Mar. 31 local elections, Erdogan’s conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost control of all of Turkey’s major cities, including the country’s political center, Ankara, and the nation’s economic engine, Istanbul. The latter contributes more than 30 percent of Turkey’s GNP. 

That is not to say that the man is down and out. The AKP is demanding a re-run of the Istanbul election and is preventing the progressive mayors of several Kurdish cities in Turkey’s southeast from assuming office. Erdogan is not a man who shies from using brute force and intimidation to get his way. Close to 10,000 of his political opponents are in prison, hundreds of thousands of others have been dismissed from their jobs, and opposition media is largely crushed. The final outcome of the election is by no means settled. 

But force will only exacerbate Erdogan’s problems. 

The Kurds are a case in point. When the leftist Kurdish-based People’s Democratic Party (HDP) made a major electoral breakthrough in 2015—winning 81 seats in the Parliament and denying the AKP a majority—Erdogan responded by ending peace talks with the Kurds and occupying Kurdish towns and cities. 

Rather than cowing the Kurds, however, it sowed the wind, and the AKP reaped the hurricane in the March election. An analysis of the Istanbul mayor’s race shows that the AKP and its rightwing National Movement Party alliance won about the same percentage of votes it had in last year’s presidential election. The same was true for the AKP’s opposition—the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP) and its ally, the right-wing Good Party. 

The difference was that the HDP did not field a candidate, and its imprisoned leader, Selahattin Demiratas, urged the Kurds and their supporters to vote against Erdogan’s candidate. They did so in droves and tipped the balance to the CHP’s candidate. That pattern pretty much held for the rest of the country and accounts for the AKP’s loss of other cities, like Izmar, Antalya, Mersin and Adana. 

When the Turkish state waged a war against the Kurds in the 1980s and ‘90s, many fled rural areas to take up life in the cities. Istanbul is now about 11 percent Kurdish. Indeed, it is the largest grouping of urban Kurds in the world. So if there is a phrase that sums up the election, it might be “revenge of the Kurds.” 

But the AKP’s loss of the major urban centers is more than a political setback. Cities are the motors for the Turkish economy and for the past 18 years Erdogan has doled out huge construction projects to AKP-friendly firms, which, in turn, kick money back to the Party. The President has delivered growth over the years, but it was growth built on the three “Cs”: credit, corruption and cronyism. 

Those chickens have finally come home to roost. Foreign currency reserves are low, Turkey’s lira has plummeted in value, debts are out of hand, and unemployment—particularly among the young and well educated—is rising. In a rare case of political tone deafness, Erdogan focused the recent campaign around the issues of terrorism and the Kurds, ignoring polls that showed most Turks were far more worried about high prices and joblessness. 

Where Erdogan goes from here is not clear. 

Turkey is holding talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about a possible bailout, but the President knows that means increased taxes and austerity, not exactly the kind of program that delivers votes. There will be no elections until the 2023 presidential contest, so there is time to try to turn things around, but how? Foreign investors are wary of Turkey’s political volatility, and the Europeans and Americans are unhappy with Erdogan’s erratic foreign policy. 

The latest dustup is fallout from Turkey’s disastrous 2011 decision to support the overthrow of President Bashar Assad of Syria. Assad has survived—largely because of Russian and Iranian support—and now Turkey is hosting millions of refugees and bleeding out billions of dollars occupying parts of northern Syria. 

Turkey initially tryed to get NATO to challenge Moscow in Syria—even shooting down a Russian warplane—but NATO wanted no part of it. So Erdogan shifted and cut a deal with Moscow, part of which involved buying the Russians new S-400 anti-missile and aircraft system for $2.5 billion. 

Backing the extremists trying to overthrow Assad was never a good hand, but Erdogan has played it rather badly. 

The S-400 deal made NATO inhappy, which doesn’t want high-tech Russian military technology potentially eavesdropping on a NATO member country, particularly on American warplanes based in Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base. 

