The "FORMER" Senators

On June 26, 22 Republican Senators voted for cloture on the immigration bill, which succeeded with their help. This was after a significant amount of input from the public about their dissatisfaction with the bill.

On June 28, 10 of these 22 Senators again voted for cloture, which then proceeded to fail due largely to the change of heart by the other 12.

The 12 that voted right today get all of my respect for listening to their constituencies. The 10 who would not listen must be made "FORMER" Senators when they come up for re-election, and should be addressed as such beginning today so their constituencies don't forget!

They are:

Bennett (R-UT)
Craig (R-ID)
Hagel (R-NE)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lott (R-MS) also known as "Trent-Horn Lott-Horn" by Mark Steyn after a few verbal slips!
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)

May their replacements be less elitist and represent their constituencies!

Clarence Thomas

Michael McGough writes a column on the positive contributions of Clarence Thomas to our jurisprudence. An Originalist, Justice Thomas serves a valuable role in critiqueing his peers decisions and the logic they use, as he did this week in a concurring opinion about the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case - Morse et al. v. Frederick.

This reminded me of a quote I saw the other day:


"On every question of construction carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed."


-- Thomas Jefferson (letter to William Johnson, 12 June 1823)
Reference: Jefferson: Writings, Peterson ed., Library of America
(1475)

I think Thomas Jefferson is smiling as Justice Thomas reminds his peers of this quote!

CHENEY

Two columns - one hard left and disgusting, and one well thought out and explained - from Eugene Robinson at WAPO and Jonah Goldberg at LAT - both critical of the recent Cheney actions. The vitriol and hate of W at WAPO is a nice contrast to the thoughtful criticism at the LAT by a few and far between centrist columnist.

ROE v WADE

In a conversation below which began on the Death Penalty and continued with a discussion on abortion, I asked the following question:





"I would be interested to know how you think the 125,000,000 voters in the U.S. would vote on a reasonable abortion law making it illegal - with sensible penalties -and with exceptions in the case of rape, incest and life of the mother -if it were on a national ballot. I think the law would pass with a 60% majority. You?"





The set of polls at the link below have lots of data that can be interpreted many ways. My conclusions:

• We are split pretty much down the middle.
• 20-25% think abortion should always be legal.
• 15-20% think abortion should always be illegal.
• Of the 55-65% left, 30-35% feel it should USUALLY be legal, 25-30% feel it should USUALLY be illegal; I don't know exactly how to read this but think it says any restrictions would have to be very carefully crafted.

Although I still believe illegality of abortion could be implemented if carefully crafted to protect the more reasonable instances, I think my 60% guess above is optimistic.

Evaluate the polls yourself - it is thought provoking!

http://www.pollingreport.com/abortion.htm

E. J. Dionne the Omniscient

I follow some lefty columnists to understand the other side. It is often quite eye opening!

E.J.Dionne in this column makes the following statements:

• "It's not about whether the United States should pull out troops. That is now inevitable."

Obviously it is inevitable that we pull out troops - but not in the short term, as he implies, so he must be omniscient. Perhaps it will be in 53 years, like Korea. The left loves these "soft" statements dressed as facts.

• "The facts are these: We do not have enough troops to commit to Iraq to turn things around militarily, and the political situation is too fractured to give rise to a sudden burst of cooperation among Shiites and Sunnis."

So, Mr. Dionne knows more about our military capability than our Commander in Chief and more about Iraq politics than the Iraqi's! And these are "facts". Just read the omniscient!

• "This is why we need to begin planning our withdrawal now rather than waiting until the Army and the reserves hit the breaking point."

DIONNE THE OMNISCIENT FOR PRESIDENT!!

I suspect all these "factual" statements are driven by his hatred of W, as with so much of the lefts agenda.

FRED THOMPSON - THE NEXT REAGAN?

Bruce Walker has written a series of articles on why Fred Thompson is in fact the next Ronald Reagan. His 3/22/07 article titled "Yes, The Next Reagan" list 7 reasons why:

1. Generates enthusiasm, unlike Bush I, Dole and Bush II, and is a phenomenal communicator.
2. Ethical, and has the principled stands over his career to prove it.
3. Would unite the leadership of the Republican Party.
4. The rap on Thompson that he is lazy doesn't work: accomplished lawyer, Senator, TV star, does not happen to lazy people.
5. He will sweep the South and would run strongly in swing states like Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, Oregon and New Hampshire.
6. He cannot be demonized.
7. He will have to be campaigned against on the issues.

I don't know if I agree with all the points, but it is an interesting take worth reading here and discussing if you get the urge!

