Author Archive | David Bernstein
Debate
“Five point plan” “It’s a one point plan” “Keep taxes low” “Ask the rich to pay more” “You lie” “No, you lie” “I know business” “You are sooooo rich” “Gas prices are high” “Because the economy is doing better” “It’s your fault” “It’s Bush’s fault” “We can do better” “We have done better” “You lie” […]
A Non-Controversy at Brandeis
The Times reports that a potentially controversial Palestinian art exhibit at Brandeis’ Rose Art Museum hasn’t caused much controversy. As an alumnus, I can guess why. Unless things have changed dramatically since I was there, Brandeis students are only dimly aware of the museum’s existence, and it plays essentially no role in campus life. In […]
Glenn Greenwald: Man of the Left
Over the years, some of Glenn Greenwald’s most ardent defenders, writing in VC blog comments and to me personally, have promoted the idea that he came to his foreign policy views from a unique perspective, completely independent of standard left-wing ideological commitments. Contrary to my impression based on his foreign policy writings, I was told, […]
Comment on Eric Hobsbawm
From a Facebook friend: “What really galls is that the same people who fawn over this guy no doubt buy into Naomi Klein’s demonization of Milton Friedman.” Because being a libertarian who once gave economic advice to Pinochet is evil, but being a life-long Stalinist reflects “good intentions” (or, better, yet, just shoot the Stalinism […]
As God is My Witness
I thought raw chicken could fly. (If you don’t get the allusion, click on this You Tube link).
Gay Marriage and Intolerance
Perhaps the best most effective argument opponents of gay marriage (which I support) have [which, I’ve since read, is the focus of their current campaign in Maine] is that once gay marriage becomes institutionalized, people who still oppose it for religious and other reasons will be treated as pariahs and, even worse, will be treated […]
Here’s Where the University of Texas Loses in Fisher
From the transcript: MR. GARRE: If you look at the admissions data that we cite on page 34 of our brief, it shows the breakdown of applicants under the holistic plan and the percentage plan. And I don’t think it’s been seriously disputed in this case to this point that, although the percentage plan certainly […]
The Significance of West Coast Hotel v. Parrish: Originalism vs. Living Constitutionalism?
By David Bernstein on October 10, 2012 3:48 pm in Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Rehabilitating Lochner
In West Coast Hotel v. Parrish (1937), the Supreme Court upheld a minimum wage law for women, reversing two earlier contrary precedents. West Coast Hotel is often seen as the end of the so-called “Lochner era.” Some conservatives celebrate West Coast Hotel, not simply as a victory against “judicial activism,” but because the Court purportedly […]
The Novelty of Fisher v. University of Texas
The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments in the Fisher v. University of Texas case tomorrow morning, so I thought I would republish here the essay I wrote for Scotusblog a while back: I recently attended a panel discussion on Fisher v. University of Texas at an academic conference. Each panelist began his remarks by […]
What Does Lochner Have to Do with “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo”?
Nothing, though maybe Honey Boo Boo likes to read the old U.S. Reports in her spare time. Frank Pasquale at Balkinization begs to differ, but his point seems to be that public morality should overcome the right of people to embarrass themselves in public, especially because he thinks that such people are not true free […]
“Free Gaza” Movement Founder Greta Berlin Promotes Anti-Semitic Nuttiness
First she sent out a tweet on Sept. 30 from @freegazaorg, stating that “Zionists operated the concentration camps and helped murder millions of innocent Jews.” The tweet linked to a video claiming, among other things, that the word “Nazi” combines the words “National Socialist” and “Zionist.” Berlin and the movement later put out an improbable […]
Ted Frank: The Single-Issue Libertarian Case for Romney
Frank: Justices Kennedy and Scalia are in their late 70s, and both are the critical fifth vote on tremendously important libertarian principles: There are four justices on the Supreme Court ready to hold that the First Amendment does not bar Congress from regulating political speech against incumbents. There are four justices on the Supreme Court […]
Statistical Question
The four most recent likely voter polls at RealClearPolitics.com are as follows: CNN/Opinion Research 9/28 – 9/30 783 LV 3.5 50 47 Obama +3 ABC News/Wash Post 9/26 – 9/29 813 LV 4.0 49 47 Obama +2 Politico/GWU/BattleG 9/24 – 9/27 1000 LV 3.1 49 47 Obama +2 Rasmussen Tracking 9/28 – 9/30 1500 LV […]
To Our Readers Observing Yom Kippur Starting Tonight
May you be inscribed for a good year–healthy and joyous.