Monthly Archives: June 2009

He Thinks You’re Stupid…

…as we noted here and elsewhere. But maybe Americans aren’t so dumb after all. Scott Rasmussen finds that by better than a two to one margin (42-19 percent), Americans think the Waxman-Markey bill will hurt rather than help the economy. So much for Obama’s absurd claim that cap-and-trade is a “jobs bill.” »

Iraq: a summing up, for now

Today, U.S. forces withdrew from Iraqi urban areas, pursuant to a deadline contained in the Status of Forces Agreement that the Bush administration negotiated. Peter Wehner takes the occasion to attack three arguments that were frequently made based on events in Iraq back when things were going badly there. The first argument is that, as Pete phrases it, “the effort to promote liberty in the Arab world was a fool’s »

Paul Rahe: Obama’s gestures, part 2

Professor Paul Rahe follows up on his post “Obama’s gestures.” Professor Rahe writes: Just under three weeks ago, I wrote a Power Line post drawing attention to a photograph released by the White House, showing President Obama nonchalantly leaning back in his chair with his feet on the desk, the soles of his shoes clearly visible while speaking on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In that post, »

Al Franken wins

The Minnesota Supreme Court has issued a unanimous per curiam ruling against Norm Coleman in favor of Al Franken on Coleman’s appeal of the election contest panel decision awarding the election to Franken. The Minnesota Supreme Court expresses no disagreement with Coleman’s contention that absentee ballots were subject to disparate requirements around the state — the heart of Coleman’s appeal — but finds that any disparate treatment was not intentional. »

What will she do for an encore? Part Two

I understand that supporters of Judge Sotomayor are claiming that she has been “vindicated” by the fact that four dissenting judges in Ricci adopted something resembling the position she took when the case was before her. It’s comforting that liberals now understand that there are worse things than having a divided Supreme Court disagree with your position. During the Bush years, when a divided Supreme Court would strike down this »

A note on Frank Loesser

Minnesota Supreme Court Justice G. Barry Anderson, my law school classmate and friend, writes to add a note on yesterday’s post on Frank Loesser. Justice Anderson comments: Loesser also wrote “The Ballad of Rodger Young,” a song based on the true story of Rodger Young, a Medal of Honor recipient. The lyrics to “The Ballad of Rodger Young” can be found here. Rodger Young’s Medal of Honor citation reads as »

Coup are you?

Monica Showalter and her colleagues on the editorial board of Investor’s Business Daily have distinguished themselves with their coverage of South America Today they comment on the Obama administration’s reaction to the removal of Honduran President Mel Zelaya in “Banana democrats.” They write: During his campaign, President Obama made a big deal of criticizing leaders who are elected democratically but don’t govern democratically. He’s had a chance to show that »

Loesser is more

Today is the anniversary of the birth of American songwriter supreme Frank Loesser. This would have been his ninety-ninth birthday. Loesser prospered writing songs for the movies, for the war and for Broadway. As John Bush writes in his Allmusic profile of Loesser, “it appears that Frank Loesser had several careers packed into his one life.” Loesser wrote “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” in April 1942. It was »

What will she do for an encore?

Short of writing “get whitey,” It’s difficult to imagine how Judge Sotomayor could have fouled up the Ricci case any more than she did. Let’s count the ways. First, her panel issued a summary order in a case that ended up being heard by the Supreme Court and generating a 5-4 decision with nearly 100 pages worth of opinions. Second, Sotomayor’s panel was sharply criticized by her mentor, Judge Cabranes, »

Ricci: the majority’s way, the dissenters’ way, and Sotomayor’s way

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars employers from using facially neutral selection devices (such as tests) that disproportionately exclude minority group members, unless the device “is job related for the position in question and consistent with business necessity.” And even if the selection device satisfies this “business necessity” standard, it is still unlawful if the plaintiff can show that the employer refused to adopt an available »

Did the Supreme Court pull the trigger?

The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the New Haven firefighters in the Ricci case by a vote of 5-4. This was the discrimination case brought by white firefighters (and one Hispanic) who were denied promotion despite being at the top of the list on the test used by the City, because blacks didn’t do well enough on the test to be promoted. Judge Sotomayor had blessed the actions »

Wanted: the audacity to do more than hope

Gabriel Schoenfeld notes that the debate over the U.S. response to events in Iran has focused exclusively on President Obama’s words regarding the protesters and the regime. In a better world, Schoenfeld argues, Obama would be focused on toppling the regime. And not just through words, but also through covert action of the type that Obama has been at pains to apologize for: Today, as a breaking point in the »

EPA quashes dissent on climate change, take 2

RealClearPolitics features John Hinderaker’s “EPA quashes dissent on climate change” in its lineup this morning. In his update to the post, John notes that Noel Sheppard documents the almost complete media blackout of this story. Sheppard contrasts the media blackout of the story with the media’s treatment of the Bush administration. John’s post credits Kevin Mooney’s Examiner story for the tip. »

Obama stands with Castro, Chavez and Ortega

In condemning the removal of Honduran President Mel Zelayaya by the Honduran military, Pesident Obama stands shoulder to shoulder with the Fidel Castro and his thug epigones Hugo Chavez and Daniel Ortega. Zelaya sought to conduct an illegal referendum to extend his rule. The Honduran military has sought to enforce the rule of law by providing for Zelaya’s departure from the scene. Mary Anastasia Grady explains: Yesterday the Central American »

Will the Supreme Court pull the trigger?

A majority of the Supreme Court now seems to favor the principle of color blindness and to oppose extending the life of the oppressive, color conscious remedial tools of the 1960s and 1970s into second decade of the 21st century. Thus, at the oral arguments in this term’s case regarding Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and last term’s dual cases on race-based school assignment, things seemed to go »

First Tommy Lee, Now John Edwards

Former John Edwards aide Andrew Young has signed a tell-all book deal, and it sounds as though he has a lot to tell. To begin with, Young now admits that Edwards, not he, is the father of Rielle Hunter’s child. No surprise there–Young and his wife invited the pregnant Hunter to come live with them. No wife is that understanding. But Young does have one shocker–Edwards and Hunter made a »

The comeback kids fall victim to a comeback

The U.S. National soccer team came back from the verge of elimination in the Confederations Cup tournament last week with a 3-0 victory over Egypt. Today, though, the Americans were on the receiving end of a comeback in the finals of the tournament when Brazil overcame a 2-0 half-time deficit to win 3-2. Brazil played into our hands in the first half by deploying Robinho, their world class striker, as »