Threads from Henry's Web

Category: Politics

  • Colbert Discovers the Real Strategy Behind Data Mining

  • Confirmation Bias?

    Allan Bevere writes about the way we tend to see much more corruption in the opposing party than in our own.

  • The Other Party

    Too many people complain when the other party abuses power, few when their own does. Ed Brayton smacks both down. Good job!

  • The Federal Government Could Save Some Money

    … by not doing this. Maybe some of those states’ rights advocates could apply some states’ rights to the issue.

  • Link: Why Anti-Authoritarians Are Diagnosed as Mentally Ill

    I think this article is great, and quite accurate, from my non-expert perspective: Why Anti-Authoritarians Are Diagnosed as Mentally Ill

  • Energion Political Debate

    Two authors for my company Energion Publications are conducting a year-long political debate. I ask a question each month, they each answer (posted on the third Thursday of the month), and then continue to respond to each other’s positions until we post the next question. Currently the topic is the role of government.

    The current question and links to the first responses have been posted at Enerigon.net.

    I will provide links to any other responses to these questions that are called to my attention. Leave your links in comments over at Energion.net. The comment will probably go into moderation, but I’ll be approving them fairly quickly.

  • Increasing Executive Power

    I have been interested in politics as long as I can remember. Lately I’ve been blogging about it less, and that’s likely to continue. There’s just too much to do! But I want to note one trend.

    Practically every national election I’ve voted in has featured concerns about increasing executive power. In the modern era, the power to make war has been a particularly strong example of a shift of power toward the executive, with the powers of the commander-in-chief stretched past the limit, in my view. Yes, war happens faster, but rather than taking up their responsibility and finding a way to authorize (or not) actions more rapidly, congress has generally let the power to declare war slip away from them. But that’s just an example.

    McClatchy has an article, Obama turning to executive power to get what he wants, and it illustrates how similar President Obama is to President Bush. What’s always amused me about the complaints regarding Obama’s policies, especially on foreign policy, is that he has, in fact, changed so little.

    There are a couple of quotes I’d like to highlight:

    Arguably more than any other president in modern history, he’s using executive actions, primarily orders, to bypass or pressure a Congress where the opposition Republicans can block any proposal. (source)

    And the real danger:

    Now that Obama has showed a willingness to use those tactics, advocacy groups, supporters and even members of Congress are lobbying him to do so more and more. (source, emphasis mine)

    Undoubtedly, some of these same groups would have been up in arms if President Bush carried out some of the same sorts of actions as they are now, and rightfully so. In fact, many groups were, quite correctly, critical of Bush for abusing executive power, particularly signing statements.

    We tend to focus more on the results than on the process, but when we bypass the process in order to get the results we want, we also make it easier for others to get results we don’t want by bypassing the process in turn. Patience in doing things the right way might just be critical.

  • About the Rand Paul Filibuster

    Roll Call lists 10 Best Moments from the Rand Paul Filibuster.

    I’m not a fan of Rand Paul, but I respect him more after this filibuster than before. It was for a good cause, and one which should have gotten much more attention. Indeed, there are a number of other areas where we have handed power to the federal government ostensibly because of terrorism, but unnecessarily in my view.

    But it was also a good demonstration of what the Senate, and particularly a Senate filibuster should be about … forcing actual debate. For all the good action on the floor of the House and Senate does these days our senators and representatives could stay home and debate and vote over the internet. The personal interaction seen here should again become part of our deliberative process.

    I’m not a fan of the current filibuster rules. I wasn’t a fan when Republicans were in the majority either. The idea of indefinitely blocking a vote on absolutely anything without having to go to any work annoys me. But heading down to the floor for a good, old fashioned talking filibuster? That’s good stuff. It’s people who care fighting about issues that matter.

    Now if they’d just discuss some justification for how many Pakistani civilians we kill using drones, I’d be almost happy. But I doubt that’s going to happen.

  • State of Income Inequality in the United States

    I’m posting this for discussion. I plan to use as the question in our Energion political debate in April. Right now the participants are discussing the budget. From the middle of March (March 21) into April they’ll be discussing the role of government and why they take the position they do. Then starting April 18 we’ll be discussing income distribution.

    But here’s the video. Get started thinking!

    Note: While there are just two official participants, I will link from the debate posts to anyone who sends me a response on the current topic. Note that any essays on income distribution will not be posted until after April 18. Through mid-March, essays and comments are welcome on the budget.

    HT: Upworthy

  • How Could the Holocaust Get More Shocking?

    It seems it can do so by fully documenting the extent of the camps and other facilities involved. Just using the term “facilities” there makes my skin crawl, but I can’t think of another word at the moment.

    HT: The Jesus Blog