Commander in Chief, So What?

Because it's so relevant to the current debate about who should be representing the people, who should be running the war, and how they're supposed to make and enforce policy for this country, I thought I would throw out a quote from the Supreme Court case Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer. It was argued that President Truman had to take matters into his own hands during the Korean War and everyone was arguing about letting the Commander in Chief do what he has to do for the war, which in this case included seizing steel factories so they couldn't strike and MAKING them keep producing steel during the war.

In one of the most important discussions of separation of powers handed-down by the court, they found (in a vote of 6-3) that it didn't make any difference that Truman was the Commander in Chief *EVEN AS IT CAME TO DECIDING HOW TO RUN A WAR.*

I found this quote from Justice Jackson to be particularly illuminating:

Congress alone controls the raising of revenues and their appropriation and may determine in what manner and by what means they shall be spent for military and naval procurement.

[T]he Constitution did not contemplate that the title Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy will constitute him also Commander in Chief of the country...

He has no monopoly of "war powers," whatever they are.

[That] military power of the Commander in Chief were not to supersede representative government...seems obvious from the Constitution and from elementary American history.

People are trying to spin the Iraq funding bill as if Congress is overstepping its authority and endangering troops, when in fact Congress is doing its job -- a job that belongs only to it (and NOT to the President).

I think it's so important (SO SO IMPORTANT) what this case says about the President NOT having a monopoly on war powers.

He's one piece in this puzzle, and probably not even the most important one, and he is NOT bestowed with a war power that supersedes representative government (CONGRESS!).

Think about how much MORE desperate the situation could have been for Truman -- forget money to keep financing an already-financed war -- he was faced with a situation in which his army wouldn't even physically have guns or tanks or any of the most basic things it would need to fight, and STILL it was appropriate for Congress and NO ONE ELSE to decide how money should be spent and where it should come from and they were NOT obliged to do what the president wanted just because of the title "Commander in Chief."

VC

Update to the Guy Situation

I have two emails to report, one that I sent to Swissy last night, and the other the reply I received from the Israeli who sent that crazy email to that I posted yesterday.

1. Sad Email to Swissy:

Hey Swissy,

This morning I woke up and sort of had the sensation that you had been sleeping next to me. You know the feeling you get if you have been sleeping with someone in the night but in the morning maybe the person leaves early and when you wake up you have the memory that they were there, and for a second, even though you know they are not, it's like they're there? It was so nice! And I don't even like sleeping with people lol

I have been a little sad today, because I feel like I haven't done a good job in my romantic life. I have some great friends, and with my mother, sister, etc. there are lots of people who care about me -- I know I should be thankful for that, but there is still something missing. There isn't a guy who, when I get home, asks me how my day was, and I talk to him about his day, and we just hug. There's no one to share just simple unimportant moments with, and those are the ones I think that are lonely. I have friends who call every day, and there are people who care a lot about my life, but it's not the same as when you have someone there for the silent time...the in-between time. I really miss that.

Just some thoughts.

xo

***

2. Funny Reply from Israeli:

hey i hope you forgive my procrastination i had to push your email to this morning due to the length of it lol what can i say you a very smart guy and im sure you know that its not you, what crazy guy will not want to meet you.

i want to meet you and get to know you even as a friend only, or not, but i do like to see what are you all about in person. my NJ project is in a very critical time, of many hundreds of thousands dollars a day being spent in building the plant, and no money coming in, it is going to be like that for the next few weeks and its all 100% on me with no partners and no investors, im all alone in this, so you can imagine how hard it is when you got 150 people all day needing your time, not includes the dates..lol i trust that good things are good waiting for, and if another israeli gets you in the meantime , i feel that it stays in the family anyway, haha

one thing i know when you talking about your tv shows i know nothing about them and never heard of them, is that bad?-)

i hope you planing on a nice weekend im going to have coffee now and go to work just to check things out.

***

So I think it was overall a good reply. His English is a bit haulting, but that's ok. He's really funny, and I think pretty sincere and straight-shooting, too, which I really value. I think having someone who is super straightforward is one of my most important relationship criteria. He's bought himself another week lol although if he ends up having to spent too much more time in New Jersey the deal is off. The only good thing that's every come out of New Jersey is Dr. Juicy, and she's a total Manhattanite at heart -- it's like a transgender person who was born into the wrong body...she was meant to be born here.

SPEAKING OF:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. JUICY!!

VC

Men Can Be SO Frustrating!

So I've been going back and forth with this Israeli guy forever, now, on when we're finally going to have a real date. He's really smart, funny, a great businessman, and (as my mother said when I sent her his photos) "brutally handsome."

