Discussion about this post

User's avatar
malsperanza's avatar

Most loopholes exist because a law was written badly. The lawyers who find the loopholes are not in Congress, but working for the lobbyists. To prevent loopholes, you have to know how to write a law correctly. Training in the law is an aid to that. When members of Congress try to insert a loophole into a bill, it usually says something clever and subtle like "So-and-so is exempt from this law."

We say we value expertise, but we somehow think legal expertise is not needed in lawmaking. Too many Jimmy Stewart Everyman Goes to Washington movies, maybe.

Scientists and teachers ... sure. Although we have a couple of people with medical degrees in Congress and Statehouses right now, and they don't impress me. I'd rather see both groups populating the top posts in a lot of the agencies, where their expertise can be applied. Congress consults them when their expertise is needed. (Or it did until 2016.)

Obama was a professor of constitutional law at the nation's top law school. There's a teacher I'd be happy to see in the Senate again, though I don't think he's interested.

Expand full comment
Tuxedocat's avatar

The word is also the NATO designation of the MIG-15. All MIGs are given a code name by NATO beginning with "F". The MIG-15 is the plane that caused so much havoc for the UN during the Korean War.

Expand full comment
353 more comments...

No posts