Common Sense Junction
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Common Sense Junction
Lawyer-ly Blog Headlines

  1. HEH: Psycho D-Rahm-a. “Does anyone know whether Rahm has a collection of stuffed birds? Or a fruit…

    → Instapundit | 9 Mar 2010 | 8:23 pm MST

    HEH: Psycho D-Rahm-a. “Does anyone know whether Rahm has a collection of stuffed birds? Or a fruit cellar?”

  2. VIDEO: The Reagan/Obama Debate. Personally, I prefer Obamafeld….

    → Instapundit | 9 Mar 2010 | 8:15 pm MST

    VIDEO: The Reagan/Obama Debate. Personally, I prefer Obamafeld.

  3. ANN ALTHOUSE ON GROPEGATE: “Groping.” There’s a loaded word. Can we have some details? Are the…

    → Instapundit | 9 Mar 2010 | 8:03 pm MST

    ANN ALTHOUSE ON GROPEGATE: “Groping.” There’s a loaded word. Can we have some details? Are the Democrats really policing their own? Does every member of Congress at Massa’s level of touchiness get investigated, or was this selective investigation? . . . I think they are all groping in one way or another. It’s nothing compared to what [...]

  4. STEWART BAKER ON LIZ CHENEY: Almost by definition, issues that split the Supreme Court can be arg…

    → Instapundit | 9 Mar 2010 | 8:02 pm MST

    STEWART BAKER ON LIZ CHENEY: Almost by definition, issues that split the Supreme Court can be argued either way. But these lawyers felt so strongly about these arguable principles that they sacrificed paying work and instead went to work without charge for people they loathed – just to turn their principles into law. Doesn’t this tell [...]

  5. "I am not dumb now."

    → Althouse | 9 Mar 2010 | 8:02 pm MST



    (Via Terry Teachout.)

  6. NANCY PELOSI ON HEALTH CARE: “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” …

    → Instapundit | 9 Mar 2010 | 7:56 pm MST

    NANCY PELOSI ON HEALTH CARE: “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” This is what it’s come to.

  7. Psycho D-Rahm-a

    → Power Line | 9 Mar 2010 | 7:52 pm MST

    Michael Ramirez imagines a shower encounter with Rahm Emanuel, inspired by a classic of American culture. Note that his vision has the virtue of allowing Rahm to remain fully clothed (not to say, costumed). Does anyone know whether Rahm has a collection of stuffed birds? Or a fruit cellar? Is he turning the White House into the Bates Motel? If I were lurking around Washington, I wouldn't take any chances. Click to enlarge:









    ISStoon_030910_FULL.jpg



  8. CHANGE: IRS to Track Online Sellers’ Payment Transactions Beginning Next Year….

    → Instapundit | 9 Mar 2010 | 7:52 pm MST

    CHANGE: IRS to Track Online Sellers’ Payment Transactions Beginning Next Year.

  9. "The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the Supreme Court, cheering and hollering..."

    → Althouse | 9 Mar 2010 | 7:35 pm MST

    "... while the court — according the requirements of protocol — has to sit there expressionless, I think is very troubling.... I'm not sure why we're there."

    Chief Justice John Roberts opines on the State of the Union.

  10. Obsession

    → Power Line | 9 Mar 2010 | 6:54 pm MST

    Matt Drudge is trumpeting the fact that Senate staffers have been warned to stay away from the Drudge Report on the theory that it may be spreading computer viruses. (If the old rules apply, that is libel per se, isn't it?) What I thought was even more entertaining was the Drudge Report's traffic totals:

    The [Drudge Report] was seen 149,967 times since March 1st from users at senate.gov and 244,347 times at house.gov. [There were] 10,825 visits from the White House, eop.gov," the Drudge Report wrote.

    These numbers appeared on March 8; do the math: 18,750 times a day, Senators and their staffers visit the Drudge Report--187.5 times a day for each Senator; 30,543 times a day Congressmen and their staffers check in on Drudge--70 times a day for each Congressional office; and, most comical of all, 1,353 times a day President Obama's White House staffers log on to the Report. The war is over. Drudge won it.



  11. Where do the Lobbyists End, and the Obama Administration Begin?

    → Power Line | 9 Mar 2010 | 6:25 pm MST

    The Competitive Enterprise Institute has uncovered, via a Freedom of Information Act request, a fascinating instance of the symbiotic relationship among 1) left-wing advocacy groups, 2) left-wing Obama administration officials, and 3) lobbyists for moneyed interests who benefit from left-wing policies. It has to do with wind energy. The Obama administration has hailed Spain's wind energy initiatives as a model for its own wind subsidies. Unfortunately, a devastating study (which we highlighted here) showed that Spain's wind subsidies were a disaster: they eliminated more than two jobs for every one they created, only one in ten "green jobs" created by the subsidies was permanent, and each wind energy job cost more than $1.3 million.

    Did this cause the Obama administration to realize that its wind energy policies were misguided? OK, that was a joke. Christopher Horner at Pajamas Media describes what did happen:

    Emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that the Obama Department of Energy is using the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) -- the lobbying arm of "Big Wind" in the U.S. -- to coordinate political responses with two strongly ideological activist groups: the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), and the George Soros funded Center for American Progress (CAP).

    This is further proof that Obama has betrayed his promise to ban lobbyists. Further, this incident suggests yet another questionable appointment -- Cathy Zoi, assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy at the DoE, injected politics into public policy. Cathy Zoi also happens to be the former CEO of Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection. ...

    The emails expose active coordination between the Obama administration, the DoE and its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and the AWEA. These emails show the Obama DoE using the AWEA as a conduit to both the CAP and the UCS, and taking steps to ensure that aspects of its coordination were not committed to paper (or email) because the emails might be revealed later.

    The emails reveal three principal issues in the 900 pages received so far. ...

    The three principal issues:

    * The Obama DoE's relationship with the Big Wind lobby and left-wing ideological activists. What role did those groups play in producing an official administration response to the Spanish "green jobs" study?

    * Apparently misleading -- or false -- statements made to Congress by the DoE. Particularly the statements made by Assistant Secretary of Energy Cathy Zoi. What was her role in developing the response to the Spanish report?

    * Career DoE staffers' and scientists' confusion, then concern, then scrambling, and finally dissembling regarding how the response was initiated and at whose request. Was the report -- which cost taxpayers around $5000 to prepare -- instigated and directed by an industry lobby?

    There is much more. I haven't had time to read the emails yet; you can read them here.

    Two final observations: 1) Repeat, over and over: you cannot create wealth by subsidizing the inefficient production of energy. 2) There is no more corrupt entity in the world than the enviro-industrial complex.



  12. BEYOND BREAKING FIREWALLS: How to fight Net censorship….

    → Instapundit | 9 Mar 2010 | 6:20 pm MST

    BEYOND BREAKING FIREWALLS: How to fight Net censorship.

