On NPR today, former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown places the blame for the budget crisis on term limits. Brown says that the people in the Legislature today do not want to work with each other because they have not had… Continue Reading
Senator, if by “judicial activism” you mean will I decide a case based solely on my personal policy preferences, then no, I am not a “judicial activist.” Frankly, I don’t think any of the current members of the Supreme Court… Continue Reading
I’ve just finished reading Jeffrey Toobin’s book The Nine. In it, he paints a series of pictures — moments in time in the institutional history of the Supreme Court, shifting focus between the political dimensions of the Court’s work and… Continue Reading
Patrick at Popehat revives a very interesting idea of a fourt branch of government, co-equal to Congress, the Courts, and the Presidency, that would have as its sole power the ability to purge old, useless laws from the books.
This is frickin’ unbelievable. We used to have something like dignity in this country. At least pay off your mistress yourself, Senator Ensign — don’t use mom and dad’s money to do it! Seriously — compare this to, say, Alexander… Continue Reading
Scott Adams, of Dilbert fame, explains humor. Humor has six elements: Cute (as in kids and animals); Naughty; Bizarre; Clever; Recognizable (You’ve been there); and Cruel. To be humorous, you must meld two or more of these elements. South Park,… Continue Reading
Big Hollywood blogger Kurt Schlichter is, I fear, a bit too fond of Sarah Palin for his own good. He wrote yesterday that her abrupt and as-yet unexplained resignation from the Governorship of Alaska may have been prompted by media… Continue Reading
Gee, why do you think she’s doing this?
While I’m very down on politics this morning, I’m not down at all on our Constitution, which I still think is a colossal monument to some of the best thinking about government that has ever been done. And one of… Continue Reading
Everyone’s talking about Ricci v. DeStefano, the affirmative action case. And with good reason; it’s interesting, ground-breaking, and has implications for the Sonia Sotomayor nomination (since it was her ruling that was overruled by the Supremes). But one thing that… Continue Reading