Supreme Court: supreme overreach

The New Neo Posted on by

Here’s an excellent summary by law professor John Yoo of how the Supreme Court ruling in Boumediene v. Bush is a case of egregious judicial overreach:

First out the window went precedent. Under the writ of habeas corpus, Americans (and aliens on our territory) can challenge the legality of their detentions before a federal judge. Until Boumediene, the Supreme Court had never allowed an alien who was captured fighting against the U.S. to use our courts to challenge his detention…

The Boumediene five also ignored the Constitution’s structure, which grants all war decisions to the president and Congress. Continue reading →

Hey whitey, don’t be insulted

The New Neo Posted on by

It seems clear that the Michelle Obama “whitey” tape is merely an urban rumor and does not exist, except in the fevered minds and wishful thinking of some who oppose Obama. But even if it were found to be based in fact it turns out there’s no harm, no foul.

Who says so? The staff of the Chicago Tribune, that’s who. You see, “whitey” can’t be a racial slur, nor can it offend, because whites are not an oppressed group.

And anyone who thinks otherwise is just dumb, and therefore deserves to be insulted.

I’m not making this stuff up. Continue reading →

Pigs take wing: WaPo critical of Democrats on Iraq

The New Neo Posted on by

The Washington Post editorial page continues to show a remarkable surge of reason. The editors describe Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki’s recent trip to Iran and his insistence that he will not abide by Iran’s demands that he abandon the ongoing negotiations for a formal alliance between his country and the US. The newspaper points out that the Democrats have condemned this agreement even before it’s been drawn up.

The WaPo piece sounds as though the editors have woken up from a long period of sleep and are shocked—shocked!—that many leading Democrats are taking this stance. Continue reading →

Father’s Day: prose and poetry

The New Neo Posted on by

Tim Russert died two days ago, and he’s been mourned and eulogized by many since then. Quite a few of the tributes have made glowing mention of two books he’d written, both on the theme of fatherhood.

The first, Big Russ and Me, is a memoir about his down-to-earth, loving but undemonstrative, Greatest Generation father. The second is Wisdom of Our Fathers, a collection of letters about fathers that readers sent Russert in response to the first book.

I’ve read neither. But since so many of the heartfelt reminiscences about Russert—who seems to have been one of the rare genuinely warm, decent, and fairminded individuals ever to have risen to the top of the heap in the TV news business—recommended these two books, they sound as though they’d be an excellent thing to read or give as a gift on Father’s Day.

Father’s Day. A sort of poor stepchild to Mother’s Day, although fathers themselves are hardly that. They are central to a family.

Just ask the people who never had one, or who had a difficult relationship with theirs. Continue reading →

McCain’s lousy grades

The New Neo Posted on by

One of the points Obama supporters often make about McCain is that he must be dumb since he graduated 594th out of 599th in his class at the Naval Academy.

McCain’s low ranking is true. It’s also is true that McCain’s friends insist he “achieved” this status through design, not lack of intelligence; he did well in those subjects that interested him, such as history and literature.

In this respect he follows the tradition of none other than Winston Churchill, Continue reading →

Another day, another fugly dress

The New Neo Posted on by

Some of you may have noticed that lately I’ve been putting a bit more fluff on this blog.

Yes, it’s true. It may have started with the post in which I segued seamlessly from Obama to jello, but it’s bigger than that now.

Although the meat and potatoes of politics and world events continue—and will continue to continue—to constitute the bulk of my writing here, there’s something about the interminability of this election cycle that has driven me to glance now and then at such heretofore unexplored blogs as Go Fug Yourself, dedicated to the bizarre fashion choices of marginal celebrities. Continue reading →

Hallelujah! Leonard Cohen is back

The New Neo Posted on by

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For the first time in fourteen years, Leonard Cohen is on tour. The kickoff was in Fredericton, Canada, on May 11.

How many more tours could he possibly have in him? The guy is 74, a bit long in the tooth for a singer on the road. Although he’s very trim and dapper, he makes the Rolling Stones seem young (well, except for Keith Richards, who would make a corpse seem young). Continue reading →

Keillor on Obama: the power of a silver tongue

The New Neo Posted on by

According to Garrison Keillor’s op-ed piece in the Chicago Tribune, he’s an Obama fan.

This is hardly surprising in a man who’s as liberal as Keillor is—in his piece, he calls “recent Republicanism” a “dismal darkness.”

Keillor’s fondness for alliteration is part of his penchant for writing. And his love of words—both spoken and written—is reflected in one of Keillor’s two stated reasons for supporting Obama: the fact that he’s an eloquent speaker (the other appears to be that he’s black). Continue reading →