A few people have asked why I named this blog The Volokh Conspiracy. The blog began as The Volokh Brothers, but when I realized I wanted us to grow, I had to change the last word. I thought "The Volokh Gang," but then I thought some people might see it as derivative of the then-running political talk show The Capital Gang. I thought "The Volokh Group," but then I thought some people might see it as derivative of The McLaughlin Group. I also realized that the names were derivative of those shows, so I consciously looked for something different.
Conspiracy struck me as unusual, memorable, and a little (OK, only a little) amusing. First, I liked the incongruity of a conspiracy actually publicly announcing itself as a conspiracy. Second, it echoed "The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy," to which we belong, and also "The Jewish Conspiracy," to which most of the charter members and since then most of the more recent members have also belonged -- but at the same time, as a self-chosen label, it also slightly mocked the term (just as many conservatives' embrace of the label "The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy" slightly mocks the term, which was apparently originally coined by Hillary Clinton).
So that's how it came about, and I think it's worked well for us. And, hey, no prosecutors have started investigating us yet under 18 U.S.C. § 371 -- at least to our knowledge.
Well thank God you didn't stay with that. Sounds like a bad Borscht Belt act. :)
Take my little brother -- please!
Dan
It worked for Van Halen.
I do like that it's up to the reader to try to determine just what you're conspiring for or against, at least until your manifesto gets consolidated and published.
Your fellow right wing nut job,
Plastic
A law professor making it up? Nah, couldn't happen...
But speaking of S-O, better not delete your browser cache "in contemplation of" CrimeDog's investigation, or he'll just take the easy way out and send you away for up to 20 years under 18 U.S.C. §1519, regardless of whether there's any conspiracy here.
Doesn't 18 U.S.C. 2 make your proposed title redundant? Eugene was right to reject it.
Reminds me of a blog I once saw by a Jewish guy in New York, called "The Protocols of the Yuppies of Zion." He dropped the blog once he got a job as a comedy writer for some TV show.
- Alaska Jack
(The Volokh Partnership in Crime?)
Fortunately, under 18/371 an agreement without an overt act is not actionable.
Res Ipsa Loquitur.
For example, in today's thread following David Post's musings about misuse of kitchen cleaners, we have evidence of a Conspiracy to Bomb a Place of Public Use or Government Facility in violation of 18 U.S.C. §2332f(a)(2), since numerous recipes for for Nitrogen TriIodide and other WMDs (as defined by 18 U.S.C. §2332a(C)(2)) are published. As one comment explains, the WMD NTI is "a reddish brown precipitate that...[can be painted] it while wet onto those old black Toilet seats you can still find in some older schools - first one to sit on it after it dries will get a most unpleasant [explosive] surprise!"
Providing training to terroristic school pranksters! Professor Volokh, pay no attention to the silent black helicopters circling your house this morning...
I finally remembered where I got that - from an old cartoon strip titled Shoe by Jeff MacNelly, and his character Skyler uttered it.