The law and the jungle

I believe it was just a couple of days ago when I observed that it's risky to bet against George Bush when it comes to political maneuvering. Sort through all these layers of intrigue and see who you think will come out on top. I love this stuff.

Harriet Miers' job application.

In tonight's paper, we have the presidential smackdown column by conservative commentator Geroge Will, which many are seeing as evidence that the right has had it with George W. Bush. It's definitely the hottest thing in the blogosphere right now. (The blogometer site, by the way, is a good one to check every day to keep track of what's being said on the major blogs.) Local blogger and former State Rep.

It's interesting which people are on which side of the Oregon assisted-suicide issue. Those who are opposed think the federal government should be able to step in, using its anti-drug laws, to keep physicians from participating. Those who favor doctor-aided death want to make it a states' rights issue. But consider the abortion debates attending Roe vs. Wade.

Kelo has been the most obvious outrage, but it's not the half of it. It's getting to the point where we won't be able to own anything in this country. Those of us who blog are probably contributing to the mindset, making the ability to link to things seem like like an unchallengeable right.

Who says we can never get over our Red State-Blue State divide? With his selection of Harriet Miers to fill Sandra Day O'Connor's seat, President Bush seems to have united many on the left and the right. Lots of reaction in this nice roundup from the Wall Street Journal.

Another eminent-domain outrage:

Mayor Michael Brown . . . defends the use of eminent domain by saying the city is "using tools that have been available to governments for years to bring communities like ours out of the economic doldrums and the trauma centers."

Hey, they're just following New London, Conn.'s, example.

So, it's Harriet Miers for the O'Connor seat. Bush managed to select someone whose views on major issues are even less-known than those of John Roberts. Everyone is likely to be focused on what the Democrats will make of this, but the early response from Bush's conservative base doesn't seem so good.

Welcome to the Roberts Court, America. This is, of course, good news for the new chief justice's Hoosier friends. Not that every Hoosier is his friend.

Let's keep up the pressure on eminent-domain abuse, from all quarters. And here's the view from the lowly little bean company itself.