The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "COPENHAGEN — When a would-be assassin disguised as a postman shot at — and just missed — the head of Lars Hedegaard, an anti-Islam polemicist and former newspaper editor, this month, a cloud of suspicion immediately fell on Denmark’s Muslim minority.

Here we go! The great thing about actual violence by Muslims is that it provides an excellent opportunity to agonize about purely hypothetical violence against Muslims. "

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Sic et Non —

Sic et Non —: "I ended up carrying several of the tables with the help of a newly arrived visiting professor, a non-Mormon, from Japan.  As we were returning, about the third or fourth time, from having deposited a table in the storage area under the stage at the end of what Mormons typically call the “cultural hall” of the church, he said “May I ask you a question about your religion?”  Trained, as all Mormons are, to be an eager missionary, I replied that I would be happy to try to answer any question he had.  ”Thank you!” he responded.  ”I’ve been in several of your churches now, and they all have basketball courts.  Does basketball play an important part in your theology?”"

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ABC broadcast edits out Michelle Obama claim that Chicago teen was killed by an ‘automatic weapon’ | WashingtonExaminer.com

ABC broadcast edits out Michelle Obama claim that Chicago teen was killed by an ‘automatic weapon’ | WashingtonExaminer.com: "“She was caught in the line of fire because some kids had some automatic weapons they didn’t need,” the First Lady explained. “I just don’t want to keep disappointing our kids in this country. I want them to know that we put them first.”"

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The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "One of the many, many criticisms heaped on Mitt Romney after the election was that he had gotten off the stage. He did not cling to the television cameras, begging them to film him. He had made his case to the people, and the people, in their wisdom, went for Obama-Biden, just as before. He gave a graceful, manful concession speech and left. I’m afraid that Americans may be so deep into vulgarity that they can’t recognize or appreciate a civilized man when they see one."

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On Evan Todd’s Open Letter to the President - By Charles C. W. Cooke - The Corner - National Review Online

On Evan Todd’s Open Letter to the President - By Charles C. W. Cooke - The Corner - National Review Online: "Anybody possessed even of a modicum of sophistication and learning knows that randomly chosen victims of violence are, by virtue of their ordeals, invested with special — even magical — opinions, and are thus of inordinate value as proponents of gun control."

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Opinion: The great sequester panic - Rich Lowry - POLITICO.com

Opinion: The great sequester panic - Rich Lowry - POLITICO.com: "As Yuval Levin of the journal National Affairs points out, even with the sequester, the federal government will spend a little more in 2013 than in 2012, $3.553 compared to $3.538 trillion. Welcome to the Age of Austerity.

"

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MSNBC boldly moves to plug its one remaining hole | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

MSNBC boldly moves to plug its one remaining hole | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: "The overriding attribute defining the relationship of the US media to those in power is servitude (recall how even George Bush's own Press Secretary wrote a book mocking the media for extreme deference to the Bush White House). Politico today has a long article voicing the complaints of the White House press corps about a lack of access to the president. Revealingly, these complaints exploded into public view this weekend when Obama played golf with Tiger Woods and didn't let the angry journalists even see the match or take pictures of Tiger!"

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MSNBC boldly moves to plug its one remaining hole | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

MSNBC boldly moves to plug its one remaining hole | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: "Impressively, David Axelrod left the White House and actually managed to find the only place on earth arguably more devoted to Barack Obama. Finally, American citizens will now be able to hear what journalism has for too long so vindictively denied them: a vibrant debate between Gibbs and Axelrod on how great Obama really is."

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MSNBC boldly moves to plug its one remaining hole | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

MSNBC boldly moves to plug its one remaining hole | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: "I wonder: does someone who goes from being an Obama White House spokesman and Obama campaign official to being an MSNBC contributor even notice that they changed jobs?"

