Sam Alito's thesis adviser, fresh off his dis of W., slams Clarence Thomas:
"Sam is his own man," Murphy said. "He'll never be 'Scalito.' And then it's a gross insult to say in the mold of Clarence Thomas. Their IQs are so radically different.... We're not talking about someone in Sam's intellectual league."
A friendly reminder to my loyal readers: after years of scandal and corruption, New Jersey election laws are sufficiently mangled so as to not actually require individual voters to be registered - or, indeed, present - in the state in order to vote in its elections. And thanks to an innovative vote-matching program sponsored by Johnson and Johnson, votes cast between 1:30 and 2:30 in the afternoon this year will count double! So vote early and vote often, people. It's what good Americans do.
Time magazine reports that "well-wired" conservatives (oxymoron?) predict a bit of an exodus:
If [Rove] leaves, he will not be alone. Several well-wired Administration officials predict that within a year, the President will have a new chief of staff and press secretary, probably a new Treasury Secretary and maybe a new Defense Secretary.
Matt Santos broke out the liberal laundry list last night on West Wing's debate episode. It made me cheer, so I thought I'd post it:
Santos: I know you like to use that word, “liberal,” as if it were a crime.Yeah! Take that, "Alan Alda"!
Vinick: No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have used that word. I know Democrats think “liberal” is a bad word. So bad you had to change it, didn’t you? What do you call yourself now, “progressives,” is that it?
Santos: It’s true. Republicans have tried to turn “liberal” into a bad word. Well liberals ended slavery in this country.
Vinick: A Republican president ended slavery.
Santos: Yes, a liberal Republican, Senator. What happened to them? They got run out of your party. What did liberals do that was so offensive to the liberal [sic] party? I’ll tell you what they did. Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. What did conservatives do? They opposed every single one of those things, every one. So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, “liberal,” as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won’t work, Senator. Because I will pick up that label, and I will wear it as a badge of honor.
Krugman uncovers the "unpublished additional material" originally written by Hans Christian Andersen to accompany The Emporer's New Suit. Allegorific!
My loyal readers (ha!) will note the changes I've made this weekend, which include for the first time (1) a list of links, (2) a fancy drop-down menu for the archive (which, admittedly, seems less fancy when you realize that Blogger provides the code to anyone who wants it), and (3) a Greatest Hits page, which took forever to put together. Call it a thank you for your years of devoted readership.
Boo ABC! Despite the far-reaching importance of this afternoon's Penn State-Wisconsin game - importance for the teams, for the conference, and for the BCS - ABC affiliates in my area have been instructed to broadcast NC State-Florida State in that timeslot. Accordingly, I hereby ask my loyal readers (ha!) to join me in a boycott of all Disney-owned television consumption. This specifically includes: ABC, ABC Family, ABC Family Values, ABC Loves Jesus, ABCGOD, Disney, and ESPN. So please, loyal readers: let's show these Hollywood liberals that if God had meant us to slavishly watch whatever crappy game they decide to dole out to us, He wouldn't have given us the gifts of free will and digital cable. Amen!
Says Jimmy Carter:
"I have a commitment to worship the prince of peace, not the prince of pre-emptive war."
Republican pundits (Repundits?) continue to call for Karl Rove's resignation, amidst new Rove-related questions from Patrick Fitzgerald. Could the Brain be on his way out after all?
William A. Niskanen, chairman of the libertarian Cato Institute, told Reuters on Tuesday that Bush has to "sacrifice" some top aides starting with Rove, who he said has given good campaign advice but poor guidance on getting legislation passed.William Niskanen, Trent Lott, and every liberal in the country. Now that's a braintrust!
Sen. Trent ["The Best Man, Woman, or Minority"] Lott (R-Miss.) said on MSNBC's "Hardball" the same day, "The question is, should he be the deputy chief of staff for policy under the current circumstances?"
I know this is totally unfounded, by I'm decidedly heartened by the fact that Sam Alito is a baseball nut:
In recent years, Alito insisted on wearing a baseball uniform while coaching Little League. As an appellate judge, he hung in his chambers a large poster of former Philadelphia Phillies baseball star Mike Schmidt. He went to baseball fantasy camp and had a baseball card made of himself.I like baseball. He likes baseball. What else could possibly matter?
(The rest of that column, by the way, is pretty good, and contains the admirable line, "Washington is a town of geeks and misfits who, for the most part, suppress their inner dorks much of the time.")
Pennsylvania legislators repeal the raise they granted themselves in July. Giant pigs rejoice.
