3 Rules for Government Lawyers

Do not embarrass yourself.

Do not embarrass the United States

Do not embarrass your client

The recent position from DOJ on paying AID contractors is abhorrent and, worse yet, embarrassing. The claim is sovereign immunity - which is generally the ability to not be personally sued for damages, not for the government to avoid paying claims. The First Amendment guarantees the right to petition for the redress on grievances. It is worthless if claims are not paid.

The job of a government attorney is defend the law and Constitution. That the particular Administration must be appeased is unfortunate, but the responsibility that goes with that duty is to adequately inform the Administration (client) of what the law is and the likelihood that what is claimed is either unconstitutional or illegal.

To make a bald faced admission that is clearly wrong shows that no attempt was made to education the client. Worse would be the possibility that said attorney actually believes such nonsense. If this is the case, that attorney needs to be fired, quit, lose his law license, refund all his prior employers as a fraud and demand a refund from his law school.

This is mild compared to what opposing counsel and the judge will say - and the language will get harsher if the case is appealed. The appeal will not go far - as the unconstitutionality of the argument is so bald that SCOTUS will not hear it.

And shame on any talking head or lawyer who alleges it will. They are as badly intentioned and informed as the offending lawyer.

The Chain of Command

Note to Musk: You are staff. You can make requests, not give orders. You have no authority and no legal power. The power is vested in agency directors, especially Cabinet Officers. If you tick them off, Trump could be seen as disabled. The 25th Amendment has procedures for declaring him disabled. Acting cabinet members still get a vote on this.

End this obsession with people going to work in person. It is a CEO bright shiny object. If you want to improve productivity, look at how Congress stands in the way of money being spent and authorization legislation being passed. Fixing Congress is the low hanging fruit.

Note to Trump, see above on the 25th Amendment. Also, if you let Musk keep embarrassing you, the American Legislative Exchange Council (under Koch) may decide that it needs to reclaim the GOP organizational structure and do something about your relationship with Putin.

Our NATO allies are also starting to notice. If they tell their forces that the Supreme Commander of NATO will be replaced with an officer of another member, you are essentially fired from your role as the Commander in Chief of the Alliance. They seem to have had enough.

Why you are in thrall to Putin is puzzling. HIs country has nothing that others do not have. His military is broken and his nukes likely do not work. His people do not have enough initiative to get rid of him. No one wants to conquer Russia. It is a crap hole. Also, at some point, your NY appeals will be done and your organization will be in no position to build anything in Moscow. 

You say you want to visit. Now that you are no longer under indictment or on bail, you can certainly go to Russia and stay there. Zelensky's forces may eventually meet you and Putin in Moscow. This is likely where the war will finally  be going.

Pick your side. Behave yourself and the world may let you keep your job. Let Elon ignore the chain of command, continue to support Putin's tyranny at home and his war on Ukraine and you will see that you are replaceable as "leader of the free world." In fact, no one considers you to be that anymore.

What if a galactic civilization already exists? When will they invite Ea...

If there is a galactic civilization, the ability to travel at "warp speed" is not the criterion. Once contact is made, schools can be set up on Earth or our best and brightest can travel to existing schools. The science and engineering will already exist and the planet will benefit from it.

So, what's the holdup? We are not a civilized species. Eating meat might be a thing, but a bigger thing is that we, as individuals and collectively, believe in sin and the need to punish it. In other words, we are not housebroken. The kind of freedom of choice we have - the freedom to judge the choices of others - needs to be abandoned. If it is not, Earth will continue to be a backwater.

The necessary science for mankind to move forward is social science. The galaxy has the rest of it covered. Rumor has it that they also have a more open dialogue with the Creator, so atheism is not the answer either. Sorry, Dawkins - but you are helping hold things up.

Salva Ukrani - Part 6 of Five

I left readers with a grim future for Ukraine at the hands of Trump. That is really not true. Ukraine can destroy Russia's oil infrastructure - someone tell Gabbard to tell her boss (Putin) and Trump. Even in defeat, a Ukrainian insurrection can take down Russia. 

