URLs du Jour

2006-01-24

  • Ann Althouse compares CNN/USA Today/Gallup polling on confirming Judge Alito to the Supreme Court, pre- and post-Judiciary Committee hearings. The result: the pro-confirmation percentage went from 49% to 54%; the anti-confirmation percentage went from 30% to … drum roll … 30%. All that ranting by Kennedy, Leahy, Biden, et. al. did not budge the anti-confirmation numbers one bit. Wonder if they have a Plan B?

    Also interesting is how the "rules" change when a Republican is doing the nominating. John at Power Line notes the difference: the Clinton-nominated Breyer and Ginsburg racked up confirmation votes of 87-9 and 96-3 respectively; GOPers were expected to, and largely did, vote for qualified candidates irrespective of ideological orientation.

    I (unlike John) wouldn't go so far as to claim the Democrats are "trash[ing] our institutions and traditions for the sake of political gain." Yeah, maybe they are, but so what's new? But they pretty clearly are clearing the path for all such nominations to be viewed as purely partisan matters in the future. To which Pun Salad can only say: "Good luck with that. Let us know how that works out for you."

    Matthew Hoy also has worthwhile comments on this topic here, here, and here.

  • If you're looking for a pointer to insightful analysis of the Canadian election, perhaps accompanied by a light-hearted quip: apologies, but geez, what were you thinking? Maybe you shoud ask the Google about that instead, eh?

  • Mary Anastasia O'Grady comments on Cindy Sheehan's continuing efforts to get back into the media spotlight, this time by attending Hugo Chavez's World Social Forum in Caracas:

    Indeed, the Sheehan tour to Caracas belongs in the "you-can't-make-it-up" category: A bitterly outspoken American citizen who has made a career of lambasting her president, she travels abroad to celebrate with a dictator who has thrown his own critics out of work and even put them in prison, stripped the pres of its freedom, destroyed property rights and militarized the government. His political supporters are known to be armed and dangerous and many Venezuelans in poor neighborhoods have reported that they are afraid to disent from the Chavez agenda. Venezuela's arms build-up is frightening his neighbors and threatening regional stability.

  • I previously recommended Max Borders' explication of "rights by agreement", which he proposed as a superior alternative to Ed Feser's advocacy of "natural rights". Today, Ed is back and brings his philosophical shotgun to bear on contractarianism. As I said a few days back: I am, as always, deeply persuaded by the last thing I read.

    But how can we pretend to understand morality with any kind of rigor unless we first understand the roots of consciousness and rationality? Which we don't, I'm pretty sure. Maybe I should drop Max and Ed a note about this.

  • And finally: Aieeee! We're all gonna die! Today's harbinger of global-warming doom is Professor James Lovelock, who cheerfully predicts:
    [B]efore this century is over billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable.

    And he has a book to sell that will tell you all about it. (Rejected as cover blurbs: "The feel-good story of the year!" "Wacky laff riot!")

    Call me pessimistic, but Pun Salad probably won't live long enough to be snuffed out by global warming. Nor the Salad kids. Nor their kids. Nor …, well you get the idea. Roy Spencer at TCS is also skeptical.


Last Modified 2012-10-25 3:25 PM EDT