Tomorrow I will be participating on a panel discussion hosted by the American Constitution Society, “Judicial Nominations in the First Year of the Obama Administration,” at the National Press Club. The event is moderated by Michael Gerhardt and my co-panelists are Lynn Rhinehart of the AFL/CIO and Doug Kendall of the Constitutional Accountability Center. It might be on C-SPAN but otherwise will be up at the ACS website at some point; I’ll provide a link when I have one.
ruuffles says:
It’s been a week since one single publication included an assertion by an anonymous source that Obama would nominate Goodwin Liu to the 9th circuit. I think its safe to say we’ve been trolled.
January 27, 2010, 10:03 pmProsecutorial Indiscretion says:
Should be a short discussion – filling vacancies has not made the administration’s short list of strong suits.
January 27, 2010, 10:13 pmArthurKirkland says:
Defect while you have the chance, Professor Kerr . . . run to the daylight.
January 27, 2010, 11:07 pmOrin Kerr says:
Arthur,
I’m already on the Republican side, having defected a long time ago. Thanks for thinking of me, though.
January 27, 2010, 11:34 pmArthurKirkland says:
Prof. Kerr, I intend to deliver to you one fine day a selection of beers so wondrous you will change your registration from gratitude alone.
If you don’t want to wait, just watch as many Palin clips as you can find.
January 27, 2010, 11:54 pmOrin Kerr says:
Arthur,
Wow, that would be delightful. Although I assume I can change my registration back when I wake up with a killer hangover?
In the meantime, I tend to think Winston Churchill had it about right: “If you’re not a liberal when you’re 20, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative when you’re 40, you have no head.” It’s obvious overstatement, but there’s a serious insight there.
As for watching Palin, it’s okay as long as I have those beers you mentioned.
January 28, 2010, 12:00 amArthurKirkland says:
Hangover? Killer hangover?
I did not have in mind any Lite-Busch-Keystone-Ultra-Lime chuggers. My experience: The better the beer, the better the next morning. I may not be smart enough to recognize, as Gov. McDonnell (R-YouKiddingMe?) assured us this evening, that Obama loves terrorists, but I know beer.
Regarding Palin, I misspoke. Watching her is OK. It’s listening to her that corrodes synapses.
January 28, 2010, 12:31 amOrin Kerr says:
Arthur,
My understanding has been that the widely-shared view that cheap alcohol causes hangovers to be a bit of a myth. I’ve tended to think it’s more the dehydration that causes most of it.
(But then I should add that I haven’t had a cheap beer in a really long time.)
January 28, 2010, 12:50 amOren says:
Just more evidence of Orin’s pernicious fairness and willingness to listen to and interact with all comers. Absolutely despicable.
January 28, 2010, 1:54 amArthurKirkland says:
We may be mixing Calvados and Cointreau.
With respect to distilled spirits, it seems reasonable to ascribe some disagreeable effects to conegers (impurities), and mildly reasonable to associate somewhat higher volumes of conegers with lower qualities of product. (Quality does not always correlate to price in this regard. Price often indicates popularity at least as much as quality with respect to distilled spirits. Consumers of high-priced vodka, for example, could consider that the standard definition of this product requires a colorless, odorless, flavorless liquid.)
Our discussion concerned beer, and my point involved the “chugger” aspect. Many people tend to enjoy and be satisfied by lesser quantities of good beer; this moderation can diminish any hangover. Savoring a couple of Unibroue, Yards or Sierra Nevada bottles generates far less affront to the body than guzzling a six-pack of undistinguished beer. More flavorful beers sometimes have less alcohol than a lesser beer.
Not that there’s anything wrong with the rare but good soaking. For that context, many professionals recommend aspirin (before and after the bender) and plenty of water.
In other words, it’s the volume (of alcohol). And the dehydration. And, probably, the conegers. It stands to reason than no single factor could cause something so vile as a full-blown hangover.
January 28, 2010, 3:07 amIlya Somin says:
I tend to think Winston Churchill had it about right: “If you’re not a liberal when you’re 20, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative when you’re 40, you have no head.” It’s obvious overstatement, but there’s a serious insight there.
Churchill didn’t actually say this. In any event, the term “liberal” had a very different meaning in Churchill-era Britain than in the US today. All of which is fortunate for me, since otherwise I would have to make do with neither a heart (I wasn’t a liberal at 20) nor a head (I doubt I will turn conservative in the few years remaining to me before I turn 40).
January 28, 2010, 3:51 amEric B says:
any thoughts on some ways that Obama can avoid the Congressional morass? what about recess appointments?
January 28, 2010, 8:26 amruuffles says:
If you’re not a libertarian when you’re 60, you have no wealth.
January 28, 2010, 8:49 amruuffles says:
@ Eric B,
As much as I would like to, I don’t see much blame to be laid on Senate GOP for the morass of his nominees. The fault appears to lie with the fact that he’s put home-state Senators in the drivers seat. As I’ve said before, every circuit nominee with at least one Democratic home-state Senator was screened by the Senator’s office or committee, not by the White House (though the WH does another round after receiving the recommendations). There’s simply not enough nominees in the pipelines: none for 9th, 10th, or DC circuits, all with at least two (existing or announced) vacancies. You can’t make a recess appt without a nominee.
Regarding the home-state Senators, even in states with one or two Republican Senators, all circuit nominees have secured their support (the 6th and 11th ct nominees come to mind). This could also be a clog in the pipeline, the WH wants to put forward nominees that can get blue slip approval. Leahy has not deviated from the requirement of two blue slips.
January 28, 2010, 9:49 amEric B says:
@ ruuffles,
I see your point, and as I understand it, a significant contributing problem with that could be resolved by recess appointing the head of OLP, the arm of DOJ that is responsible for selecting judges for appointment. At the very least, it’s an idea that could begin to un-clog the backup that we see in Congress (at least we could have some names and some actual nominees, which you point out are lacking at this point)
January 28, 2010, 4:18 pmThe Volokh Conspiracy » Blog Archive » Video of ACS Panel on Judicial Nominations says:
[...] mentioned it earlier, and the video is now available here. I speak at the 14-minute mark, and then I get the [...]
February 1, 2010, 7:59 pm