Category: government

Four Pieces of Writing That Must Be Read in the Trump Era–to Protect the Republic

I really enjoy the experience of coming across a new idea that changes my perception or understanding in a significant way. I’ve been thinking about four pieces of writing that did that for–all of them crucial, I would say, to Americans. I list those articles, with a brief description, in the first comment. (Note: The title is more of an attention-getter than something I literally believe.)

Disgusted with Washington? Instead of Voting for Someone like Trump, Here’s What Needs to be Done.

I’ve heard that some people who voted for Trump did so because they were so frustrated with Washington. My guess is that a big source of this frustration stemmed from partisan warfare that ultimately leads to gridlock. One solution is to vote for an outsider president, including one who may burn everything down. I’m sufficiently frustrated and disgusted to understand this sentiment. However, voting for wildcard like Trump is not the answer in my opinion. To understand the solution to the problem one must have an understanding of why the problem exists. Continue reading “Disgusted with Washington? Instead of Voting for Someone like Trump, Here’s What Needs to be Done.”

Mueller Report

I figured the report deserves a separate thread.

BREAKING: The House Judiciary Committee is told to expect notification by 5pm that the Mueller report has been delivered to Barr— Ellen Nakashima (@nakashimae) March 22, 2019

While we wait for more information, I think the following David Frum piece,
A Special Prosecutor is not the Answer, written in 2017, is worth reading. The gist is that a Special Prosecutor will focus illegal acts that can be prosecuted, and that a president can do a lot of bad things that aren’t crimes. The Trump campaign coordinating with Russia and its cutouts to harm Clinton may not be illegal, or the Special Prosecutor may decide there isn’t enough evidence to prosecute anyone. This does not mean that the coordination is acceptable. What it does mean is that the question is not something for the legal system to answer, but the political one. In my view, the Republicans has hindered the political system from properly functioning. If Clinton had become president and Clinton campaign behaved similarly with regard to Russia, we would be moving towards, if not completing, impeachment. If a future president behaves in a similar manner, impeachment and removal would be justified.

This is probably better:

Continue reading “Mueller Report”

Green New Deal

Democrats unveiled a major policy proposal, the Green New Deal. The title references FDR’s New Deal, and my understanding is that the plan is equally ambitious–addressing not only climate change, but also education, healthcare, among other things. In this thread, I want to analyze and discuss this proposal. Here’s a twitter thread that summarizes the deal:

1/Here’s a blog post detailing the specifics of the Green New Deal:https://t.co/HBajUSq8dA— Noah Smith (@Noahpinion) February 7, 2019

Continue reading “Green New Deal”