Directing Anger Where it Belongs

Let’s separate the wheat from the chaff. Lots of Americans are angry. The tea party is angry about taxes and spending. Workers are angry about not having jobs or prospects. The middle-class is angry about getting squeezed. And they are all right to be angry. It doesn’t follow that the anger is directed at the causes of their problems. So let’s sort it out.

In First Real Test Constitution Prevails as Kibaki Reverses Unilateral Appointments: Implications for Kenya’s Deferral Bid

In what is the first real test of Kenya’s new Constitution, the President has backed down by withdrawing nominees appointed inconsistently with the Constitution to fill four significant public positions: Chief Justice, Attorney General, Deputy Public Prosecutor and Controller of the Budget. See story here and here.  

The Constitutional Implementation Commission, the Judicial Service Commission, the Speaker of the National Assembly and the High Court had already declared the nominations inconsistent with the requirements of the new Constitution. (See below for excerpts of the High Court ruling outlining the provisions of the Constitution at issue).

A suit filed by a women’s rights group challenging the constitutionality of the nominations for failing to give equal protection to women in the nominations as required  by Article 37(3) of the Constitution is still pending. See story on that case here  and here.  

“So-called” Investment

After noting that China and India are “investing in research and new technologies,” President Obama made investment a major theme of his State of the Union Address. The first Soviet space launch in the 50s spurred us to invest in research and education. Obama wants us to ” invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology – an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people.” Other countries, he added, are investing much more in infrastructure.

The appeal of that way of thinking obviously bothered Republicans.

A World on Fire

In 1793, Revolutionary France sent Edmund Genet as minister to the U.S. Finding the Washington Administration determined to remain neutral between England and France, Genet threatened to take his case to the American people. Americans were offended. We don’t stand for foreign meddling in American politics.