Church of Bush

Worth a full read: The Church of Bush

Once I interviewed a Freeper who told me he first became a committed conservative after discovering the Federalist Papers. "I absolutely devoured them, recognizing, my God, these things were written hundreds of years ago and they still stand up as some of the most intense political philosophy ever written."

I happen to agree, so I asked him—after he insisted Bush couldn't have been lying when he claimed to have witnessed the first plane hit the World Trade Center live on TV, after he said the orders to torture in Iraq couldn't have possibly come from the top, all because George Bush is too fundamentally decent to lie—what he thinks of the Federalists' most famous message: that the genius of the Constitution they were defending was that you needn't base your faith in the country on the fundamental decency of an individual, because no one can be trusted to be fundamentally decent, which was why the Constitution established a government of laws, not personalities. [emphasis added -- sid]

"If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary . . . "

Conservatives see something angelic in George Bush. That's why they excuse, repress, and rationalize away so much.

I sincerely hope that we can walk away from this diefication of the president, because if not, we've severely hampered the natural balance of power that is fundamental to the United States.

President Does It Again

Bush Hails His Actions On Intelligence

There goes Bush, again, signing executive orders when no one is paying attention.

Of course, now that I'm peeved he's sliding stuff past the media (again), I'd like to draw something *else* out, to wit:

"All of them [the orders Bush signed -- sid] are essential to America's security as we wage the war on terror," Bush, speaking in his weekly radio address, said of the orders.

War. On. Terror.

War on fear. War on despair. War on horror.

Not war on al-Qaeda, or some group of people, or a country. Not even war on a system or ideology, or illness (war on poverty, war on racism, polio). But terror.

Fear. War. On fear.

Does this make any sense, anywhere, to anyone?

RNC Attendees to Visit Ellis Island

RNC Attendees to Visit Ellis Island

How interesting.

If you're of Asian descent, or, say, some shade other than *white*, your ancestors probably didn't come through Ellis Island.

So, what does this field trip say about the ethnic and racial diversity of the RNC?

Baby's First Week at Law School

It's been good. Which class we talk about what in is kind of blurring together, since many of the cases we chew over overlap their subject matter from one class to another. Like, maybe we talk about a contract in Civil Procedure - so we can talk about the *procedure* - as well as a contract in, you guessed it, Contracts.

I can see it's *very* easy for my fellows to get bogged down in the details of the case, as opposed to what the case tells us about the system. I probably only think I'm not suffering from that as greatly as everyone else. (Hopefully, my arrogance will tip me on my ass quickly and I can get over myself without too much damage.)

Some of the stuff we're reading right now dates back to the 1800's, so that we're seeing evolution of thought on property, contractual obligations, jurisdiction, and what harm really means (for my classes Property, Contracts, Civil Procedure, and Torts - all fascinating, btw). Because it changes with time.

I mentioned we touched on contractual obligations in both Contracts and Civil Procedure. Well, what we (the American system) inherited from the British system was a very formal approach with little room for intent.

Did you sign the contract? Is that your mark? Does it say you will perform X? Then you must perform X. Even if you *meant* at the time to sign a document that said Y - which was very similar to X, but not X - still, you promised X. Tough. Too bad for you.

But, things evolve, and today, there is some room in the rule (which is still the formal approach) for misrepresentation, or the inability to have a "meeting of minds" - in short, for trying to determine if an "honest mistake" has occurred.

Similarly, just in the past 40 years, there's been a shift in permitting lawsuits for emotional distress, even when no physical harm has resulted from some party's actions. Used to not be the case. Now, battery means to touch someone with intent to cause harm or offense, and to actually cause harm or offense, and the phrase emotional distress has some - certainly still fuzzy - meaning in a courtroom.

Baby's First Week: pretty good.

ACLU On-site At Guantanamo

ACLU Dispatches from Guantanamo Bay

Sidra has arrived

Law school may never be the same.

Yes, I'm prepared to be overwhelmed, if such a thing is possible. Yes, I've got almost 100 pages of reading due *before* the first day of class. Yes, that's probably a light load. Yes, I'm aware that the first year of law school is traditionally hell, and yes, I'm sure it will be. No, I'm not too arrogant about my chances, I may sometimes talk big, but I also work very, very hard, and I think a decade of software analysis, design, research & frustration, writing, interviewing people, re-writing, and being yelled at by CXO's is not a bad preparation for law school. At least I know I can work the hours.

More bulletins as events warrant.

"A local executive does not possess that authorit y"

-- From a very very quick skim of the opinion(s).

CA Supreme Court says Newsom was wrong to disregard CA statute unconstitutional, since the court had not actually admitted the statute to be unconstitutional.

