I'm Baaaaacckkk!
What Did I Miss?For the last, oh, couple of months, I've been too damn lazy to blog about events. Here's my half-assed attempt to catch up with them, just so in twenty years nobody will say to me, "How could you not blog about ________?"
THE GANG OF FOURTEEN "DEAL"
This was the first event that I deliberately skipped writing about, just because I wasn't sure how the fallout would shake down and didn't want to rush to one extreme and then have to take it all back.
Part of this was because I was very hedgy about the idea of whether or not to employ the "nuclear option" in the first place. At first, I didn't think it was a good idea, then clarified my position to "give the Democrats enough rope first," and that seemed to be happening. Senate Democrats were starting to lose their minds because the secret loophole that allowed them to take their obstruction to eleven was about to be countered by a rule which allowed the GOP to take obstruction-blocking to twelve.
The best example of this dramatic loss of all rationality and dignity was Robert Byrd (D-WV). On May 12, Byrd brought his King James Bible to the Senate floor and proceeded to tell the story of Haman, who was hanged in the gallows he built for someone else (Esther 7:10). I don't often go for the tired old cheap-shot insult, but the irony of a former KKK Kleagle threatening his opponents with being hanged, even if only metaphorically, was delicious.
But then seven Republicans conspired with seven Democrats to undercut the GOP's momentum on the issue. At first, I was upset: the Democrats simply had no right to pervert the filibuster and use it against judicial nominees. But the deal handed them that ability, checking it only by allowing it under "extraordinary circumstances," a vague and malleable phrase that could potentially be extended even to the size of John Bolton's mustache. However, I soon realized the many upsides: 1. Judges like Janice Rogers Brown were confirmed; 2. if the Democrats dare attempt a filibuster and justify it by "extraordinary circumstances" which defy common sense, the GOP will eat their lunch; 3. one less issue for the hard left to run against in 2006 and '08; 4. no blowback from Joe and Jane Q. Apolitical.
So count me in with Decision '08 and the rest of the Coalition Of The Chillin'. At worst, the deal kicked the can down the road until a Supreme Court nominee fight. Which brings me to . . .
SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR'S RETIREMENT
Eh. I neither hold her in revered esteem nor despise her to the core; I pray for the health of her husband, commend her for being much, much more than a novelty selection to the Supreme Court, and thank her for her service to this nation.
Plus, she did get the decision right in . . .
KELO v. NEW LONDON
I mean, come on. Even people who think the Constitution is a living, breathing document can't possibly claim that contained therein is a right for Starbucks to knock down a nursing home.
The one upside to the ruling is that eventually it will be extended to cyberspace, and I'll be able to yoink Oliver Willis' bandwidth and use it for a casino website.
JOHN ROBERTS' NOMINATION
I'm not packed to the gills with information on John Roberts and what kind of justice he'll make. I'm too lazy, and plus, reading legalese makes me want to guzzle a bottle of Drano. Hugh Hewitt likes him, and I'll take his word for it.
All I really care about is that he's a Constitutional originalist. The morning after Roberts' nomination, newspapers blared headlines like "Bush nominates conservative to Court". I couldn't care less.
Supreme Court nominations have always been quasi-political events, more so when FDR tried to pack the Court in the '30s. But since Robert Bork, they've been very very political. I hate it. All I want is a judge who won't take the Constitution, rip it up into individual words, and throw it against the wall to see what they can find. It's not the Bible Code, though the practice has all the legitimacy of it, which is to say none.
Other things I like about him:
1. He's an unabashedly white male. I'm glad the President didn't bend to the idea that a minority needed to replace a minority just because s/he's a minority.
2. Damn, his kid can dance.
3. He's a local boy. He spent his formative years in tiny Long Beach, Indiana, and went to high school at LaLumiere, a prep school in LaPorte. That's happy news for a region that deserves it, considering they're still worried about . . .
JEFF AKE
Still no news on his condition, though rumors were spreading that he had been released. Those have proven thus far to be unfounded. LaPorte's concern for Jeff Ake was visible in their Fourth of July parade.
THE WHOLE ROVE/PLAME THING
I refuse to call it "Plamegate" and I agree with Hog On Ice that anybody who uses the phrase "The Plame Game" should have a grenade dropped in their pants.
As soon as this news broke, I decided I was going to refuse to blog substantively about it until it actually rose to the level of a scandal.
Yep.
MICHAEL JACKSON ACQUITTED
For some reason, people couldn't believe he walked. I could; his accusers were lawsuit grifters. The issue wasn't whether or not Jacko is a depraved creep, because he is, but whether he committed this assault beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury rightly came to the conclusion that he did not.
I actually don't think Jacko is guilty. For whatever weird reason, his brain ceased to mature after about age 12. Hence his almost prepubescent preoccupation with living in an amusement park and hosting no-girls-allowed sleepovers. Whatever happened there is, sad to say, not the work of a sexual deviant but, in Jacko's twisted mind, harmless experimentation. I mean, come on, he's a freak, not a sexual predator.
Why his lawyer didn't claim an insanity defense is beyond me.
DANISH PROTEST SUPERMODELS™ DISCOVERED
Hat tip: Power Line.
I GOT THE THIRD SEASON OF 24 ON DVD FOR MY BIRTHDAY
And if you'll excuse me, I think I'll watch it now. It's good stuff. I wish I'd been able to see it when it aired.
posted by Marsh @ 2:21 AM
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