  13. I Hope They Got Permission

    → Power Line | 9 Mar 2010 | 6:15 pm MST

    The Republican Study Committee produced this anti-government medicine video, based on the ETrade commercials--my favorite TV commercials, by a mile. It's pretty funny, and if there is anyone who should be outraged by what the Democrats are doing, it's babies:

    UPDATE: My wife points out that if ETrade has to pay Lindsay Lohan, maybe they can recoup by suing the Study Committee. The former contingency, however, seems extremely unlikely.



  14. "You feel bad because everyone pretends that she’s part of show business and she’s never going to be in another movie."

    → Althouse | 9 Mar 2010 | 6:05 pm MST

    "What movie is she going to be in? 'Blind Side 2,; she could be the football player.... [Oprah] told an enormous woman the size of a planet that she’s going to have a career... Oprah should’ve said, 'you need to get help, we don’t want to lose you.'"

    Howard Stern talks about Gabourey Sidibe.

    [Audio.]

  15. TAKING ON THE PEOPLE WHO CLING BITTERLY TO THEIR . . . FISHING RODS? ESPN: Obama Moving to Limit F…

    → Instapundit | 9 Mar 2010 | 5:45 pm MST

    TAKING ON THE PEOPLE WHO CLING BITTERLY TO THEIR . . . FISHING RODS? ESPN: Obama Moving to Limit Fishing Access. “The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation’s oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters.”

  16. "Like many insomniacs, I always feel a bit of bully pride in getting by on a few fractured hours each night while others complain if they don’t get a full, conked-out eight."

    → Althouse | 9 Mar 2010 | 5:44 pm MST

    "For the insomniac Vladimir Nabokov, I think that sleep, which he called 'the most moronic fraternity in the world, with the heaviest dues and the crudest rituals,' meant turning off, even for a few hours, his quicksilver, voracious consciousness. The daily nocturnal rest that presages the ultimate big sleep of mortality was for him a price both vexing and insulting, a 'nightly betrayal of reason, humanity, genius.'"

  17. Allegations that Massa has "groped multiple male staffers working in his office."

    → Althouse | 9 Mar 2010 | 5:40 pm MST

    I figured there was more to it than a stupid, drunken joke at a party. Otherwise, why wouldn't Massa stand his ground?

    I wonder how much substance there is to this staffer-groping business? Was it annoying over-friendly arm-around-the-back stuff or something more? "Groping." There's a loaded word. Can we have some details?

    Are the Democrats really policing their own? Does every member of Congress at Massa's level of touchiness get investigated, or was this selective investigation?
    grope
    1: to feel about blindly or uncertainly in search <grope for the light switch>
    2 : to look for something blindly or uncertainly <grope for the right words>
    3 : to feel one's way
    I think they are all groping in one way or another.

    UPDATED: Massa says it was a tickle fight.

  18. This Is Your Life

    → JustOneMinute | 9 Mar 2010 | 5:07 pm MST

    As storage gets relentlessly cheaper, everything will be commemorated: PITTSBURGH — On a cold, wet afternoon not long ago, Aron Reznick sat in the lounge of a home for the elderly here, his silver hair neatly combed, his memory a...

  19. A SALE ON tools and home improvement gear….

    → Instapundit | 9 Mar 2010 | 5:00 pm MST

    A SALE ON tools and home improvement gear.

  20. Article on standards of review in 2A cases

    → Of Arms and the Law | 9 Mar 2010 | 4:55 pm MST

    By David Kopel and Clayton Cramer, here.

    Hat tip to reader Joe Olson...



  21. Background to Chicago handgun ban

    → Of Arms and the Law | 9 Mar 2010 | 4:49 pm MST

    Some background, at The American Thinker.



  22. FAMILIAR TROPES: Matt Lauer picks, chooses “consensus.”…

    → Instapundit | 9 Mar 2010 | 4:41 pm MST

    FAMILIAR TROPES: Matt Lauer picks, chooses “consensus.”

  23. Pennsylvania State Police Raid Bars Looking for Unregistered Beers

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 9 Mar 2010 | 4:11 pm MST

    Rise up, beer drinkers of Pennsylvania: The State Police want to confiscate your Pliny the Younger. Thanks to Instapundit for the link. Copyright © 2010 This feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. The use of this feed on other websites breaches copyright. If this content is not in your news reader, [...]

  24. "It's not just these few hours..."

    → Althouse | 9 Mar 2010 | 3:27 pm MST

    "... but I've been waiting since I toddled/for the great relief of having you to talk to."

    (A year ago, today.)



    ADDED: Also a year ago: this.

  25. "You feel that you're sacrificing your inhumanity..."

    → Althouse | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:28 pm MST

    I misspeak, back in 2006:



    This is part of a discussion of the oral argument in the partial-birth abortion case, Gonzales v. Carhart. (I'm teaching the case this week in conlaw2.) What I'm worrying about when I misspeak there is the way one seems inhumane when framing a profound moral question in legal terms. I meant to say that legal analysis makes you seem, to laypersons, as though you are sacrificing your humanity. I hate to misspeak — especially when it comes, as it so often does, in the form of saying the opposite of what you meant.  But misspeaking may reveal something you actually believe, even if you didn't want to say it. Perhaps, deep down, I think the structures imposed by legal analysis really are the best of humanity. And yet, I feel that for general audiences, I need to apologize for being a lawyer.

  26. "Help me for I am lost."

    → Althouse | 9 Mar 2010 | 12:52 pm MST

    Sayeth the spiral notebook...

    DSC00693

    ... on the altar....

    DSC00685

    ... of the chapel...

    DSC00719

    ... where I may have said a prayer 5 years ago.

  27. "After years of litigation, endless depositions, the fictionalized portrayal of this lawsuit and its litigants on television, and innumerable histrionics, this Court is left to conclude that with this lawsuit, to quote Gertrude Stein, 'there's no there there.'"

    → Althouse | 9 Mar 2010 | 12:35 pm MST

    And so the federal district judge would shut the drawer on the 1996 scandal known as Filegate.
    While this Court seriously entertained the plaintiffs' allegations that their privacy had been violated  — and indeed it was, even if not in the sense contemplated by the Privacy Act — after ample opportunity, they have not produced any evidence of the far-reaching conspiracy that sought to use intimate details from FBI files for political assassinations that they alleged. The only thing that they have demonstrated is that this unfortunate episode — about which they do have cause to complain — was exactly what the defendants claimed: a bureaucratic snafu.
    By the way the there that wasn't there for Gertrude Stein was Oakland, California, which really does exist. She just didn't think much of it. I'm not sure what that says about Filegate.
    Ever since Gertrude Stein wrote that there was “no there there” during a return trip to her childhood home in Oakland, California, her words have been distorted to imply that Oakland was a “nowhere,” a dissing along the lines of Neil Young’s “Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere,” which was funny for Young, a transplanted Canadian singer, to write for an U.S. pop market, because Young had really been a Californian before he transplanted himself to California, as Stein had been really been an American in Paris long before she left the U.S., and returning to her “there is no there there,” she later clarified that the Oakland of her childhood was gone, she was commenting on her great theme, not just hers, of course, a great thread in American literature concerning place and memory, we all lose the place of our childhood, and in adulthood clutch that place, or more accurately, a complex tangled image of that place, close to our bosom, as Cather did with her....
    Hey, wait a minute. I see what he's doing there. That sentence goes on for 1,316 words more. Essay dismissed.

