20 October 2021

Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

Bannon Must be Held in Contempt of Congress -- Steve Bannon, a man who thinks of himself as a Leninist wrecker of administrative states, defied a subpoena from the Congressional committee investigating the attempted coup d'etat on January 6, 2021. He was ordered to produce documents and appear in person for a deposition. He has done neither. His pretext is a silly claim by Donald Trump that Mr. Bannon is protected by executive privilege. This is untrue, and even if it were, that privilege does not excuse Mr. Bannon from appearing. The committee voted unanimously to hold him in contempt, and the full House votes tomorrow on referring the matter to the Justice Department for prosecution. Every vote against the measure is a vote to end Congressional oversight. He must be jailed. [20 October]

Colin Powell, 1937-2021 -- General Colin Powell died yesterday from complications related to Covid-19. He had been an army officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. That he was the first black man to serve in the latter three offices is important to note, but it is incidental to his achievements. The Powell Doctrine defines US use of military force to this day. His speech at the UN urging the attack on Iraq in 2003 was the nadir of his career, but in owning up to that failure, he reduced much of the criticism. His was a uniquely American life. [19 October]

Hungarian Opposition Unites Behind Marki-Zay -- Fidesz, the Hungarian ruling party of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has managed to turn Hungary into an illiberal democracy, a nation with all the trappings of democracy without real enforcement of citizens' rights. Aiding it in its fight against decency has been the disunity of the opposition in Hungary. That division has come to an end, at least for now, with the victory of Peter Marki-Zay in the primary to challenge him. The secret is that Mr. Marki-Zay has united everyone outside Fidesz, while he himself is a conservative. In other words, the broad united front will fight Mr. Orban from the right. [18 October]

EU, UK Far Apart on Northern Ireland Protocol -- The EU and the UK are negotiating over how trade in Northern Ireland is going to work now that Brexit is done (badly). The trouble is that the province is part of the UK that voted to leave the EU. It is also the only part of the UK with a land border with the EU. A hard border between the province and the Irish Republic could revive the sectarian misery from years ago. A border of any kind between Northern Ireland and the rest of the Us would upset the Unionist factions in the north. And no border at all would result in massive smuggling that the EU and the UK would both like to avoid. So they are in the process of negotiating some kind of fudge by which trade can continue while the politicians pretend things are secure. Right now, they are a long way apart. [15 October]

Navy Needed to Unblock US Ports -- The media have spent a great deal of time and energy on detailing the mess that ocean freight has become in recent weeks. Travel time between Asian factories and US ports has doubled. The Ports of Los Angeles and of Long Beach have dozens of container ships sitting off shore awaiting room to unload at the docks. Other ports have similar problems on both coasts. The Biden administration has developed a plan to have the ports work around the clock, but this will not be enough without more trucks available to carry things inland. It is a logistical nightmare, and no one does logistics better than the US military. The president needs the US Navy to ease the shipping problem. [14 October]

@copy; Copyright 2021 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.

Volume XIX, Number 226

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