The Russian far east - indeed all Russian Federation members should start talking amongst themselves about whether to make a deal with China or go it alone (or join Canada in creating a Northern Nations state - Lapland to Greenland, from the Arctic to American reservations - Mohawk to Lakota. If they assert nationhood and can make the oil rights stick, they would be quite powerful.

For the near term, set Ukraine needs to set up an expeditionary force to test two things: how close they can get to Moscow by breaking through lines and driving north and, if challenged, how to fade into the woodwork - as practice for an insurgency if Trump's fat finger on the scale goes against them.

The worst that can happen is that they win and then have to put the Russian nation together after breaking it. Someone has to show the little people of Russia how to assert themselves and demand freedom. As fellow Slavs, Ukraine can provide the yeast. No other nation can free the Russian people from their own political indolence. They do not conform - they simply do not engage. They are fatalistic, but that fatalism is about autonomy  and emotion rather than reason and conformity.

Salva Ukrani!

Salva Ukrani - Impeach Trump!

This essay summarizes five videos about whether and how Trump can be stopped and why. The links are at the bottom. There are some people on the left claiming that Trump voters should have buyers' remorse – although they are mainly doing party building rather than trying to stop Trump.

Trump could have been stopped if Democrats said the right things about his relationship with Putin. If they had said that the Perfect Phone Call and Hanging Mike Pence were a diversion covering up the fact that Trump was doing Putin’s bidding and both denying Javelins and holding the insurrection were a GRU (think KGB) operation – the GOP would have removed Trump in each impeachment. The Dems instead wanted to embarrass Trump and win the 2020 election, including the House and Senate. 

The Insurrection put Georgia in the Democratic camp. They may not hold it. The fact that Biden was Catholic and did not heavily stress abortion rights gave him the swing state win. Harris stressed abortion rights and urged people to vote for her on that basis – with swing state Pro-Life Catholic Democrats staying home as a result. Democrats lost votes in the House in 2020 and 2022 and did not pick it up in 2024 – largely due to Harris.

What is the proof? Asking the people that voted will tell you nothing. Instead, someone needs to poll Democrats who voted in 2020 and stayed home in 2024 in the Swing States why they did not come out. Open ended responses would be entertaining. Asking them if they thought Trump would do what he is now doing would give unreliable answers, especially if asked issue by issue. The key question is whether they stayed home because of the Harris promise to sign the Freedom of Choice Act restoring Roe. 

If the Center for Reproductive Rights had explained to the Supreme Court that viability meant that a person could be born at that stage, so that under law they cannot be aborted, Roe may not have fallen. If they had cited the civil war as a reason states should not have the power they now have was cited, Roe may have been kept on. Affirming abortion rights as precedent, without compromise, lost. Harris doubled down on the losing argument – and we have Trump.

The Democrats also failed to connect the Trump tax cuts to the economy. Biden did not reverse them, thanks to Manchin and Sinema. Trump should have been given ownership of the economy. Biden cannot claim the recovery, which was mainly in the financial markets. Of course, I doubt that they know such a connection exists, given the me too-ism in much of economic theory. The reality is that cutting taxes on the rich always hurts workers and leads to price increases driven by spending by the rich – as producers cater to a level of product that the majority cannot afford – especially in housing.

A lot of the Musk agenda will be struck down because it goes against statute – although it could be argued that the additional votes for Trump came from Musk getting out the vote for the issues on which he is now acting. Musk said as much – that he had a mandate. This is where the natural tension between the rule of law and democracy is highlighted. You cannot have both perfectly.

What can Trump do that cannot be undone? His relationship with Putin. As President, he can make alliances – although Congress could require that such things be treaties ratified by the Senate. So far, it has not. Trump could, while taking Putin’s side, bomb Ukrainian positions. Ukraine is not part of NATO. For it to become part of NATO, the rest of the alliance would have to expel the United States – or simply dissolve the treaty and replace it with a unified European Union army, taxation and have a single constitutional court and Commander in Chief (as an individual, not rotational). 