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MSNBC boldly moves to plug its one remaining hole | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

MSNBC boldly moves to plug its one remaining hole | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: "Yesterday, Chris Matthews - who infamously confessed that listening to Obama (sorry: President Obama) gives him a "thrill going up his leg" - hosted another discussion, this one involving former Obama campaign aide and MSNBC contributor Joy Reid, about whether the Honorable President should be mounted on Mount Rushmore (Matthews restrained himself by explaining that "I'm not talking about Mt. Rushmore but perhaps the level right below it", but then shared this fantasy: "If [Obama] were hearing us talking about him maybe mounting Mount Rushmore, getting up there with the great presidents...what would he be thinking? 'That's exactly what I'm doing?'"). A Pew poll found that in the week leading up to the 2012 election, MSNBC did not air a single story critical of the President or a single positive story about Romney - not a single one - even as Fox aired a few negative ones about Romney and a few positive ones about Obama. Meanwhile, Obama campaign aides who appeared on MSNBC were typically treated with greater deference than that shown to the British Queen when one of her most adoring subjects is in her presence for the first time."

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The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "Young people go through their childhood and teen years, believing that they are uniquely gifted and talented and wonderful and believing that their adult life will be one fabulous victory and success after another. And then at some point they depart the protected simulation of life that is childhood/high school/college . . . and the real world just kicks them in the crotch again and again. "

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Barack the Blameless, Part II - By Peter Kirsanow - The Corner - National Review Online

Barack the Blameless, Part II - By Peter Kirsanow - The Corner - National Review Online: "That’s quite a parade of horribles caused by something that was proposed by his White House and that he felt so strongly about that he threatened to veto any attempt to undo it. Good thing the tenacious press corps isn’t preoccupied with something as trivial as being prevented from getting pictures of the president with Tiger Woods, otherwise they might not call the president on his historical jiu jitsu.

Still not finished, the president added with a straight face, “It seems like every three months around here there’s some manufactured crisis.”

For his next magical trick: “President Obama Lambasts Republicans for Multiple Catastrophes Resulting from Their Failure to Repeal Obamacare.”"

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Plouffe on Immigration and the GOP - By Mark Krikorian - The Corner - National Review Online

Plouffe on Immigration and the GOP - By Mark Krikorian - The Corner - National Review Online: "And by the way: the bigger problem they’ve got with Latinos isn’t immigration. It’s their economic policies and health care. The group that supported the president’s health care bill the most? Latinos.”"

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My problem with the open-boarders approach many libertarians favor is that it lets a lot of people into this country who are culturally statist and who it seems to me are an important force for moving our country in a statist direction.

Ted Cruz Runs Counter to the Senate’s Courtly Ways - NYTimes.com

Ted Cruz Runs Counter to the Senate’s Courtly Ways - NYTimes.com: "Mr. Cruz, a Canadian-born lawyer who won an upset primary victory last year, is adamant in his own defense. He said his focus at hearings had been on policy, not personality."

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No! I'm so sad to learn he was born in Canada. I guess he can't be president.

The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: " That’s right: rock ‘n’ roll — the most ruthlessly corporate industry in the world — apparently requires the tax dollars of America’s widows and spinsters. If every rock star donated just 1 percent of what he’s spent on drugs since 1966, you could have the most lavish Hall of Fame in the world. But he won’t, so you have to pay up instead…."

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Students Told to Stop ‘USA!’ Chant, Take Off American Flag Bandanas - By Andrew Johnson - The Corner - National Review Online

Students Told to Stop ‘USA!’ Chant, Take Off American Flag Bandanas - By Andrew Johnson - The Corner - National Review Online: "Four California high-school students were reportedly suspended for chanting “U.S.A! U.S.A!” and wearing American flag bandanas during a basketball game. While their punishment has since been rescinded, school administrators said “the incident is far from over.”

Oxnard Union School District superintendent Gabe Soumakian told Fox News that “we need to pursue this further” and “work with teachers and students and the community about the concept of cultural proficiency.” Soumakian and Camarillo High School principal Glenn Lipman felt that the students’ actions might have had racist undertones since the schools have large Hispanic student populations."

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At Guantanamo, microphones hidden in attorney-client meeting rooms - The Washington Post

At Guantanamo, microphones hidden in attorney-client meeting rooms - The Washington Post: "A military lawyer at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, acknowledged Tuesday that microphones are hidden inside devices that look like smoke detectors in the rooms where defense lawyers meet detainees, but he said the government does not listen in on attorney-client communications."

