Ordinary World 18Feb2018

Ordinary World 18Feb2018

As always, all linked pieces are for discussion and consideration, not endorsement of the POV by Ordinary Times.

[OW1] How Congress and President Obama Made Trump’s Wall Possible by Josh Blackman: “This episode illustrates how Congress has long ago relinquished its lawmaking powers. The legislature enacts omnibus bills that few members actually read. Often, these super-duper-statutes contain nearly-limitless delegations of authority to the executive branch, with only the flimsiest guidelines of how and when that authority should be executed. Other times, Congress gives the president the exact authority he needs, with few strings attached. Such is the case with §284: Obama signed a bill into law that gave his successor the very precise power to “construct . . . fences . . . across international boundaries of the United States.” Moreover, a predecessor of this statute, known commonly as Section 1004, has been in effect since 1990. Critically, other longstanding provisions allow the president to shift appropriations around to fund that construction. Trump’s decision to rely on § 284 reflects, once again, an instance where he relies on express delegations of power to accomplish awful policies.”

[OW2] Tulsi Gabbard Is Not Anti-War: She’s a nationalist, hiding behind a mask of anti-interventionism by Caroline Orr by Caroline Orr: “She’s not opposed to war; she’s opposed to U.S. involvement in some wars — even if that means doing nothing to help civilians who are being slaughtered by war criminals. She has accepted huge sums of money from the defense industry, expressed support for increasing the use of drone strikes, and hinted that she would consider using torture if she thought it was necessary. And like Trump, she believes in putting “America first,” regardless of the global consequences. She isn’t “anti-war” — she’s a nationalist, hiding behind a mask of anti-interventionism.”

[OW3] A Wendell Berry Solution to Cory Booker’s Problem By Marlo Safi: “The issue that Booker raises, and that conservatives especially should consider, is that of the sustainability of our current rate of consumption, but we should extrapolate further. Our planet’s resources are finite. We are consuming without self-restraint, but also without a sense of responsibility or consequence. We treat God’s creation with a blasphemous amount of violence and disrespect — we also take from it beyond our needs, to an immodest extent that necessitates brutality and that unsurprisingly breeds the decadence of dumping milk because we can’t manage the glut. American farmers, who live on the land and off of it, who rely on it for their livelihoods and thus treat it with care through traditional agrarian practices, are being pushed out because of government handouts to agribusiness companies. The rural communities that conservatives claim to represent are being destroyed, and it’s becoming difficult to attract the next generation of farmers when little incentive remains, and when there’s a cultural prejudice against hard manual labor and rural-town Americans.”

[OW4] Passive Resistance: Is the movement to stop Donald Trump just an exercise in branding? by Mychal Denzel Smith: “The Resistance, if it is a movement, cannot be too preoccupied with the Democratic Party as an arm of its organization. Institutions as old as the party are primarily concerned with survival. The extent to which the Democrats can be pushed in any given direction will be determined by whether or not they fear a mass exodus from their ranks. With no viable alternative party available to liberal and left-leaning voters, there is no reason to believe such an egress will happen. The Resistance will have to ask something more of the people who have taken it up. There is a politics beyond that which created Trump. There are labor strikes, sit-ins, boycotts, and, yes, smashed windows and Nazi punching. But if it is to persuade a meaningful number of people to consent to such tactics, much less adopt them, the Resistance has to show itself as a true movement, one worthy of the name it carries and more meaningful to the people who are participating. It needs to find a definition and purpose beyond Trump.”

[OW5] Don’t Forget the Real Reason Shutdowns Happen: Congress can’t even follow their own rules by Sarah Rumpf: “But the most important question we should ask has nothing to do with the specifics of those moves listed above. It’s this: How did we get in this mess in the first place? In other words, why are we managing the federal budget with gigantic, last-minute bills? Why are we risking throwing a giant wrench in America’s economic engine again? Isn’t there a better way to manage the national budget? Of course there is. One better way is the system that Congress themselves established. The trouble is, they don’t follow their own rules — and we are failing to hold them accountable.”

[OW6] Ralph Northam to Jussie Smollett: How Black History Month 2019 Has Been a Total Disaster by Stereo Williams: “February is when so many Americans recognize the struggles and triumphs of Black folks; a month where we celebrate all that it means to be Black, and an amplified version of how we trumpet our heritage all year long. It’s been a mentally throttling BHM this year, however. Even though nothing diminishes our self-love, there have been so many affronts, scandals and head-scratchers this year that you almost forget that we’re supposed to be in a more celebratory mood: an incarcerated Bill Cosby likening himself to Martin Luther King, Jr., J. Lo’s headlining of what was allegedly a Grammy tribute to Motown, Candace Owens still being Candace Owens—it’s been a lot. Maybe we’ll have a better Juneteenth. Black History Month 2019. One for the ages.”

[OW7] UK: Labour split: Jeremy Corbyn is ‘disappointed’ by seven MPs quitting party to set up Independent Group: Breakaway politicians urge those from other parties to join new grouping by Samuel Osborne “The Labour leader made the comments after Luciana Berger, Chris Leslie, Angela Smith, Gavin Shuker, Mike Gapes, Ann Coffey and Chuka Umunna also criticised his handling of allegations of antisemitism. They announced they would sit in the House of Commons as independents under the banner of “The Independent Group”, in a move representing the most significant split in the party since the breakaway of the Social Democratic Party in the early 1980s. Announcing their move at a press conference at London’s County Hall, Mr Leslie, a former shadow chancellor, said Labour had been “hijacked by the machine politics of the hard left”, while Ms Berger said she had come to the “sickening” conclusion the party is now “institutionally antisemitic”. Mr Corbyn said: ”I am disappointed that these MPs have felt unable to continue to work together for the Labour policies that inspired millions at the last election and saw us increase our vote by the largest share since 1945.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGdxpnGK2o4&w=560&h=315]