I've been busy basking in the glow of my status as a big magazine contributor. That means that I haven't had as much time to do regular blogging as I'd like, and that means it's time for a roundup.
* * *
* Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refuses to issue marriage licenses to gay couples and has defied court orders requiring her to fulfill her official duties, has been jailed for contempt of court. Will any Republican candidate take a stand for the rule of law here? I can actually respect -- to some degree -- someone whose deeply-felt personal beliefs require them to abstain from certain public activities. But the right choice in such a circumstance is to resign from office, not to demand a public salary while obstructing the law.
* The ADL, incidentally, has just issued a statement that gets this issue 100% right. Good on them.
* Former Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin has a great column up on the threat post by extremist Jewish settlers. Unlike him, though, I'd rather we not "wait for it to get worse so that it might get better."
* Wouldn't it be hilarious if, after all the sound and fury on the American side, it was Iran's parliament that rejected the deal? Actually, that outcome would probably be the single best thing that could happen for the anti-deal conservatives here in America.
* Dan Drezner urges that Political Science not emulate Economics. Hear, hear (says the political theorist)!
* Local news, but semi-important: Rep. John Kline (R-MN) will not seek reelection. Kline was my representative during college (he represents the area south of the Twin Cities), and his district is trending towards the Democrats. But Kline himself was pretty well-entrenched, so his departure is a big boost to Democratic pickup chances.
* Oh, one more: Virginia Postrel on what's actually driving stressed over-achievers at elite universities. It's not crass desire for fame or materialism, and it's not pushy caricatured Tiger Parents.
* Fine, two more. Shorter PJ Media: If Hillary Clinton is elected, conservatives will break every law that they possibly can and possibly launched an armed revolution. This reflects poorly on Hillary Clinton.
Showing posts with label John Kline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Kline. Show all posts
Thursday, September 03, 2015
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
House Committee Chairs Released
Here's the list of who will be chairing the various House Committees.
Obviously, no Republican whose in a position to become a Committee chair is going to be someone who I'd truly like to see in the position. But there is some silver lining. John Kline on Education and Labor isn't bad -- I saw him at the first congressional hearing on employment discrimination against the transgendered, and he wasn't bad. Fred Upton on Energy and Commerce is notable because it means Rep. Joe "I'd like to apologize to BP" Barton (R-TX) isn't chairing it, which can only be a good thing.
On the other hand, there are, as expected, some catastrophes. All signs point to Darrell Issa leading a 1990s style witch-hunt against the Obama administration -- something all the more dangerous because Issa is a very smart, very effective, and very incisive Congressman. Putting Peter King -- the man who publicly wondered if Eric Holder is on the side of al-Qaeda (rich given that King is one of the few congressman who did, in fact, openly ally with actual terrorists) -- is a joke. In Lamar Smith, we have an extremist who once spoke at a conference where speakers advocating executing American judges who were insufficiently right-wing.
And then there's all the rest. Paul Ryan has a reputation for wonkishness, but it's not one that seems grounded in any actual mastery of economic facts, so much as it's grading on a massive, massive curve accounting for the anti-intellectual bent of the GOP mainstream. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen will insure that our policy towards Cuba will stay on the same failed trajectory it's been on for the past 40 years (and if that means sabotaging Israel, so be it), but other than amount of rhetoric devoted to the issue it's probably no real change. Spencer Bachus at least had the balls to call out Sarah Palin for something.
Agriculture: Frank D. Lucas (Okla.)
Appropriations: Hal Rogers (Ky.)
Armed Services: Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (Calif.)
Budget: Paul Ryan (Wis.)
Education and Labor: John Kline (Minn.)
Energy and Commerce: Fred Upton Mich.)
Financial Services: Spencer Bachus (Ala.)
Foreign Affairs: Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.)
Homeland Security: Peter T. King (N.Y.)
Judiciary: Lamar S. Smith (Texas)
Natural Resources: Doc Hastings (Wash.)
Oversight & Government Reform: Darrell Issa (Calif.)
Science & Technology: Ralph M. Hall (Texas)
Small Business: Sam Graves (Mo.)
Transportation & Infrastructure: John L. Mica (Fla.)
Veterans: Jeff Miller (Fla.)
Ways & Means: Dave Camp (Mich.)
Obviously, no Republican whose in a position to become a Committee chair is going to be someone who I'd truly like to see in the position. But there is some silver lining. John Kline on Education and Labor isn't bad -- I saw him at the first congressional hearing on employment discrimination against the transgendered, and he wasn't bad. Fred Upton on Energy and Commerce is notable because it means Rep. Joe "I'd like to apologize to BP" Barton (R-TX) isn't chairing it, which can only be a good thing.
On the other hand, there are, as expected, some catastrophes. All signs point to Darrell Issa leading a 1990s style witch-hunt against the Obama administration -- something all the more dangerous because Issa is a very smart, very effective, and very incisive Congressman. Putting Peter King -- the man who publicly wondered if Eric Holder is on the side of al-Qaeda (rich given that King is one of the few congressman who did, in fact, openly ally with actual terrorists) -- is a joke. In Lamar Smith, we have an extremist who once spoke at a conference where speakers advocating executing American judges who were insufficiently right-wing.
