Nuking the Filibuster

Mon 01/31/05 at 9:49 pm

Legal Affairs Debate Club - Filibusted? by Erwin Chemerinsky, Alston & Bird Professor of Law at Duke University School of Law

Republicans contend that the filibuster for judicial nominations is illegitimate obstructionism. But this ignores that Republicans, too, have used the filibuster for judicial nominations when they were the minority party. In October 1968, Republican Senator Strom Thurmond led a successful filibuster preventing the confirmation of Abe Fortas as Chief Justice and Homer Thornberry as Associate Justice on the grounds that a lame duck President should not fill Supreme Court vacancies. At the beginning of the Clinton presidency, Republicans successfully filibustered Henry Foster to prevent his serving as Surgeon General.

The Republican claim that the Democrats have used the filibuster in an obstructionist manner is disingenuous. In President Bush’s first term, the Senate confirmed 219 of his judicial nominations, and Democrats blocked 10 judicial nominees by filibustering. While Republicans are unhappy with this, it is among the highest success rates for a president’s judicial nominations — more than 90% — in American history. Republicans want to go further by giving President Bush the unique legacy of 100% success in appointing lower court judges and Supreme Court justices.

In an exercise of raw power, Senate Republicans are attempting to eliminate the filibuster for judicial nominations but without following the rules for changing the Senate’s rules.

[Thanks, SM]


Criticism from conservatives signals troubles for Bush’s agenda

Sun 01/30/05 at 9:36 pm

Criticism from conservatives signals troubles for Bush’s agenda BY DICK POLMAN, Knight Ridder Newspapers

The pro-war conservatives, however, denounce the dissenters as out to lunch and on the fringes of power; by contrast, conservative hawks crafted Bush’s war policy and dominate much of the conservative opinion empire - the National Review and Weekly Standard magazines, the Rush Limbaugh radio show, the top Washington think tanks. …

Some pro-war conservatives who admire the president are nevertheless worried about his political standing. Peter Robinson, a speechwriter in the Reagan White House, says Bush “will have a real problem holding everyone together, because, believe me, all those conservative congressmen are increasingly going to hear about the heightened level of anxiety when they show up in their districts.” …

And other conservatives are openly deriding Bush’s aspirations for global democratization; commentator Peggy Noonan, the Reagan special assistant, writes that Bush may be suffering “mission inebriation,” and that he risks exposing himself abroad to accusations of “conceit, immaturity or impetuousness.” …

Marshall Wittmann, former lobbyist for the Christian Coalition and a close observer of conservative politics, says: “This debate had been suppressed within the ranks, because of support for a Republican president. Now, with no weapons of mass destruction found, and with the war more difficult than anticipated, all the tensions are coming to the fore.”

But even pro-war conservatives are faulting Bush for a failure to communicate; amid the grim war news, they say, it’s not enough for him to simply keep insisting that “we’re making progress” and that “freedom is on the march.” …

But Christopher Preble, a Navy veteran of the 1991 Gulf War who directs foreign policy at the conservative Cato Institute, cites the ongoing downside - an average of two slain soldiers a day, and $2 billion a week - and offers this warning to the president:

“Conservatives were sold on the assumption that it wouldn’t be long and costly. Now we’re paying for it in taxpayer dollars and paying with our lives. … He can talk about doing other things - (curbing) abortion, reforming Social Security - but the war is where the rubber meets the road. If he truly feels he has a mandate for this, he’s in for a rude awakening.”

I would say the Conservatives kept quiet last year because they wanted Duhbya re-elected more than anything and at any cost. Now that they have what they want, they can try to reclaim their party — good luck.

BTW, if you read this article in the Albuquerque Journal, you have no way of knowing that it was cut by more than 50%, with almost all of the evidence of conservatives against Bush conveniently dropped. Gotta make room for those ads, you know. mjh


The world before Roe v. Wade

Mon 01/24/05 at 1:20 pm

by Sharon Kayne

With the 32nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade coming up this Saturday [1/22/05], it’s easy to think of abortion as a relatively recent issue — as an issue brought to the fore because of the feminist movement by women who want unlimited sexual freedom without any consequences. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The history of abortion is as old as the history of human civilization.

[please read the rest of this very informative article…]
Continue reading The world before Roe v. Wade…


Ted Kooser

Mon 01/24/05 at 11:26 am

With a link, johnny_mango brings me back to our new Poet Laureate, Ted Kooser.

A poet for the people

In early October, Kooser took over as the “Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.” It’s a flexible job. Kooser’s predecessor, Louise Glück, made it clear she wasn’t going to be as visible as her predecessor, Billy Collins, who had spent his two one-year terms (2001-03) as a roving ambassador for poetry.