Local officials are directed to uphold the statute barring gay marriage until or unless the statute is determined to be unconstitutional (by a court...not a local executive).

The marriages performed between same-sex partners have been annulled.

Fear is a Noun and a Verb

Today, I'm going to tell a short parable about fear.

In two days, I'll be getting on a jet plane to fly across the country. With two cats. And I am afraid.

What am I afraid of? I am afraid overzealous security personnel at the airport will inadvertantly release one or more of my cats from their carriers, thereby giving me a heart attack and killing me.

I am afraid overzealous airline personnel will refuse to let me board, leaving me trapped at one of the world's busiest aiports in the middle of the night, with two cats, thereby giving me a heart attack and killing me.

What I am not afraid of:

Flying on a jet plane in a post-9/11 world.

Being in an airport in a post-9/11 world.

Arriving jetlagged.

Starting law school.

Terrorists.

The uses of fear, for me, however, are many. Fear keeps me on my toes. As an expert contingency planner, my fear reminds me to plan ahead and be prepared. I have my contingency plan(s) lined up. (I won't need them. Nothing bad will happen. I am prepared nonetheless. This is who I am. This is what I do.) I have never let my fear stop me from doing or being or achieving. (My fear will not stop me from getting on that jet plane. With two cats.)

This seems to be good advice for the Bush Administration. Fear is only useful when it goads you to do something useful.

Color-coded terror alerts, by way of example, do not seem to foot that bill. They are, in fact, quite aptly named. They make you worry, make you fear, but don't offer you the opportunity to do anything constructive.

Terror Alert -- an alert designed to foster terror.

Yes. Yes they are.

Hey! There's Hope For Me, Yet!

Not that I worry about being prone to Alzheimer's in particular or anything, but losing my mind is just about the worst way to go I can imagine.

Work 'may ward off Alzheimer's'

...previous studies have indicated that keeping the brain active can protect against Alzheimer's.

Research published last year suggested that dancing, playing musical instruments, reading and playing board games can all reduce the risks of developing the disease.

Dr Kathleen Smyth, who was involved in this latest study, said mentally demanding jobs may boost brain activity and help it to fight against Alzheimer's.

Hm!

September 'National Preparedness Month'

http://www.thismodernworld.com/weblog/mtarchives/week_2004_08_08.html#001686

This is transparently a continuation of the Bush campaign by other means, financed with everyone's tax dollars, out of funds that could be used, say, to hire more actual first-responders, Pushtun translators, or troops to replace the exhausted guardsmen.

If this September is NPM -- what have all the other months since September 11, 2001 been? The warm-up act?

Bush Admin. F**ks Up, Again

Unmasking of Qaeda Mole a U.S. Security Blunder-Experts

...working under cover to help the authorities track down al Qaeda militants in Britain and the United States when his name appeared in U.S. newspapers.

"The whole thing smacks of either incompetence or worse,"

Um, yeah.

Alternate History

Alternate History: The Cincinnati

What if things had gone differently? What if the Founders had taken as their model not late eighteenth-century Britain, but that other great example of good government: the Antonine dynasty of the Roman Empire, in which each Emperor "adopted" the leading military politician of the next generation as his successor?

I just thought it was cool.

(Actually, I thought, Brad! Thanks! That gives me an idea for a story. )

True, *and* funny!

Bush says his administration will "never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people."

Laughing and crying...

Niger Story Cracking Open

Want to know how forged documents about Nigerian uranium wound up in US hands? Josh Marshall tells us the forged documents were deliberately released by an Italian intelligence officer.

in late June there was a piece in the Financial Times which alleged various evidence for the proposition that Iraq had in fact sought to purchase uranium from Niger. The story also suggested that the 'security consultant' was himself the likely forger of the documents and that this 'scam' had only served to obscure the real evidence of the sale of uranium to Iraq.

...You’ll remember that most of the papers in the bundle of Niger-uranium documents that arrived at the US Embassy in Rome were actually authentic. It was only a subset of the documents --- those specifically related to the alleged Niger-Iraq transactions and a couple others --- that were bogus.

In late 2001, the SISMI officer brought the Niger Embassy employee a packet of documents --- those later identified as forgeries --- and instructed her to slip them in with the other documents she was providing to the ‘security consultant’ on an on-going basis.

She mixed those documents in with authentic documents which she had access to in the course of her work at the embassy. She then passed those documents --- again, a mix of authentic and forged ones --- to the ‘security consultant’. [to be sold to other intelligence agencies and the press]

Presidential Ad Campaigns

The Living Room President.

How neat! Presidential compaign commercials since 1952, thanks to the American Museum of the Moving Image.

(Hat off to Crooked Timber, for the tip!)