So, Trump thinks it’s not possible to be President without breaking the law? He may very well be correct. Bush took the country into a war under false pretenses, and Obama certainly broke the law forbidding assassinations. Trump broke that…
Fix Tha’ Police: 3 Small Tweaks And 2 Big Ones
The core problem with policing in the United States is that the police have developed their own internal culture and a very strong bunker mentality. They really do view the rest of us as an unruly mob that could become…
Executive Oversight: Gonna Keep Bangin’ That Drum
I’ve been on about this since one of the first posts on this blog (Failed Constitution Check: Executive Oversight): The United States has no effective oversight of the Executive branch. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Witness the ongoing festival of Hatch…
Re-opening Your Business: There’s An App For That
So, my local county has decided to require a cell phone app for employees of “non-essential” businesses. Ugh. Just, ugh. First, this is exactly what I was saying is the wrong approach a few weeks ago in Don’t Get Comfortable:…
Big Data: Meet Big Government
So, you think we can go back to gathering in crowds again, huh? Yeah, but no. First, most of the country very much does not have this pandemic under enough control to do that. But even if we did, our…
Don’t Get Comfortable: Privacy, Movement And Isolation
So, as the new West Coast Pact starts talking about how to get everything moving again we need to talk about control; control of the virus and control of the government. ‘Cause this isn’t over yet. The virus is still…
“Procedural Error”: The Latest Synonym For “Breaking The Law”
So here we go again with there being no law that will be allowed to constrain the government. It’s a small, local matter. But one that has its parallells all the way up to the federal governernment. I encountered it…
Firing Inspectors: Exposing The Weakness In The System
Trump’s been busy in the last few days, demonstrating the weakness in the United States’ “Inspector General” model of Executive oversight; for the details see Trump Firing Intelligence IG For Doing His Job? Sure, Why Not? and more recently Fired…
Rules: Some People Think They Don’t Apply To The Folks Who Make Them
Now, I am kinda annoyed about this: Sonoma County emergency management director disregards coronavirus shelter-in-place order, takes family to beach. That’s not a good look, Chris. To be fair to him, his statement on the matter is pretty good: “I…
No, Just No: Department Of Justice Goes For Broke
Sheriff Barr is gettin’ a mite bit envious of them Banana Republics down South o’ th’ Border. They asked Congress to authorize indefinite pre-trial detention. You can see Mother Jones’ coverage at Trump’s Justice Department Proposes Indefinite Detention in Emergencies—Like…