Here’s a long read for you. Over at Wired UK, there’s a very interesting read on the future of urban warfare. Here’s the teaser: “Cheap Chinese-made sensors. Mad Max-style vehicle mods. Consumer drones turned into mortar-dropping weapons. The fight against Daesh is showing the high-tech, higher stakes future of urban war.” Plus, the item is illustrated with great photos by the stellar photographer Cengiz Yar.
Mo’ money mo’ problems. At our sibling publication, the Washington Examiner, our very own Tony Mecia has a great dive into the spike in lobbying money that’s taken place under the Trump presidency. The curious thing? Not much in Congress is getting done: “For all the talk from President Trump on the campaign trail of “draining the swamp,” the swamp seems to be thriving in his first year in office. The administration has enacted some minor lobbying and ethics rules by executive order early in Trump’s presidency, but has not pushed for major legislation regulating lobbying. Advocates are hopeful that the administration and Congress will push campaign and lobbying reform plans after completing tax reform.”
The Trump “Pivot” Theory. Warren Henry, at his eponymous anonymous blog, has a take worth reading on the Domenech theory of triangulation. The conclusion, offered to Trump and his most loyal supporters, is pointed: “Put on your big boy pants. Triangulate if you want (but don’t pretend Trump isn’t going further Left than Ryan ever did). Or try to manage the GOP coalition better than Ryan, McConnell, or their predecessors did. But recognize that that things have to change, and that the main reason they have to change stares back at Donald J. Trump from a mirror every morning.”
The Cajun Navy Needs You. Where to start with this amazing Houston Chronicle story by Holly Hartman on how she joined the Cajun Navy? Hartman is a journalism teacher and wanted to do something after Hurricane Harvey struck. The story originated as a post on her Facebook page. A smart editor at the Chronicle got her to convert it into a story, one that’s definitely worth your time. Hartman didn’t take her boat (if she has one) and rescue people, she downloaded an app and helped the volunteers on the ground save lives. Here’s a brief excerpt: “And thank God for the Cajun Navy. How many more people would be dead today if not for our first responders and the thousands of volunteers here? What if a flood of this magnitude had happened 20 years ago, before cell phones and social media? The deaths would be in the hundreds. I saw a meme on Facebook today that said, “Someone needs to erect a statue honoring the regular dude with a bass boat.” It was meant to be funny, but it’s actually spot-on.”
Since it’s the 16th anniversary of 9/11, here are some stories worth reading when you have a moment to reflect: Garrett Graff’s POLITICO item “We’re the Only Plane in the Sky,” Matt Labash’s “South Toward Hell,” and Jonathan V. Last’s “A Site to Remember.”
What do missile-capable drones dream of? The movie Stealth may be coming to life, thanks to DARPA, the U.S. Government’s skunkworks. The agency is working on easily built drones capable of carrying air-to-air missiles, called the Flying Missile Rail initiative. Think of it like an update for our current air fleet: “The Flying Missile Rail initiative is a response to the increasing cost and complexity of new warplanes. If the military can’t build a new manned fighter quickly and cheaply, maybe it can outfit existing fighters with robotic rails in order to make the fighters deadlier in combat.” It’s only a matter of time before the SkyNet funding bill is signed into law by President Trump and the do-nothing GOP Congress.
How the SPLC turns [insert group here] into the KKK. At Bloomberg View, Megan McArdle has an in-depth look at how the Southern Poverty Law Center turns principled conservatives into bigoted hate groups: “If misspeaking in a radio interview, quoting the Vatican and promoting articles like these on your nonprofit’s blog are what now earn a spot alongside the Klan on a list of hate groups, then it may be time for the Southern Poverty Law Center to close up shop, because their work is largely done.”
Are centrist Republicans a dying breed? Back when I was a congressional staffer, I worked with Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN), one of the few Blue Dog Democrats, on a bill called the Federal Consent Decree Fairness Act. My boss, a Kentucky Republican, was eager to find a solution to sell constituents who were mad about a costly consent decree with the EPA that was hiking up their water bills. It was a good bill that Cooper had long been pushing. Likewise, I was working on a regulatory reform bill called the REINS Act, and we were having trouble attracting a Democratic co-sponsor. Eventually, we got Dan Boren, a conservative Oklahoma Democrat who has since retired. I mention this because the GOP, through changing political winds and gerrymandering, successfully hunted the Blue Dogs to near extinction. (Had things turned out differently election-wise, there’d probably be more than one Democrat on our REINS Act bill with 203 Republican sponsors.)
Now, as Jim Antle at the Examiner reports, there is fear that GOP centrists in the House are going extinct, too: “I’m afraid that this trickle is going to turn into a flood of moderate Republicans retiring because they don’t want to have to defend Trump and deal with their far right colleagues anymore,” said a GOP strategist who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “It’s got to be exhausting and civilian life looks pretty good.”
G. Elliott Morris has some numbers to consider. The average number of GOP House members retiring each cycle between 2006 and 2016 is 22. Going into 2018, there are 17 GOP reps retiring, and the prediction is that number could hit has high as 31. A historic level of open seats. Yikes!
Why retire? Congressmen make a pretty good salary, of course. Liam Donovan has a worthwhile thread of tweets on the topic. Basically, Donovan is arguing that after eight years of seeking a GOP Congress & White House, the futility of the last eight months has “led to palpable frustration.” (Keep in mind many of the folks the GOP has in the House have only known what it’s like to play defense, not what it’s like to truly govern, and governing is not fun.)
Donovan’s bottom line is this: “Running for Congress is a grind. If the job itself isn’t fruitful, people will look for better opportunities, whether up or out.” Just like how journalists quickly get over appearing on television: It doesn’t pay, and the volume of hate mail and nasty/creepy responses via email and on social media don’t make it worth getting up at 5 a.m. to go on Morning Joe or Fox & Friends. But, Donovan is right: If the job sucks, people leave. And that means quite a few safe seats getting moved to the toss-up column. And potentially, fewer Republicans in Congress. Which might lead to Trump triangulating with Democrats. Where you assign the blame, however—and you should be careful—might land you a job in punditry.
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