  28. "Straight away Jamie said 'that looks like God', and my other boys (Robbie, four, and Tomas, 11) even said they could see a face."

    → Althouse | 9 Mar 2010 | 12:18 pm MST

    "People might think I'm nuts, but I like to think it's Jesus looking out for us. We've had a tough couple of months; my mum's been really ill and it's comforting to think that if he is there, he's watching over us."

    And by "there," she means in the lid of a jar of Marmite.

    I'm only linking to this because it's on BBC.com, where it's ranking #4 on the "most read" stories list (and thereby encouraging the once-proud network to print more nonsense).

  29. Deadline, what deadline?

    → Power Line | 9 Mar 2010 | 12:09 pm MST

    Politico reports that Steny Hoyer has "rebuffed" the White House on its March 18 deadline for a vote in the House on the Senate's health care bill. "None of us has mentioned the 18th, other than Mr. Gibbs," Hoyer said.

    Hoyer explained that the disagreement about the aborion issue within the Democratic caucus "has to be resolved" before there can be a vote. In other words, unless this issue is resolved, there is no chance of passing the Senate bill. And there will be no vote unless the Dems can win it.

    As to resolving the dispute, Hoyer said he has talked to Rep. Stupak about the issue. According to Hoyer, however, the conversation was brief and did not get into "substance."

    For his part, Stupak says he's "more optimistic" than he was a week ago about resolving the matter. I think he's saying that the White House should continue to court him, which it has every incentive to do in any event.

    UPDATE: Stupak has told the Weekly Standard that he will not settle for an agreement to pass the bill now and fix the bill's problems on abortion later. Says Stupak: "If they say 'we'll give you a letter saying we'll take care of this later,' that's not acceptable because later never comes." Stupak also emphasized that his coalition of pro-life Democrats is sticking together: "My numbers remain firm at 12. These are 12 who voted for it who will not vote for it unless we resolve this issue."



  30. “Black Barbie Sold for Less Than White Barbie at Walmart Store”

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 9 Mar 2010 | 12:07 pm MST

    So reports ABC News: A photo first posted to the humor Web site FunnyJunk.com and later to the Latino Web site Guanabee.com shows packages of Mattel’s Ballerina Barbie and Ballerina Theresa dolls hanging side by side at an unidentified store. The Theresa dolls, which feature brown skin and dark hair, are marked as being on sale [...]

  31. Drone Warfare and the Harvard National Security Conference

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 9 Mar 2010 | 11:51 am MST

    I’m writing from Cambridge, where I just finished a great short conference on targeted killing and drone warfare put on by the Harvard Law School National Security Law Society and Journal. The  presentations should go up as video one of these days I hope!) and I highly recommend them if you are studying this [...]

  32. Because It Feels So Good When They Stop?

    → JustOneMinute | 9 Mar 2010 | 11:47 am MST

    It's not jobs, jobs,jobs, and it's not even health care - Nancy Pelosi has allowed Denis Kucinich and some like-minded anti-war Dems three hours to debate their bill to force a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. The bill would not have...

  33. Debating Green Jobs

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 9 Mar 2010 | 11:21 am MST

    The Economist hosts an online debate on the wisdom of government efforts to promote “green jobs.”  In this corner, law professor and economist Andrew Morriss.  In the other corner, one-time “green jobs czzar” Van Jones.  I know them both, but I’m pulling for Morriss. Copyright © 2010 This feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. [...]

  34. “Google’s Computer Might Betters Translation Tool”

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 9 Mar 2010 | 11:03 am MST

    A suboptimal newspaper headline, reported by the Language Log. The post closes with a simple but important bit of applied linguistics: An “extra second or two ... is a long time in sentence processing.” Copyright © 2010 This feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. The use of this feed on other websites [...]

  35. An Unusual Exclusionary Rule Case

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:37 am MST

    Wilson v. State, decided March 3 by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (the highest Texas court for criminal matters), involved two Texas statutes. The first is a Texas statutory exclusionary rule (Tex. Code Crim. Proc. § 38.23), first enacted in 1925: No evidence obtained by an officer or other person in violation of any [...]

  36. Edging Towards The Lifeboats

    → JustOneMinute | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:14 am MST

    The Politico reports that Nancy Pelosi, the future former House Speaker, is seeing cracks in her facade of power: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not accustomed to the word she’s been hearing far more frequently in recent days: “no.” Over...

  37. Not the Best Way to Inspire Confidence

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:03 am MST

    From Steele v. Steele (Ky. Ct. App. Mar. 5, 2010), quoting the trial court: Upon being asked by the Court to swear that he would testify truthfully, Mr. Steele declined, stating that his religious beliefs prevented him from swearing. He was then asked to affirm that his testimony would be truthful and he again declined [...]

  38. Subsidizing Solar

    → JustOneMinute | 9 Mar 2010 | 8:37 am MST

    The rainmakers in Spain threw subsidies mainly at the plain, I guess: Solar Industry Learns Lessons in Spanish Sun By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL PUERTOLLANO, Spain — Two years ago, this gritty mining city hosted a brief 21st-century gold rush. Long famous...

  39. Even Boring Bob Herbert Sees The Obvious

    → JustOneMinute | 9 Mar 2010 | 8:25 am MST

    NY Times snoozefest Bob Herbert has realized that Obama's relentless push for health care reform has become a problem: Instead of focusing with unwavering intensity on this increasingly tragic situation, making it their top domestic priority, President Obama and the...

  40. Moose Sightings, con’t:

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 9 Mar 2010 | 7:59 am MST

    So I’m up in beautiful Montreal, getting ready for a lecture I’m giving this afternoon at the University of Montreal on my Jefferson’s Moose book. When the cab pulled up in front of my hotel yesterday afternoon, this is what greeted me: Well! I’ll have to remember to thank the lecture series organizers for [...]

  41. Suing Over Spilled Milk-a-What?

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 9 Mar 2010 | 7:26 am MST

    It seems someone got the crazy idea that Lindsay the E-Trade baby’s “milkaholic” friend was modeled on Lindsay Lohan — and now Lohan is suing the company for $100 million.  No joke. Copyright © 2010 This feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. The use of this feed on other websites breaches copyright. If this [...]