He's also really, really busy. It's ridiculous. I just went a little insane that we still haven't had our date this week, and wrote him the following email. I really am unbelievably lame lol

***

I think I need to focus less on getting a date with you and more on finding you a personal assistant...or three.

I've decided to approach this the same way I would in an interview at a consulting firm where they give you a business case and you have to walk them through solving the issue: "The guy you want to date expresses interest, but is having trouble getting it together to make a plan. What steps would you take to solve this problem? What would you recommend?"

...Well I'd have to answer three questions:

1. "Is it me?": Is the date not happening because, while interested, he's not interested enough in you to make it worth it to him to fit you into his schedule?

2. "Is it him?": Does he have a history of not being able to make room in his schedule to explore something new?

3. "Is it his work?": Maybe the desire and ability are there, but he seriously just does not HAVE the time, no matter how sincere the interest. Is there a way to make time?

(you know in those interviews you have to prioritize amongst different options and create an actionable solution for your client, so -->)

The situation is probably, at some level, a combination of all three things, but let's focus-in on a workable solution.

As far as the first scenario is concerned, he may not be that interested, but he doesn't know you yet, and you are a total catch, so you shouldn't assume a lack of interest just yet. You know how men are, and sometimes they suck at making plans. Make a mental note "this one will be like dating a straight guy" and alter your strategy accordingly. He probably wont ever be great at making plans, may not get your weird emotional subtlety, and might even sometimes pee with the bathroom door open. Prepare yourself. He still might be a great guy despite those things.

As for the second question, he has indicated that he's had a series of successful multi-year relationships and is candid in his online profiles about the fact that he's just there to look around for entertainment value so he can unwind after work. What we probably have here is a guy who is not likely to find something casual, that may or may not work to begin with, to be "worth it" when he has so many other things to focus on outside his romantic life, over which he has much more control (business) and which are safer bets than some random guy he doesn't know. It's not your job to tell him what to prioritize in his life, and you have to respect it if dating is not something he's all that interested in at the moment -- even if that's not even a thought he's really articulated him to himself, yet. He's probably the type who does better once things get going (which is the kind of guy you prefer anyway) when he can see that it's a project that is worth his time. Be patient and do your best to just show him who you are and let him make an informed decision about whether or not he wants to try to try.

As for the third question, he has told you he needs a personal assistant. Your friend who you wanted to interview with him took another job, but hope is not lost. You know he's going through a major expansion of his printing company and you should just be glad he probably has better business sense than you do, you abstract-thinking academic! He probably doesn't even have time to interview assistants at this point, and it's probably on his mind that something has to give. He wouldn't have built so many successful business ventures if he didn't know how to handle his affairs, so just be patient -- he'll probably surface as soon as he can. Just don't expect a rose between his teeth (see earlier observation about the "straight guy" dating paradigm).

WOW I'd be such a good consultant! Ok well now that I understand you SO much better lol I'm going to go to the gym and NOT be bothered by our lack of communication. You're working really hard, and I understand that. I guess tonight I'll just study a bit, go to the gym, and watch Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty from the abc website (missed them last night).

:)

VC

Weird Revelation on Captain Planet and Wicca

Earth. Fire. Wind. Water. Heart! By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet.

Ok, well not really. I am a pizza-eating (but frequent gym going, for two weeks now!) not-so-green cookie monster.

The point is, that with this whole discussion about the Department of Vetran Affairs allowing families of Wiccan veterans to have the Wiccan pentecost on their tombstones, I just realized that one of the only cartoons I still liked after the age of 8 (mostly because I had a crush on the Asian chick, Gi, who portrayed Water) was TOTALLY WICCAN.

CAPTAIN PLANET IS WICCAN.

I'm not kidding.

Wicca has emerged as the faith of choice for many of the greenest earth-lovers, and it wasn't until tonight that I realized that their pentecost, whose five points represent earth, fire, wind, water, and spirit.

Sound familiar Planeteers?

More evidence?

On a related note, take a look at the 38 "emblems of belief" the Vetrans Affairs Department (note that it's not Vetrans' Affairs -- the plural meaning much less than the possessive!) recognized before Wicca. I have three comments about this list:

1. Eckankar?

2. Isn't it hilarous that the supposedly can't show a symbol for Islam for copyright reasons? lol

3. For all the people in the US who identify as "Christian" and think that "Christian values" can be talked-about and voted-upon as if they are monolithic, that about 20 of the 27 emblems shown make claims to different Christianities. God forbid (pun intended) there not be different Greek, Russian, and Serbian crosses.

