Three independent branches? In a National Review article (March 13), Kevin Williamson opines that,

In theory, only Congress can make a law. But Congress of late has eroded its own legislative monopoly. The Affordable Care Act, to take one example, is not so much a legislative program as an enabling act, a vast collection of “the secretary shall”s that amounts to the legislative branch’s asking the executive branch to come up with a law so that Congress does not have to. Congress sometimes delegates its legislative powers intentionally, and sometimes it sits quietly while the executive branch simply arrogates congressional powers to itself, as the Environmental Protection Agency has done under the Clean Air Act. This happens in part because Congress is timid and lazy, disinclined to do the hard work of legislating — especially when there is no political incentive to do so.

The elements of truth in Williamson's observations are not easily dismissed and, sadly, point to a slowly emerging change in our national governance; an unhealthy change, methinks. Williamson's entire article is worth a read. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/373231/congress-time-its-personal-kevin-d-williamson

Denver's “15 minutes” of fame (a la Andy Warhol). On occasion a community become part of the national “breaking news” scene. This winter there have been the seemingly endless pictures of “those poor Chicagoans,” buried by yet another snow storm. (Remember when in years past Buffalo seemed to be the inevitable target?)

     Denver's turn in the national spotlight came last Wednesday morning due to an hour-long, drug-induced (?) serial car jacking sequence, given live TV coverage courtesy of two local news stations's helicopters. This proved a  happy instance when technology was able to provide police with visual images that helped end the incident with only one major casualty. (Hopefully, the badly injured state trooper will fully recover.) Alas, we locals endured the inevitable endless re-runs of our 15 minutes on all the local stations.

And from the Congress's “deplorable” pigeon hole: Well-paid GOP Rep. Paul Ryan (WI) had this to say about school lunches. “What they’re offering people is a full stomach and an empty soul.” In other words, mothers, no matter how harried with child rearing and multiple jobs, by a lack in food in the house, etc., are supposed to lovingly hand pack their children's lunches, thus assuring the children “they are loved” – in a way the school cafeteria worker cannot.

To say the least, this amounts to unadulterated balderdash, pandering to those much vaunted Republican “family values.” Does Rep. Ryan feel unloved when his wife doesn't send him off each day with a hand-packed lunch sack (love-note folded inside) and he's forced to eat in his sumptuous office with food catered by, delivered from the Capitol cafeteria? http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/opinion/collins-lunch-on-the-barricades.html?_r=0

Crimean sovereignty. It appears that this past Sunday voters in Crimea chose to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. The vote, needless to say, is causing great consternation in diplomatic channels. A comment by US Secretary of State, John Kerry, rings spectacularly hollow! “You just don’t in the 21st century behave in a 19th-century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped-up pretext...” he said shortly after tens of thousands of Russian troops invaded Crimea under the auspices of protecting their Russian compatriots in the region. Amazing! This from the official spokesperson for the nation that invaded Iraq using bogus data claiming the existence of non-existent weapons of mass destruction. Has the Secretary no memory of America's similar past transgressions? Very strange, indeed!  And President Obama's statements on Monday were in much the same strange vein, ignoring America's past actions.

Repercussions in Ukraine. Dmitry Yarosh, leader of ultranationalist group, Right Sector, has threatened to destroy Russian pipelines on Ukrainian territory if a diplomatic solution is not reached with Moscow. Senator John McCain (R, AZ) commented on the not so cherry future: “The United States must look beyond Mr. Putin. His regime may appear imposing, but it is rotting inside. His Russia is not a great power on par with America. It is a gas station run by a corrupt, autocratic regime...[a]nd eventually, Russians will come for Mr. Putin in the same way and for the same reasons that Ukrainians came for Viktor F. Yanukovych.” Perhaps.

McCain did speak one kernel of truth: Russia's economy does hinge in large part on its energy exports. Nations and consumers are not banging on the doors for other Russian exports. Unfortunately, Russia's energy reserves do put Mr. Putin in the driver's seat vis-a-vis Europe's energy short term needs.

Thank you for reading and I hope your coming week is good.