  42. Are they messing with Massa or did Massa mess up?

    → Power Line | 9 Mar 2010 | 7:19 am MST

    The Washington Post reports that "conservative activists [have] rallied to the side of" Rep. Eric Massa "after he charged that his party's leaders had conspired to oust him over his opposition to President Obama's health-care legislation." I'm quite willing to believe the worst about Rahm Emmanuel and the Democratic leadership in the House. However, I'm not prepared on the current record to "rally to the side" of Rep. Massa.

    My reluctance stems from the fact that Massa's story doesn't seem to add up. His claim, as I understand it, is that the charges of sexual harassment against him represent a conspiracy to force him to leave the House before it votes on health care legislation. Massa is a committed "no" vote.

    Massa says he's innocent of anything more than a few borderline comments at a party. But he has resigned in order, he says, to avoid an investigation that would injure his family and divide his staff.

    But if Massa's version of the facts is correct, then he has little to fear from an investigation. Moreover, any investigation would likely occur only after Massa cast his "no" vote. If he truly believed he was the victim of the vicious plot he alleges, Massa would likely stick around to cast his vote and then leave town. What better way to get back at Emmanuel and company?

    We'll be hearing more from Massa in the next few days. So let's keep an open mind; perhaps, his story will gain credibility in the process. But right now, Massa just sounds like another guy who messed up and wants to blame someone else.



  43. “Dissenting from the Bench”

    → The Volokh Conspiracy | 9 Mar 2010 | 6:57 am MST

    It appears there has been a slight increase in the reading of dissents from the bench over the past few years.  Is this a sign of a more contentious and less collegial Supreme Court?  It’s the subject of Adam Liptak’s latest “Sidebar” column. “Dissenting from the bench,” a new study to be published in Justice System [...]

  44. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing

    → Power Line | 9 Mar 2010 | 6:47 am MST

    Glenn Beck has implied that Geert Wilders is a fascist. Beck warns that the far right in Europe, which he labels "fascist," is on the rise. Wilders is the only example he cites by name for that proposition.

    Beck notes, ominously, that Wilders was banned from entering England last year, but this year has not only been allowed into that country, but has also succeeded in Dutch elections. Beck somehow finds shades of authoritarianism in Wilders' recent successes, not in the decision to bar a major political figure from England based on his production of a film that merely compiles and presents Islamist statements and threats.

    Beck hosted Wilders on his show a year or two ago. If Beck can host Wilders, I don't know why he's concerned that England did.

    I happened to see Wilders' appearance on Beck's show. Beck did not challenge Wilders' statements as fascist. He made a comment that, to me, indicated a bit of discomfort with Wilders, but only after Wilders was gone.

    It was apparent to me that Beck was out of his depth with Wilders. Pamela Geller makes the same point in response to Beck's latest attempt to engage the WIlders phenomenon.

    I've said before that the European "right" is a complex phenomenon that does contain fascist elements. It takes a little bit of work to identify those elements.

    Beck complains that he lacks the staff to keep track of European "right-wng" politics. That's a good reason to exercise more caution than he does in his comment on Wilders.



  45. Do you miss him yet?

    → Power Line | 9 Mar 2010 | 3:29 am MST

    Professor Stanley Fish observes that signs of the rehabilitation of George Bush's reputation are beginning to pop up. One, he notes, is literally a sign, a billboard that appeared recently on I-35 in our own backyard with a picture of Bush smiling genially and waving his hand in a friendly gesture. The sign simply asks: "Miss me yet?" (The sign is the handiwork of some local small businessmen who have chosen to remain anonymous. The sign appropriately sits in the congressional district represented by Michele Bachmann.)

    Professor Fish suggests that the story of Bush's reputational recovery, if that is what it is, in part rests on the vindication that events are providing to Bush's policies and objectives. According to Professor Fish, this tentative vindication "is a story that intersects with another, the story of the precipitous decline in Barack Obama's support and of a growing suspicion, found on the left as well as on the right, where it is much more than a suspicion, that the politics of change may have been a slogan with less promise in its future than 'Mission Accomplished.'"

    Ouch.



  46. We're an American Man

    → Power Line | 9 Mar 2010 | 2:58 am MST

    In Letter III of his Letters From an America Farmer (1782), J. Hector St. John De Crevecoeur famously asked: "What then is the American, this new man?" He answered: "He is an American, who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds. He has become an American by being received in the broad lap of our great Alma Mater. Here individuals of all races are melted into a new race of man, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world. Americans are the western pilgrims." (More on De Crevecoeur here.)

    The Census Bureau will have none of it. Mark Krikorian observes: "Fully one-quarter of the space on this year's form is taken up with questions of race and ethnicity, which are clearly illegitimate and none of the government's business (despite the New York Times' assurances to the contrary on today's editorial page)." The editorial to which Krikorian refers is here.

    Mark Krikorian harks back in spirit to De Crevecouer. Krikorian has set up a Facebook page inviting Americans to follow his example:

    In 2010, the new CENSUS will be taken.
    Last time, instead of listing my race, I listed me as "HUMAN."
    This next year, I will be listing myself as "AMERICAN"... please Join ME!!
    If you believe, as do I, that when America QUITS asking people what their COLOR, RACE, Ethnicity is, then we will all become a stronger Group: Americans.

    Krikorian therefore suggests:

    [W]e should answer Question 9 by checking the last option -- "Some other race" -- and writing in "American." It's a truthful answer but at the same time is a way for ordinary citizens to express their rejection of unconstitutional racial classification schemes. In fact, "American" was the plurality ancestry selection for respondents to the 2000 census in four states and several hundred counties.

    So remember: Question 9 -- "Some other race" -- "American." Pass it on.

    As he says, pass it on.



  47. Hugh Hewitt: The Head Count: Helping Stop Obamacare

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:48 pm MST

    Hotline's Reid Wilson has a very good list of House Democrats who will decide the fate of Obamacare.This is a period of three weeks in which every bit of effort must be made to contact and persuade these Democrats of...

  48. Now, A Runaway Prius

    → JustOneMinute | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:04 pm MST

    A runaway Prius was reported in California. Apparently that brake-y thing is helpful: LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Police in San Diego, Calif., had to assist a runaway Toyota Prius when its gas pedal stuck on a freeway Monday afternoon, according...

  49. The soft bigotry of low expectations

    → Power Line | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:26 pm MST

    The Obama administration's Department of Education has announced that it will crack down on "civil-rights infractions" in public schools, including alleged disparities in the disciplining of white and black students. This means that the administration will identify and investigate situations in which a facially neutral discipline system -- offense X brings punishment Y -- results in blacks being discplined more often than whites. School systems will face the prospect of being punished unless they can explain the disparities, presumably based on a painstaking analysis of each disciplinary decision.

