The ”Alan Revoir” Edition

Rational Security

The Lawfare Institute

Foreignpolicy, Nationalsecurity, News, Government, Politics, Middleeast

4.8 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 9 November 2023

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, Quinta and Scott bade a temporary farewell to Alan and spent one last afternoon (for a few months, anyway) digging into the week’s big national security news stories, including:

“Ceasefire or Misfire?” We are now one month into Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip. As civilian casualties continue to mount and Israel’s ground operations get underway, there are growing calls for a ceasefire—calls that the Biden administration may now be taking up, in more limited and temporary fashion. Where are we in this conflict? Is there any end in sight?
“Freedom of Screech.” Former President Trump’s speech—and the right to it—is increasingly becoming an issue in his various criminal and civil trials, both legal and otherwise (as evidenced by a recent bout of angry shouting he pursued on the stand in his New York civil case). How have courts been balancing the equities? Is there something they can do better?
“No, no—THAT’s what the Insurrection Act is for.” In an effort spearheaded by co-conspirator number four himself Jeffrey Clark, President Trump and his allies are reportedly planning for a revenge campaign if he returns to the White House, beginning with a complete takeover of the Justice Department. How realistic are these plans? What can be done to stop them?

For object lessons, Alan recommended Sandra Newman’s “Julia,” a retelling of the classic “1984” from a new perspective. Quinta gave a similar bump to Brandon Taylor’s new novel, “The Late Americans.” And Scott rolled logs for his latest piece for Lawfare, a retrospective on the legacy of the War Powers Resolution fifty years after its enactment.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Attention at all passengers. You can now book your train tickets on Uber and get 10% back in Uber credits to spend on your next train journey.
0:11.0	So no excuses not to visit your in-laws this Christmas.
0:16.5	Trains now on Uber. T's and C's apply check the Uber app.
0:26.0	So when I say the word catywampus, what do you think of? It sounds like something out of Lewis Carroll.
0:28.0	I honestly think of like someone beating up a cat.
0:32.0	It's very dark. I think of like walking a cat. No it's bad I don't like it.
0:36.0	So it's like an event for you or like a tradition like a cat a cat wampus.
0:39.6	No, I mean I know that it's not someone beating up a cat but like if you're asking me like what is the first
0:46.5	image that comes into my mind of a caty Wumpus it's like it's a cat being very unhappy.
0:52.2	Yeah I don't know what it means but but it's very much in my vocabulary, and I say it all the time.
0:57.0	Without knowing what it means.
0:59.0	Without knowing what it means, which is a perilous move these days, admittedly, because some things you inherit are really have horrible horrible origins.
1:06.0	That is strong, confident white guy energy right there, Scott.
1:09.2	Yeah, it's risky. It's a little risky, I'm not going to lie, and only now am I realizing how
1:14.2	risky it is. But I guess if you're hearing this in the B-roll in National Security, you'll
1:17.7	know it's not something horrible, too horrible because I wouldn't have put it in here.
1:22.3	If it was, I would have just edited it out of existence.
1:25.0	No cats were harmed in the saying of catywampus.
1:28.0	No, or Wampusing for that matter. It does sound a little bit like a Dr. Seuss holiday a little bit.
1:34.4	That's where I can't think of.
1:35.4	I'm looking at a website that's called useless etymology.
1:38.4	Oh yes.
	...

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