Hey, Kinsley is starting to get his spine back
We need no lectures from the beneficiary of this judicial coup d'état about the dangers of mixing politics and judges.
Thursday, October 03, 2002
Sam Heldman has more on Jersey (every time I bring this issue up my fingers start typing 'Florida'..grr). Anyway, he notes that Eugene Volokh brings up the possibility that a raationale for the Supremos to take this is the 3-justice embraced theory that "federal elections are the province of state legislatures rather than state courts" which is such a profoundly stupid argument I don't even know where to begin.
Sam also brings up the possibility of option C - The Supremos disgrace themselves again, Torch stays on the ballot, and the outrage sweeps Jersey and the country to Democratic victory. We'll see...
Sam also brings up the possibility of option C - The Supremos disgrace themselves again, Torch stays on the ballot, and the outrage sweeps Jersey and the country to Democratic victory. We'll see...
God, could these people be more pathetic? I do love it when they squeal, although I guess I'll be squealing when Nino steps in.
Sen. Bill Frist, a Republican from Tennessee and the head of the committee, told reporters, ``What the Democrats have done is clearly illegal. They are attempting to steal an election they could not win.''
Frist and other senators said the New Jersey court decision sets a dangerous precedent and would allow other candidates to swap out just before an election if polls show they were headed for defeat.
Sen. Jim Bunning, a Republican from Kentucky, said, ``I pray to God that the United States Supreme Court will right the wrong that has been perpetuated on us by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.''
Sen. Bill Frist, a Republican from Tennessee and the head of the committee, told reporters, ``What the Democrats have done is clearly illegal. They are attempting to steal an election they could not win.''
Frist and other senators said the New Jersey court decision sets a dangerous precedent and would allow other candidates to swap out just before an election if polls show they were headed for defeat.
Sen. Jim Bunning, a Republican from Kentucky, said, ``I pray to God that the United States Supreme Court will right the wrong that has been perpetuated on us by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.''
The official unemployment rate hides a lot.
By one important measure, this recession is every bit as bad as it gets. Lee Price, chief economist of the Senate Budget Office, finds that the number of people working as a proportion of the working-age population has fallen faster in this recession than the average of the last nine recessions. Moreover, it has fallen for 27 months, longer than in any other postwar recession.
The first priority of a stimulus package should be to extend unemployment benefits beyond the customary period. Unless the economy improves, two million workers will run out their unemployment insurance by the end of the year, and an additional couple of hundred thousand will lose coverage every month thereafter.
By one important measure, this recession is every bit as bad as it gets. Lee Price, chief economist of the Senate Budget Office, finds that the number of people working as a proportion of the working-age population has fallen faster in this recession than the average of the last nine recessions. Moreover, it has fallen for 27 months, longer than in any other postwar recession.
The first priority of a stimulus package should be to extend unemployment benefits beyond the customary period. Unless the economy improves, two million workers will run out their unemployment insurance by the end of the year, and an additional couple of hundred thousand will lose coverage every month thereafter.
Hey Glenn! I think Bush might be referring to you...
Bush calls his detractors “elites, these kind of professor types that love to read their names in the newspaper.”
Bush calls his detractors “elites, these kind of professor types that love to read their names in the newspaper.”
Daily Kos and Josh Marshall wonder where the "rules are rules" people were when Mitt Romney had residency issues.
Or Dick Cheney, for that matter...(although, at that time it was the constitution that might have mattered..)
Or Dick Cheney, for that matter...(although, at that time it was the constitution that might have mattered..)
Neal Pollack's hiatus was mercifully brief, and he is back defending his position as Jersey's Pundit Laureate.
Ted Barlow's discovering the unpleasant truth of "acceptable" right wing discourse and (Scroll down) wonders where the "rules are rules" crowd was when Cruella Harris broke them.
Wednesday, October 02, 2002
Ann Coulter on Pat Robertson, from CBN:
COULTER: Well, my point is that it shows the ideological insanity of these people and how they are terrified of anyone who believes in a Being even higher than the New York Times. When you try to figure out what the Religious Right is, essentially my conclusion is that it either comes down to one man, Pat Robertson, or 80 percent of Americans, anyone who believes in God and wants his taxes cut. When you look at Pat Robertson’s positions, they are really quite moderate positions, as one would expect from a Yale Law School graduate. I may not agree with him as a conservative, but my point is they are trying to demonize Pat Robertson as some sort of horned conservative. If he didn't believe in God and go on TV and talk about it, he would be Jim Jeffords, he would be Christie Todd Whitman, I mean just in his political positions. It really shows how crazy these people are. They really are terrified of believing Christians.
COULTER: Well, my point is that it shows the ideological insanity of these people and how they are terrified of anyone who believes in a Being even higher than the New York Times. When you try to figure out what the Religious Right is, essentially my conclusion is that it either comes down to one man, Pat Robertson, or 80 percent of Americans, anyone who believes in God and wants his taxes cut. When you look at Pat Robertson’s positions, they are really quite moderate positions, as one would expect from a Yale Law School graduate. I may not agree with him as a conservative, but my point is they are trying to demonize Pat Robertson as some sort of horned conservative. If he didn't believe in God and go on TV and talk about it, he would be Jim Jeffords, he would be Christie Todd Whitman, I mean just in his political positions. It really shows how crazy these people are. They really are terrified of believing Christians.