    As Roger Clegg points out, the easy way out for schools -- and what school bureaucrat won't prefer the easy way out -- is to make sure the numbers pass muster, i.e., to make discipline decisions based not solely on the merits, but also on the basis of race. And since administrators aren't likely to mete out punishment just to balance the numbers, they will balance them by going easier on black students because they are black.

    As a result, school discipline will be further eroded, making it increasinigly difficult for students of all races to learn.

    It's bad enough that the Obama-Duncan Education Department is intent on trapping students in bad public schools. Now, it plans, though aggressive "civil rights" enforcement, to undermine whatever measure of discipline these schools have been able to maintain.

    Duncan announded his "civil rights" initiative during a speech at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., scene of the "Bloody Sunday" civil-rights confrontation 45 years ago. That's good PR, I suppose. But did the civil rights protesters of the 1960s really march so that school administrators would be intimidated into not disciplining black students who violate the rules?

    Naturally, no student should be disciplined due to his or her race. But the way to prevent this abuse is to identify and address (at the local level, I would argue) specific cases where administrators treat minority students differently due to race. Such cases are not likely to go unnoticed given the tendency these days for students and their parents to complain. Imposing a presumptive quota system for discipline and forcing administrator's to justify deviations from the numbers is wrongheaded and corrosive

    Once, it was axiomatic that education is a local matter. Today, many believe that there are aspects of the eduational process as to which the federal government has a proper role. But it's difficult for me to see how classroom discipline is one of them.



  50. You're Not Losing Your Mind, You're Fighting Bacteria

    → JustOneMinute | 8 Mar 2010 | 6:48 pm MST

    The fight against Alzheimer's may have gotten more complicated - there is a possibility that all the amyloid plaque building up in your brain and crashing your neural networks has been busy fighting off infections:Infection Defense May Spur Alzheimer’s By...

  51. Bonus for registering for National Firearms Law Seminar

    → Of Arms and the Law | 8 Mar 2010 | 6:43 pm MST

    The National Firearms Law Seminar is the annual Continuing Legal Education seminar put on in connection with the NRA Convention -- the next one is at Charlotte, on May 14. Here's the program.

    This year, registration has a bonus. The first 150 to register will get a credit, equal to their registration fee, toward setting up an NFA Gun Trust, courtesy of gun trust lawyer David M. Goldman. Here's his webpage.

    You can register online, or use a pdf linked to that page to register by mail, or call 877-NRF-LAWS. For more info, email LawSeminar@nrahq.org.



  52. Mayor Daley doubles down

    → Of Arms and the Law | 8 Mar 2010 | 6:29 pm MST

    While awaiting the result in McDonald, Mayor Daley is lobbying for additional gun laws. ""The aggressiveness of the gun advocates is just one reason it's more important than ever that we work for common-sense gun laws..." He demands "changes to state law that would require background checks for those buying a gun in a private sale, ban assault weapons, require that gun dealers be licensed and limit the number of handgun purchases to one per person per month, plus micro-stamping and making it a felony to sell a gun to a known gang member (the last has major void for vagueness problems).



  53. Leadership That's Shirking

    → JustOneMinute | 8 Mar 2010 | 3:12 pm MST

    We are not talking about Roosevelt and Churchill with the current crop of world leaders.

  54. They Told Me...

    → JustOneMinute | 8 Mar 2010 | 2:52 pm MST

    They told me that if I voted for McCain, Democratic Congressman would be hounded on trumped-up ethics charges. And they were right! Oh, I confess - actually, they told me that if Obama were elected we would see raw, bare-knuckle...

  55. Can We Hear "Midway"?

    → JustOneMinute | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:48 am MST

    Bill Jacobson explains that health care is Stalingrad, not Waterloo. Of course, to really unnerve Obamites, tell them health care is their Vietnam.

  56. Starbucks and the Supreme Court

    → Of Arms and the Law | 8 Mar 2010 | 7:35 am MST

    Bob Barr has thoughts on both. Personally, I may buy a terribly overpriced cup of coffee, for the first time in my life.



  57. Hugh Hewitt: Obamacare and Self-Government

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 8 Mar 2010 | 7:31 am MST

    My new Washington Examiner column looks at the rush to pass a massive bill that no one has actually even seen.Frank Luntz fills in for me today as I argue a case before the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th...

  58. Hugh Hewitt: Counting Heads on Obamacare

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 8 Mar 2010 | 7:29 am MST

    Jay Cost at Horserace Blog is doing a very good job, and the MSM should take note of what reporting looks it..

  59. Hugh Hewitt: "Amateur Hour in our 'Ungovernable' Government"

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 8 Mar 2010 | 7:26 am MST

    The Monday morning column from Clark Judge: Amateur Hour in our "Ungovernable" GovernmentBy Clark S. Judge, managing director, White House Writers Group, Inc. (www.whwg.com <http://www.whwg.com> ) and chair,...

  60. Interesting article on an aspect of the Tiahrt Amendment

    → Of Arms and the Law | 7 Mar 2010 | 3:40 pm MST

    I knew that the Amendment bans release of gun trace data to cities seeking to sue firearms dealers, but I didn't know that it also declares any such data admissible in evidence. This article argues that the latter restriction, as applied to State courts, is unconstitutional. I wonder, however, whether the fact that the restriction pertains to data originating in Federal investigations, with an allegation that its release might compromise those investigations, doesn't make this more of a "necessary and proper clause" case than a commerce clause case.



  61. PSL-54C Range Report

    → Blog O'Stuff | 7 Mar 2010 | 3:36 pm MST

    Today I got the chance to shoot a PSL-54C rifle I picked up a couple of weeks ago.  The PSL is a Romanian made sharpshooter's rifle chambered for 7.62x54R.  It feeds from a 10 round detachable box magazine and comes with both iron sights, and a 4x24mm LPS scope.  The semiautomatic action is based on a scaled-up Kalashnikov design.  In the USA the PSL is frequently mis-advertised as a Dragunov, but other than the cartridge for which they are chambered, and their intended roles, the PSL and the SVD have nothing in common.

    Other names which the PSL has been advertised under in the US are "Romak III" and "SSG-97."  My rifle, which was made entirely in Romania, is marked "PSL-54C."

    Click the thumbnail for a full sized picture of my PSL.

    PSL-54C Rifle

    I ran about 80 rounds of 7.62x54R light ball (147 grain) through it using a couple different magazines.  Some of the ammo was early 1960s Soviet surplus, while the rest was mid-1970s Hungarian.  I experienced no malfunctions and the rifle's action locked back every time it ran dry.  Unlike most AK variants, the PSL has a last round bolt hold-open.

    I started at 25 yards to get the rifle on the paper.  The iron sights were pretty close while the scope required more adjustment to get on paper.  Once I had a rough 25 yard zero I moved over to the 100 yard range.