In either case, could Trump order the bombing of Ukrainian forces? He might get some resignations, but it would be a legal order. He does not have to go that far. He simply has to tell Ukraine that he has the option and is likely to take it. Doing it quietly prevents anyone from having to resign and is a constitutionally protected act.  Now, there are parts of his coalition that would not like it – but it is their own fault that they were not listening when Trump said that he trusted Putin more than he trusted the United States government intelligence and military agencies.  It is the fault of the Democrats for not making this issue one – indeed the only issue of the last election. 

I have MAGA friends who are sure Trump is not a Russian asset – so perception is important to Trump. There are also people in MAGA who like Putin as a strong leader, ignoring the fact that Putin is an unrepentant Soviet. Russia’s government by oligarch and government by commissar are identical – yet Trump followers believe that employee empowerment leads to the latter. They don’t see to mind it for Russia – or the US if you don’t call it socialism or Marxism.

In other words, democracy gave us the current chaos in governance. It gave us the current economy and will assure that it will continue; it gave us payback to Musk for turning out voters who agreed with the Trump-Vance-Musk Agenda; it prevented the enactment (or any action regarding) abortion AND it may have given Ukraine the shaft.

How do we fix this? Can we? Should we? As far as we know, what is happening now is exactly what people voted for. Whether or not these decisions are wise (and they are not), it is how the system works.

If Trump goes through with his agenda, and if all of what he wants is passed through Congress if disallowed by the courts, then he will have to deal with the result. Getting what he wants will let him keep his place as the only President worse than Buchanan (I would argue that Fillmore was even worse than both – but may be just worse than Buchanan). Or he could hire people who can actually help him do great things. Things like enacting regional arrangements to bring government closer to the people – allowing some degree of regional variation. He could get everyone off the tax rolls and abolish the IRS – and without messing up the economy. He could come to a negotiated solution on abortion – taking it off the table.

Most of the conservatives who would do this – and these are conservative solutions – may balk at ethnic cleansing in Gaza and will definitely balk at Trump’s special relationship with Putin.

The Democrats are hoping that Trump voters, realizing that they are feeling pain, will vote Democratic for the long term. It won’t happen without a bipartisan compromise on late term abortion. 

Ukraine is the issue – or rather – Putin. While MAGA has been brainwashed to follow the GRU/KGB dogma on Ukraine, a majority of the GOP does not. 

Trump will not be removed because of his mental state. That would take a majority of the Cabinet and his Vice President to do. They won’t plus they agree with his agenda. Two thirds of each house can declare him incompetent, but any number less that than cannot survive Trump stating that his is all better after 90 days. They could do congressional governance with veto-proof majorities – which they do not have. It has been done before. The late 19th century was all about congressional government. Speaker Canon ran things – not the President. There are just enough Republicans who did not vote to stop the steal to join with the GOP as a two-thirds majority – although it would be close.

Judge Chutkan could have tossed out the DOJ memo stopping presidential prosecution. DOJ could have acted quickly to prosecute Trump. They did not, even as McConnell said they should. Democrats could have explained why the tax cuts hurt so much and how far into Putin’s pocket Trump was during both impeachments – that the Perfect Phone call and hanging Pence were covers for what was really going on – which was violating the Budget Impoundment and Control Act in Russia’s favor and then sending armed men and women to where members were hiding on January 6th to convince “weak” Republicans and do God knows what to Democrats.

The only possible tactic is to find five GOP Representatives  to make Jefferies the Speaker and 20 Senators to convict Trump of bribery by linking the Javelins to a quid pro quo to fund the Fruman and Parnas’ Protect the House PAC and by making a narrative that goes from “Team Crazy” being Russian spies (Gen. Flynn, Butina’s lover Byrne, Rudy and Trump) that Trump was in the plot to breach the barriers to reach members when he said to go to the Capitol and then dropped the plot when Babbitt was killed and her squad arrested. The counter argument that explains why Trump could not be convicted was that he stopped action when Babbitt was killed because he did not want anyone to die – which was enough reasonable doubt to avoid prosecution, but not enough doubt to stop removal by the Senate.

It is sad that a border war over Ukraine and keeping it in the Russian empire was the defining issue of the 21st Century so far. And it still is the dominant issue in our politics, as well as abortion.  Going back to impeachment is the path of least resistance – needing the least number of votes. All it would take is for Koch to activate the Tea Party (as opposed to those who are solely MAGA) to demand Trump’s conviction by 20 Senators. The American Legislative Exchange Council has 30 or so state majorities. All they need is 20 of them.

