The View from Right Field

Who Are the Stupid People in Illinois?

Yet another Illinois public official has been indicted for corruption, and once again it is somebody whose parent was a public official, too.¹  It is amazing to me that these kids, who have seen so many people, including friends of their parents, indicted and convicted of corruption, wind up being accused of doing the same things themselves.  It’s like they haven’t learned anything.  But when I said to my wife, “How stupid can these people be?”, she said maybe they’re not the stupid ones.  Maybe the stupid ones are the people of Illinois, who keep electing people like this.
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¹ In this case, it is State Senator Emil Jones III, son of former Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, Jr.
UPDATE (9/26/22 10:20 pm): A version of this post was published in the "Voice of the People" in today's Chicago Tribune.  See here.

Are the Sanctions Against Russia Working?

The Economist asked this question in its August 27 issue.  The answer was equivocal:

“On a three- to five-year horizon isolation from Western markets will cause havoc in Russia. …

The trouble is that the knockout blow has not materialised. Russia’s GDP will shrink by 6% in 2022, reckons the IMF, much less than the 15% drop many expected in March, or the slump in Venezuela. Energy sales will generate a current-account surplus of $265bn this year, the world’s second-largest after China. After a crunch, Russia’s financial system has stabilised ….

It turns out the sanctions weapon has flaws.” 

Winning Elections in the Age of Trump

In Friday’s Wall Street Journal, Kimberley Strassel wrote about elections across the country, from Washington State’s Senate to gubernatorial elections in Kansas and Florida where Republicans are pushing education issues.  In Washington, long-time incumbent Patty Murray is ahead of her Republican challenger by only three points with Seattle teachers having recently voted to go on strike.

Ms. Strassel says that that “[a]ny Republican who isn’t making criticism of failed Covid education decisions – and promises of school choice and parental involvement – a lead message is committing an election foul.”  The problem is that Donald Trump doesn’t agree.  Former President Trump tells us there is only one issue: the stolen election of 2020.  And far too many Republicans agree with him.

Queen Elizabeth II, RIP – and Duty

There will be articles about Queen Elizabeth II everywhere and by just about everybody.  I just had one comment about her; the thing that was, to me, most impressive about her: Her sense of duty and her performance of it. 

Queen Elizabeth II was born into a family and, upon the abdication of her uncle, into a job she never chose.  She didn’t ask to become queen.  She didn’t run for election to become queen.  It was just her duty because of who she was.  And she did not complain.  She just did her duty – and she did a magnificent job of it.

Any of us would be proud if, after we pass away, we are deemed to have done the duties in our lives even one-tenth as well as she did hers in her life.