A Matter of Reichert and Wrong in Washington

Morning Jolt
. . . with Jim Geraghty

August 9, 2013

Ah! Back. I figured you would prefer fresh, cruise-related material to the remaining two parts of what's lovable about Washington . . .

So, Here's What You (Probably) Missed on the NR Cruise

We are departing the era of the rule of law. That was the unplanned theme of the panels on the National Review cruise. A great time was had by all, but the comments from our editors and guest speakers probably echoed the ominous sense in your gut as you look to Washington, with a president who postpones portions of laws he deems politically inconvenient, a Department of Justice that seems thoroughly politicized, congressional investigators that hit stonewall after stonewall . . . and beyond our nation's capital, you see state attorneys general who refuse to defend laws they object to and mayors who think they can ignore and outlast festering sexual-harassment scandals . . .

A few highlights, as incentive to go on one of our future cruises:

Allen West predicts that the Democrats, having nominated the first African-American presidential nominee, will follow by attempting to elect the first woman, Hillary Clinton, and follow her with the first Hispanic-American nominee, Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio and the keynote speaker of the Democrats' national convention in 2012.

On the IRS scandal, two fronts to watch: First, the reporting of our Eliana Johnson, now investigating possible collusion between the IRS and the Federal Election Commission (I would call her Doctor Eliana Johnson, but it's an inside joke between her, myself, and several hundred NR cruisers). And the work of Cleta Mitchell, who represents many of the tea-party and conservative groups who were targeted and harassed by the IRS and is pursuing a civil case against Lois Lerner and other top officials.

Cleta mentioned more than once that one of our biggest problems is that the chief law-enforcement officer of the country, Attorney General Eric Holder, is not interested in enforcing certain laws. He certainly seems to have no problem with misleading Congress, now does he?

David Pryce Jones, on Egypt: "The choice is between tyranny and anarchy." He's similarly pessimistic about Syria, which he compares to Lebanon in the 1980s: "Syria is smashed to pieces, and you will never put it back together again."

Daniel Hannan, member of the European Parliament discussing Greece and warning America about the culture of the "welfare junkie": "Just as individuals can be infantilized, so can nations."

When our Ramesh Ponnuru was asked what economic policies he most wanted to institute, he said that what he really would prefer to help prosperity and financial stability, reduce dependency, and improve the nation's long-term economic prospects is for people to wait until they are married before having children. One of the conversation starters at dinner was asking people what they envisioned for the United States (and, in some cases, Canada or Europe) 20 years down the road. If there are strong families, parents taking care of their children, those children getting shaped with good values, a strong work ethic, a good education and an appreciation for that education, respect for the rule of law, a sense of being connected to the rest of their community, etc. we'll be just fine. Obviously, as we look around us today, we see the gift of a stable childhood denied to a larger and larger portion of our next generation.

Offhand comment from Jay Nordlinger, responding to Hannan, paraphrase: This is the Golden Age for environmentalists, at least in the United States: Carbon emissions are down, economic production is down, commuting is down, we're less materialistic because we can afford less . . . Hey, they're getting what they've been demanding all these years.

One of our stops was the Oil Museum in Stavanger, Norway, a lot more fascinating than I expected. Drilling, pumping, and exporting oil has generated $1 trillion in revenue for the Norwegians since discovery in the 1970s, in a country of less than 6 million people. One trillion dollars! (For perspective, that's one-seventeenth of our national debt.) The museum has you go through it in a sequence, beginning with the discovery and then walking you through the exploration process, the equipment used, life for the deep-sea divers, and so on. The first two-thirds or so showcase all this with great detail and great pride, showcasing the enormous difficulties of the North Sea and the amazing engineering and massive rigs — basically floating cities — built and maintained in extremely tough environments. The tone is, "We are the heirs of the Vikings! This is extremely hard to do, and we do it well! We rock! We are awesome!" And then for the last third of the museum the focus turns to . . . global warming. We learn that everything you just saw described with great pride is terrible and destroying the planet. This portion of the exhibit begins with the definition of a dilemma and goes through all the alternatives — and how they have flaws as well — nuclear power has nuclear waste, wind power can endanger wildlife, and so on. It almost came out and asserted that environmentalists can find problems in any energy option and are basically a bunch of whiners.

Halliburton is among those thanked by the door of the museum.