And people wonder why we call them chickenhawks...
Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington and David Bonior of Michigan, both Vietnam War-era veterans, also said at a news conference that they felt obligated to inform Americans of the risks they faced by going to war with Iraq.
[..]
House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said McDermott was "totally out of touch with the most fundamental tenet of congressional responsibilities" and that he and other liberals had "just basically regressed to their childhood days of Vietnam War protests."
Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington and David Bonior of Michigan, both Vietnam War-era veterans, also said at a news conference that they felt obligated to inform Americans of the risks they faced by going to war with Iraq.
[..]
House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said McDermott was "totally out of touch with the most fundamental tenet of congressional responsibilities" and that he and other liberals had "just basically regressed to their childhood days of Vietnam War protests."
Daily Howler rips Saletan a new one.
POSTSCRIPT—OUR INCOMPARABLE SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH: You know us—we thought we’d conduct a thorough search to see how often the Gore-like Torch accused his rival of “risky schemes.” And it was weird—the Bergen Record recorded no instance. Neither did the Philly Inquirer. In fact, we were almost starting to get the feeling that Saletan may have embellished a tad. Maybe he was willing to do and say anything. Or maybe he even had a problem with the truth. Gosh—maybe he felt the need to embroider even when the truth would have been good enough. We found that it wasn’t hard to imagine what probably happened when Saletan typed his piece up.
But finally! The New York Times replied to our search for “Torricelli AND risky scheme.” Here is the offending example, from a September 19 report by David Kocieniewski. For the record, this is the only response to “Torricelli AND risky scheme” on the entire NEXIS archive:
KOCIENIEWSKI: Mr. Forrester, who has tried to focus the campaign on questions about Mr. Torricelli’s ethics, has [used] the Social Security squabble to challenge the senator’s credibility. At a news conference in Trenton today, he said he would oppose the Bush administration’s plan to privatize Social Security and any attempt to invest part of the trust fund in the stock market.
He also cited Mr. Torricelli’s appearance on CNN’s “Crossfire” program in October 2000, in which the senator appeared to embrace a proposal to invest part of the Social Security trust fund in stocks.
“It’s a risky scheme, with two pitfalls,” said Bill Pascoe, Mr. Forrester’s campaign manager. “First, as demonstrated by the stock market downturn, we could end up losing the money. Second, you’d be in a situation when the government is picking stocks, choosing one company over the other, with the potential for political influence-peddling.”
Mr. Torricelli’s campaign manager, Ken Snyder, said that the senator had been invited to appear on the television show because he opposes privatization and that it would be misleading to interpret “a vague moment on a rapid-fire political talk show” as a formal endorsement.
Weird, eh? In the one recorded case where someone yelled “risky scheme,” it was Forrester’s manager—he’s a Republican—yelling “risky scheme” at the Torch! Why, if we didn’t know the press corps better, we’d almost think that Will’s “fact”—which helped slime Vile Gore—was mistaken. Or had just been made up.
TAPPED says:
Traditionally, in election-law jurisprudence, courts are generally willing to override certain kinds of election statutes -- deadlines and such -- in the interest of giving voters a choice.
Well, traditionally they do...
Traditionally, in election-law jurisprudence, courts are generally willing to override certain kinds of election statutes -- deadlines and such -- in the interest of giving voters a choice.
Well, traditionally they do...
Gore makes speech.
"I am not asking the president to abandon his ideology," Gore said in a speech at the Brookings Institution. "I am suggesting that he should try to reconcile his ideology with the realities now being faced by the American people."
Republicans respond that Gore inspires treason:
Al Gore went after Republicans and the president last week, which seemed to embolden some Democrats to the point of going to Baghdad and defending Saddam Hussein and attacking the president," said Republican national spokesman Jim Dyke. "I hope this doesn't embolden some Democrats with similar ill-conceived and unproductive ideas."
"I am not asking the president to abandon his ideology," Gore said in a speech at the Brookings Institution. "I am suggesting that he should try to reconcile his ideology with the realities now being faced by the American people."
Republicans respond that Gore inspires treason:
Al Gore went after Republicans and the president last week, which seemed to embolden some Democrats to the point of going to Baghdad and defending Saddam Hussein and attacking the president," said Republican national spokesman Jim Dyke. "I hope this doesn't embolden some Democrats with similar ill-conceived and unproductive ideas."
CalPundit on Ari's definition of bipartisanship:
Bush, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said in a morning briefing, "is now supporting a bipartisan compromise on homeland security."
Keith Koffler, White House reporter for Congress Daily, was puzzled. "How many Democrats support this bipartisan bill?" he asked. "I'm not aware of any more than one Democrat."
"Well," Fleischer replied, "that certainly does make it bipartisan."
"So that's the new definition of bipartisan?" Koffler inquired.
"I think, frankly, that's the old definition of bipartisan," Fleischer rejoined. "I'd be shocked if all of a sudden the definition of bipartisan changed."
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