Friday, June 03, 2005

The Brown Confirmation Battle   The thing about Janice Rogers Brown is she's against government encroachment into...well, life...pretty much any aspect of it.  She wants to overturn the New Deal.  Come to that, she also wants to overturn the Great Society, of which the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a part.  You have here a black woman who is prepared to say that blacks should be banned from sitting at the lunch counter...if a business feels like it.  Social Security, she'd declare it unconstitutional.  Medicare and Medicaid, the same.  There’s no denying that this would lead to a more affordable government.  Of course, the tax base might shrink a little, with all the dead and homeless and starving people. I probably should be worried about her...because she represents the most extreme person nominated to a federal court in the last 80 years.  But I'm not, really, because she is a champion of personal and business rights, being one of those judges who thinks the only distinction between a person and a business is you can't send a business to jail...which makes a business better. But I'm not worried about her, because nearly every other judge appointed since Bush 41 has believed in wildly aggrandizing federal power, and restricting personal rights.  She's nuts, but being in favor of gutting the federal government means she also has to justify it by a similarly broad vision of personal freedom.  And since the courts aren't going to overturn 70 years of law that says the New Deal was constitutional, it is probably useful to have a dangerously radical extremist vision of personal freedom espoused on the DC Court of Appeals, the second most powerful court in the land.  The DC Appeals Court doesn't see a lot of corporate cases, which is where she'd be truly dangerous.  She's going to vote against any other recently-appointed conservative on nearly all the important issues.  There's no way she'd find the Patriot Act constitutional, for instance.  And she's from California, so the weather might make her quit pretty soon anyway. 8:51:37 PM    comment []

Just the Facts, Huh?   Bob Woodward denied that for himself and the Washington Post, a profit motive is the main motivator in their current handling of the Deep Throat story.  He claims the handling of Mark Felt's revelation he is Deep Throat is not about protecting a financial interest, and instead is just about establishing a complete and accurate record.  As the Cramps put it, "Some things, baby, I just can't swallow."  This interest in a complete and accurate record must be why Woodward is rushing to churn out a book to be published in July.  Nothing enhances a complete and accurate record like writing a book in less than 30 days. 5:34:23 PM    comment []

Why They Hate Us   In a new report from the State Department, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar were added to a list of countries that trade in human beings.  That's right, these allies, these regimes we back with munitions and military training and our diplomatic support (including the Saudis, the country that primarily finances the terroristic Wahabbi heresy from mainstream Islamic teachings), are, among other things, slavers.  You've really got to wonder why the Muslim world is upset with us.  Could it be that they don't like us supporting their oppressers? 3:11:34 PM    comment []

Jack White Marries Model   The lead singer of the White Stripes marries a model.  Gee, and I thought he was deep. 10:29:12 AM    comment []

Quote for the Day, 6/3/2005   "I am yours for the night, do whatever you want with me.  Oh, my God, that totally came out wrong...I just meant I want you to use me and I don't care how degrading it is." "What?" "No, no, no.  It's just that I know you like torturing people, and I am totally up for that.  I just want to make you happy."   -Sarah Chalke and John C. McGinley, Scrubs, "My Blind Date"   This conversation took place while they were both working a shift in the Intensive Care Unit.  There are days when I put my foot in my mouth, too.  They're called weekdays.  Mind you, on weekends, I'm worse. 2:10:12 AM    comment []