Quote of the Day, from Victor Davis Hanson

"Finally, remember that there is a reason why millions flood into Europe from the Middle East and to America from Mexico--and not vice versa. There is a reason why Democrats and Republicans don't shoot each other in the streets of Washington, or why blue-state America does not mine red-state highways. And there is a reason why a Shiite mosque in Detroit is safer in the land of the Great Satan than it would be in Muslim Saudi Arabia. It's called civilization--a precious and fragile commodity that is missed even by its destroyers the minute they've done away with it. "

From this column: "Hypocrisy That Undermines Civilization".

Being on the left means never having to say you're sorry!

Thomas Sowell reviews the fiasco of the Duke University lacrosse player's rape case and the fact that NYT, 88 Duke faculty members, et al, don't treat Durham District Attorney Michael Nifong disbarring in the same the same manner.

"This case served their purposes. That trumped any question about whether the charges were true or not."

"The Old Affection"

"It takes secure boundaries for it to flourish." Peggy Noonan writes a great piece explaining why securing the border has to be the first priority. The close to her article:

"What will we do about the 12 million here? Nothing radical. We're not really a radical people, Americans.

Having no borders--that's radical.

Saying, to the American people, in essence, Back my big bill or I will not close the borders, is radical.

Insisting on "all or nothing at all" is radical.

Leaving your country wide open in the age of terror is radical.

But America isn't radical. If its leaders only knew! Our leaders are in need not only of wisdom but of faith. And, as always, love, as opposed to mere sentiment, and vanity, and pride."

Read the whole thing, you'll enjoy her writing. Guaranteed!

"We Agree On Border Security, Don't We?"

Charles Krauthammer, as he so often does, reduces the entire Senate Immigration Bill discussion to a rational analysis of what should be done before any "comprehensive" bill.

It is so simple. Why don't they just do it? I hope W reads Mr. Krauthammer!

Dean Barnett gets it right!

His penultimate paragraph:

"I had always felt Harry Reid was the kind of vanilla-flavored parasite that a political system like ours inevitably mass produces. In other words, I didn’t think his presence was any big deal. We’ve seen his type come and go with regularity the past 200 years. What’s amazing and sad is that in such consequential times, a lightweight like Reid is making an impact. He may well be remembered as the most contemptible and least honest public servant to come down the pike in a generation."

Read the whole thing here.

"Grim Reality and MSM Denial"

Hugh Hewitt comments on the defeat of Fatah by Hamas in Gaza, and the lack of detailed coverage by the MSM. The last paragraph:

• "The fall of Gaza to radical Islamist totalitarians with a deep desire to destroy Israel completely and a certain receptivity to terrorists eager to strike at Europe and the U.S. is the worst news since 9/11. That it is hardly noticed by a media eager to see Libby join Hilton in jail underscores the incredible absurdity of our time."

Amen!

Blame America First

An item in the WSJ's Opinion Journal struck a cord with me because I had read the AP headline they reference earlier this morning. As with most readers, that is as far as I got. Turns out I was mislead, as they explain:

Blame America First

"U.S. Mistakenly Kills 7 Afghan Police" reads the headline of an Associated Press dispatch. Strictly speaking, this is not inaccurate, but the first paragraph makes clear that the headline is something less than a half truth:

Afghan police mistook U.S. troops on a nighttime mission for Taliban fighters and opened fire on them early Tuesday, prompting U.S. forces to return fire and call in attack aircraft. Seven Afghan police were killed.

The headline makes it sound as if the Americans rather than the Afghans made the mistake."

Realize that you are misled daily by the MSM due to their hatred of W!

Maddie and James

Madison carrying James. Aren't grandchildren great!

A Melange of Today's Politics!

Jonah Goldberg warns the right to stand up for the real reasons they oppose the current immigration bill and not let latino groups and the left label us as racist and anti-immigrant.

• "But since the 1980's, the debate has changed. Whereas in the past the debate was about what our policy should be, today the argument is really about whether we should have a policy at all. Because if you don't care about enforcing existing immigration laws, you're really saying that you're not in favor of having any immigration laws at all. It is difficult to think of another sphere of public policy in which liberals would be nearly so cavalier about lawbreaking."

Read the column here.

Victor Davis Hanson pleads for "Honesty About Iraq" in his NRO column, pointing out the lack of communication to the people by our politicians - President Bush take note! - and the cynical attitude this creates in the populace.

• "Our soldiers are fighting brilliantly, and history will record they are defeating the enemy while suffering historically low casualties. But if the sacrifice of American youth is not tied - daily, hourly - to larger strategic and humanitarian goals by elequent statesmen who believe in the mission, then cynicism follows and, with it , despair."

Read the column here.

Thomas Sowell in "Adolescent Intellectuals" explains that many of our academics and federal judges spend their entire life in this state of adolescence.

• "The truly dangerous period in life is the time when the child has learned the limits of his parents' control, and how to circumvent their control, but has not yet understood or accepted the underlying reasons for doing and not doing things. This adolescent period is one that some people - intellectuals especially - never outgrow."

His example of property rights being dismantled is worth reading here.