Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Vindman Retires from Army -- After 21 years wearing the uniform of his adopted nation, Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman has decided to retire from the US Army. For the last several months, his career has been that of a dead man walking. Having testified against the president in the impeachment proceedings, his promotion to full-bird colonel has been up in the air, and he lost his job at the National Security Council. His retirement is well-deserved, and it is a shame that the president's vindictiveness has cost the army a patriot's service.. [9 July]
Free Speech Letter Signatories Get it Wrong -- Harper's Magazine, a publication of intellectuals and would-be smart people, has published a letter signed by such luminaries as Salman Rushdie, JK Rowling, Noam Chomsky and Malcolm Gladwell. In the letter, the signatories opine that free speech is under attack.They conflate government use of force to prevent speech in all its forms with public reaction to speech that the public dislikes. One hesitates to be argue against such luminaries who have suffered far more in defense of free speech than oneself. At the same time, they are almost entirely wrong in their argument. [8 July]
Supreme Court Says States May Punish Faithless Electors -- In a rare 9-0 decision, the US Supreme Court has upheld the right of states to punish those appointed to the electoral college who fail to vote as they had promised. Historically, the so-called "faithless electors" represent a very small fraction of those who have cast ballots for presidents since George Washington's first election. However, their behavior represents a source of instability that some states wanted to check by fines and other penalties. The Supreme Court has said that is entirely constitutional. [7 July]
Trump Surrenders to Covid-19 -- Donald Trump declared himself a war-time president when it became obvious that the outbreak of Covid-19 was not going to miraculously go away, as he had hoped. He had hoped that Americans would rally around the flag and support him in his fight to save the nation. Where he miscalculated was in failing to put up a fight at all. His approach to this war failed because it never existed. He did nothing. Now, he has announced that "we will have to live with it." In military terms, the virus has won, and Mr. Trump has surrendered unconditionally. [6 July]
Covid Among Secret Service Postpones Pence Trip -- The right has decided to deny the effects of the Covid-19 outbreak. However, denial does not change reality no matter how hard one tries. The virus infects everyone it can regardless of national borders, religious beliefs or party affiliation. The Trump administration finally ran into reality with Vice President Mike Pence's trip to Arizona being postponed from Tuesday to Wednesday. The reason was a small outbreak of the virus among Secret Service officers working the advance detail. [3 July]
© Copyright 2020 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
Volume XVIII, Number 127
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