Politics and other nightmares

I've always admired Justice Clarence Thomas. Disagree with his judicial or constitutional philosophy, but if you think he's a fool or a poor thinker, you haven't bothered to actually read the things he's written.

The town of Burns Harbor, Ind., is being justifiably criticized for the law it enacted earlier this summer requiring non-residents to get fingerprinted, undero a criminal background check and get a $100 permit before they're allowed to make or sell anything in town, whether on the street, door-to-door or in a brick-and-mortar business:

Further evidence that many Republicans are still hoping for a Superhero Candidate to swoop in to save the day and don't think Rick Perry is the one: For our weekly poll question (results in tonight's paper), we asked readers for their GOP candidate preferences, listing the three front-runners (Perry, Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann) and "Someone else" as the fourth choice.

Only Monday and we already have two strong contenders for most preposterous argument of the week. First is this case being made here for the addition of a new civil right -- and, no, it's not from The Onion but From The New York Times:

A more radical solution may be needed: why not offer legal protections to the ugly, as we do with racial, ethnic and religious minorities, women and handicapped individuals?

Andy Downs of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at IPFW has an opinion piece in the Indianapolis Star exploring the obvious but dismaying (to many) fact that "Public policies are the result of compromise."

How much should we consider a presidential candidate's religious beliefs? Writing in The New York Times, Bill Keller thinks it's a very big deal and would like candidates to answer a whole series of questions. Sample:

4. If you encounter a conflict between your faith and the Constitution and laws of the United States, how would you resolve it? Has that happened, in your experience?

He also has candidate-specific questions, such as this one for Mormon Mitt Romney:

With the greater availability of cheap recording devices and the growth of the "citizen journalist" movement, there are more and more clashes between authorities and those trying to document their activities.

Vice President Joe Biden, on the importance of brevity:

"And so language, the ability not only to master the ability to put your ideas into words succinctly on a platform to communicate ideas to your own people, it is even more impressive when you have the capacity to do that and communicate your ideas, especially as future business and political and moral leaders of the world in the language of the people to whom you are speaking."

With Steve Jobs' retirement announcement, a lot is being said about his tremendous successes. But he had a lot of spectacular failures, too, like the Apple I and Lisa. We could learn something by concentrating on those:

A General Assembly study committee is having a hearing today on what to do about the Indiana Supreme Court's hotly denounced ruling that the state's castle doctrine doesn't apply to police acting in good faith, even if they aren't acting lawfully. A Democratic lawmaker reacts a little hysterically: