Optimist, 6 May. This week's good stories. The very improbable child; the improbable graduation visitors; the improbable tutor; and more.
The Democrats' problem. Many Republicans (who have Trump) and more than a few Democrats, including new candidates running in 2018, want "new blood" in their leadership positions. For example, "Dan McCready, 34, who is running as a Democrat in a North Carolina district that stretches from Charlotte’s suburbs into more rural counties. 'I think we need a whole new generation of people in D.C. That’s part of why I’m running; we need some new blood.' ” McCready is one of ten who have expressly said they will not vote for Nancy Pelosi (as Speaker should Democrats regain control of the House). Ten more have expressed private reservations.
But surrendering power is never pleasant. “We will win. I will run for speaker. I feel confident about it. And my members do, too,” Pelosi told a meeting of Boston Globe reporters and editors on Tuesday. The other Democratic leaders are 77 and 78, equally viewed by many younger Democrats as "old school."
Electoral College. Columnist George Will wonders, "Does Trump even understand the electoral college?" Will relates, "During an episode of government of, by and for 'Fox & Friends,' he said: He won the 2016 election 'easily' but wishes the electoral vote system were replaced by direct election of presidents by popular vote." The column is worth readi thenng, which President Trump most likely will not do. Perhaps he did not notice, but without the Electoral College, "the current president’s 46 percent of the popular vote could not have been translated into 56 percent of the electoral vote (304) and President Hillary Clinton would be glad that the electoral college had ended."
Antarctica. This video clip examines this least explored of the world's continents and what lies ahead.
Anti-science? Michael Gerson challenges some "normal" thinking in this column, the title of which will be off putting for many readers. "Are you anti-GMO? Then you're anti-science, too." Anti-GMO "brands are guilty of crimes against rationality...the fact that there is no reputable scientific evidence that direct genetic modification — instead of slower genetic modification through selective breeding — has any health effects of any kind. None"
Me thinks Michael may have stirred the pot with this one. Even though he cites 1,000 studies by the National Academy of Sciences... Royal Society, the French Academy of Science and the American Medical Association.
Sovereign nations? The specific issue is health care. The more important general question: Will Native Americans continue to be part of what have been traditionally sovereign nations? "The Trump administration contends that tribal members should be considered a race, not a political class, as courts have always viewed them, and should not be exempted from state regulations..." That is, can tribal members be required to meet state guidelines in order to receive medical care?
"According to the Supreme Court, tribal citizenship is not a racial classification, it is a political one. When it comes to tribal members, the U.S. government is dealing with the citizens of another nation."
RBG. The film about the Supreme Court's associate justice who has become an icon, a model of how we would all like to be at 85! [Justice Ginsburg's outspokenness] has not endeared her to those who believe Supreme Court justices should be read and not heard." But, like those demanding workouts, she'll continue on. The late Justice Scalia, her most improbable friend on the Court, is no doubt smiling warmly.
Elon Musk and the Falcon 9. Good science or another potential Challenger on the launch pad? NASA is concerned about Musk's use of a new powerful "load-and-go" technology in launches involving astronauts. One previous L-A-G rocket blew up on a Kennedy launch pad; thankfully, only a multi-million satellite was lost.
John McCain (R, AZ). Columnist John Van Drehle writes,
In a matter of months, maybe weeks, maybe days, the president of the
United States will try to speak for the nation on the death of Sen. John
S. McCain III. At 81 , McCain has been the model of stoic virtue in
reckoning with his terminal brain cancer, so this prediction will
neither surprise nor offend him. “What is your life?” asks the Book of James, Chapter 4, verse 14. “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
A mist on placid waters, no doubt. Never one to pull his punches, McCain's forthcoming book ..."delivers his final message without obsessing on the current incumbent of the White House: “Trump, Donald J.” gets fewer lines in the index than a nearby entry for “torture debate,” for example. On the other hand, there is little ambiguity in his contrasting description of himself: “Not an isolationist, protectionist, immigrant-bashing, scapegoating, get-nothing-useful-done Republican."
Here is a link to the solemn Naval Hymn, Eternal Father (performed by the US Naval Academy Glee Club at the USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Hawaii) The hymn will no doubt be played at McCain's funeral in the National Cathedral. A life well lived, Captain!
Foreign policy, or just a whim? Columnist Anne Applebaum, like others, notes a lack of thoughtful, systematic planning at the State Department, nor, for that matter, at Commerce. "There is no longer a predictable process for decision-making, or even a process at all: Everything comes down to what the president feels like on a given day...[For example, when] Trump...suddenly declared that he wanted to withdraw all U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula; this may be what motivated Seoul to seek an agreement with North Korea," Sometimes, policies can even be changed/reversed at a given time on a given day.