Funny how much influence Chutkan, McConnell, Koch and Schumer had and have as far as stopping Trump, yet none had the courage or incentive to do so.

Salva Ukraini!

https://youtu.be/kaJ5KsqWen4

https://youtu.be/HAiKxqZfhOY

https://youtu.be/VUjJCaHA3Sg

https://youtu.be/4p4iCKnZ0rE

https://youtu.be/gs3Gk0oUdnI

Trump and Musk as performance art

CEOs do not do work. They have people for that. So do business owners - even small business. All merchants and CEOs do performance, not work. There is a group of people in independent politics who think "we need a businessman." We got what we asked for - a preener rather than a doer. That is what Perot, Bloomberg, Trump and Musk have in common. Let us hope that we have learned our lesson about letting a CEO perform his way into the White House.

Forget about preventing warming

We passed the point of no return decades ago. Global climate cooperation will not prevent global climate change in the future. Barents Sea is about 50 degrees too hot. It took 7 degrees F per decade since cars came into wide use to get us this far. We need to undo that at a global level. Climate goals are weak tea. Stop driving if you are really committed to changing things. Putting up solar panels or wind turbines do not get us there unless they feed a system without hydrocarbons. Work to end gasoline driving if global action is your thing - but don't drive unless absolutely necessary.

Lent is coming. Give up driving if you want to show solidarity with the planet and the working class.

Elon is making a fool of himself and Trump

I was right and wrong in the last video. Elon could do good things if he acted like an advisory committee chair, investigate first and then leave it to agencies and Congress to act. Instead, he is shredding the rule of law. The leaves Trump at the bottom of the list of presidential greatness, at worst - even worse than Buchanan and Fillmore, who signed the Fugitive Slave Act. The rule of law will still win. The justice system will still stand. Agencies will do their jobs and keep him from doing real harm. The question is, will he finally be impeached or will God handle it?

Buyouts allowed to go forward, insiders yawn

Until people sign their Form 52s and their exit payments are funded in budgets, there will be no buy outs. The court is simply letting the insanity go forward. The fact is, much of the government at the DC level is procurement of services provided by state governments and contractors. Even the military has a large contracting out component. Unless there is a war, most military units, like most civilian agencies, have a lot of down time. Much of this results from the fact that Congress cannot make decisions - the process has too many gatekeepers, some of them being hyper-partisan with an interest or bias toward throwing sand in the gears. Until there is a bipartisan consensus on taxing and spending, with automatic approval of funds when the work does not happen on schedule, the situation will not change.

What will change is government by publicity stunt - which is how best to describe the Elon-Don show. The media loves covering it, but the reality is that every administration has some kind of management reform effort at the front end that usually does little. The show only lasts so long before people get board with it. Reality intervenes.

Will Trump or his handlers get smart and look for actual good ideas to make him look good rather than feeling good about himself? Will he get to that cheeseburger too far so we can see what Vance does? Will I survive until that happens (as I am bigger than Trump is)?  Time will tell. It always does.

Squatters' Rights to Skid Row

In the Kingdom of the Netherlands, there exists a right to squat in Amsterdam (if not the realm) to claim space in a building that has gone out of use. Whether this is granted by the sovereign or their government is immaterial. In the United Kingdom, the poor have a right to a dole - a place to live and a pension provided by His Majesty's government.

In the United States, especially in the original colonies, land is inherited from what was owned by the Crown with payment to the state every year fee simple - a dollar per year plus other taxes. In non-colonial states, the land is granted by the commonwealth, except tribal land which the tribe owns in perpetuity with the government acting as their agent - often badly - with use of such land permitted for grazing - as well as other public land. Public land can also be taken as a squat, which includes certain rights, hence the term, squatter's rights. I use the plural above because multiple people squat on skid row.