Kooser, though, is taking Collins for his model. That means readings around the country, spreading poetry like gospel. And Kooser doesn’t fly — not because he’s afraid, he says, but because he feels intense discomfort on airplanes. He prefers to drive, which means he’ll log thousands of miles next year.

[mjh: the full article lurks behind a free subscription login. I used http://bugmenot.com to come up with a valid combination.]

Poet: Ted Kooser - All poems of Ted Kooser

Kooser’s poetry reminds me a bit of Billy Collins. His After Years is brilliant.


Using Public Funds to Bribe and Reward

Mon 01/24/05 at 10:38 am

The Nation | Blog | The Daily Outrage | The Faith-Based Fraud | Ari Berman

In 2003–according to White House data reported by the Los Angeles Times–Bush doled out $1 billion to hundreds of faith-based groups through a little-noted executive order. More importantly, the Bush Administration used the grants to sway influential African-Americans in key battleground states and reward longtime political supporters at taxpayer expense.

For example, after the Rev. Herb Lusk II delivered the invocation at the 2000 Republican convention, his Philadelphia church received $1 million in federal funds. Bishop Harold Ray, who offered the invocation at a rally for Dick Cheney in Palm Beach, Florida, got $1.7 million for his South Florida ministry. In 2002 Bush personally visited Milwaukee’s Bishop Sedgwick Daniels–who voted for Clinton and Gore–and later awarded him a $1.5 million grant. This fall, Daniels’s face appeared on Republican Party fliers in Wisconsin, endorsing Bush as a man who “shares our views.”

The faith-based initiatives likely played a crucial role in increasing Bush’s take of the black vote, especially in targeted swing states. Funnily enough, the campaign held grant-writing workshops in St. Louis in September (when Missouri was still in play) and Miami in October.


The Real Inaugural Address

Sat 01/22/05 at 3:08 pm

Greetings from Richmond, Virginia, the Capital of the Confederacy. My name is Jefferson Davis and I am here to accept my mandate — the people have spoken! It was never red versus blue states; it was always Blue versus Gray.

Brothers and Sisters, it has taken nearly 150 years to win our war against Northern Aggression. A lot of Yankee blood has watered our gardens. Now, we are triumphant. We have beaten the Beast and we can savor the bankrupting of the immoral Federacy. No longer do we have to accept their dominance — they are toast, my friends, relegated to the ashheap of history.

Now, the North must acknowledge our great culture. Our music, our stories, our family values, our moral fabric so stained by northern filth. Now, we can restore our economic greatness again — cheap labor makes men rich! Guns keep us free! Obedience to God benefits the State!

Many of you want to call the liberal North a bunch of fools, but that’s not our way. We are as genteel as we are resolute. We will treat the treacherous North with greater civility than they ever treated us. They don’t know what it is like to be subjugated, defeated, humiliated, bled. To be forced to accept a culture that has no moral compass, that puts science above God, justice above wealth, equality above property rights. They don’t know what it is like to have your entire society crushed, even burned to the ground. But we know. It has made our blood boil for 150 years, that northern arrogance, that Federal invasion. Now we will dismantle the Federal government and undo all the wickedness forced on us in the Sixties.

Let us not revel in vengeance against those who took everything from us. Instead, let us work toward solidifying our power for generations to come. Then the North, the Democrats, the Liberals, the Queers will all recognize they are nothing but a minority to be tolerated — to a point. Do not push us beyond that point, as you have so many times in the past. Do not dare think this great nation is yours any longer. It is ours, we’ve won it, we’ve earned it, we’ve paid dearly for it. We own it all. Now we are masters again. God bless US. mjh

Read mjh’s blog — Left Undone

The Internet is so vast it now reaches across time. Here is a message from 2010: …


Lightbulb Joke

Sat 01/22/05 at 2:53 pm

Best of the Blogs

Q: How many Bush Administration officials does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: None. There is nothing wrong with the light bulb. It’s improving every day. Any reports of its lack of incandescence are a delusional spin from the liberal media. That light bulb has served honorably, and anything you say undermines the lighting effect. Why do you hate freedom?
posted by Vicki Meagher


Deep Thoughts from the Right

Sat 01/22/05 at 2:50 pm

Social Security Panel Tells Truth [Free Republic] By Stephen Moore

Social Security is the last vestige of the New Deal era of creeping socialism that the left wants to preserve and expand upon rather than modernize.

I have always believed that Social Security is the soft underbelly of the welfare state. If Social Security can be made private, the rest of the architecture of the income redistributionist ideology of the left will soon come crumbling down behind it. …

If workers start demanding that the chains of Social Security be unshackled, soon they might demand financial independence in so many other areas of their lives.


