mjh's blog

Best Line of the Day

dangerousmeta! 

The lack of internal consistency in the alternate-reality red historical timeline virtually screams with purposeful self-aggrandizing falsehoods.

dangerousmeta!

[separate hat tip to NewMexiKen.]

In the Marketplace of Ideas, Conservatism is Bankrupt.

Waterloo | FrumForum 

Conservatives and Republicans today suffered their most crushing legislative defeat since the 1960s.

It’s hard to exaggerate the magnitude of the disaster. …

So far, I think a lot of conservatives will agree with me. Now comes the hard lesson:

A huge part of the blame for today’s disaster attaches to conservatives and Republicans ourselves. …

This time, when we went for all the marbles, we ended with none. …

We followed the most radical voices in the party and the movement, and they led us to abject and irreversible defeat.

There were leaders who knew better, who would have liked to deal. But they were trapped. Conservative talkers on Fox and talk radio had whipped the Republican voting base into such a frenzy that deal-making was rendered impossible. How do you negotiate with somebody who wants to murder your grandmother? Or – more exactly – with somebody whom your voters have been persuaded to believe wants to murder their grandmother? …

So today’s defeat for free-market economics and Republican values is a huge win for the conservative entertainment industry. Their listeners and viewers will now be even more enraged, even more frustrated, even more disappointed in everybody except the responsibility-free talkers on television and radio. For them, it’s mission accomplished. For the cause they purport to represent, it’s Waterloo all right: ours.

David Frum

Waterloo | FrumForum

David Frum is a conservative who has become persona non grata following this analysis. He has been purged; he is, to the faithful, a RINO.

Conservatives are like gun-nuts. As long as they’re shooting at each other, it’s fun to watch.

School Bus (a dream)

I looked out the front door of our house to see a school bus across the street. The bus driver was Gail Joralemon (a friend). A very long leash trailed out the driver’s window to Luke (our new dog), who was trotting around – and under – the bus. I ran down the street, not behind the bus but on a course to intercept it at the stop sign at the corner. I could see Gail in the review mirror the whole time I ran. She turned her head and saw me as she slowed to a stop.

- – - – -

In telling this dream to Merri, I suddenly realized that my house was on the east side of the street in the dream, but the west side in the real world. Mirror dream (in more than one way).

“Violence is unacceptable – and un-American.” (Hear! Hear!)

Kudos to Heath Haussamen. Absolute madness has seized many extreme conservatives.

Violence is unacceptable – and un-American | NMPolitics.net – Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics

At least 10 House Democrats have reported “death threats or incidents of harassment or vandalism at their district offices over the past week,” the Washington Post is reporting. Bricks have been thrown through windows. Calls for the president’s assassination have gone out on Twitter.

The violent acts and threats against the president and members of Congress who supported health-care reform legislation are not only unacceptable – they’re simply un-American.

We are a nation of fierce independence, and I know many who believe the health-care bill threatens that. But we’re also a nation of laws. The bill was approved through a Democratic process that started with the election of a Democratic majority in the House and Senate and of a Democratic president.

The pendulum swings. It’s been doing that since our nation was founded. It should be no surprise to anyone that Democrats would try to pass reform many conservatives don’t like, just like the previous administration succeeded in securing the approval of legislation that’s abhorrent to many, such as the Patriot Act.

Violence is unacceptable – and un-American | NMPolitics.net – Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics

You Should Care About This Judicial Contest

Judicial Candidate Faces Ethics Complaint
By Mike Gallagher
Copyright © 2010 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Investigative Reporter

Most appellate court election campaigns in New Mexico are understated and don’t generate much buzz in the legal community or beyond, and it is rare for a judicial candidate to run while under the cloud of ethics charges and a malpractice lawsuit.

But that is the case with attorney Dennis W. Montoya, a lawyer with offices in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho who is seeking to unseat Appeals Court Judge Linda Vanzi in the Democratic primary election.

The election contest isn’t their first confrontation.

Vanzi, while still a state District Court judge in Albuquerque, filed a complaint against Montoya with the board that investigates allegations of attorney misconduct. …

Vanzi and Montoya will face off in the Democratic primary June 1. There is no Republican in the race, so the winner of the primary wins the seat on the Appeals Court. …

The case also highlights an unusual aspect of New Mexico’s merit selection system of judges.

Before her appointment to the district or appellate court positions, Vanzi submitted her name to a judicial nominating commission, which screens applicants, reviews credentials and recommends several nominees to the governor to consider for appointment. Questions include disciplinary complaints.

But legislators insisted that any appointed judge stand for election in one partisan contest after that appointment. Judges face only retention votes in subsequent elections.

As a candidate in the partisan race, Montoya has not gone through the same vetting process as Vanzi. …

ABQJOURNAL NEWS/STATE: Judicial Candidate Faces Ethics Complaint

Lawyer Draws Rebukes From Federal Judges
By Mike Gallagher
Copyright © 2010 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Investigative Reporter

"The conduct of Mr. Montoya in the case at bar, like his conduct in the three above referenced cases where Mr. Montoya was personally sanctioned or his clients were sanctioned as a result of actions taken by Mr. Montoya, fell well below the professional standards expected of attorneys who practice in federal court," Johnson wrote.

"Having failed to learn from the experiences of being sanctioned by Judge Parker, Judge Armijo and Judge Garcia, Mr. Montoya can now add me to the list of judges who have sanctioned him."

Johnson ordered Montoya to pay the more than $12,000, plus interest to the opposing attorneys.

Montoya appealed, and the appeal was denied.

He declined to comment for this story, saying it wouldn’t be appropriate to talk about matters pending before the disciplinary board that handles professional complaints against lawyers.

ABQJOURNAL NEWS/STATE: Lawyer Draws Rebukes From Federal Judges

It’s my personal opinion that Montoya is running against Vanzi to punish her. It’s strictly personal. That might be fine if they were equally qualified for this office. They are not.

The Albuquerque Journal Website

Over at NewMexiKen, there has been a discussion about the Albuquerque Journal’s awful, awful website. Someone called it an embarrassment to the community, and I agree. I’m not going to waste time collecting screenshots to make my point. I’ll just add here that my latest effort to read a couple of articles online reminds me – if I could only forget, but cannot – just how freakishly awful the Albuquerque Journal website is.

Check it out for yourself. Scan the first page. Notice how it loads in fits and starts. Try to grasp the layout – what’s important on this page? Can you figure that out? Can you relate this page to the front page of the paper itself? Follow a link – any link. Have you ever seen another site like this one?

As a blogger, I like to quote directly from sources on the Web. The Journal website makes this very painful, in part, because it uses linefeeds instead of paragraph codes – quoted text runs together badly. Yeah, it’s a nerdy gripe and the Journal could not care less about pleasing bloggers, but it contributes to my belief that whoever works on this site has never seen another website anywhere. I’m reluctant to beat up a 14-year-old who gets minimum wage, but the Journal could and should do much better than this, especially after so many years of the same awful stuff. Send that kid to classes. Buy him a Dummies book. (Sorry, kid, I know your bosses don’t give a shit.)

Trip to Guatemala 2010 – Journal and Photos

I’ve posted my Guatemala trip journal on Ah, Wilderness! The journal features photos not found in the online photo album (which has an option for full-screen slideshow). Check out both.

Trip to Guatemala 2010 (130 photos)