The View from Right Field

Illinois in 2021 Reminds Us of the Suddenness of Change and the Brittleness of Autocracy

Here’s something I was going to write as an end-of-the-year post, but things got busy, so I’m writing it as a looking-back-at-2021 post:

At the end of last year, the media was full of lists of the biggest stories of 2021.  Most of them were pretty much the same: Covid, inflation, Democrats not being able to pass President Biden’s Build Back Better bill, Vladimir Putin massing troops on Ukraine’s border, etc.

Other Countries Can Get Competent Leaders. Why Can’t We?

You would think that a country as big as the United States, with as many people as we have, could have really good people at the top of its government.  But look at our current president and his predecessor.  They are both embarrassing.

Compare them, either of them, with Sir John Key, former Prime Minister of New Zealand (from 2008-2016), who spoke on “Walking the path to the next global financial crisis” in this panel discussion hosted by The New Zealand Initiative:

“Treat Them Mean, Keep Them Lean” Is Terrible Advice for Any Situation – Political, Economic, or Personal

A week ago, Chris Giles wrote in the Financial Times about the belief, fashionable in both politics and economics, “that companies respond best to a ‘treat them mean, keep them lean’ approach.”¹  Mr. Giles concluded his piece:

“While there are some exceptions, making life difficult for business does not improve corporate performance.  ‘Treat them mean, keep them lean’ is terrible advice for healthy relationships.  It is just as bad in economic policy.”

Which I agreed with in a letter than was published in Tuesday’s FT, making a point I have made before (since FT has a very high paywall, here is the letter, as published):

Communist. Fascist. Racist. What’s Next?

From what I read in the newspaper and hear on the radio, apparently I am a racist because I am not in favor of changing the name of Lake Shore Drive to Jean Baptiste Point DuSable Drive.¹  The fact that “Lake Shore Drive” is a classic Chicago street name, known pretty much around the world, right up there with “State Street, that great street,” and “Michigan Drive, the Magnificent Mile,” doesn’t matter.  Jean Baptiste Point DuSable was a Black Haitian and not wanting to name Lake Shore Drive after him is racist.²  It’s sort of like Humpty Dumpty:

“‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.’
‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’
‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master – that's all.’”

The Return of Earmarks. Sigh.

It was sad last week to see Republicans in the House of Representatives giving up one of the real accomplishments on the last Republican House: the ban on earmarks.  In 2011, House Republicans passed a ban on earmarks, and since they wouldn’t approve earmarks, Congress couldn’t pass them and the President couldn’t sign them.  The entire Congress ultimately went along with the House Republicans, and in 2014, President Obama even said he would veto any bill containing earmarks.

The problems with earmarks were obvious.  Representatives and Senators were putting in specific appropriations for things they wanted done, not necessarily what needed to be done.  The more powerful a representative or senator was, the more money a district or state would get.  One of the most infamous earmarks was the $233 million “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska.¹

If Government Wants Our Trust, It Needs to Follow Proper Process

Illinois recently adopted a law ending cash bail.  I’m not going to discuss the merits of the new law; that’s not the purpose of this post.  I want to talk about how the bill was passed because that says something important about Illinois and the way we are governed.

A law abolishing cash bail is a big deal.  You would think that there would be a lot of discussion about it.  And that those passing it would want the process to be proper and to be seen to be proper.

On Convicting Donald Trump

Even though I think the better constitutional argument is that it is constitutional to impeach and try former President Trump (he was, after all, impeached while he was still in office), I probably wouldn’t have impeached him (for the reasons stated here).  However, once he was impeached, given what he did, I couldn’t not convict him. 

As I said here, I don’t know if he “incited” an “insurrection” in the legal meaning of those words, but what he did was wrong.  A president doesn’t have to be guilty of a crime to be impeached and convicted (and a president doesn’t always get impeached and convicted just because he committed a crime – see, for example, Bill Clinton).  What former President Trump did was sufficiently wrong that, as I said above, I couldn’t not convict him.  Unfortunately, it appears that not enough Republicans agree with me.

Bringing Us Together: We Have to Do It Ourselves

In his Inaugural Address, Joe Biden talked about how he wanted to bring us together:

“My whole soul is in this.  Bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation. And I ask every American to join me in this cause. …

And so today at this time in this place, let's start afresh, all of us.  Let's begin to listen to one another again, hear one another, see one another.  Show respect to one another.”

I hope he can do it.  He seems like a nice guy (I talked about this before, so I won’t repeat myself).  What I would say, though, is while I hope President Biden can help to bring us together, it’s not something he can do himself.  It’s something we have to do ourselves.

Just Because I’m Glad Trump Is Leaving, Doesn’t Mean I Agree With Biden

A comment on the upcoming change in administrations that many in our polarized America may not appreciate: Just because someone is incredibly glad Donald Trump is leaving the White House, doesn’t mean they think Joe Biden will wind up being a good president or that the Democratic Party has the right policies for the United States.

President Trump has been a terrible president; possibly the worst in our history.¹  His administration did some good things (I’ve talked about them before), but the farther we got into his term and the more the decisions were made by him, rather than some of the people he appointed, the worse things got.²  While the last two months would not have happened if he had won re-election, a second Trump term could have been even scarier, perhaps especially in foreign policy and other areas where he could have acted on his own.

The Tolerance of “I Might Be Wrong”

A long time ago, I wrote a post entitled “Truth and the Right to be Wrong.”¹  I said in part:

“I believe that some things are right and that some things are wrong.  But my certainty does not make me think I have the right to force my beliefs on others … because I think we all have the right to be wrong. …

Some will object to my concept of ‘the right to be wrong’ on the ground that I am disrespecting them and their beliefs when I say they are wrong. That is not true.  In fact, I am giving them the ultimate respect: I am defending their right to believe what they do even though I know they are wrong. …