And then there's all the rest. Paul Ryan has a reputation for wonkishness, but it's not one that seems grounded in any actual mastery of economic facts, so much as it's grading on a massive, massive curve accounting for the anti-intellectual bent of the GOP mainstream. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen will insure that our policy towards Cuba will stay on the same failed trajectory it's been on for the past 40 years (and if that means sabotaging Israel, so be it), but other than amount of rhetoric devoted to the issue it's probably no real change. Spencer Bachus at least had the balls to call out Sarah Palin for something.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
A Congressional First
At Pam's blog, Autumn Sandeen gives her reaction to the historic hearing by the House Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on the topic of workplace discrimination against the transgendered -- the first hearing of its kind in Congressional history. The hearing was chaired by Rep. Rob Andrews (D-NJ), who recently attempted to unseat Senator Robert Torricelli in the state's Democratic primary -- running to Torricelli's right. Andrews still reportedly has his eyes on higher office in the Garden State, and this might be a way of repairing his reputation amongst mainline liberals. If so, this is a good start: I attended the hearing as well, and I can say that Rep. Andrews absolutely shined.
For the most part, though, my reactions were the same as Sandeen's. The main conservative witness, Glen Lavy of the Alliance Defense Fund, was surprisingly weak. I don't mean substantively -- obviously, there is nothing he could have said that would have persuaded me. But he was just not an impressive witness. He was inarticulate, he paused for long periods, and he looked utterly baffled (if not on the verge of tears) under cross-examination by Rep. Andrews -- questioning that, while tough, was hardly making unexpected points (how is this sort of discrimination different than that of race? Discriminating against veterans? Religious people? Lavy looked like the concept that one might believe bad things on religious grounds was a horrifying and earth-shattering revelation to him).
I also concur with Sandeen that the hearing's star witness was retired Army Colonel Diane Schroer. A former Special Forces operative and expert in counter-insurgency, Schroer went from getting a new job with the Congressional Research Service in her primary field of speciality, to being a "bad fit" for it, in the 24 hours in which she told her new boss she was transitioning from male to female. As a country, we simply cannot afford to lose unbelievably talented patriots like Col. Schroer, and she hit home with devastating effectiveness both the moral and social costs of maintaining our current discrimination-friendly environment.
It is worth noting, finally, that all the questioning in the hearing was done by Democrats save one -- Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the ranking minority member and my Congressman when I was registered at Carleton. Kudos to him for showing up, and also kudos for asking reasonable questions -- albeit to one of the two conservative witnesses. But none of the Republicans on the committee had the guts to tell any of the majority witnesses -- many who were transgendered themselves -- that their social exclusion was justified. That's telling -- though I suspect only of an eventual hypocrisy.
Oh, and the Traditional Values Coalition, ever the classy organization, distributed this press release (at the commitee, no less!): "Americans Face Energy Crisis While House Of Representatives Holds A She-Male Hearing!"
Yes, these are the folks that are vested with defending "family values."
For the most part, though, my reactions were the same as Sandeen's. The main conservative witness, Glen Lavy of the Alliance Defense Fund, was surprisingly weak. I don't mean substantively -- obviously, there is nothing he could have said that would have persuaded me. But he was just not an impressive witness. He was inarticulate, he paused for long periods, and he looked utterly baffled (if not on the verge of tears) under cross-examination by Rep. Andrews -- questioning that, while tough, was hardly making unexpected points (how is this sort of discrimination different than that of race? Discriminating against veterans? Religious people? Lavy looked like the concept that one might believe bad things on religious grounds was a horrifying and earth-shattering revelation to him).
I also concur with Sandeen that the hearing's star witness was retired Army Colonel Diane Schroer. A former Special Forces operative and expert in counter-insurgency, Schroer went from getting a new job with the Congressional Research Service in her primary field of speciality, to being a "bad fit" for it, in the 24 hours in which she told her new boss she was transitioning from male to female. As a country, we simply cannot afford to lose unbelievably talented patriots like Col. Schroer, and she hit home with devastating effectiveness both the moral and social costs of maintaining our current discrimination-friendly environment.
It is worth noting, finally, that all the questioning in the hearing was done by Democrats save one -- Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the ranking minority member and my Congressman when I was registered at Carleton. Kudos to him for showing up, and also kudos for asking reasonable questions -- albeit to one of the two conservative witnesses. But none of the Republicans on the committee had the guts to tell any of the majority witnesses -- many who were transgendered themselves -- that their social exclusion was justified. That's telling -- though I suspect only of an eventual hypocrisy.
Oh, and the Traditional Values Coalition, ever the classy organization, distributed this press release (at the commitee, no less!): "Americans Face Energy Crisis While House Of Representatives Holds A She-Male Hearing!"
Yes, these are the folks that are vested with defending "family values."
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