Rock Creek is behind me as I make this video, actually, the western branch inside of a regional, rather than the national, park. There is plenty of wood there and if it is not cleared, it is a fire hazard. I have purchased a book that shows how to do a house on such land for less than $50. I doubt, however, that Montgomery County would recognize a squatter's right to do so.

On Skid Row, in Los Angeles, a square block has been set aside for use by the homeless - mostly because no one wants to help these people and they have a constitutional right to refuse such help - and no one wants the infamy attached to forced removal - as such an action would be televised - both on Cable TV, local TV and the blogosphere.

That we let people rot in public is infamous. It is "a stain on any sanctity the society assumes for itself" (written, not said - feel free to repeat). The right to be unhelped should not be enshrined in law - however the law has other ideas. Instead, we give benefits to people who are disabled by mental illness because they are unable to work for people who are not as smart. Note to normies - yes, people who are either bipolar or schizophrenic are smarter than you - and if you make allowances - would run whatever enterprise you manage better than you would. So we give these people money to support themselves and supportive housing as individuals rather than putting them in a substandard asylum setting that would also invite infamy - or already did.

So, what can, indeed what must, we do about the squatters of skid row. The answer, of course, is to pay them off for the their squat. In human evolutionary history, if you squat on land, it is yours. The residents of that zone, and all the homeless, claim such a right to property and person. Evolutionarily and legally, they are not wrong.

Let's develop skid row, but the price to be paid must include a perpetual payment (with additional offer of services) for their squatter's rights. If housing is developed, then they must be provided with free housing plus the profit that would have otherwise been collected for that space - with that amount deducted from property taxes owed to the City and County of Los Angeles. If they agree to be located off-site - and must be during construction - they must still be given that payment, as well as the right to relocate. The right should not be perpetual or inheritable, but still be durable during the life of the squatter. If given locational residency, they must still abide by common rules, but will not lose their squatter's compensation. They should be hard to evict, as well, and if evicted provided with housing. 

If California ever creates a duty to be rehabilitated, then people must be compensated for agreeing to rehabilitation - in other words, pay them for seeking help through counseling and education, as well as paying the providers for doing so (as well as for case management). As a society, we can afford it. As moral agents, it is our duty to provide it.

So let's create such legal structures and clean up skid row, but in doing so recognizing the inherent rights of those who now live there.

Call it workable Georgism. 

Is Autism a Red Flag disorder? (Cancel me?)

Should people on the spectrum be allowed to buy or carry weapons (or even go to shooting ranges)?

How do we put them on a registry to make this work? For that matter, should those of us (including me) who have voluntarily self--committed for bipolar be allowed to buy or use guns? Is the nature of the disease any different because you put yourself in the hospital?

Is school shooting a stim or a melt-down that cannot be walked back? Bipolar kids are most likely to self harm, not massacre. High Schoolers are too young to be diagnosed with schizophrenia. What does the evidence say? God knows there is enough to see.

Cancel me if you must, but talk about the question when you do.

A bridge too far for GOP experts?

On Tuesday, Trump offhandedly suggested ethnically cleansing Gaza. His staff is walking it back, as such a policy could never have survived vetting.

There are more than a few ex-GOP or conservative wonks who could have made Trump look good by giving the Administration ideas to get passed, not because we support him but because the ideas have merit. Things like passing a VAT rather than a tariff, distributing child tax credit (refundable) through pay rather than the IRS or replacing the capital gains tax with an asset value tax (one high enough to reduce the deficit or even pay down the debt).

Is suggesting fascism in the world stage bad enough to let those ideas lie fallow until someone else is President? I suspect so. Ethnically cleansing is always fascism, even when we did it to Native Americans - especially the way we did it and benefit from it. Fascism always has its beneficiaries. It is usually justified by giving a benefit to one's own poor - often landless settlers. It is benevolent if you don't see the victims. Not seeing victims is fascism. Saying the victims would be better off is also fascism. Just look at the writing above the gates of Auschwitz.

The best thing that Trump could do to cement any kind of value in history would be to quit. No other action he can do is worthy, nor will it stop most GOP analysts from accepting the taint of this fascist.

Fire the intern

If a White House or State Department intern went on the air and suggested ethnically cleansing Gaza, how long until that person would be shown the door?