4. The Unitarian oil lamp is totally a cross inscribed in two circles, and isn't fooling anyone.

5. Doesn't the Sufism Reoriented (whatever that means!) symbol they chose look like it should be the emblem of a gay motorcycle club?

6. Doesn't the symbol for the Community of Christ look like an animal cracker?

VC

Finally Done

Well my paper for Law & Culture is done. It is a bit of a mess. I spend a third of the paper talking about semiotics and the apparatuses through which empty signs aquire meaning (index, icon, contradistinction) and talk about how those apparatuses can serve to infuse signs with a meaning that is moralized. Then in the second part I totally jump to how law is like a modernist grid, is therefore mythic, and therefore has internal contradictions (with a critique of positivist law mixed-in!). In the third part I talk about cognitive culture and societal understandings of danger, order, and good citizenship. At each part of the way I was trying to tie these ideas back to the film we were supposed to analyze, and so I ended up talking about how the index is used in the film to reverse the truth-value of the object it denotates (!), about how the film asserts both a protection myth (that the government protects us from another 9/11) and how the film itself sets up a mythic metanarrative of justice (how justice works, with contradictions built-in), and then I tried to synthesize the whole thing by arguing that the signs which coded for dangerous/threatening (first part) mapped-onto cognitive understandings of threat and good citizenship (third part) in order to reinforce the myth of government as protector (second part), the result being the prosecution of a poor art professor for bioterrorism.

Really need to sleep lol

This paper was a MESS!

ProcrASStinating

Well it's Sunday evening and my final paper for Patricia Williams's Law & Culture class is due tomorrow, so of course I'm doing everything possible to not write it.

I'm at what is, for me at least, the worst stage, which is where all the research is done, the thoughts have been formed and outlined, and now all I have to do is physically write it out. For me, the intellectual thrill is totally over. I don't care about how I translate my thoughts into paragraphs and stapled pages. The stimulation for me was thinking about the question, researching it, stringing it all together, and now as far as I'm considered I'm done. I know for many people the process of writing is a process of thinking, and I suppose that's true for me to a degree as well, but overall it's a plug-and-chug at this point.

As for putting the "ass" in procrASStinating, I just got back from the gym where it was (again) proven that I have buns of steal.

According to my workout plan, Sunday is supposed to be a rest day, but I think that having gone to the gym 4 times already during the week I actually became a bit addicted, and I just couldn't rest today. It was also nice going knowing that I wasn't expecting ANYTHING from myself. Well I ran my usual 3 miles (I still cannot fathom how I could regularly run 6 miles all the way up through my first year in Egypt!), and then since I couldn't lift (the key to making a routine work, be it a diet, a budget, or a gym routine, is that once you get it right don't mess with it! Today was for REST!) I decided to try my new glutes (aka: ass) workout.

It's pretty simple: do leg lifts until your muscles fail on both sides, and then do it again.

The problem is that my back muscles were totally failing before my butt was (although I did do back yesterday)! I would do 50 lifts on each side, holding at the top of the extension for 2 seconds on each rep, and I think I could have kept going for at least 25 more. It's a really time consuming process when one side takes more than 2 minutes and that's just the first of two sets! There was sweat dripping down my face as if I were still doing cardio, and it seemed like the only part of my body NOT failing was my butt.

Anyway, 100 extensions on each side (200 in all) later and my tushie still feels fine. Next time I do glutes, which will be Tuesday, I'll try to make the routine more hardcore (that may not be the best choice of words since I'm referring to my ass).

Now if only I could take some of my ass muscle and add it to my abs, and some leg muscle and add it to my arms...wait I'm totally upside down! lol I think in a handstand I'd have the right distribution of muscle from top to bottom lol.

VC

HDTV?

I just don't get the HDTV obsession.

I mean, I have a REALY cheap tv (like it was $170 or something -- the cheapest I could find that I could still connect to my computer) and I never am watching a show going "wow this would be way better if I could see things better...it makes me sad that the images are pixelated." I mean they aren't! I feel like my tv has the same quality as real life and you all know I'm fussy!

HDTV is just NOT a gadget I'm on board with.

VC

My New Obsession

Barilla commercials.

Seriously.

I finally decided to post the commercial with the man of my dreams (the Barilla commercial where the guy goes and saves his neighbour from herself by anonymously delivering pasta to her door), and when I went to Youtube to find the ad for you all I ran into other amazing commercials that has made me totally obsessed with these commercials. You should really watch some of these clips, they are rather masterful (especially the last one I post).

