Trump-free Friday politics roundup: Feb. 16

White House fumbles its story, immigration bills stumble in Congress, and more resignations abound in this week’s politics roundup

Porter makes for a complicated White House situation

To be fair, it’s not like former secretary Rob Porter created the disorder currently plaguing the White House. Still, his presence, despite abuse allegations and uncertainty about his security clearance brought yet more problems to light. Even his resignation last week did little to quell concerns.

In fact, this situation has become so tense that White House chief of staff John Kelly may be on his way out. In the immediate aftermath of Porter’s resignation, Kelly spoke out soundly in favor of the former staff secretary.

However, it has since become clear that White House officials, including Kelly, were aware of spousal abuse allegations against Porter. In fact, the F.B.I. provided officials with reports on Porter’s past on multiple occasions in 2017.

According to White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, senior administration officials did not learn about the charges until recently. That’s because the F.B.I. had given information about Porter to the White House Personnel Security Office, which manages security clearances.

Why those officials did not communicate with others is unknown. Neither is it entirely clear if Kelly will stay or go, given conflicting information on his current status. Who allowed Porter to continue in his high-level position? Given that he was at least partially responsible for the flow of documents into the Oval Office, his position was strategic indeed.

Indeed, it’s not yet certain who, exactly, knew about Porter’s past and let him continue on in a high-level administrative position. The fact that he was continuing to work with only an interim security clearance long after others would have gotten the real deal is particularly alarming.

South African president resigns

On Wednesday, South African President Jacob Zuma announced that he would resign. This announcement followed considerable pressure from Zuma’s political party, the African National Congress. The ANC had voted to recall him from office earlier in the week. This is especially critical, given that the ANC is the dominant political party and one that had previously supported Zuma’s career.

Citizens and party members were especially concerned about claims of corruption. Zuma has been connected to roughly 800 counts of corruption for arms deals. He also used $24 million in tax dollars to improve his own home and was so cozy with a powerful family that it spawned an affair called “Guptagate”. As if that weren’t enough, he has also been accused of sexual assault.

Earlier on Wednesday, Zuma gave a television interview where he claimed that everything was fine between him and the ANC. Moreover, he said, he had no intention of abandoning his post. That made his announcement later in the day all the more surprising.

Zuma’s second-in-command and leader of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa, was elected President on Thursday. He has his work cut out for him. Besides concerns about lingering corruption, South Africa has a 26.7% unemployment rate and persistent issues with discrimination.

Netanyahu refuses to resign

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is digging in his heels. Like Zuma, he is accused of rampant corruption while in office. Namely, Israeli police have found that Netanyahu has accepted almost $300,000 worth of bribes during his tenure. They have recommended that the Prime Minister be formally charged with bribery and fraud.

However, unlike Zuma, Netanyahu enjoys more political support in his own country. Perhaps that’s why he’s been rather confident in his position. Certainly, those corruption charges have yet to appear. He’s even called the police’s recommendation “a slanted document, extreme, full of holes, like Swiss cheese, and holds no water”.

Of course, if you have chipped away at your government’s judicial branch and unfriendly media outlets, you might feel pretty comfortable, too.

Immigration bill flounders in Congress

Unless you’ve been living in a quiet cabin somewhere deep in a lush, soundproofed forest, you’ve heard about Congress’ troubles with immigration. (If you are in that cabin and somehow still have Internet connectivity — do you have a guest room?)

As before, the troubles have centered on undocumented immigrants. Specifically, the debate focused on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, a policy that allows undocumented minors to stay in the U.S. and eventually gain full citizenship.

Most recently, a series of four largely bipartisan bills were introduced into the Senate in the hopes of extending DACA, which is set to end March 5, and establishing a new immigration policy. All found little purchase either there or in the House. The Senate failed to vote for an immigration bill that was even backed by the White House, with a poor showing of only 39 votes in favor.

While that may be an annoying day for a Senator or Representative, the implications of this stalemate are far more fraught for the immigrants themselves. DACA recipients and other undocumented immigrants face an uncertain future. Will they have only temporary work permits? Will ICE become even more of a presence in their neighborhoods? If they are allowed to remain, will it be at the cost of the poorly described and awkwardly funded border wall?

And, finally, your palate cleanser

Frankenstein has been around for 200 years. No, this isn’t a reference to the 1931 movie character. Neither are we talking about the many tie-in products that have followed since. Instead, this is a chance to get to know the heart of it all: the novel written by Mary Shelley.

In short, Shelley’s book is a big deal. It’s an early example of both science fiction and horror; so early, in fact, that you can argue that it’s the first serious example of science fiction ever published. If nothing else, it’s a compelling and unforgettably strange work. Even more impressive is the fact that Shelley started writing it when she was a rebellious 18-year-old.

As bedraggled high school and undergraduate students may tell you, reading through the text of Frankenstein can be a slog. It was created in 1818 when writing was often verbose and dramatic. However, it contains compelling points about life, death, and procreation.

Next: Scary women: 13 female horror writers to read

There’s also that memorable, yet unnamed monster who simultaneously menaces and elicits a profound sense of pity. The New Yorker goes into great depth on this subject, which is perfect in you’re in a long-form journalism mood that doesn’t focus on current troubles.

More recent works have taken the themes of Frankenstein and transferred them to modern settings. Frankenstein in Baghdad, written by Ahmed Saadawi, has garnered much recent acclaim for its strange, sometimes terrifying, sometimes funny writing.

If you’ve got the stomach for it, the novel is a widely-hailed update to Shelley’s work.