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| Current Topic: Politics and Law |
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The Cabinet of Incuriosities |
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| Topic: Politics and Law |
8:33 am EST, Dec 28, 2004 |
Undistinguished in college, business school and in the private sector, he spent nearly 30 years sitting in seminar rooms and corporate suites while experts and high achievers held forth. Now it appears that he's having his revenge -- speaking loudly for a kind of anti-meritocracy: the idea that anyone, properly encouraged and supported, can do a thoroughly adequate job, even better than adequate, in almost any endeavor. Personality is destiny. What you do is not as important as whether you are deemed morally sound and trustworthy. In other words, a "good" man -- or woman -- beats a leading expert every time. Welcome to the new meritocracy. The Cabinet of Incuriosities |
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State of Washington v. Oliver C. Christensen |
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| Topic: Politics and Law |
12:43 am EST, Dec 20, 2004 |
A mother, using the speakerphone function of the family's cordless telephone system, surreptitiously listened to a conversation between her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend in which a crime was discussed. The mother was permitted to testify against the boyfriend at his trial about what she overheard. We conclude that under the Washington privacy act, the conversation in question was a private one and the base unit of the cordless telephone was a device designed to transmit. We reverse [the decision of the lower court]. We have repeatedly held that the mere possibility that intrusion on otherwise private activities is technologically feasible does not strip citizens of their privacy rights. The Washington act, with its all-party consent requirement, contains no such parental exception and no Washington court has ever implied such an exception. We decline to do so now. State of Washington v. Oliver C. Christensen |
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Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 |
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| Topic: Politics and Law |
12:49 pm EST, Dec 18, 2004 |
An Act To reform the intelligence community and the intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, and for other purposes. Try it, you'll like it. Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 |
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| Topic: Politics and Law |
8:15 am EST, Dec 14, 2004 |
You have to remember that Republicans have a different relationship to ideas than Democrats. When Democrats open their mouths, they try to say something interesting. If the true thing is obvious and boring, the liberal person will go off and say something original, even if it is completely idiotic. This is how deconstructionism got started. Republicans are less concerned with displaying their own cleverness. When they actually stumble upon an idea, they are so delighted they regurgitate it over and over again. Where others might favor elaboration, Republicans favor repetition. And thus the essential science of politics is unveiled. Mutation is performed by blue cells, and replication is performed by red cells. The House of Representatives is a veritable petri dish. The Wonks' Loya Jirga |
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Why I Resigned From the CIA |
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| Topic: Politics and Law |
9:35 am EST, Dec 9, 2004 |
Anonymous explains why he quit. The Central Intelligence Agency is the best place to work in the United States. I left it with deep regret and a great sense of personal loss. Senior White House officials repeatedly refused to act on sound intelligence. It may be worth pausing the intelligence reform process long enough to determine what role personal failure, bureaucratic warfare, and a lack of moral courage played in getting the United States to 9/11. Why I Resigned From the CIA |
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The red and the blue, by Joseph Nye |
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| Topic: Politics and Law |
11:24 pm EST, Dec 1, 2004 |
Some observers complain about the divisive negative rhetoric and advertising that characterised the [2004 US Presidential] campaign. But this should be seen in historical perspective. In the era of the Founding Fathers, newspapers were extremely partisan, and George Washington was dismayed by the harshness of political language. For much of its early history -- to say nothing of the era of the Civil War and Reconstruction -- the country was as closely divided as it is today, and bitter campaign rhetoric reflected the closeness of the competition. On this topic, I would point people to two books recommended here earlier: "The Creation of the Media" by Paul Starr and "Freedom Just Around the Corner" by Walter McDougall. Cities versus suburbs and rural areas is a better description than coasts versus heartland. If urbanization creates (or exacerbates) political polarization, what does this mean for China? The red and the blue, by Joseph Nye |
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The Washington Quarterly - Winter 2004-05 |
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| Topic: Politics and Law |
8:58 pm EST, Nov 26, 2004 |
The new issue of TWQ is now available. Start with the editor's note. Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan. The Washington Quarterly - Winter 2004-05 |
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| Topic: Politics and Law |
4:44 pm EST, Nov 26, 2004 |
The partisanship will continue. But changes are coming. These changes are long overdue. And though you wouldn't know it from recent media coverage, many CIA officials support them. The CIA failed to penetrate the senior-most levels of the former Iraqi regime or of al Qaeda. Former CIA director George Tenet has admitted this. The clandestine service exists to penetrate our enemies and collect their secrets. Some armchair spooks pretend this is easy. It's not. But gaps in our knowledge are gaps in our security. Tenet told the 9/11 Commission it would take five years to revamp the clandestine services. Faster, please. Porter's House |
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| Topic: Politics and Law |
4:02 pm EST, Nov 26, 2004 |
Bush knows the CIA needs dramatic reform, that the American people will welcome such reform, and even that they expect him to do it and to do it quickly. And he knows that those inside the CIA opposed to Goss's reforms will fight hard and will fight dirty. The improvements at the CIA must be both quantitative and qualitative. The CIA, and in particular its clandestine service, exists to penetrate enemies and collect their secrets. In recent years, it has signally failed in this task. George Friedman is saying similar things, although absent the partisan haggling over Michael Scheuer. Basically, the DO needs this shakeup, but Goss's methods are having a rather detrimental effect on morale. However, I can't imagine getting it done quickly without ruffling lots of feathers in the process. And we don't have time to wait. I haven't found any non-partisan analysis of the "shakeup". The truth is somewhere in between the Weekly Standard and the New York Times, but it seems no one is reporting from that trench. Regime Change at the CIA |
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The Campaign of Hate and Fear, by Orson Scott Card |
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| Topic: Politics and Law |
2:45 pm EST, Nov 25, 2004 |
This article appeared in The Wall Street Journal on December 16, 2003. If you missed it then, it's worth a read, especially in light of the Democrats' failures in October 2004. The Democrats' platforms range from Howard Dean's "Bush is the devil" to everybody else's "I'll make you rich, and Bush is quite similar to the devil." Since President Bush is quite plainly not the devil, one wonders why anyone in the Democratic Party thinks this ploy will play with the general public. There are Democrats, like me, who think it will not play, and should not play, and who are waiting in the wings until after the coming electoral debacle in order to try to remake the party into something more resembling America. The Campaign of Hate and Fear, by Orson Scott Card |
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