Monthly Archives: May 2009

May 27, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Sotomayor: What Should Republicans Do?

Today press secretary Robert Gibbs warned Republicans not to criticize President Obama’s first Supreme Court nominee: White House press secretary Robert Gibbs issued a pointed warning to opponents of Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination Wednesday, urging critics to measure their words carefully during a politically charged confirmation debate. “I think it is probably important for anybody involved in this debate to be exceedingly careful with the way in which »
May 27, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Take That!

The Borowitz Report nicely sums up the Obama administration’s strong–really strong!–reaction to North Korea’s nuclear test: One day after North Korea launched a successful test of a nuclear weapon, President Obama said that the United States was prepared to respond to the threat with “the strongest possible adjectives.” In remarks to reporters at the White House, Mr. Obama said that North Korea should fear the “full force and might of »
May 27, 2009 — Paul Mirengoff

No contest in Rome

Today’s Champion’s League final between Barcelona and Manchester United was probably the most highly anticipated showdowns of my 30 plus years of following international club football. Not for ten years (since Man U played Bayern Munich) had the final featured two newly crowned league champions. And, unlike in 1999, these teams came from the two indisputably top leagues in European football. Moreover, Bayern for all the virtues of its 1999 »
May 27, 2009 — Paul Mirengoff

An impressive honor at an impressive event

Jim Hake is the founder and chairman of Spirit of America, a nonprofit organization that helps Americans serving abroad assist people in need, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan. You can get a good sense of the mission of Spirit of America, and its many good works, by looking at this list of its projects. Last Friday, Jim was the guest of honor at the Marines Evening Parade at the Marine »
May 27, 2009 — Scott Johnson

Test, or testing for the test?

The AP has added this breaking news update to its story on the North Korean nuclear test and missile launches: North Korea’s military says it considers South Korea’s participation in a U.S.-led program to intercept ships suspected of spreading weapons of mass destruction tantamount to a declaration of war against the North. The communist North’s military said in a statement Wednesday that it will respond with “immediate, strong military measures” »
May 27, 2009 — Scott Johnson

You Was Right, Baby

We missed the anniversary of the birth of Peggy Lee yesterday. Born Norma Deloris Egstrom, Lee had an improbably winding path to success from her hometown of Jamestown, North Dakota, to Fargo (where WDAY’s Ken Kennedy gave her the name that stuck), to Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Chicago, where she was discovered by Benny Goodman at the moment he needed a replacement for Helen Forrest. In between St. Louis and »
May 26, 2009 — Paul Mirengoff

Justice Alito and Judge Sotomayor — the lawyers’ take

Earlier today, I posted the “lawyers’ evaluation” of Judge Sotomayor that appears in the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary. The evaluation, based on interviews with lawyers who have appeared before Sotomayor, was favorable on the whole, but hardly glowing. To see what a glowing evaluation looks like, check out the lawyers’ evaluation of Samuel Alito at the time he was nominated for the Supreme Court. (Like Sotomayor, Alito was a »
May 26, 2009 — Paul Mirengoff

How will the Sotomayor nomination play out?

From Judge Sotomayor’s point of view the answer to this question seems apparent — in all likelihood she will be confirmed. The interesting questions center around how Republicans will conduct themselves, and how they should. In addressing the prescriptive question, I take the following propositions as axiomatic: First, Republicans are free to follow existing standards for considering Supreme Court nominees — i.e., those set by the Democrats during the Roberts »
May 26, 2009 — Paul Mirengoff

Coming soon to a sound-bite near you

I’m told that the following “Talking Points” have been sent out to a Listserv of Latino law professors: The President’s Approach: • The President believes that selecting someone to replace Justice Souter is one of his most serious responsibilities. He vowed to seek someone with a sharp and independent mind, and a record of excellence and integrity. As a former constitutional law professor, he believes it paramount to select someone »
May 26, 2009 — Paul Mirengoff

A long statute of limitations period

One thing has become clear to me as a result of the discussion surrounding Judge Sotomayor: political correctness dictates that the collection of ethic minority groups previously known as Hispanic now be referred to as Latina or Latino. I’m told that “Hispanic” is out because the Spanish imperialists of yesteryear do not deserve to give their name to the descendants of those they oppressed. Fortunately, the Romans never made it »
May 26, 2009 — Paul Mirengoff

Che Guevara in robes?

That’s how a friend of mine refers to Sonia Sotomayor. He’s joking, I think. For a more balanced assessment, here is the lawyers’ evaluation of Judge Sotomayor from the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary, which on balance depicts a competent but not highly distinguished very liberal rather unpleasant jurist: Most lawyers interviewed said Sotomayor has good legal ability. “She is very good. She is bright.” “She is a good judge.” »
May 26, 2009 — Paul Mirengoff

What would a hack lefty do?

That seems to be the operative question in predicting this president’s moves. In the case of selecting his first Supreme Court Justice the answer was: pick the liberal Hispanic woman. Only on some national security questions does President Obama seem to act more subtly, though without admitting it. There the operative question is: what would a hack lefty say? »
May 26, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Obama Losing the Argument on Guantanamo Bay

It seems reasonable to assume that President Obama gave his speech from the National Archives last week, focusing mostly on his proposal to close the detainee facility at Guantanamo Bay, because polls suggested that he was losing the argument. The speech doesn’t appear to have helped much, if this Rasmussen survey is correct: by a 49 to 38 percent margin, voters oppose closing Gitmo. Here’s why: only 25 percent buy »
May 26, 2009 — John Hinderaker

It’s Sotomayor

It’s being reported that later this morning, President Obama will announce his selection of Second Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his first Supreme Court nominee. We’ll have much to say about the nomination in the days to come. Sotomayor’s nomination is being hailed as a victory for the far left, but whether that is a fair assessment, I don’t, at this point, know. »
May 26, 2009 — Scott Johnson

Netanyahu: “It is us or no one”

Anyone trying to foresee coming events in the Middle East would do well to read the Haaretz article “Netanyahu: If Israel doesn’t take out Iranian threat, no one will.” The article quotes Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu speaking to political allies in Israel one week after his visit with President Obama: “Israel is not like other countries. We are faced with security challenges that no other country faces, and our need »
May 25, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Forum, RIP. Comments, Perhaps.

We launched the Power Line Forum just in time for the 2006 election. Perhaps the results of that election cycle should have been taken as a sign. For a while the Forum thrived, but in the end, it was a victim of its own success. The burgeoning topics, threads and posts were far more than we could keep track of, let alone police. A lot of good dialogue took place »
May 25, 2009 — Paul Mirengoff

Bogus talking points for a bogus position

Andy McCarthy executes a full takedown of Sen. Durbin’s attempts on Meet the Press yesterday to distinguish President Obama’s approach to military commissions from that of President Bush. Durbin began by claiming that under Obama “we’re not going to have hearsay that has to be rebutted by a defendant.” McCarthy responds: The change regarding hearsay is cosmetic — and really less than cosmetic to anyone who has ever actually prosecuted »