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One, Maybe Two, Cheers for Glenn Greenwald - By Jonah Goldberg - The Corner - National Review Online

One, Maybe Two, Cheers for Glenn Greenwald - By Jonah Goldberg - The Corner - National Review Online: "Lord knows that I have deep disagreements with Glenn Greenwald (not least on his extremely low opinion of me), but in fairness you’ve got to credit him with consistency. He hated Bush’s War on Terror policies, and he didn’t stop hating them just because Barack Obama became president. What I particularly appreciate is that Greenwald isn’t merely outraged by the intellectual hypocrisy of Obama’s supporters, he also acknowledges what might be called the emotional hypocrisy of those who admit the double standard exists."

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Covenant Marriage - general-conference

Covenant Marriage - general-conference: "Many people even wonder these days what marriage is. Should we prohibit same-sex marriage? Should we make divorce more difficult to obtain? Some say these questions are not society’s business, because marriage is a private contract. But as the modern prophets recently proclaimed, “marriage … is ordained of God.” 11 Even secular marriage was historically a three-party covenant among a man, a woman, and the state. Society has a huge interest in the outcome and the offspring of every marriage. So the public nature of marriage distinguishes it from all other relationships. Guests come to weddings because, as Wendell Berry said, sweethearts “say their vows to the community as much as to one another,” giving themselves not only to each other, but also to the common good “as no contract could ever join them.” 12"

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Covenant Marriage - general-conference

Covenant Marriage - general-conference: "Without the Fall, Lehi taught, Adam and Eve would never have known opposition. And “they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery.” 4 Astute parents will see a little connection here—no children, no misery! But left in the garden, they could never know joy. So the Lord taught them they would live and bear children in sorrow, sweat, and thorns."

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Covenant Marriage - general-conference

Covenant Marriage - general-conference: "Before their marriage, Tom and Tracy received an eternal perspective on covenants and wolves. They learned through the story of Adam and Eve about life’s purpose and how to return to God’s presence through obedience and the Atonement. Christ’s life is the story of giving the Atonement. The life of Adam and Eve is the story of receiving the Atonement, which empowered them to overcome their separation from God and all opposition until they were eternally “at one,” with the Lord, and with each other."

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Carney: ‘Of Course the President Believes We Have a Spending Problem’ - By Andrew Johnson - The Corner - National Review Online

Carney: ‘Of Course the President Believes We Have a Spending Problem’ - By Andrew Johnson - The Corner - National Review Online: "

Following repeated denials from high-ranking Democrats, White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters earlier this afternoon that “of course the president believes we have a spending problem.”"

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To quote James Taranto: "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

Reference:

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! nationaljournal.com/magazine/obama…
— James Taranto (@jamestaranto) February 8, 2013

As Vatican leader Pope Benedict never had a chance | Fox News

As Vatican leader Pope Benedict never had a chance | Fox News: "His last job in Rome as Cardinal Ratzinger was to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – the branch of the Vatican charged with enforcing dogma and rooting out dissent. For that, he was dubbed The Chief Inquisitor and The Rottweiler. His idea of a wild night was a single glass of Riesling and an hour of playing his piano – he was an accomplished interpreter of Beethoven and Mozart."

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Is voluntarily resigning the papacy the move of a Chief Inquisitor. A Rottweiler? It's possible Benedict the XVI changed in the papacy, or changed with age. Or it's possible that this characterization of Benedict was not accurate from the beginning.

CNN Anchor Wonders if Asteroid Is Effect of Global Warming - By Andrew Johnson - The Corner - National Review Online

CNN Anchor Wonders if Asteroid Is Effect of Global Warming - By Andrew Johnson - The Corner - National Review Online: "Over the weekend, CNN anchor Deborah Feyerick posed an interesting question to Bill Nye the Science Guy, wondering if an asteroid expected to just miss the Earth this week was a result of climate change: “Talk about something else that’s falling from the sky and that is an asteroid. What’s coming our way? Is this an effect of, perhaps, global warming or is this just some meteoric occasion?”"