The US Congress is threatening to block Turkey’s purchase of the F-35 fifth generation fighter plane, even though Turkey is an investor in the project. The Trump administration has also warned Ankara that it will apply the 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act if Turkey buys Russian military equipment, sanctions that could damage Ankara’s already troubled economy. Turkey is officially in a recession. 

The Americans are so upset about this S-400 business, that the Senate recently proposed lifting an arms embargo on Cyprus and signing energy agreements with Greece and Egypt—two of Turkey’s major regional rivals. 

Although not being able to purchase the F-35 may end up being a plus for Ankara. The plane is an over-priced lemon. Some of Erdogan’s advisors argue that Ankara could always turn to Russia for a fifth generation warplane (and one that might actually work). 

There is some talk about throwing Turkey out of NATO, but that is mostly bluff. The simple fact is that NATO needs Turkey more than Turkey needs NATO. Ankara controls access to the Black Sea, where NATO has deployed several missile-firing surface ships. Russia’s largest naval base is on the Crimean Peninsula and relations between Moscow and NATO are tense. 

A strategic turn toward Moscow seems unlikely. The Russians oppose Turkey’s hostility toward the Kurds in Syria, don’t share Erdogan’s antagonism toward Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia, and have differences with Ankara over Cyprus and the Caucasus. And for all the talk about increasing trade between the two countries, the Russian economy is not all that much larger than Turkey’s and is currently straining under NATO-applied sanctions. 

On the one hand, Ankara is angry with Washington for its refusal to extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim leader that Erdogan claims was behind the failed 2016 coup. On the other hand, the Turkish President also knows that the US pretty much controls the IMF and he will need American support if he goes for a bailout. 

How Erdogan will handle his domestic problems and foreign entanglements is anyone’s guess. Erdogan the politician made peace with the Kurds, established a good neighbor policy regionally and lifted tens of millions of Turks out of poverty. 

But Erdogan the autocrat pulled his country into a senseless war with the Kurds and Syria, distorted the economy to build an election juggernaut, jailed political opponents and turned Turkish democracy into one-man rule. 

If the local elections were a sobering lesson for Erdogan, they should also be a wakeup call for the mainstream Turkish opposition. The only reason the CHP now runs Turkey’s major cities is because the Kurdish HDP took a deep breath and voted for the Party’s candidates. That must not have been easy. The CHP was largely silent when Erdogan launched his war on the Kurds in 2015 and voted with the AKP to remove parliamentary immunity for HDP members. That allowed the Turkish President to imprison 16 HDP parliamentarians, remove HDP mayors, and smash up Kurdish cities. 

The Kurds demonstrated enormous political sophistication in the recent Turkish balloting, but they will not be patient forever. Erdogan can be challenged, but—as the election demonstrated—only by a united front of center-left and left parties. That will require the CHP alliance to find a political solution to the demands of the Kurds for rights and autonomy. 

After waiting almost two years, the report of the Special Counsel charged with investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election -- the "Mueller Report" -- was made made available on April 17th. Although this 448-page report was edited -- "redacted" -- by pro-Trump Attorney General William Barr, enough was uncensored that we can draw general conclusions.

1.We're at war with Russia and they are winning. The most disturbing conclusion from the Mueller Report is that Russia made a concerted effort to alter the results of the 2016 election. "The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion." Vladimir Putin and his cronies wanted Trump to win and engaged in a variety of technical efforts to help him. It's not clear what the overall impact was. Russians operatives were active in key swing states -- such as Michigan,Ohio, and Pennsylvania -- but it's not provable that the Russian efforts resulted in Trump's 78,000 vote margin. What is clear is that the Russians helped the Trump campaign by concerted social-media campaigns and hacking Clinton-campaign emails.

There's no evidence that Russian interference has abated. Indeed, if one looks at the Putin's objectives, there's no reason for the Russians to stop because they are succeeding. Russian efforts have weakened U.S. morale and diminished our role as leader of the "free" world. (They have also weakened the European Union and brought the United Kingdom to the brink of chaos.) 

2. Donald Trump refuses to acknowledge Russian subterfuge. Despite abundant evidence, Trump refuses to acknowledge the seriousness of the Russian intrusion into domestic politics. The United States is under attack and Trump won't do anything about it. 

