I always knew that one day my "coney dogs for breakfast" diet would be validated by science.
I always knew that one day my "coney dogs for breakfast" diet would be validated by science.
Finally, a good question for John Roberts, from Wisconsin Sen. Russell Feingold: Would you give serious consideration to televising the public portions of arguments before the Supreme Court? Great idea. Roberts says he would bring it up to the whole court. Sounnds like an evasion to me.
They're taking a break in the Judiciary Committee, and Edward Kennedy is being interviewed on Court TV, saying that what both Democrats and Republicans want is a justice who is in "the mainstream." In the first place, that's utter nonsense. Each side wants someone who will do with the court what that side thinks should be done with the court. And in the second place, exactly what is the "mainstream"? Prevailing legal opinion? What a majority of Americans think? What does any of that have to do with constitutional interpretation?
You certainly have to give Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee credit for keeping the focus on their agenda, no matter what John Roberts says. Under questioning from Sen. Kyl of Arizona, Roberts said it was not the court's job to choose sides in pursuit of some vision of "progress" or "liberty." The Constitution envisions that those goals will be met when people and their representatives duke it out in the legislative process. That was followed almost immediately with a question from Sen.
Sen. Joe Biden just tried unsuccessfully to browbeat John Roberts over Title IX interpretation. The exchange is a good illustration of Roberts' continued insistence (correctly) on a narrow view of a judge's role and the senators' attempts (misguided) to figure out what Roberts believes now or once believed about certain issues.
Since there is a widespread perception that enough wasn't done in the wake of Katrina, naturally Congress will do far too much and not pay any attention at all to how the money is actually spent. And heaven forbid we should make up part of the expanding deficit by doing anything radical:
Most of the people who are against the war in Iraq seem to be leftists who think we should have been satisfied with our victory in Afghanistan, as if that would have been enough to send all the terrorists scurrying away in fear.
John Roberts showed a perfect understanding of the proper role of the judiciary during his confirmation hearing opening statement:
The appellate judge likened jurists to baseball umpires, saying that "they make sure everybody plays by the rules, but it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ballgame to see the umpire."
If we allow one theory of "intelligent design" of the universe into science classrooms, wouldn't we then have to let other theories in as well?
The latest dispatch from libertarian correspondent Mike Sylvester:
It is hard to believe that four years have passed since the Twin Towers were destroyed by terrorists.
Our favorite ex-Hoosier lawyer Little Johnny Roberts begins his Senate gauntlet today. Here's some of the legal jargon to listen for, and three things to watch for. Should Roberts get more scrutiny because he is being nominated for chief justice?
So many glitches on the road from the known to the ideal . . . the world's 10 stupidest utopias.
MAY be charged? How can you forget about your 5-month-old for two hours?
Inch by inch, row by row. You usually hear that sentiment about peace and love and nurturing Mother Earth and all the other stuff that romantics think you can just feel into existence. But it also applies to the stuff that's hard work, such as planting the seeds of freedom in the Mideast. They now have a taste of democracy in Egypt.
Lots of interesting music comes to Fort Wayne that's below your radar if you just count on the newspapers, radio and TV to keep you informed. People show up and play, and the word, you know, just gets around. One of my favorite experiences was around 12 years or so ago when I heard, around, that Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown was going to be at Columbia Street West on a Wednesday night. I don't know what the approved capacity of the place is, but it was exceeded by two or three times that night.
Bobby Knight is apparently back in his element, creating basketball mania and then becoming the star of the show, only in Lubbock instead of Bloomington.
Mo matter what you think of Knight, you have to admit some magic has gone out of the state since his departure. Never mind all this Red State-Blue State political folderal. At one point, you could define yourself as a Hoosier by how you regarded Bobby:
1. Always loved him, always will.
If you love words, check out this site, at which people submit their favorite words and the reasons they like them. I'd have trouble submitting just one, but a favorite that came to mind right away was lagniappe. Words that are pronouced so differently (lan YAP) from the way they are spelled are good ones to know because they let you show off, and this one has the bonus (or lagniappe, if you will) of just being fun to say as well.
So it turns out that an active lifestyle and a healty diet will also ... what was I saying? Something about the coney dogs I have for breakfast sometimes. No, that wasn't it. Maybe about how I have everything I need piled up around the couch? No ... oh, I recall. How to improve your remembering thingy and reduce your, er, uh ... forgettering.
If you're going to set up a site on the Internet, be careful what you call yourself, or else you might get visitors who want what you can't provide.
Unbridled passion from an editorial writer in Alabama who calls New Orleans home. He is angry "at the whole conglomeration of incompetents that failed to anticipate the easily anticipatable disaster, failed to respond well or at all to the disaster once it befell, and failed to report and analyze and comment on it with fairness or understanding once the disaster metastasized." His conclusion:
