Discussions about coming reform is certainly relevant but is it premature? The path to January 20 is still looking to be bumpy, depending on whether Jamie Raskin and like-minded allies try to block Trump's second Presidency via allegations of Trump having the status of "resurrectionist". I suppose we will find out but Raskin in particular has been pretty clear about forging such a path.
That was an earlier effort (from last year) to block the former president from becoming a candidate again based on the 14th amendment for “inciting insurrection”. Supreme Court didn’t buy it. So here we are.
Oh I see. I thought I had read some suggestion somewhere that he and others were going to try some similar argument to delay or block the certification of electors, which I suppose would be ironic in the extreme, so probably unlikely. It's a gut feeling, I suppose, but I feel that the path to inauguration day will feature some surprises, including some bumps. I guess we will see.
You’re right about the future. We’ll see. As someone painfully aware of the problems in our sluggish, inefficient, bloated bureaucracy, I hate to sound like I might be defending the same. But as I’ve learned the hard way, just because something is pretty bad doesn’t mean it can’t be made much worse. Constitutional scholar that he is, Jamie Raskin knows he has no power to stop a democratically elected president from assuming the office, even if that former and future president tried to do that very thing four years ago. Fingers crossed we get through this “intact”.
Thanks, Alexis for your recollections. One might say they bear a delightful resemblance to Machiavelli's masterwork - though perhaps with fewer recommendations regarding the strategic deployment of mercenaries. While my experience at the World Bank afforded me only an outsider's perspective, I did observe similar patterns of careerism, albeit among a more international coterie of ambitious souls.
As for your State Department anecdote - ah, what a marvelously American tale! One can hardly help but admire the delicious irony of a Harvard dropout-turned-bicycle messenger who, upon frequent deliveries to Foggy Bottom, decided to trade her two-wheeled chariot for a desk within those hallowed halls. Her firing from the department seems rather their loss than hers - a reminder that sometimes the most refreshing diplomatic talent arrives via most undiplomatic routes.
That’s a fun anecdote. I remember early on in the bureaucracy thinking you get some real eccentrics, as though the rigid labyrinthine rules generated this weird kind of rebellion that allowed people to break all the rules of conventional behavior while remaining strictly inside the bounds of the structure. Another paradox perhaps, like free thinkers imprisoned by absolute liberty and lack of constraints to become strangely staid and predictable. We do what we can.
Discussions about coming reform is certainly relevant but is it premature? The path to January 20 is still looking to be bumpy, depending on whether Jamie Raskin and like-minded allies try to block Trump's second Presidency via allegations of Trump having the status of "resurrectionist". I suppose we will find out but Raskin in particular has been pretty clear about forging such a path.
That was an earlier effort (from last year) to block the former president from becoming a candidate again based on the 14th amendment for “inciting insurrection”. Supreme Court didn’t buy it. So here we are.
Oh I see. I thought I had read some suggestion somewhere that he and others were going to try some similar argument to delay or block the certification of electors, which I suppose would be ironic in the extreme, so probably unlikely. It's a gut feeling, I suppose, but I feel that the path to inauguration day will feature some surprises, including some bumps. I guess we will see.
You’re right about the future. We’ll see. As someone painfully aware of the problems in our sluggish, inefficient, bloated bureaucracy, I hate to sound like I might be defending the same. But as I’ve learned the hard way, just because something is pretty bad doesn’t mean it can’t be made much worse. Constitutional scholar that he is, Jamie Raskin knows he has no power to stop a democratically elected president from assuming the office, even if that former and future president tried to do that very thing four years ago. Fingers crossed we get through this “intact”.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/31/14th-amendment-jamie-raskin-democratic-disqualifier-00133366
??
Thanks, Alexis for your recollections. One might say they bear a delightful resemblance to Machiavelli's masterwork - though perhaps with fewer recommendations regarding the strategic deployment of mercenaries. While my experience at the World Bank afforded me only an outsider's perspective, I did observe similar patterns of careerism, albeit among a more international coterie of ambitious souls.
As for your State Department anecdote - ah, what a marvelously American tale! One can hardly help but admire the delicious irony of a Harvard dropout-turned-bicycle messenger who, upon frequent deliveries to Foggy Bottom, decided to trade her two-wheeled chariot for a desk within those hallowed halls. Her firing from the department seems rather their loss than hers - a reminder that sometimes the most refreshing diplomatic talent arrives via most undiplomatic routes.
That’s a fun anecdote. I remember early on in the bureaucracy thinking you get some real eccentrics, as though the rigid labyrinthine rules generated this weird kind of rebellion that allowed people to break all the rules of conventional behavior while remaining strictly inside the bounds of the structure. Another paradox perhaps, like free thinkers imprisoned by absolute liberty and lack of constraints to become strangely staid and predictable. We do what we can.