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Talk about a media template.

When Crazed Shooters Can’t Be Linked To The Tea Party, Media Displays Admirable Restraint | Mediaite

When Crazed Shooters Can’t Be Linked To The Tea Party, Media Displays Admirable Restraint | Mediaite: "These shooters were clearly moved by left-wing media, and we should thank every benevolent force in the universe that they were. Had either shooter possessed even a tenuous link to a conservative group, a media-driven hysteria about the malevolent influence of right-wing broadcasters and commentators would be gripping the nation today. Fortunately, when a crazed shooter’s ideology is explicitly and demonstrably left-wing, the media displays admirable restraint about linking a gunman’s politics to their acts of violence. "

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‘There is only one savior, and it is not me’: Rubio reacts to Time’s ‘Republican Savior’ cover | Twitchy

‘There is only one savior, and it is not me’: Rubio reacts to Time’s ‘Republican Savior’ cover | Twitchy: "‘There is only one savior, and it is not me’: Rubio reacts to Time’s ‘Republican Savior’ cover"

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He's referring to Obama, right?

Opinion: Dick Cheney's revenge - Rich Lowry - POLITICO.com

Opinion: Dick Cheney's revenge - Rich Lowry - POLITICO.com: "Will the author of the Obama administration white paper on killing U.S. citizens please report for his war crimes trial right away?

If he served in the George W. Bush administration, someone would already be agitating for his extraordinary rendition to The Hague. The white paper outlines why the Obama administration believes that it can kill U.S. citizens without due process if they are senior members of Al Qaeda or an affiliate. This is not a merely theoretical legal question, as Anwar al-Awlaki found out from the business end of a Hellfire missile a few years ago in Yemen."

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Althouse

Althouse: "This was my parents' favorite music, and I wish I had videos of the arguments I had with my father in the 1960s in which he took the position that if the instruments were electrified, it was — as a matter of definition — not music at all, and I got extremely exasperated, staunchly refused to submit to the playing of his old records, and repeatedly asserted that I liked rock and roll because of "the sound." The sound? Define your terms!"

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Leftwing Domestic Terrorist Pleads Guilty in Family Research Council Shooting | Jammie Wearing Fools

Leftwing Domestic Terrorist Pleads Guilty in Family Research Council Shooting | Jammie Wearing Fools: "Floyd Corkins would be a household name by now if he attacked a liberal group. But since he was going after the Family Research Council (and Chick-Fil-a at the same time) last summer his name quickly disappeared from the headlines. This story won’t even merit a mention on the evening news, in all likelihood."

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Dylan Byers, 'liberal media' often misses the story, too | WashingtonExaminer.com

Dylan Byers, 'liberal media' often misses the story, too | WashingtonExaminer.com: "It was just one case but it proved indicative of a fact that ran contrary to the Obama version of his history - He said he worked for a boutique civil rights law firm. In fact, Pollock's examination of the firm's client list showed that the future president most often worked on cases involving politically influential Chicago slumlords and developers."

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Celebrity Brainiacs

Woman Gives Judge Middle Finger, Gets 30-Day Sentence for Contempt | NBC 6 South Florida: ""30 Rock" star Alec Baldwin is one brainy actor. Baldwin received an honorary doctorate of musical arts from the Manhattan School Of Music recently — his third honorary degree in the last few years. In addition to Montclair State, he also got a Doctor of Fine Arts degree from New York University. Click to see more brainy actors."

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Getting an honorary degree means you're real smart!

The Disgusting Consequences of Plastic-Bag Bans - Bloomberg

The Disgusting Consequences of Plastic-Bag Bans - Bloomberg: "Most alarmingly, the industry has highlighted news reports linking reusable shopping bags to the spread of disease. Like this one, from the Los Angeles Times last May: “A reusable grocery bag left in a hotel bathroom caused an outbreak of norovirus-induced diarrhea and nausea that struck nine of 13 members of a girls’ soccer team in October, Oregon researchers reported Wednesday.” The norovirus may not have political clout, but evidently it, too, is rooting against plastic bags."