More than once, people asked when John Boehner would grow some [insert metaphor for testicular fortitude]. From the stage, the speaker had a few defenders, particularly John Sununu, who emphasized that Boehner has a particularly tough challenge leading a caucus that isn't particularly unified and working with limited leverage against Harry Reid's Senate and President Obama.

During a discussion about the European Union, the historian Paul Johnson noted, while discussing modern Scotland, "the enterprising Scots have emigrated." I wonder how much this has driven the political evolution in other countries — that their creaking, tired, statist systems have created environments where the most entrepreneurial, most creative, most driven, and most talented conclude they have no real path to a better life, and they decide to immigrate to America or Europe . . . releasing the pressure for change within those countries.

I want Paul Johnson to narrate an epic, Lord-of-the-Rings-esque film. "In a world where . . . one man stood for . . ."

As I understand it, there are two cruises slated for 2014 — one from May 17 to 22 to Bermuda and back, departing from New York, and then the traditional post-election Caribbean cruise sometime in mid November.

Meanwhile, back in the United States . . .

A Buck for Senate, in a Country That Is Running Short on Bucks

Remember Ken Buck, who quite a few Republicans believe botched a winnable Senate race in Colorado in 2010? Well, he's running in 2014:

Ken Buck, the current Weld County District Attorney, will run for U.S. Senate next year in an effort to unseat Democratic Sen. Mark Udall.

Buck, a Tea Party Republican, filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission Wednesday and will officially launch his campaign with an announcement tour around the state in early September, according to a campaign official. He joins state Sens. Randy Baumgardner and Owen Hill, who have both announced they will seek the GOP nomination to unseat Udall.

Love him, hate him, this is why we have primaries.

Meanwhile, even further up in the Northwest . . .

A Matter of Reichert and Wrong in Washington

This could be good news for GOP efforts to win the Senate, in a state where Republicans have a tough time winning statewide races . . .

U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert is apparently again thinking about running for statewide office.

Reichert, a former King County Sheriff and fifth-term Republican representative in the 8th Congressional District, said in a Thursday interview with C.R. Douglas of Q13 FOX News that he is considering running for governor or U.S. Senate in 2016.

"I'm thinking about all those options," he said. "I still feel like I'm young and energetic. And, you know, we'll see how Mr. (Gov. Jay) Inslee does, and if he continues on the path that he is, it doesn't look too good for him. So I'll keep an eye on that. And who knows what Patty Murray does in the next year or two?"

Reichert, 62, is a popular politician who represents a safe Republican seat. He has toyed with running for statewide office in the past.

Senator Patty Murray is up for reelection in 2014.

ADDENDA: Jim Lileks noted that in our cruise materials, Holland America Line announced they're developing a new infrared system to spot individuals who fall overboard. He asked, "Just how often does this happen, that they need to develop this?"

When you watch Iron Man 3 on United Airlines, the entire sequence of Iron Man rescuing the people who fell out of Air Force One is cut — somewhat understandable in that airline passengers may not want to watch people falling out of an airliner and plummeting to their doom . . . but that does mean the movie jumps from one scene to another with some inexplicable plot holes.

Today on NRO — August 9, 2013

Today on National Review Online . . .

Before the weekend officially starts, there's a lot of news to relay to you, beginning with the White House's plan for amnesty should Congress not pass immigration reform this fall (hint: It involves more abuse of the rule of law). Mark Krikorian has the story.

The union battle continues to rage, now in California, Katrina Trinko reports. Unions in San Francisco are demanding a 15 percent wage increase, and in this debt-heavy state, even Democrats are balking.

How does the United States protect itself against future Edward Snowdens, while still upholding the rights of legitimate whistleblowers? According to Fred Fleitz, Congress needs to get to work immediately developing a safe-harbor policy for intelligence whistleblowers.

Bob Filner, the I-refuse-to-resign mayor of San Diego, has a long history of sexual harassment, going back to his time in Congress. He was known by women on the Hill as "Filthy Filner," but female Democrats (ahem, yes you Nancy Pelosi) ignored his behavior and promoted him to chairman of the Veterans' Affairs committee. And yet there are still no consequences for either Pelosi or Filner, Michelle Malkin writes.

A-Rod is no Lou Gehrig. As Rich Lowry laments, today's culture promotes glitzy and scandalous A-Rods over modest and humble Gehrigs. What can we do to turn the tables back around? Rich has the answer.

Later today, Mark Steyn will chime in on NRO.

To read more, visit www.nationalreview.com

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