    The PSL has a fairly light, somewhat whippy barrel.  Supposedly groups string vertically when the gun heats up, but I didn't really notice it doing so.  At 100 yards it looks like it's a 2 to 2.5 MOA rifle with milsurp ammo.  Using the iron sights at 100 yards it's easy to keep all the rounds inside of the bull of an SR-1 target.  I can do that with my Yugo AK and irons but the longer sight radius of the PSL makes it much easier.

    The 4x24mm LPS scope has very clear optics although there is a slight amber or yellow tint.  At 100 yards I was able to resolve .30 caliber holes if they were in the white.  That's good performance from a 4x scope.  The Dragunov reticle allows for precise aiming and with illumination should be visible in field conditions.

    I am glad that I put an FSE recoil pad on the stock before taking it to the range.  This isn't so much for the recoil as to lengthen the stock.  Had I not done so I might have wound up with "scope eye" from the ocular bell hitting my eyebrow.

    Compared with a Mosin-Nagant firing the same 7.62x54R cartridge, the PSL is much more pleasant to fire.  The gas operated action of the PSL soaks up quite a bit of the recoil.

    Even though the stock is shaped for a right hander I had no problems shooting the rifle portside.  However, the scope is offset to the left and I think I want to replace it with a centered optic, which will be more comfortable.  A centered optic also will avoid the necessity to adjust for windage when shooting past 100 yards, due to the offset of the LPS.

    It's just one range session but I am very happy with this purchase.  The PSL is accurate, reliable, and pleasant to shoot.  Right now I think it's the best deal going in a semiauto centerfire rifle chambering a full power round.


  62. Pictures from the McDonald v. Chicago argument

    → Of Arms and the Law | 6 Mar 2010 | 11:11 am MST

    Here are some that I got that day. Understand, we began waiting at 5 AM. Ahead of me were Sarah Gervase and Frederick Jones, who'd been waiting since 4:15 AM, I think he said. He's Otis McDonald's nephew, and a member of the Supreme Court Bar, and was taking no chances on missing his uncle's Supreme Court case. Here are the pictures:

    Some of us waiting in the predawn darkness (on the left is Frederick Jones, Mr. McDonald’s nephew.)

    Otis McDonald and Alan Gura after the argument.

    Mr and Mrs. McDonald coming down the steps.

    Here's the crowd outside after the argument,

    and the Second Amendment Foundation’s reception that evening.



  63. Several Recent Updates to The Shooters' Bar

    → Blog O'Stuff | 6 Mar 2010 | 9:07 am MST

    Recently I've made a number of updates to The Shooters' Bar, my list of pro--RKBA attorneys.  If you are in need of a lawyer who shares pro-Second Amendment views (not just a "firearms lawyer"), TSB is the oldest and largest such resource on the Internet.


  64. Hugh Hewitt: "Counting Heads"

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 6 Mar 2010 | 8:11 am MST

    Many thanks to Guy Benson and Mary Katharine Ham for filling in for me this past week, and to Duane and Adam for keeping the duo from going off the rails. My e-mails tell me that both Ham and Benson have long and...

  65. Hugh Hewitt: "Only The House Vote Matters"

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 5 Mar 2010 | 6:30 am MST

    Over at NationalReview.com, Yuval Levin reiterates the key point about Obamacare: It will succeed or fail in the House.Which is why you need to spend some time every day calling or contacting these Blue Dog Democrats...

  66. Hugh Hewitt: MSM and the Obamacare Vote Count

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 4 Mar 2010 | 7:20 am MST

    The announcement by Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak that he and a dozen others Democrats would not vote for the Senate bill because it provides for taxpayer-funding of abortion greatly complicates Nancy Pelosi's...

  67. Hugh Hewitt: Barack Obama Said Today He Wants To Hear From You

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 3 Mar 2010 | 12:26 pm MST

    Barack Obama officially unveiled his new Obamacare, Mini Me edition, at the White House today. It of course is not substantively different than the old Obamacare bill, since the President cited CBO scoring from the old...

  68. Transcript of McDonald v. Chicago argument

    → Of Arms and the Law | 3 Mar 2010 | 7:01 am MST

    Available here. I think five votes for incorporation, there might be one (Thomas) who would go for privileges or immunities. (P or I has all the history and logic behind it, and due process has all the case law, and it certainly looks as if the Court favors the case law).

    We thought Justice Thomas would ask a question, since toward the end of Chicago's presentation he passed a note to a clerk who departed and returned to give him a copy of the US reports (the official print of Supreme Court decisions). But no question was forthcoming, perhaps because Chicago's time ran out soon thereafter.

    UPDATE: Bottom line is that Alan's argument for privileges or immunities incorporation drew serious fire from Scalia, and some from CJ Roberts, and none of the other friendly Justices rallied to assist. OK, read those tea leaves. The Court granted cert. on questions presented which included both P or I and due process incorporation, but there isn't much support for the former (or perhaps the supporters are remaining silent). Whichever it is, this is not a line of attack that at 10 AM on March 2, 2010 is going to give much promise to winning more votes if you persist.



  69. Hugh Hewitt: Faith and the Public Square

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 3 Mar 2010 | 6:03 am MST

    Just as pro-life Democrats in the House are coming under enormous pressure to vote for the Senate version of Obamacare which includes public funding for abortion, Denver's Archbishop Charles Chaput delivers an important...

  70. McDonald v. Chicago

    → Of Arms and the Law | 2 Mar 2010 | 12:31 pm MST

    Just got back from oral argument. Short form: I think we have five votes. MIGHT do better than five, but five seem secure. Roberts, Scalia and Kennedy seemed VERY strongly against Chicago's position, Alito seemed against it, Thomas asked no questions but is thorough pro-2a and 14thA, so it looks like the Heller majority holds. Conversely, Breyer attacked Heller and kept arguing against incorporation. Majority did not like privileges or immunities, but due process seemed solid.

    Humor: the room was packed, hundreds of people, every seat taken. After McDonald, the Court remained in place to hear the next case. As I left I heard the chief justice say "Well, counsel, WE're still here." I looked back and saw what he meant -- there were perhaps 20 people staying for the next case, as hundreds left.



  71. Hugh Hewitt: Let A Million Amendments Bloom

    → Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog | 2 Mar 2010 | 7:23 am MST

    Given that the proposed use of reconciliation is an illegitimate use of the procedure, the Senate GOP ought to be preparing to counter the jam down with a flood of amendments, each one of which requires an up or down...

  72. One debate I cannot understand

    → Of Arms and the Law | 1 Mar 2010 | 8:07 pm MST

    A post in the Washington Times. Key theme is conservatives (esp. "judicial activism is my key tenet" such) getting worried.

    My take: if there are ever five Justices for it, they can do ANYTHING they want under due process incorporation, since it has no leg or popular history underlying it -- it's more of good result, mind the means, rulings. At least privileges or immunities incorp has a historical background, explanations by Sen, Howard abd Rep. Bingham, as some manner of originalist limitations.