Look at this sappy-but-wonderful commercial from 1987 (yes, Barilla has been warming our hearts and filling our bellies for two decades!) -- the little kitten is adorable.

Ok now for the commercial with my dream man. How sweet is he to give her the pasta!? She so doesn't deserve, him, and clearly a handsome bachelor like him (possibly a widower?) would NOT be interesting in some classless blond with like 15 children. EDIT: I can't find it online :(

This one is also really good. It's directed by Federico Fellini! I love it how the waiter is listing off all these fancy French things and the woman is like: "Just give me rigatoni!" A woman who speaks to my own heart (or whatever that expression is).

We also have the inspiration for Angelina (I'm so in Italian mode that I just accidentally typed "Angeloni" lol) Jolie's adoption of Maddox -- yes, Barilla can soften the hearts of your family towards Cambodian orphans (note that the little girl in this add is totally Korean and not Cambodian at all, in my opinion lol).

They have had commercials all over the world since, like, the invention of the television, and I have found really cool stuff including celebrity spots by Steffi Graff and Gerard Depardieu (which provided the inspiration for the commercial in the US that I really like right now). Anyway take a look at this one from Russia. Very Dr. Zhivago goes USSR.

Finally, I had to share this awesomely beautiful commercial from the late 60s. I didn't know that commercials were ever like this -- music video, then quick product spot -- but now that I think about it they did the same thing for Coke and Pepsi in the Middle East, where they'd have a singer basically do a music video and then at the end she'd advertise the product. This Mina Mazzini is someone I have to look up to learn more about -- she's great.

VC

Ourtraged Mother, Outraged American

I think that my mom should have a blog and that should be the title of it.

Here is her email to me about the Wolfowitz scandal:

I just signed a petition (of course) to fire Paul W…everyone knew this guy was a creep and I can’t believe he thought he could get away with this when everyone knew about his girlfriend from the very beginning. Didn’t he think anyone was watching? I JUST CAN’T BELIEVE ANYONE WOULD BE SO ARROGANT AND STUPID!!!!!!!!!! He shouldn’t have gotten the job to begin with but each one of these scandals always proves to be too late. Every one of the creeps that the Bush admin has placed in jobs, and we all screamed about their appointments but couldn’t do anything about it, they have all proven to be just absolute scoundrels! The stuff they think they can get away with!!!! It is incredible!! Did you read that her salary was over $190,000 per year…more than Condi Rice?

Signed in anger,

M. Wong

Although I do think that this whole discussion might be significantly different if Shaha Riza (she's apparently Saudi-Syrian-Libyan, but I can still see Desi's headline now "IRAN FOOLS U.S. AGAIN" because that is one Persian name!) were not his girlfriend but his wife.

I think it's totally disgusting of her to play the "me and my poor son" card when she had to give a written reply to the World Bank Ethics Committee (from her wikipedia entry):

As the Committee deliberates... I hope it will take into consideration the personal pain and stress my son and I have been subjected to...

I have to say that I think my mother is totally right about how horrible (and predictable) a course the Bush appointments have taken, and when she called me last night (again, and as usual: outraged by Bush) to tell me about comments by Bill Maher about a Christian law school founded by Pat Robertson that has been feeding its not-so-top-notch grads into high posts in the Department of Justice under Bush, we both agreed that the topic required further investigation.

Well look no further, it wasn't hard to find this rather shocking article about the school and its relationship to the administration (and the recent Gonzales-related scandals). It horrifies me to think, when the article describes the beginning of their Con Law class, that these people are the ones responsible for formulating the administration's policy line on constitutional protections. It's no wonder we more or less don't have a constitution, anymore.

VC

WHY WE ARE LOSING IN IRAQ

Apparently our military commanders think that Pashto is spoken in the Middle East.

ICTJ

I'm working this summer at the International Center for Transitional Justice.

I'll be in the MENA (Middle East-North Africa) department, working for this really awesome Australian woman on Iraq stuff here in New York.

The pay *sucks* but as far as next-steps on developing my human rights CV are concerned, it would be hard to find something better than this.

VC

Titles, Titles, Titles

Congratulations on being selected as the 2007 Ratner Fellow. This generous gift to Columbia Law School is being used to fund Human Rights Interns this year and in years to come. You were selected because of your demonstrated commitment to public interest and your ability to make a substantial contribution to justice. I regret that this does not mean that you get extra funding but it is a nice credential for your resume. I hope you will accept this honor.

LOL this is actually the THIRD named fellowship or scholarship I have gotten from Columbia this year, and it's the second one with NO money and NO scholarship obligations attached. Columbia cracks me up.

VC