The View from Right Field

The Coming Isolationism of the Progressive Left

Constanze Stelzenmuller wrote in the Financial Times this past Tuesday, in an article entitled “Don’t relax. Europe – the US hard right isn’t finished yet,” that the isolationist Republican right is not going away just because Congress has finally has approved more aid to  Ukraine.  However, in warning Europe about the staying power of so-called “national conservatives” on the Republican right, Ms. Stelzenmuller fails to mention the risks from the progressive left of the Democratic Party.

While almost all Democrats in Congress supported aid to Ukraine, one wonders how many would have done so if a Republican, like one of the Bushes, had been president.  Without a Democratic president leading the way, especially an old-style Democrat like Joe Biden, lots of Democrats in the future will prefer to focus on social problems at home, instead of military and defense matters abroad.

Kenny Holtzman, RIP

Kenny Holtzman, who pitched for the Cubs from 1965 through 1971 and 1978-89 passed away yesterday.  I have so many memories of Kenny.  Let me mention two.

The first was September 25, 1966.  It was the game he pitched against Sandy Koufax.  Kenny won, of course, taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning before finally giving up two hits.  I wrote about it here.  Especially see the transcript of the Old Style commercial from 1988.

Immigration, Migration, Asylum: Legal and Otherwise.

The Wall Street Journal had a long article on the situation at the US’s southern border on Tuesday.¹  The Financial Times had one on Europe’s problems Thursday.²  The thing that is clear from both articles is that the asylum systems in both the United States and Europe are no longer fit for purpose.³ 

The system we have in the United States doesn’t work in a time of global travel and smartphones.  It was designed, and its standards were set, for a time when the number of people seeking asylum was limited.  Most people didn’t know their options, and even if they did, few of them could travel to where they could exercise them.  The number of asylum seekers was small, and the standards were set on that basis.

“Leaders are not mere politicians and this is why”

The following letter appeared in the Letters section of the Financial Times today (April 5)¹:

“Janan Ganesh concludes his column on the difficulties of getting Europe to spend more on defence (Opinion, March 27) with a quote attributed to what he calls ‘another European leader, in another era, in another context’. I believe he was referring to Jean-Claude Juncker, the then prime minister of Luxembourg, who quipped: ‘We all know what to do. But we don’t know how to get re-elected once we have done it.’

The Coming Constitutional Crisis of 2024 – And American Foreign Policy

In a recent news review,¹ one of the commentators said that, because Trump has made the world part of our political fracas, the political rhetoric now, during the campaign. may be more dangerous for America, and foreign relations. than what comes after November, when the election is over.

I disagree.  I’m afraid the result won’t be known – or, perhaps more accurately, won’t be accepted by the “losing” side – and the things will heat up even more after November 7.  I worry that the election will result in a constitutional crisis greater than any we have seen since 1860-61 – because, no matter who wins, the other side won’t accept it.² 

If Trump loses, he and his supporters will say the election was stolen.  Former President Trump is already saying the election will be rigged.  We know what some Trump supporters did on January 6, 2021.  Who knows what they may do this time.  I understand that last time Mr. Trump was President and that gave him things he could try to do.  But this time, his people may be more upset.