{"id":20981,"date":"2021-03-15T17:16:33","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T17:16:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/?p=20981"},"modified":"2021-03-15T17:16:33","modified_gmt":"2021-03-15T17:16:33","slug":"arrias-the-infield-fly-rule-and-gov-cuomo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/arrias-the-infield-fly-rule-and-gov-cuomo\/","title":{"rendered":"Arrias: The Infield Fly Rule and Gov. Cuomo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: A marvelous day in the Piedmont of Virginia. Our glimpse of Spring from the back deck, overlooking the pastures and the treeline that separates us from the Chinese Glass project were a backdrop to a delightful Joint Service visit. Arrayed at the outdoor table were proud members of Army, Air Force and Navy. If necessary, the table was Special Operations qualified, ready to mount B-52s, or hurl power from the sea. Good crowd, and inspirational. There was a rollicking conversation that included Nuclear command and control, distant places in which we served, and laughter amid the trees preparing to bloom. We were mostly COVID compliant, which is to say we stayed at least 24-inches apart, unmasked under the marvelous blue sky. This morning, we follow the rule that our clocks must change, hurling us into the new season. The rules still apply. Arrias has some of his usual insightful commentary on how things are supposed to work…<\/p>\n

– Vic<\/p>\n

The Infield Fly Rule and Governor Cuomo<\/p>\n

\tSports are about rules. If you don’t think so, look up the infield fly rule. It is spelled out in detail. Sports are also, of course, about athletic ability, but bounded by clear, unambiguous rules. (Okay, sometimes they’re ambiguous; ask anyone what a balk is and then watch a baseball game\u2026) And you don\u2019t willy-nilly change the rules. For example, professional baseball is considering changing the size of the bases and how the bases are made as a result of players getting injured (knees and ankles) with the current material. And to work this out they\u2019ve designated one Double A league to use a slightly larger bag made of a different material and then they\u2019ll evaluate the results.<\/p>\n

\tRules. And Process.<\/p>\n

\tConsider football. After hearing some folks pontificate that Refs should \u201cjust let them play\u201d vis-a-vis the latest Super Bowl, an astute friend of mine noted: \u201cThe Super Bowl should be the most strictly called game of the year. Hundreds of games were played in order to get to this game, now isn\u2019t the time to change the game, now is the time to make sure that the game as designed is the one being played. If you\u2019re going to start throwing out rules why not let linebackers carry brass knuckles?\u201d<\/p>\n

\tJust so. Rules. And no place should rules be more strictly enforced than in the operations of our governments – federal, state and local. Above the doors to the Supreme Court building has, in stone, is written: Equal Justice Under Law. The key words are: \u201cUnder Law.\u201d As Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes told Judge Learned Hand, when Judge Hand urged him to \u201cDo justice, Sir, Do Justice,\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d Judge Holmes observed, \u201cthat is not my job. It is my job to apply the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tJust so, in baseball, in football, in government.<\/p>\n

\tAnd so we come to Governor Cuomo of New York. Personally, I am, to say the least, not a fan.<\/p>\n

\tHe\u2019s been accused of a number of things, the least of which being several sexual assaults; he\u2019s also accused of, in one way or another, contributing to the deaths of several thousand citizens of New York in his horrible handling of the Wuhan virus. Amidst these allegations is now a rising chorus calling for his resignation.<\/p>\n

\tHe should not resign.<\/p>\n

\tWhy not? Because a majority of the voters in New York elected him. He needs to fulfill the term of his office. The legislature of the state, acting in the interests of the citizenry for whom they work, can take up the process – under the law – of removing him from office. The law is in place, use the law. In California, one of 20 states that allows for recall of the Governor (New York does not), the citizenry appear to have raised the requisite number of signatures to force a recall election of Governor Newsom.<\/p>\n

\tThey\u2019re following the law.<\/p>\n

\tIn New York there is no recall, the Legislature would need to act. There has already been enough of a ruckus, and the Legislature, unless they\u2019re sleeping the sleep of Rip Van Winkle, have more than enough notice from their bosses (the electorate) that they need to take a look at the Governor; the process is much like that of impeaching a president. And they need to follow the rules and, if they so vote, throw him out. And if their actions (whether to remove the Governor or not) don\u2019t ameliorate the electorate, then the electorate needs to remember that and throw them out of office at the next election.<\/p>\n

\tThe point here is that orderly nations are good for our lives, law and order is what allows us all to function without having to \u201cshoot and scoot\u201d to get across the parking lot. Law and Order means I can leave the windows open on a warm day and not worry about whether Antifa or M19 or the Red Brigade or the Comanches are going to come marauding through the neighborhood. And Law and Order also means we follow the rules when we want to get rid of the Mayor or the Governor or the Speaker or the President. Law and Order is what keeps us civilized.<\/p>\n

\tGovernor Cuomo may have assaulted a half dozen women or more, but he remains innocent until proven guilty. He may have been responsible for the deaths of a host of elderly in his gross mismanagement and horrible leadership during the first few months of the Wuhan Virus crisis, but he again remains innocent until proven guilty. Nevertheless, there\u2019s more than enough evidence to justify the New York State Legislature taking up its responsibilities to its bosses – the people of the state – and investigating the Governor and then acting on the results of that investigation.<\/p>\n

\tAnd that goes for all of government.<\/p>\n

\tThursday President Biden noted: \u201cWe need to remember, the government isn\u2019t some foreign force in a distant capital. No, it\u2019s us, all of us, we the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tWell, yes, but\u2026 When people use the word \u201cgovernment\u201d they normally mean the bureaucracy, the organisms created by the Constitution (and the constitutions of the several states) to which We the People delegate certain authorities in order to \u201c\u2026establish Justice and ensure domestic tranquility\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\tIn that sense, We the People are not the government, We the People are the bosses of this sprawling arrangement of agencies and departments. And we expect them all to act within the law. And to enforce every law. Even if they don\u2019t like a given law, enforce it. They can work to change the law – within the rule book. But they continue to enforce the laws as the good servants they are, who obey their bosses\u2019 orders.<\/p>\n

\tYou know, Law and Order. Like the Infield Fly Rule. Or Immigration Laws. Or Election Laws. All that sort of thing.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2021 Arrias
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: A marvelous day in the Piedmont of Virginia. Our glimpse of Spring from the back deck, overlooking the pastures and the treeline that separates us from the Chinese Glass project were a backdrop to a delightful Joint Service visit. Arrayed at the outdoor table were proud members of Army, Air Force and Navy. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arrian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20981"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20982,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20981\/revisions\/20982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}