Search Results for: Leadership Under

What’s the Big Deal About Inspectors General?

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This is Not Just Garden Varity Corruption- It’s a Core Evil

 

What is an Inspector General?

I suspect that not all that many people know much about inspectors general (IG) – their purpose, their history, how they normally operate. That’s too bad. Because few institutions are more important to good governance and accountability. Thanks to Trumps latest attempt to block independent investigations, many of us are about to learn about IGs.

There are variants all around. Some corporate Compliance Officers function much like IGs. Ombudsmen for news organizations also fill similar functions.

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Government’s Mission and a President’s Role in a Time of Crisis

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There are few fundamentals of what we expect from government and presidents.
The current team has failed them all.

Surprise!

I have written often that at some point a transformative crisis would hit the Trump administration. They would fail to meet it, with disastrous consequences. I felt that way from the first year of the administration and noted it early on at the start of this publication. I expected it would be something in national security that came calling. Perhaps a military conflict with China in the Pacific or a major terrorist incident. I did not see a virus as the precipitating event.

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In Praise of the Johnny Appleseeds of Science

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A Handful of People Have Made Science Understandable, Yet Wonderous, to Us All

Spreading the Good News

Everyone reading this is likely familiar with the legend of Johnny Appleseed. Johnny was a real person, John Chapman, who lived in America’s early days. Chapman was an American pioneer nurseryman. He introduced apples into Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and present-day West Virginia.

He became famous due to his generous ways and his leadership in conservation. He planted apple seeds everywhere, making the trees and their valued fruit ubiquitous. You can actually still see one of his trees.

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What’s the Difference Between a Zombie and the Republican Party?

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Not much, as a Matter of Fact

Consider the Zombie

The zombie. Certainly a popular fellow in mass entertainment these days. We seem to see them everywhere. Consider what makes them different from human beings.

A zombie, at first glance, looks like a human being. But, of course, it is not. It was a human being, but now it is the undead – not really dead or alive, but somewhere in-between. There is no heart. No soul is evident. It has no purpose other than sustaining itself by eating the occasional brain. This, of course,

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A Shooting War Could Begin in Any of These 3 Places -Soon

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Trump’s Decisions, Processes, and Personality Make Armed Conflict More Likely

But first an update:

Not too many days ago, I took Trump to task for failing to visit US troops in combat zones. Most presidents would have made several such trips at this point in their presidency.  But, finally, it is done. Trump last week visited troops in Afghanistan, helped serve a meal, talked with small groups of soldiers, and made no blatantly political or inappropriate speeches. I still think he should be impeached immediately, but let’s give credit where it’s deu. By all accounts,

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Impeachment: Familiar Ground, New Territory, and the Pull of History

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Many Crossroads are Ahead. Oh, Yeah- and Elections are Next Year

 

Well, quite the week last week, wasn’t it? Impeachment went from a remote possibility with vague parameters to a fast-moving train. Looking around us now, we see interesting landmarks on our journey.

Two of these are strangely familiar.

One, it seemed that the move to impeach was stuck well short of enough votes to move forward. What happened? Seven House freshmen, all with military and national security service backgrounds, stood up and called for impeachment. Five of them are from tough,

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With Friends Like Us, Who Needs Enemies?

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Let’s review a few of the specifics.

EUROPE

  • President Trump has trash talked NATO from the beginning. The only time NATO activated its “attack on one is an attack on all” clause was when we are attacked on 9/11. Our allies responded, including with many deployments to Afghanistan at our request. Now our allies wonder if we would answer when called. Border states in Eastern Europe certainly wonder. So too the Russians. We are now the weak link in NATO. That was unthinkable for over 50 years.
  • Trump more than once tried to insert himself into the British elections.

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Trillions of Trees, High Tech Salads, and Star Trek Food

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A Review of Fascinating Bits of News from the World of Science and Technology

Part of our Hey! Look at That! Science Series

 

Trees, Glorious Trees

This space has more than a few times lamented our march toward the cliff of global warming. I am among those who have come to think we may well have already crossed the Rubicon. It may be too late to avoid catastrophe. Given what passes for political leadership these days, we would seem doomed.

But, a ray of hope appears.

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Racism, White Nationalism, & Guns – We Know Where We Are.

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A Lot of Wise and Angry Words Have Flowed in Recent Days. They are Right.

 

You know those old movie scenes? The ones where you see a terrible crash coming in slow motion. Welcome to America, today. Racism and gun violence are not exactly new burdens for us as a country. But we have never, I would posit, been at a place like we find ourselves now.

Much of what follows is my attempt to cite some of the best I have seen written in recent days. I am glad to yield space to others who have spoken well for us all.

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Investigation? Six Investigations? Impeachment? Time to Choose.

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What to Do with Trump is Not an Easy Question. But the Path is Getting Clearer.

Democrats are working toward consensus on how to proceed on Trump’s transgressions. For some time now, the further left and recently elected were hot for impeachment.

Old hands cautioned on that course, warning correctly about pursuing it too quickly. The Speaker of the House has made it clear she wanted nothing to do with impeachment.

Things are Moving

Then the last couple of weeks things changed. I suspect that years from now we will look at the period around this week as the turning of a corner.

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