This grim reality has many implications. First, it's very likely that the Russians will interfere in the 2020 election. It's possible that Russian actions will, once again, tilt the scales in Trump's favor. 

Second, Trump's recalcitrance has further divided the American public. Trump is promoting an alternative reality that most of his supporters have bought into. Thus, at a time when America is under attack, and should be unified in the face of the Russian onslaught, the electorate is polarized. 

3. Donald Trump interfered in the Mueller investigation and continues to interfere in Democratic efforts to understand Russian actions. A possible explanation for Trump's behavior is that he is naive; that he has an unrealistic image of America's relationship with Russia and cannot bring himself to acknowledge that Vladimir Putin has malign intent. If this were to be the case, then Trump -- disregarding the opinion of the National Security establishment -- might be following a path that is sincere but misguided. 

Sadly, that explanation does not explain Trump's numerous efforts to interfere with the Mueller investigation. While the Mueller report did not find compelling evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, it did find evidence of obstruction. (The report notes numerous examples of lying and at least 10 instances where Trump (it would appear) committed obstruction of justice.) For a variety of reasons, the Mueller team did not indict Trump for obstruction but it did conclude: "If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment." (This section of the Mueller Report appears to be a "blueprint" for impeachment.) 

Since the Mueller report was made public, Donald Trump has blocked most of the Democratic efforts to elaborate key Mueller findings. 

To summarize: Russia is waging war on the United States. We need to mobilize to fend off the attack and Donald Trump is obstructing this mobilization. This is treason. 

4. The Republican Party will not restrain Trump. The official Republican response to the Mueller Report has been diversion: "Mueller didn't find collaboration between the Trump Campaign and the Russians, therefore we should move on." In other words, Republican leaders ignore evidence of Russian interference and want to change the subject. (This approach is typified by the April 23rd remarks of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner: “If you look at what Russia did, you know, buying some Facebook ads to try to sow dissent, it’s a terrible thing. But I think the [Mueller] investigations and the speculation that’s happened for the last two years has had a much harsher impact on our democracy than a couple of Facebook ads.”) 

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, said he would ask Attorney General William Barr, "To appoint a special counsel to determine whether the Obama administration’s Department of Justice unlawfully obtained a warrant to spy on a Trump associate as a way to help bolster [Hillary] Clinton." 

Other Republicans offered a more nuanced response: "Perhaps the Russians did interfere in the 2016 election but so did China and North Korea..." (A variation on this response is "The U.S. interferes in foreign elections so why shouldn't the Russians interfere with ours?" 

Utah Senator Mitt Romney has been the only dissenting GOP opinion: "I am sickened at the extent and pervasiveness of dishonesty and misdirection by individuals in the highest office of the land, including the President. I am also appalled that, among other things, fellow citizens working in a campaign for president welcomed help from Russia." 

The bottom line: Donald Trump is committing treason and the Republican Party won't do anything about it. 

5. It's up to Democrats to save the country. No pressure Dems, but it's up to you to save democracy. 

Between now and the November 3, 2020, election, Trump will continue to be Trump and Republicans will continue to appease him. Therefore, it's up to Democrats to provide a voice of sanity. 

Until the Democrats chose a presidential candidate, in July of 2020, the leader of the Democratic party will be Nancy Pelosi. Fortunately. 

Given what we've learned from Mueller report the Democrats should do three things: First, they ought to continue to publicize instances where the Russian government interferes in the U.S. political process. Dems need to constantly remind us that we are under attack. 

Second, Democrats must take steps to protect the 2020 electoral process. A key objective in 2020 will be for Dems to take back the Senate. The Russians could thwart this by interfering in swing-state elections. Someone -- Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez (?) -- needs to lead the Democratic effort to protect the vote. 

Third, Democrats should illuminate Donald Trump's obstruction. Pelosi needs to lead House investigations that systematically expose Trump's behavior and and convince a compelling majority of American's that Donald Trump is a traitor and should be impeached.