  73. About that Global Warming...

    → Blog O'Stuff | 16 Feb 2010 | 1:14 pm MST

    Lake Erie almost completely frozen over for the first time in 14 years.


  74. No Global Warming Since 1995

    → Blog O'Stuff | 15 Feb 2010 | 7:03 am MST

    Hey Al Gore, how about this inconvenient truth?

    The academic at the centre of the ‘Climategate’ affair, whose raw data is crucial to the theory of climate change, has admitted that he has trouble ‘keeping track’ of the information.
    Colleagues say that the reason Professor Phil Jones has refused Freedom of Information requests is that he may have actually lost the relevant papers. 

    The dog ate my homework?  Really?

    Professor Jones also conceded the possibility that the world was warmer in medieval times than now – suggesting global warming may not be a man-made phenomenon.
    And he said that for the past 15 years there has been no ‘statistically significant’ warming. (Emphasis added.)
     
    Think about this the next time someone tries to sell you "green" technology or wants to implement "cap and trade" legislation.  Right now, anthropogenic Global Warming (AKA "AGW") as a theory is as valid as the "OMGWTFBBQ11!! We're all gonna die in an ice age" hysteria of the 1970s.

    "Green" legislation is about people control, not helping the environment.  It's time these charlatans were kicked out of serious scientific circles.  AGW belongs in the dustbin of history right next to epicycles.



  75. Snowpocalyspe Gear Review

    → Blog O'Stuff | 11 Feb 2010 | 4:57 pm MST

    I posted a Snowpocalyspe Gear Review, here.


  76. My New Home Server

    → Blog O'Stuff | 4 Feb 2010 | 5:56 pm MST

    Back on January 24th I mentioned that I'd ordered the components for a new home server.  I received the parts from Tiger Direct in a timely manner and the box has been up and running for around a week now.  The server consists of the following components:

    • Intel D945GCLF2 Atom motherboard, with a 1.6 GHz dual-core Atom 330 CPU
    • Apex MI-100 ITX case
    • Kingston 2048MB PC5400 DDR2 667MHz RAM
    • Western Digital 320 GB hard disk
    After putting it together I first installed 64 bit CentOS 5.4.  I found it to be a bit unstable when running X11, so I blew away the disk and installed 32 bit Debian Lenny.  I figured that with only 2 GB of RAM, having a 64 bit OS wasn't going to offer any significant advantages.  I'm pleased with Debian.  So far it's been stable and its package management is top shelf.

    To get the OS installed I used an LG USB DVD burner.  You could also make a bootable Linux USB stick for the install on similar hardware.  See Unetbootin for an easy way to do that.

    I named the new machine shoebox.davemarkowitz.net, due to its size and shape.  Compared with the MSI Wind barebones system I was also considering it's a little noisier, but not what I'd call, "noisy."

    Currently, shoebox is setup as a LAMP box hosting The Shooters' Bar, my list of pro-RKBA attorneys, as well as a "parking" page for Flintlock.org.  I've also used it as an SFTP site for a project at my gun club.  It's handy having an Internet-accessible server at home again.

    Shoebox's small ITX format is great for my needs.  I currently have it on a separate IP space from the rest of my home network, but a similar box, maybe with two hard disks in it, would be a good choice for a SOHO file server/NAS box.


  77. Canada's Health System As A Model for The USA

    → Blog O'Stuff | 2 Feb 2010 | 7:45 am MST

    Ahem.

    Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams is set to undergo heart surgery this week in the United States.

    CBC News confirmed Monday that Williams, 60, left the province earlier in the day and will have surgery later in the week.

    The premier's office provided few details, beyond confirming that he would have heart surgery and saying that it was not necessarily a routine procedure.

    Deputy Premier Kathy Dunderdale is scheduled to hold a news conference Tuesday morning.
    She's expected to provide more details about Williams's condition, as well as how the provincial government will function during his absence.

    CBC reporter David Cochrane said Williams appeared to be in good health recently. He described the premier as "fairly active," playing pick-up hockey at least once a week when work permits.

    Socialized medicine is just for the proles.


  78. Watch the Economy Implode

    → Blog O'Stuff | 2 Feb 2010 | 7:12 am MST




    Direct link.


  79. SCCSFA Smokin' Spring Thing

    → Blog O'Stuff | 1 Feb 2010 | 7:52 am MST

    My gun club, the Southern Chester County Sportsman's and Farmer's Association, is running a black powder shoot with prizes on March 27, 2010.  Rain date is April 3, 2010.


    Details of the even may be found here.


  80. New Address and Site for The Shooters' Bar

    → Blog O'Stuff | 30 Jan 2010 | 12:50 pm MST

    The Shooters' Bar -- the Internet's oldest freely-available list of pro-RKBA attorneys has a new site and a complete site redesign.  Updating TSB had become a bit of a pain as the list grew.  The new site has one page per state and allows me to more easily update it using RapidWeaver, from where I can then upload the changes to the Web.

    The new address is http://www.theshootersbar.org/.

    If you maintain a page which links to the old version, please update your link.

    Finally, along with the new site are some new attorney listings.


  81. More Self Defense in Texas

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 5 Sep 2009 | 1:18 am MDT

    [Guest post by DRJ] Two Texas teens were killed and a third was injured in a San Marcos home invasion that appears to be a clear case of self-defense: “About 2 a.m. Friday, when a San Marcos resident heard a commotion outside his bedroom, he grabbed his .40-caliber Glock pistol and opened the door, police said. When [...]

  82. Rick Santelli Not Welcome at the White House

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:32 am MDT

    [Guest post by DRJ] In February 2009, CNBC business reporter Rick Santelli vigorously objected to Obama’s “spread the wealth” policies in a rant that many believe inspired the Tea Partiers: “On CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Feb. 19, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange floor reporter, along with several traders, expressed his outrage about President Barack Obama’s plan to “spread [...]

  83. Oregon Football Player Suspended for Season

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 4 Sep 2009 | 11:50 pm MDT

    [Guest post by DRJ] Oregon tailback LeGarrette Blount has been suspended for the season for punching a Boise State player in the jaw after Oregon lost to Boise State: The video shows Blount was shockingly out-of-control after the punch. I can see why Oregon made the decision to suspend him. – DRJ

  84. Unbiased Media Quote of the Day

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 4 Sep 2009 | 10:31 pm MDT

    [Guest post by DRJ] Great quotes from two TV anchors (I believe they are from CNBC but I’m not certain) commenting on Press Secretary Robert Gibbs’ explanation regarding why the White House uses a pre-selected list of reporters to be called on at Obama press conferences instead of taking random questions: Anchor 1: “I do [...]

