"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler
“David Horowitz’ ‘Thirty-seconds’ on MSNBC this evening is the most despicable paid ad I believe I’ve ever seen. And I saw it on Countdown, Keith Olbermann’s show.”
— “eztempo,” Daily Kos, July 26
If a devoted Olbermann viewer thinks it’s “despicable,” you know it’s gotta be 31 flavors of pure awesomeness.
Via David Swindle at NewsReal. Learn how you can help Horowitz pay to put this ad all over TV, and drive the lefties even crazier than they already are. A worthy cause!
A federal judge has blocked one of the most controversial sections of a tough Arizona immigration law, granting a preliminary injunction Wednesday that prevents police from questioning people about their immigration status.
That provision required police to “make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested” if the officer has a reasonable suspicion that the person is in the United States illegally.
U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton’s ruling, in response to a motion filed by the federal government, came with scant hours to go before the law goes into effect.
She also blocked provisions of the law making it a crime to fail to apply for or carry alien registration papers or “for an unauthorized alien to solicit, apply for, or perform work,” and a provision “authorizing the warrantless arrest of a person” if there is reason to believe that person might be subject to deportation.
Professor William Jacobson has a legal analysis, but the key point is that the interests of Arizona’s citizens (70% of whom favored the law) and the actions of Arizona legislators count for nothing in the 21st-century American regime, which is a de facto oligarchy where federal judges exercise unlimited authority. The interests of the elites who benefit from unrestricted immigration are the only interests that count. When Judge Susan Bolton was appointed by Bill Clinton 10 years ago, it was with the implicit understanding that Bolton would never thwart the interests of the Ruling Class.
by Smitty
Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, mulling a presidential run, says Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a potential 2012 primary foe, is indulging in “class-warfare” rhetoric.
. . .
“I’m not a class-warfare guy,” Santorum tells National Review Online in reaction to Pawlenty’s remarks. “That’s the Democrats’ gig. They like to divide and play the class card. We don’t have classes in America — I don’t even like the term ‘middle class.’ People are lower income or middle income, and the dynamism of this country is that you can rise, and sometimes fall, but you are not stuck in classes. We should not get into that kind of rhetoric, or showing some sort of prejudice.”
The good Senator’s attention is drawn to Angelo Codevilla’s essay, which lays out at length how Santorum either (a) has his head buried in the sand, or (b) is so fully ensconced in that ruling class as to be unaware of the implications.
Graphically, the point is laid out at The Jacksonian Party, where it boils down to a word: incumbency.
Thus, when considering arguments about what to do to un-bake the situation in the country, I’m always keen to see how the ideas attack the structural problems of our ruling class and centralization.
In other words, YouCut and the Roadmap Plan, while great starts, need to get more Federalist in their outlook: the GOP can win, but real victory means defeating its own structural systems as well as those of the Democrats. Do you think the GOP has enough essential American power to grasp that, past the posturing?
by Smitty
Ezra speaks in the comPost, emphsis mine:
The constitutional option gets its name from Article I, Section V of the Constitution, which states that “Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings.” In order to fulfill this constitutional order, the Senate must be able to, well, determine its rules. A filibuster, technically, is a way to stop the Senate from determining something by refusing to allow it to move to a vote. Because stopping the Senate from considering its own rules would be unconstitutional, the chair can rule against the filibuster, and the Senate could then move to change its rules on a majority vote.
One caveat: Many people, including Udall himself, believe this has to happen at the beginning of a new Congress. If it doesn’t happen at the beginning of a new Congress, then Congress is considered to have acquiesced to the previous Congress’s rules, and a filibuster against further rule changes wouldn’t interrupt the constitutional right to determine the rules.
When, exactly, ever, is the Senate stopped from considering its own rules?
This is one of the fascinating things about Left-think: when there is some wisely considered high standard to be met, you get this effect of working the referees.
Ezra, even if you congratulate yourself about having swell intentions, your ideas are those of boob. Your brand of thinking is firmly in line with the bi-partisan Federal over-reach that has resulted in 14 trillion in debt.
That filibuster feature is the only thing restraining this atrocious Congress. Polls expressing the will of the people and demonstrations have not. The filibuster is only a bug in the eyes of the truly clueless dungbeatles, among whom you may be crawling, Klein.
I wish there was some laboratory setting in which you could feel the unrestrained, hellish results of your anti-Constitutional ideas, Ezra, without doing further damage to the country. Yours is the road, not to some Socialist golden age, but rather a full-on despotism.
You can continue to label failure success, or say there is some reason the Senate cannot consider its rules. But don’t expect support from anyone having a grasp of the need for limited government.
by Smitty
This morning the Ken Cuccinelli introduction went up. Colonel Murray picks up and offers a solid speech, served up here in seven parts, plus a bit of dessert that is a fine sweetener for all, whether you have the privilege of supporting Lt. Col. Alan West, or the duty to run against the Wicked Witch of the West.
If you live in VA-8, or know someone who does, please circulate this post to as many as you know. We have an obligation to the rest of the country to support a great candidate in the struggle to retire “Gentleman” Jim Moran. Continue reading VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Republican Candidate Patrick Murray, VA-8 Stump Speech →
by Smitty (h/t Drudge)
Boston.com reports that the Massachusetts legislature is going in through the out door again, passing a law to ignore the will of their people, and instead just give their electoral votes to the popular vote winner nation wide.
But Senate minority leader Richard Tisei said the state was meddling with a system that was “tried and true” since the founding of the country.
. . .
Tisei also criticized the proponents for not following the normal procedures to seek a constitutional amendment.“The thing about this that bothers me the most is it’s so sneaky. This is the way that liberals do things a lot of times, very sneaky,” he said. “This is sort of an end run around the Constitution.”
Abso-effing-lutely. This is what Article Five is about. Understood, there seems to be a psychological joy, which some find, in taking words to mean whatever they wish. Hence the Commerce Clause becoming the Constitution over the last century. Hence the “judicial deference” doctrine, where Congress can emote whatever it wishes, and We The People get to watch the 14-ish trillion dollar debt pile up due to Federal over-reach.
Does this state even merit the privilege of having the USS Constitution moored in Charlestown?
One hopes the American people grasp that this is one more step down the path of collapse into tyranny. Possibly not a big one, but a step nonetheless, and unlikely to gain much traction in Virginia.
Update: The Corner points out that
As in other states where this measure has been passed, it will not take effect unless and until enough states adopt the measure to give it teeth. From Article III of the bill:
“This article shall govern the appointment of presidential electors in each member state [i.e., states having passed similar acts] in any year in which this agreement is, on July 20, in effect in states cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes.”
by Smitty
The stylish WyBlog:
I don’t usually talk politics with strangers. But for Google? Why not “tweak” them a little!
So I look into her camera all serious and say, “I know what will make me happy. The first time I hear 3 simple words, probably the greatest three words ever to be uttered by man.”
Now everybody is looking at me. “What 3 words?” someone asks. Very slowly I say,
It’s too good to thug. You’ll have to read the whole enchilada.
by Smitty
Monday, 26 July 2010, I had the privilege of attending a fund raiser for Patrick Murray, in the crucial effort to retire Gentleman Jim Moran.
While the traffic situation on parking lot I-95 kept him from delivering the detailed update on the ObamaCare case he’s championing down at the Rocket Docket, the good AG does offer some feedback to our ‘honorable’ Representative, down in Clip 5. If your time is limited, or your AG seems an abject doof, take in Clip 5. Clip 6 concludes on the theme of the Creepshow Congress. Continue reading VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: VA AG Ken Cuccinelli In Alexandria →