Month: February 2019

A national emergency: an imperial president

U.S. President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency along the U.S.-Mexico border. However, his security advisors did not suggest that there is indeed a security threat at the border. These advisors recently delivered a report to Congress to delineate the real threats that the U.S. faces.

Based on his putative emergency, President Trump claims that he can and will divert funds from accounts outside the Department of Homeland Security to build a 250-mile border wall.

The real emergency is that the president is disregarding the U.S. Constitution:

All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives … (Article I, Section 7). No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law … (Article I, Section 9).

In 1976, Congress granted the president the expediency of quickly directing funds for recognized emergencies like hurricanes and wild fires. We see thereby that Congress still has the authority but has granted the president a small share of the “power of the purse.”

It’s now almost Shabbat and an opportunity to tune out the President’s noise.

And to drink a cup of hot tea with sugar.

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This calls for a cup of hot tea with sugar.

(The return path for this reader looks dangerous, so I’m not posting or following it.)

Scotland and the Brexit mess

Although Scotland voted to remain in the European Union by a margin of 62 percent to 38 percent, it’s heading to leave the EU at the end of March 2019 as part of the United Kingdom.

William Booth of the Washington Post writes:

Any future vote on Scottish independence would collide with new realities. If England is outside the European Union and Scotland inside, what would their relationship be? Would there be a hard border across Britain? Tariffs on trade? Would a Scottish citizen need to show a passport to travel to London — or live or work there?

Members of the Scottish Nationalist Party generally want Scotland to remain in Europe besides attaining its independence.

Is the UK decision to leave the EU a nudge that will push most Scots to choose independence?

See “Scotland dreads Brexit. But is it enough to boost sentiment for Scottish independence?,” The Washington Post, February 11, 2019.

My changing mind about The Washington Post

I subscribed to The Washington Post in March 2018. I wanted to keep up with reports about U.S. President Trump’s plan for peace between Israelis and Palestinians – his vaunted “Deal of the Century.”

Speculation suggested that the plan would be revealed in November of last year (2018). November came and went, so I recently cancelled my subscription. The cost of 36 cents a day started to seem like a waste.

I just resubscribed when I heard about peace plans coming to the fore, as you see in my previous post.

The irony of losing faith.

Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East conference: Will Kushner reveal peace ‘deal of the century’?

An international conference for a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East meets in Warsaw on Wednesday and Thursday Feb 13 and 14, 2019. White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and other administration officials will attend.

A question arises: Will Kushner reveal U.S. President Trump’s “Deal of the Century” plan for peace between Israelis and Palestinians?

Kushner and other administration officials will also swing through Middle Eastern Arab countries later in February, possibly to garner economic support for Palestinian development.

This report has been gleaned from the AP by way of The Washington Post, “US officials visiting Mideast to seek backing for peace plan,” February 11, 2019. Also from the “U.S. Department of State Weekly Digest Bulletin.”

Both eyes working

The Paul Manafort verdict was in and was to be announced on August 21, 2018.

In watching TV reports, Trump campaign operatives were somber.

Everyone seemed to be working or chatting with one eye while keeping the other fixed on the television.

Luckily, they weren’t chatting with both eyes.

from: Corey R. Lewandowski and David N. Bossie. Trump’s Enemies: How the Deep State Is Undermining the Presidency. New York: Hachette Book Group, 2018, p. 239.