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Questions for Professor Seidman

In this week's Econtalk podcast, Louis Michael Seidman argues that we should abandon the constitution because there is no reason to be ruled by the dead hand of the founding generation and because many of the provisions are evil or simply don't make sense.

One question occurred to me: What is so objectionable about the founding generation establishing constitutional law that binds future generations? Isn't that the way all law works? That is, law is created by a particular generation, but is binding on all future generations within the political jurisdiction until changed. I don't see anything particularly egregious about the constitution that would separate it from other laws in this regard.

Seidman also argues that we really don't want to be bound by the constitution, because we ignore it when it conflicts with our policy preferences. So, in the podcast Professor Roberts would say X is wrong and shouldn't happen, and Seidman would say, yes, but X is happening under the current constitution, so X only illustrates my point that the constitution doesn't work.

Two points here. First, It would have been good if Professor Roberts was armed with some cases where constitutional principles were venerated against a majority-enacted law, to show that the constitution does protect minority rights. The Supreme Court certainly strikes down some laws as unconstitutional. Citizens United and Heller are two examples. Liberals must agree that some Supreme Court cases striking down democratically elected laws came out right from a policy perspective. I would have used those cases to at least get Seidman to admit that those cases would have remained on the books under his alternative scheme.

 Second, while he kind of made the argument at the end, I wish Roberts would have made the seen-and-unseen argument more forcefully. It may well be that the some oppressive laws were not passed because of the fear they would be struck down, but we don't see those laws. Additionally, the good parts of the constitution that Siedman argues everyone would accept in his counter-factual world of no constitution, may be uncontroversial precisely because they are spelled out in the constitution, and have been observed for 250 years with good result. A consensus has been built as a result of the constitution that may not otherwise exist.

[I may update this post as more thoughts occur to me.]

These People Should Not be Trusted

[Cross-posted at Bull v. Elephant]

Suppose you are a college football fan rooting for BYU to crush University of Utah. You watch the game and are disappointed to see that call after call is botched, but not in a random manner. Almost every close call, and many that aren't close, favors the Utes. Then you discover that all of the referees happen to be U of U graduates. They claim to referee the game fairly, but you find that hard to believe given their one-sided calls. Additionally, you find out that, off the field, many of these referees express disdain for the Cougars and love for the Utes. How would this make you feel about the honesty of the referees? The fairness of the game?

You'd understandably be mad, and you'd probably conclude that the referees' one-sided calls are the product of their bias for the Utes. You'd also probably conclude that the referees have acted deceptively, (and possibly immorally) by claiming neutrality when in fact, they have an undisclosed conflict of interests. Worse yet, they may be actively working to promote the Utes. The referees' failure to disclose their bias calls into question their honesty and undermines the integrity of the game.

The Volokh Conspiracy

The Volokh Conspiracy: "Upon hearing about the situation, we visited the Temple ourselves. The visit was unsettling. There were at least several dozen of our students sitting at long tables in a room that had to be entered through a side door. They were quietly eating while a man was instructing them in orthodox religious beliefs. There is no sign on the building even identifying it as a Temple."

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Edward I. Koch, Ex-Mayor of New York, Dies - NYTimes.com

Edward I. Koch, Ex-Mayor of New York, Dies - NYTimes.com: "Edward I. Koch, the master showman of City Hall, who parlayed shrewd political instincts and plenty of chutzpah into three tumultuous terms as mayor of New York with all the tenacity, zest and combativeness that personified his city of golden dreams, died Friday morning at age 88."

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Although I don't think his politics were right, I always liked Ed Koch--especially from his time on the people's court. I would say he motivated me in part to pursue a career in law.

Portrait Of Michael Isikoff, Irked

Portrait Of Michael Isikoff, Irked: "Left out of the New Yorker writer's narrative, however, is that Toobin himself had considered collaborating with Isikoff on a book about the Lewinsky saga. They discussed the idea over lunch in New York in the spring of 1998, and Isikoff says Toobin spoke of splitting a big advance.

"Perhaps I should have mentioned this lunch," Toobin admits. But his own book is in a different category, he says, because "I was not a player in this story.""

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