  85. Van Jones: A very special kind of crazy

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 4 Sep 2009 | 3:01 pm MDT

    [Posted by Karl] Sure, you have heard that Pres. Obama’s “green jobs” czar is a communist-sympathizing 9/11 Truther who belongs to the “Free Mumia” school. But wait… there’s more! I cannot imagine why Jones was not selected for a job requiring Senate confirmation.   Mickey Kaus claims the bus is warming up for Mr. Jones.  The faster, the better [...]

  86. AP Publishes Photo of Dying Marine (Updated x2)

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 4 Sep 2009 | 2:06 pm MDT

    [Guest post by DRJ] The AP has published a photo taken August 14 of Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard after he suffered severe leg injuries from a rocket propelled grenade during a firefight against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Bernard died a short time later on the operating table. The photo was released despite objections from [...]

  87. Diagnosing Obama’s problems is not rocket science

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 4 Sep 2009 | 11:22 am MDT

    [Posted by Karl] Charlie Cook writes that Pres. Obama and the Democrats are “bleeding independents,” with potential effects on the 2010 midterm elections: Listening to two briefings — one by a Democratic pollster who had just conducted a survey for a group favoring health care reform, the other by a Republican pollster more skeptical of the reform [...]

  88. U.S. Threatens Not to Recognize Results of Honduran Election in November

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 3 Sep 2009 | 10:44 pm MDT

    [Guest post by DRJ] The Obama Administration is threatening not to recognize the results of the Honduran Presidential election scheduled for November: “Based on conditions as they currently exist, we cannot recognize the results of this election. So for the de facto regime, they’re now in a box,” said State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley. “And they [...]

  89. Van Jones Open Thread

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 3 Sep 2009 | 8:57 pm MDT

    [Guest post by DRJ] Van Jones is profane about Republicans, but he says he’s sorry for it. Van Jones is a truther, but he says he didn’t mean it. Van Jones is Obama’s green jobs czar, but some say he won’t be after Monday. H/T Hot Air. UPDATE 9/4/2009: Van Jones is a “Free Mumia” supporter? If [...]

  90. Police Officers Take Over a Town

    → Patterico's Pontifications | 3 Sep 2009 | 8:27 pm MDT

    [Guest post by DRJ] Remember President Bill Clinton’s promise to add 100,000 new police officers? Seven of them may have ended up in Jericho, Arkansas but, if so, it didn’t work out that well: “Now the police chief has disbanded his force “until things calm down,” a judge has voided all outstanding police-issued citations and sheriff’s [...]

  91. Excommunicate Kristol

    → StephenBainbridge.com | 8 Dec 2008 | 12:41 pm MST

    William Kristol is one of the people who got the conservative party into its current mess. He was wrong about the Iraq war and, as his latest column proves. he’s wrong about domestic issues too: … conservatives should think twice before charging into battle against Obama under the banner of “small-government conservatism.” ... It turns out, in the real world of Republican...

    [continued on site]


  92. Apple War versus Orange War

    → StephenBainbridge.com | 8 Dec 2008 | 12:29 pm MST

    Jeralyn: So you think the new President will end our involvement in foreign wars? I never did, I just thought he’d trade one war for another, Iraq for Afghanistan. ... No change here, other than one of geography. Whatever happened to “Bring the Troops Home?” Guess that went out of fashion after Vietnam. Huh? Iraq and Afghanistan are apples and oranges. The war against Iraq...

    [continued on site]


  93. Why the emerging auto bailout sucks

    → StephenBainbridge.com | 8 Dec 2008 | 12:03 pm MST

    AP report: A bailout plan for the failing U.S. auto industry could include a Cabinet-level oversight board and a provision to withdraw the money if the overseers decide the companies are failing to take steps to overhaul themselves. The plan would draw the emergency aid from an existing loan program meant to help the automakers build fuel-efficient vehicles. The size of the package...

    [continued on site]


  94. US Attorney Hiring and Firing

    → StephenBainbridge.com | 5 Dec 2008 | 11:14 am MST

    A lot of people got very worked up when George Bush fired some US Attorneys for political reasons. Now some of those same people are exercised over the refusal of a Bush-appointed US Attorney to resign so that Obama can replace her. I don’t think you can have it both ways. Either the US Attorney job is a political one or not. The tradition of having US Attorneys resign when a new...

    [continued on site]


  95. Who decides how much your life is worth?

    → StephenBainbridge.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 5:28 pm MST

    Ezra Klein focuses on the question of how much we should spend to keep people alive: What is six months of your life worth? And don’t say priceless. It’s not priceless. Not if you’re not paying. So let’s sharpen the question: What should six months of your life be worth to your insurer, be that insurer the government or Aetna? Which is another way of saying, what should...

    [continued on site]


  96. Is the Constitution a “frivolous technicality”?

    → StephenBainbridge.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 2:21 pm MST

    From The Week: There’s an obstacle between Hillary Clinton and her secretary of state job: the U.S. Constitution, said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. As “a few legal eagles” have noted, the Constitution’s “Emoluments Clause” prevents senators from taking federal jobs whose salaries have been raised during their current term. In January, President Bush bumped the secretary...

    [continued on site]


  97. The Indecent Intervals at Slate

    → StephenBainbridge.com | 3 Dec 2008 | 5:07 pm MST

    There was a time when people in public life who disgraced themselves, their office, and their families did the honorable thing. Or, at least, they did so in fiction. In Dorothy Sayers’ novel, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, all Lord Peter Wimsey and Colonel Marchbanks need do is to inform Dr Penberthy that Marchbanks has left a loaded gun in the club library, being correctly...

    [continued on site]


  98. Senator Jeb

    → StephenBainbridge.com | 3 Dec 2008 | 1:03 pm MST

    Jeb Bush is thinking about running for the Senate. In an interview with Politico immediately after November’s election, the former governor said the Republican Party should take four primary steps to regain favor with voters: Show no tolerance for corruption, practice what it preaches about limiting the scope of government (“There should not be such a thing as a Big Government...

    [continued on site]


  99. The Justiciability of Hillary’s Ineligibility

    → StephenBainbridge.com | 3 Dec 2008 | 12:13 pm MST

    The fallout from the 2008 election is raising some very interesting justiciability questions. Yesterday, we mentioned the question of whether the Supreme Court could review Senate decisions pursuant to Article I, Section 5, when the senate is acting as a judge of the elections of its members (an issue that may come up in the Coleman-Franken fight). Today’s justiciability question is raised...

    [continued on site]


  100. The Financial Crisis: What Really Happened?

    → StephenBainbridge.com | 3 Dec 2008 | 11:51 am MST

    In a Cato Unbound essay, Lawrence H. White, the F.A. Hayek Professor of Economic History at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, argues that the housing boom and bust, and the resulting meltdown of financial markets, cannot have been the result of a laissez-faire monetary and financial system, since we never had one. Nor can deregulation have been the cause, since the most recent relevant...

    [continued on site]




-- Finis --