Monthly Archives: July 2005

If this were a fight they’d have stopped it

Here’s the latest in the Durbin vs. Turley saga, via the Washington Times. Durbin has acknowledged that he was the source for Turley’s newspaper column which raised the suspicion that Durbin is contemplating applying a “Catholic test” to John Roberts. Durbin maintains, however, that Turley “incorrectly captured” their conversation. That may very well be. But Durbin does not deny that Turley correctly captured what Durbin told him. Indeed, Turley states »

Confirming (the other) John Roberts

Brent Bozell has a funny media column today: “Confirming John Roberts.” The column opens: Unquestionably, the weirdest moment of news coverage of the newest Supreme Court nomination came on CBS, where the unveiling of nominee John Roberts was anchored by … another John Roberts, the CBS White House reporter. The CBS veteran, previously known in Canada by his disc-jockey name, J.D. Roberts, responded with admirable humor and humility at that »

Is our children learning?

At Swanblog my colleague Peter Swanson comments on this Minneapolis Star Tribune article on military recruitment of Minneapolis high school students: “Minneapolis schools: Military recruiters criticized.” Peter comments in “Recruiters, protestors and packets.” The Minneapolis school board speaks: “Everyone knows military recruiters are going after students that are poor and students of color. That’s many of our students,” Board Member Peggy Flanagan said. “When I talk to students, it’s what »

Plame’s Boss

In the New York Post, Deborah Orin reports: Outed CIA spy Valerie Plame last fall gave a campaign contribution to go toward an anti-Bush fund-raising concert starring Bruce Springsteen, it was revealed last night. It’s the first revelation that Plame participated in anti-Bush political activity while working for the CIA. The $372 donation to the anti-Bush group America Coming Together, first reported by Time magazine’s Web site, was made in »

Are you now or have you ever been?

The White House has treated Judge Roberts’s connection to the Federalist Society, whatever it is, as the trace of an identity that needs to be erased. In that this behavior seems to assent to the view of the Federalist Society as an organization with which judicial candidates should ideally not be associated, the White House has been both unwise and ungrateful. Unlike membership in the Communist Party, no position on »

Super Lawyer of the Year (once more once)

Our own John Hinderaker has been recognized as a “super lawyer” in the annual “super lawyers” issue of Minnesota Law & Politics for the past several years. In its just-published August/September “super lawyers” issue, Minnesota Law & Politics names John “Super Lawyer of the Year.” The cover features a split screen image of John, one side in uniform toting a briefcase, the other side in pajamas wielding a laptop. The »

Retrospective media alert

I was on MSNBC’s Connected program this afternoon discussing Karl Rove and John Roberts (briefly in both cases — the NASA press conference cut into our time). It was a last minute thing, and I neglected to do a media alert. However, here is the video. My thanks to Ian Schwartz of The Political Teen. »

That giant sucking sound

This Washington Times editorial explains the substantial benefits of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which the Senate approved narrowly and which the House will soon vote on. Some willingness to support free trade represents perhaps the only sigificant positive contribution of the Democratic party of the 1990s. But the Democrats no longer support free trade at all. Nancy Pelosi, the party’s excuse for a House leader, predicts that »

Super Lawyer of the Year

Our own John Hinderaker has been recognized as a “super lawyer” in the annual “super lawyers” issue of Minnesota Law & Politics for the past several years. In its just-published August/September “super lawyers” issue, Minnesota Law & Politics names John “Super Lawyer of the Year.” The cover features a split screen image of John, one side in uniform toting a briefcase, the other side in pajamas wielding a laptop. The »

Where the hell is Palestine?

“There is no justification for suicide bombing whether in Palestine, in Iraq, in London, in Egypt, in Turkey, anywhere, in the United States of America. There is no justification for it period…” Prime Minister Blair said at his monthly news conference today in London. Just one question: Where the hell is Palestine? Can you place it for me in relation to Israel? It’s not that Blair refuses to say “Israel.” »

City Journal Summer 2005

City Journal has just published its summer number and posted the contents online. As usual, the new issue contains a wealth of riches. Heather Mac Donald anchors the issue with three brilliant essays, including “Harvard’s Diversity Grovel,” which I wrote about here last month in “The $50 million misunderstanding.” Is City Journal’s publisher — Manhattan Institute — worried that Heather may set up shop as a one-woman think tank? If »

Exiled to originalism

Legal Affairs contains an excellent debate between law professors Cass Sunstein and Randy Barnett on “The Constitution in Exile.” It’s worth reading in its entirety (two or three sittings may help). I take Sunstein to be arguing that it’s fair to speak of a “Constitution in Exile” movement because more than a few conservative scholars and judges (1) wish to breathe life into constitutional provisions and/or doctrines that have fallen »

Number 4 with a bullet

Over at SoxBlog, Dean Barnett reports the results of the latest nationwisde survey by the Pew Research Center. The poll mostly focuses on American opinion regarding Islam and Muslims, but also measures the favorability of American opinion toward Christians, Jews and Muslims. The survey holds a number of results that are surprising to me, most of which are summarized with bite and humor by Dean in “Pew Poll: P.C. and »

A planted story gone bad

Yesterday we noted, based on a column by Jonathan Turley, that Senator Durbin appeared to be flirting with the idea of holding John Roberts’ deeply held Catholic beliefs against him. Turley reported that, when Roberts met the Senator, Durbin had interrogated Roberts about how he would handle a hypothetical conflict between Catholic principles and the law. The hypothetical is more than a little far-fetched because, to my knowledge, Catholicism doesn’t »

Moving the Goalposts

That’s what the Democrats are trying to do, on several fronts, in connection with President Bush’s Supreme Court nominations. One instance of this is their demand that the administration turn over memos, etc., relating to Judge Roberts’ service as a deputy Solicitor General. This has never been done; the only prior such request, to my knowledge, was in connection with Miguel Estrada’s nomination to the Court of Appeals, which was »

The Times Blunders, and Corrects…Sort Of

Every once in a while you see a correction in a newspaper that doesn’t quite do justice to the magnitude of the error committed–one where the correction really should say that the article in question never should have been written. This morning’s New York Times corrections section offers an example: An article on Saturday about a federal judge’s order regarding photographs and videotapes related to the Abu Ghraib prison scandal »

Speaking of Judicial Philosophies…

The Washington Times has the latest on the John Roberts nomination. Contrary to some press reports, Hillary Clinton says she has not made up her mind to vote for Roberts’ confirmation. The Democrats say they want to drag out the beginning of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing until September–the administration wants it to begin in August–and it appears that they have Arlen Specter’s support as to the schedule. But here’s »