Saturday, July 11, 2009
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The Spectre Of Specter, the Folly Of Franken
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Posted by:
Jude at
3:07 PM
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Get ready for a divisive week of national politics - surprise!
Some on the Left will be going after firefighter Frank Ricci, so that'll be nice. Politics of personal destruction, yada yada yada. Eventually, not only will qualified office holders refuse to run, but average citizens, even those with a righteous cause, will decline to speak up for fear of being noticed and targeted.
A friend asked me why Republicans would bother to oppose the Sotomayor nomination, since her confirmation seems assured. My feeling is that we only get to have this important conversation on the occasions of Supreme Court nominations, so we should always have it. That is, a real discussion about what the role of government is and should be, what rule of law means, and whether we should embrace a "living constitution" or if doing so endangers all our freedoms by undermining the Constitution itself.
I'm not a lawyer, although a lot of my friends are (sure, some of them are moral relativists, but that often comes with the territory [of being a lawyer, not being my friend!]), but let's just say I'm a fan of law. Who isn't, right? When it comes to basic constitutional law, most people are much more capable of understanding and appreciating the debate than the media give us credit for. The Ricci case is the kind of interesting case that should be talked about in public.
This may be the first hearing in many years in which the issue of abortion isn't close to primary, but Justice Ginsburg has given us all food for thought in an interview that will likely be quoted for a long time in tomorow's New York times Magazine.
With Hugh gone all week, I'll be reading www.confirmthem.com and The Bench over at NRO. And since we all love a little personal drama, here's a primer on the cast of characters. The spectre of Specter looms large, as does the folly of Franken.
Obamaweek reports that AG Holder is still itching to go after the Bush Administration. In the body of the story they refer to 'the Bush administration's brutal interrogation practices' , but in the bold print above the article they just go ahead and call it "torture." Maybe Holder told them how it's all going to come out in the end? If Obama's numbers keep dropping and both Health Care "Reform" and Tax & Charade lose popular support, expect the Bush bashing to resume. Big fundraiser, hugely divisive motivator for their side.
Ed Morrissey at Hot Air features the new GOP ad on the economy. It's good material, but something's just missing... 'had' a plan, 'offerred'....they're still not even close to playing for keeps, I'm afraid. Let's see, the Democrats are apparently bent on the destruction and takeover of the American economy...but we had some ideas...won't really go into them, but here's some nice music... There are heroes and villains abounding in this story, but while the White House itself goes after individuals in the GOP, it always feels like our side doesn't know how to tell a story that sticks anymore. Plus that guitar reminds me a little too much of the stuff under "I'm John McCain and I approve this message." Biggest celebrity in the world - I almost get misty thinking of the few days of traction that spot had.
Andy McCarthy continues to be indispensable on Iran. He is coming to some very dark conclusions about Obama which I am trying to resist. I like to believe Obama came in without an international agenda, set as he is on a sort of domestic anti-revolution, and is simply on a very fast learning curve, but that's only because I need enough peace of mind to focus on work so I can still eat after paying my taxes.
Al Gore let's the cat out of the bag. Again. Shades of Jaques Chirac. As Hugh has said before (I may be paraphrasing), I'll believe in AGW and that it's a crisis (that's the key part) the MINUTE Gore swears off any profit from the whole enterprise. It's a bigger boondoggle than Madoff, and half the world is helping him because they want a much more powerful and controlling government, hopefully internationally based. If that takes power away from America, well hey, that's real long term goal anyway, isn't it? This isn't black helicopter stuff, it's just a philosophical divide.
Green is one thing, green government is another.
Maybe they've seen too much Star Trek or were brainwashed by The Superfriends as kids and they really believe things will be better if we cede control of our society to international bodies. Or maybe they want to help the environment and just don't understand science, politics, or human nature. Look, 'that demeans them a little bit, but it's not that far off.'
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