In a PBS News Hour segment (Tuesday, 1 May), author Ronan Farrow expresses similar views as he talked about his new book, War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence. He talks about the so-called "Mahogany Massacre," the "wholesale dismissal of long time foreign service experts at the State Department, people who were [not] political appointees... [W]hat whistle-blower after whistle-blower told me was, they feel there is a culture of denigrating expertise." (A "mahogany massacre" because of the old style wood paneling found in many rooms/offices at "Foggy Bottom," aka the State Department.)
5 May: Cinco de Mayo, celebrated in many locations. Did you know that 5 May 2018 is also the 200th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx? This Economist article discusses what Marx got right -- and wrong. Ironically, "[t]oday’s only successful self-styled Marxist regime is an enthusiastic practitioner of capitalism (or 'socialism with Chinese characteristics')." Yet, "The sheer volume of commentary [occasioned by his 200th birthday] is evidence of something important." Variously characterized as "brilliant thinker and writer, sponger (off Engels)", described by a Russian revolutionary contemporary, Michail Bakunin, as "ambitious and vain, quarrelsome, intolerant and absolute…vengeful to the point of madness."
Why all the fuss? First, the power of his ideas; second, of his personality; third, the paradox: his failed ideas are finding a new lease on life. "Globalization and the rise of a virtual economy are producing a version of capitalism that once more seems to be out of control."
PDRK and the NPT. The Economist looks at both issues: North Korea and the looming 12 May deadline for the Iran agreement, especially in light of the upcoming summit (?) between Kim Jong Un and President Trump. " Sadly, much as [the Economist]...wishes for a nuclear-free North Korea, a lasting deal remains as remote as the summit of Mount Paektu [an active volcano on the PDRK - Chinese border]." Three attendant problems: (1) the Kims are serial cheats; (2) the impending end within 3 years of the US - Russia nuclear arms limitation agreements; and (3) "...the critics of arms control overstate its aims so as to denigrate its accomplishments."
Former Director of the National Counter-terrorism Center, Nicholas J. Rasumssen presents a lucid overview of how we have gotten to this point and what will probably be necessary to carry this initiative to fruition.
David Ignatius asks, "Should Kim get the credit for the Korean detente?" Kim "...has relentlessly pursued a dual strategy: to obtain a usable nuclear weapon, and then pivot toward dialogue and modernization of his economy. He sought his nuclear deterrent with almost reckless determination, but he has been surprisingly nimble in making the turn toward diplomacy." (The so-called "byungjin line." “The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is the behest of our leader” and “must be carried out . . . without fail.”
In other words, the nuclear program was first and foremost meant to guarantee regime survival. Kim now has a workable bomb and seems willing to more on. If correct, Trumpian bluster will have to be toned way down, even held in abeyance. Again, not one of the president's long suits.
The one obvious answerable trivia question: What do Mr. Kim and Mr. Donald have in common? Most visually: bad hair.
China and "Peppa Pig." Columnist Josh Rogan writes "[T]hen they came for Peppa Pig." (He is recalling Martin Niemȫller's famous essay "First they came for the socialists....[T]hen they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.") Now is about how Chinese censors have added the British TV cartoon character, Peppa Pig, to their list of "bad guys," right along with Winnie the Pooh. (Does the latter looks too much like Chinese president Xi Jinping?)
Rogan opines that this seems to relate to "...the government’s insecurity about any cultural phenomenon it can’t control....part of its greater effort to control the behavior of its citizens. Combined with blanket surveillance, intrusive monitoring and a new Orwellian social credit score system, the Chinese Communist Party links loyalty to success in all aspects of Chinese life"
He continues, "As part of its global foreign influence campaign, the Chinese Communist Party is exporting that censorship and punishing U.S. companies and citizens that step out of line.." Total loyalty above all else! Should that strike a chord at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.?
US - Mexico border. Five myths: (1) the border is out of control; (2) a wall will stem opioid epidemic; (3) enforcement does not curtail illegal crossings; (4) terrorists are exploiting a porous border; (5) US laws are weak, Mexico's are strong. To which I would add: (6) the border is "there." No, not necessarily. In many places, especially along the Rio Grande river, the border moves constantly, both the US border and a TX land owner's boundary shift constantly. Today, it is TX; a week from now, it may be further inland, or even back into Mexico.
The Iran "deal." For better or worse, but in accordance with his long-standing campaign promise, President Trump has withdrawn US participation in the Iranian nuclear agreement.
Thank you for reading.
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