‘likely to mislead the public’

Sat 01/22/05 at 2:34 pm

FactCheck.org Does Social Security Really Face an $11 Trillion Deficit?

Bush and Cheney say yes. But actuaries say the figure is “likely to mislead” the public on the system’s true financial state.

Summary

President Bush and Vice President Cheney have told audiences that Social Security faces an $11 trillion shortfall if nothing is done to fix the current system. But they fail to mention that this is over the course of the “infinite future.” Over the next 75 years — still practically a lifetime — the shortfall is projected to be $3.7 trillion.

The “infinite” projection is one that the American Academy of Actuaries says is likely to mislead the public into thinking the system “is in far worse financial condition than is actually indicated,” and therefore should not be used to explain the long-term outlook.

[follow link above for analysis]


Another Conservative denounces the Bill of Rights

Fri 01/21/05 at 5:03 pm

The End of the Rights of Association and Assembly:

Christian Taylor, Free Republic: “ANSWER and some of the other protest groups like Code Pink have allied themselves with the terrorists and with Saddam Hussein. So for them to get permitted demonstration spots along the parade route is akin to giving Sadam Hussein and the terrorists their own cheerleading section.”

ANSWER Los Angeles. Act Now to Stop War and End Racism


Living in the Christian Nation of America

Fri 01/21/05 at 11:49 am

Newspaper shouldn’t print Liberal voices

Why does The Daily Independent print the degenerate views of poisonous Liberals who hate freedom?

[T]he glorious Constitution is there to protect the rights of Christians to profess their faith. This country was founded by good Christians and the Constitution guarantees our right to express our religion.

It just is completely beyond me how we have allowed Liberals to deny us this guaranteed right. …

The Founding Fathers were God-fearing men and never intended the first Amendment to promote other superstitious beliefs. …

Liberals hate people who have managed to raise their station in life, and instead insist on giving money away to the irresponsible….

No one can serve two masters, either your are a good conservative with God or you are not with God. Remember: A bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

B.M. [really!]
Ridgecrest, California

[updated with a second letter 2/4/05]

Ridgecrest Daily Independent: Letter To The Editor

Thursday, January 27, 2005 1:37 PM PST

Editor:

I must apologize for the letters I’ve written to the Editor.

I didn’t use the right words and didn’t intend the way it sounded. I’ve talked about the letters in the editorial section with some dear and supportive friends and realize how offensive some of the points I made could be.

I also learned some insights from my church group and with their help think I understand the points made earlier by other contributors as well as what the Bible means.

Jesus was tolerant and loved everyone - especially the poor and outcasts. As a couple of other letters pointed out, I now see that in some ways Jesus Himself was not very like a modern conservative and that has me thinking. I also see that all who are religious have equal rights and no religion can be held above the others, whether in school or anywhere else.

I understand now that I offended many people who I had no right to offend and I am sorry.

Billie Miller
Ridgecrest

[via jabartlett.com” href=”http://jabartlett.blogspot.com/”>The Daily Aneurysm at jabartlett.com]


Newspaper shouldn’t print Liberal voices

Fri 01/21/05 at 11:16 am

Newspaper shouldn’t print Liberal voices

[T]he glorious Constitution is there to protect the rights of Christians to profess their faith. This country was founded by good Christians and the Constitution guarantees our right to express our religion.

It just is completely beyond me how we have allowed Liberals to deny us this guaranteed right.

Oh, they raise ridiculous arguments like other (false) religions would be “upset” if they were forced to pray alongside the righteous in schools or council meetings.

Surely those others would appreciate the opportunity to be saved. As God’s chosen people, we Christians have the right to express our religion and praise tolerant, patient and merciful God, and I don’t want to read any more letters from Liberals suggesting non-believers should be allowed to express their superstitions just because we Christians can express ours.

The Founding Fathers were God-fearing men and never intended the first Amendment to promote other superstitious beliefs.


‘There are lies, damn lies and statistics.’ — Churchill

Thu 01/20/05 at 9:27 pm

I appreciate John Fleck informing us all on statistics, in this case the misuse (or misunderstanding) of certain stats by Greg Payne. mjh

Greg Payne’s Statistical Education

“[I]t’s important not to conflate correlation with causality.”


Ojito Wilderness

Wed 01/19/05 at 8:53 pm

Took a hike with friends near Ojito, probably a bit east of the proposed Wilderness. Amazing terrain. Follow the link to a few pictures. mjh

Flickr: Photos tagged with ojito


#
Powered by WordPress with Pool theme design by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds. 50 queries. 1.680 seconds. Back to Top