HANS VAN SPAKOVSKY: The ObamaCare Argument – The Third and Final Day. “The surest sign your lawyer hasn’t done a good job is when you issue a statement defending his performance.” Well, even a good lawyer has trouble defending the indefensible.
Archive for 2012
March 28, 2012
THIS WOULD NEVER BE ALLOWED IF BARACK OBAMA WERE PRESIDENT: FBI Taught Agents They Could ‘Bend or Suspend the Law.’
HOPE OVER EXPERIENCE? Law Student: ‘I Know It’s Crazy, But I’d Go to Law School Again.’
MARCUS HIGGINS AND SPIKE LEE in the Twitter Hall Of Shame.
COMPUTER PASSWORDS: Speak, friend, and enter. “Computer passwords need to be memorable and secure. Most people’s are the first but not the second. Researchers are trying to make it easier for them to be both.”
IGNORANCE IN OFFICE: Democratic Congressman and Senators on Constitutional Authority for ObamaCare:
Most of us know that when then-Speaker Pelosi was asked where the Constitution gives Congress the power to enact an “individual mandate,” she replied with a mocking “are you serious? Are you serious?”
Here are a few more pearls of constitutional wisdom from our elected representatives.
Rep. Conyers cited the “Good and Welfare Clause” as the source of Congress’s authority [there is no such clause].
Rep. Stark responded, “the federal government can do most anything in this country.”
Rep. Clyburn replied, “There’s nothing in the Constitution that says the federal government has anything to do with most of the stuff we do. How about [you] show me where in the Constitution it prohibits the federal government from doing this?”
Rep. Hare said “I don’t worry about the Constitution on this, to be honest […] It doesn’t matter to me.” When asked, “Where in the Constitution does it give you the authority …?” He replied, “I don’t know.”
Sen. Akaka said he “not aware” of which Constitutional provision authorizes the healthcare bill.
Sen. Leahy added, “We have plenty of authority. Are you saying there’s no authority?”
Sen. Landrieu told a questioner, “I’ll leave that up to the constitutional lawyers on our staff.”Something to keep in mind when someone argues that the Supreme Court should defer to the constitutional wisdom of its coequal branches.
Kakistocracy. Plus, from the comments: “The salient point is the fact that few members of Congress even read the 2700-page bill; yet some argue still that the Supreme Court should give Congress the presumption of Constitutionality in the bills it passes? Worse than ridiculous, such a contention is a call for judicial abdication of responsibility. And it is quite blatant. It is a call to abandon checks and balances, the very underpinning of our form of government. It is a call to tyranny.”
POLL OF ATTAINDER? Is a disturbing notion of due process taking over in America? Forget trials and juries and all that stuff? Let’s do a poll!
The good news is, most people say they don’t know enough to have an opinion on whether Trayvon Martin was murdered or not. That speaks well of them, given the nonstop media onslaught. “Thank you, people of all colors, who refrain from judging where you have not studied all the evidence. This is heartening news of rationality and respect for due process.”
SOME JOE BIDEN COMIC RELIEF: Biden mistakenly calls college prez “Dr. Pepper.” Well, it’s funny until you consider that he’s a heartbeat away from the Presidency. And that the man currently occupying the office thought it was a good idea to put him a heartbeat away . . . .
FROM 1965, unpublished Life pictures of Hell’s Angels. “The girls weren’t there in chains, or against their will or anything. They had to want that life if they were going to be accepted by the Angels. These guys were kings of the road. I don’t think they ever felt they had to look around for girls. Girls would come to them, and they would take their pick. And then they’d tell them where to sit and what to do.”
AT AMAZON, up to 70% off on watches.
PROFESSOR JACOBSON: Sourcing Narrative “Facts” In The Martin Case.
A REPORT FROM DAY 3 OF THE OBAMACARE ARGUMENTS, where the focus was on severability. Seems to me they should just knock down the whole thing and let Congress do whatever it wants next. If that turns out to be inconvenient, well, there’s a good reason not to pass unconstitutional legislation, isn’t it?
UPDATE: A “severability trainwreck?” Don’t get cocky.
Plus, sense and severability.
QUICK, WE NEED ANOTHER DISTRACTION: Reuters: Americans Angry With Obama Over Gas Prices.
SWIMMING ON THE HOT SIDE: The lives of Nuclear Divers. “The non-contaminated diving they do—around the huge intake pipes that bring water into the plants—is even more dangerous. Sometimes they get sucked in.”
I’ll stick with my clear warm Caribbean waters, thank you.
STARTING AS MOVEMENTS AND ending as rackets.
POPULAR MECHANICS: Hot New Grills, Stoves, and Backyard Gear for Summer 2012.
CLAYTON CRAMER: How Common Are Deaths Like Trayvon Martin’s? “What I found quite startling as I compiled those reports over the years is how few incidents I found where concealed weapon permit holders used those guns in a way that was lawful but foolish. The case that was most obviously analogous to the Zimmerman-Martin tragedy took place in Aurora, Colorado, on November 13, 2004.” Going on 8 years ago.
IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T DO? Chocolate keeps weight down.
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: The New Anti-Semitism.
IN THE MAIL: The Intolerance of Tolerance.
WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: China and India Both Struggling: Growth Isn’t Guaranteed. “Both imposing giants stand on feet of clay. Both face problems of security and unrest. Both must deal with political turmoil — whether there is one party or dozens, countries of more than a billion people undergoing rapid change can’t take stability for granted. Neither is guaranteed years of economic growth; India’s economy is slowed by the dead weight of regulations and interest groups the country’s weak governments can’t push aside, and China is approaching the end of the road for export-oriented development.”
Then there’s the ever-present danger of bad luck.
I WAS EXPECTING AN EARTH-SHATTERING KABOOM: D.C. Nuclear Blast Wouldn’t Destroy City, Report Says. “This is what the U.S. government imagines would happen if terrorists set off a nuclear bomb just blocks away from the White House: The explosion would destroy everything in every direction within one-half mile. An intense flash would blind drivers on the Beltway miles away. A radioactive cloud would drift toward Baltimore. But the surprising conclusion? Just a bit farther from the epicenter of the blast, such a nuclear explosion would be pretty survivable.”
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Tom Wolfe, Where Are You? “How absolutely insane America has become: The mainstream media both wishes to portray Martin as the innocent-looking pre-teen of his old photo even as the rarer appearing, politically-incorrect hoodie picture resonates far more with Martin’s supporters; had Zimmerman just used his mother’s maiden name, much of the current outrage would have dissipated; the country beats itself up over whether Zimmerman may have used a racial epithet — even as Twitter messages are released of Martin self-identifying himself with the n-word; Martin’s mother is worried about publicity warping the name of her deceased son even as she seeks propriety merchandising rights to it; Al Sharpton by day agitates and demagogues and, by evening, reports on Al Sharpton agitating and demagoguing for MSNBC — and on and on and on.”