News & Media
The Constitutional Horror of the "Protect America Act"
A speech on the Senate Floor by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnObAJulcCo] This is a good encapsulation of what has been wrong with America for the past 8 years. I can’t believe that a senator even needed to give this speech. And now we see the tip of the iceberg of how this power was abused. HT: Ross Kerr
Don't Write Off McCain-Palin
I am NOT voting for John McCain. Nevertheless, I say he has a damn good chance of pulling this election out of his ass and squeaking by. As George Carlin said, “Think how dumb the average American is. Now, remember, half of all Americans are dumber than that.” Therein lies the key. Nixon’s “silent majority” are still alive, and they had a LOT more kids than the smart people did in the 1970s. These are the idiots who bought houses they couldn’t afford and now want a bailout (while shrieking that they want lower taxes for the rich and less
What eats ground bone, blood, fish, molasses, and chicken shit?
No, not Dick Cheney.
Report: Palin Broke Ethics Law
“I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110 (a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.” (source) Electoral-vote.com gives us this concise summary of Troopergate: If you haven’t been following the story, known as Troopergate, here is an executive summary. Palin’s sister, Molly, was involved in a bitter divorce and child custody fight with her former husband, state trooper Mike Wooten. Palin, who supports family values, wanted to help her sister in the custody battle by causing her ex brother-in-law to be unemployed. So she asked the state commissioner of public safety, Walt Monegan,
For Palin, Some Pork is Kosher
No, I didn’t write that headline myself, Politico did. HT: Electoral-vote.com
William F. Buckley's Son Endorses Obama
Conservative scion Christopher Buckley thinks that John McCain has sold his soul, and gotten little in return. John McCain has changed. He said, famously, apropos the Republican debacle post-1994, “We came to Washington to change it, and Washington changed us.” This campaign has changed John McCain. It has made him inauthentic. A once-first class temperament has become irascible and snarly; his positions change, and lack coherence; he makes unrealistic promises, such as balancing the federal budget “by the end of my first term.” Who, really, believes that? Then there was the self-dramatizing and feckless suspension of his campaign over the
How is Your Retirement Plan Looking?
Daniel Mudd and Richard Syron are two guys whose retirement package seems to be doing just fine — despite the recent downturn in the economy. Those two lowlives are the former chairs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They collected $9.43 million in retirement benefits on their way out the door. (source) Call me a little too radical, but I see no reason why they shouldn’t be bound, gagged, and thrown into a hole in a Supermax Prison until they piss themselves daily from the insanity brought on by spending 23 1/2 hours a day in their cells. While that
Bush Lied – They Died T-Shirt Case Concludes – First Amendment Wins
Frazier v. Boomsma is over and the First Amendment has prevailed. Previously blogged on here and here.
Learn Civ Pro!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBTba2J6OKI] HT: J$W
More on the Max Hardcore Conviction
Being a member of the Bar is essential to my livelihood, so I can’t comment on a lot of what I think of the Max Hardcore conviction, nor on how the judge conducted the trial. Mark Draughn at WindyPundit and Rogier van Bakel at Nobody’s Business – they are not members of the Bar. They say what I wish I could. UPDATE: More articles on the conviction. Sirkin Discusses Max Hardcore Sentencing Editorial: The Adult Industry and Max: Time To Walk The Walk
McCain's Mortgage Bailout for the Stupid
I can’t believe that I actually agree with Michelle Malkin on a political issue. Remember McCain’s “plan” he came up with during the last debate? The McCain Resurgence Plan: The McCain Resurgence Plan would purchase mortgages directly from homeowners and mortgage servicers, and replace them with manageable, fixed-rate mortgages that will keep families in their homes. By purchasing the existing, failing mortgages the McCain resurgence plan will eliminate uncertainty over defaults, support the value of mortgage-backed derivatives and alleviate risks that are freezing financial markets. The McCain resurgence plan would be available to mortgage holders that: · Live in the
What do you mean I have to pay taxes?
By Tara Warrington, Legal Satyricon Correspondent Every once in a while, you hear some yahoo claiming that the Federal Government doesn’t actually have the power to tax you. This post is designed to put that particular urban myth to rest.
OW! My ASS!
Can you feel that? Yes, that’s AIG giving it to you right in the ol’ pooper! Less than a week after the federal government committed $85 billion to bail out AIG, executives of the giant AIG insurance company headed for a week-long retreat at a luxury resort and spa, the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California, Congressional investigators revealed today. “Rooms at this resort can cost over $1,000 a night,” Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) said this morning as his committee continued its investigation of Wall Street and its CEOs. AIG documents obtained by Waxman’s investigators show the company paid
Republicans Try to Suppress the Vote with Fashion Police
I am a registered Republican. However, after seeing some of the bullshit that this party has tried to pull in this election (coupled with what I saw it pull in 2004), I can’t honesty say that I will ever vote for a Republican candidate again. The latest games, enlisting the fashion police to try and suppress the vote in Pennsylvania and orchestrating a raid on ACORN for daring to register too many poor people to vote.
So We Can, or We Can't Desecrate the Flag?
By Sam Lea, Legal Satyricon Correspondent Police in Winona, Minnesota charged a 14-year-old boy with desecrating a U.S. flag, after he wrote song lyrics on it, burned holes in it with cigarettes, and then proceeded to tear the flag into several pieces. He then scattered the pieces throughout his high school before skipping class to attend the “Rage Against the Machine” concert on September 3rd in Minneapolis during the Republican National Convention. The penalty carries with it a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. The boy told police he knew that it was illegal, but
Paul Little Gets 46 Months
Paul Little, a.k.a. “Max Hardcore” was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for producing dirty movies. While I’m sure that the ghost of Andrea Dworkin is doing backflips of joy, the founding fathers are rolling in their graves. Glenn Greenwald had this to say in Slate: So, to recap, in the Land of the Free: if you’re an adult who produces a film using other consenting adults, for the entertainment of still other consenting adults, which merely depicts fictional acts of humiliation and degradation, the DOJ will prosecute you and send you to prison for years. The claim that
Greenfield on Law Review Articles
Scott pulls no punches here: Law review articles are a conversation amongst [law professors] themselves. Colloquially, perhaps they are best thought of as a circle-jerk, where neither judge nor practitioner is allowed to rub up against any tweed-covered elbow. (source) Now that is what I call writing! And as an aside to all those law students who were deluded by the glossy law porn into believing that their tuition was tendered in exchange for their being taught how to be lawyers, pay careful attention. The first thing the Academy demands of your “teachers” is that they disconnect themselves from anything
Ex Lovers, Embarrassing Missives, and the Law
WIRED magazine recently presented an interesting question to me. Apparently, a guy was dating a girl, he sent her a series of romantic letters, and then she found out that he was a low-down dirty swine. To exact her revenge, Girlfriend posted the letters on her myspace page with angry and mocking commentary. Here is the exact question: My ex-girlfriend recently posted one of my gooey love notes on her blog. I’d rather the world didn’t know that I used to refer to this vindictive harpy as “babycakes.” Can I compel her to delete the letter? (source) I gave WIRED
More Evidence of Naomi Wolf's Hotness
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyLSstqMvH8] She stands her ground, but still can laugh at herself when faced with Ali G.