A dissent has no power except the power of its words and its logic—that is, it has no legal power. So Scalia’s dissent in King v. Burwell (joined by Alito and Thomas) is satisfying only in the rhetorical and intellectual … Continue reading →
Here are some more quotes from Victor Klemperer’s journal I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years 1933-1941: March 20, 1938: The last few weeks have been the most wretched of our life so far. The immense act … Continue reading →
I keep reading articles that refer to the other Republican candidates as being most scared of Rubio among all their rivals. John Podhoretz thinks it’s not just because of his youth and Hispanic ethnicity (although those help), it’s because “He … Continue reading →
…oh why were they given the prison privileges they appear to have been given? The answer to the first is: among the most psychopathic, cold-blooded killers in the prison population, and that’s saying something. Both of them have been known … Continue reading →
I’ve come to the conclusion that Carly Fiorina is the sort of person where the more you hear, the more you like. Her manner is exceptionally composed, unruffled. She criticizes without undue polemics, and yet she manages to be hard-hitting. … Continue reading →
At least, people who have (as Rachel Dolezal falsely claimed to have) at least one biological parent who is black can actually look unequivocally white. It shows you how strange the topic of racial affiliation is, and how there’s quite … Continue reading →
Years ago, it used to be pretty common for light-skinned blacks to try to “pass” for white. When black people faced a tremendous amount of prejudice it made a certain amount of sense to do so, although I would assume … Continue reading →
There’s a loooong article in the WaPo about how Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign has failed to ignite much enthusiasm, and why that might be so. It focuses on errors of strategy and tactics, and the decisions made around those … Continue reading →
Vincent Bugliosi, the prosecutor who gained fame with the Tate murder prosecutions of Manson and his gang, and who wrote an excellent book on the subject, has died at the age of 80. The obituary mentions many books that Bugliosi … Continue reading →
Republicans are in a pickle, and have been since the moment Obamacare was passed. You might think they’re in a good position, because the Supreme Court is considering overturning the state Obamacare exchanges and subsidies because of wording in the … Continue reading →
…says Orin Kerr, law professor at George Washington Law School and expert in criminal procedure and computer crime law: If I understand the history correctly, in the late 1990s, the President was impeached for lying about a sexual affair by … Continue reading →
When I first heard about the charges against Dennis Hastert, I was puzzled. There’s a law against withdrawing your own money from the bank in cash and not reporting the transaction? How many people have ever heard of such a … Continue reading →