Not from the VC, but from Althouse’s comments section, by a commenter named Revenant: O’Donnell doesn’t sound like someone I’d want to vote for, but frankly I’d vote for a trained monkey if it promised to repeal Obamacare.
Author Archive | David Bernstein
Bleg: Examples of Web Sites Devoted to a Supreme Court Case
I’m planning to create a website devoted to Lochner v. New York. In researching my forthcoming Rehabilitating Lochner I’ve collected a huge amount of material about the case and its aftermath that’s in the public domain, but is not readily available. For examples, newspaper editorials praising or denouncing the opinion, the lower court briefs, articles […]
Soros and Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch, bleeding donors because of the various scandals surrounding its reporting on the Middle East [I have a lengthy series of blog posts on HRW and Israel, most of which can be found here, with some more recent ones here], and apparently finding Saudi elites either unavailable or no longer palatable, has found […]
Democratic Panic? (II)
The Democratic Strategist (a website run by, you guessed it, Democratic strategists): “In recent days, as increasingly negative projections regarding the November election have appeared, a substantial number of Democrats have been seized with a genuine sense of panic.” The article goes on to argue that such panic is unwarranted, as the recent polls merely […]
Democratic Panic?
Earlier today, I received a robocall from a DNC-affiliated pollster asking whether I plan to vote for the Republican or Democratic congressional candidate in my district, and also asking my opinion of Barack Obama’s performance as president. The rub is that I live in Arlington, Virginia, represented in Congress by Rep. Jim Moran. Moran won […]
The C-SPAN Election?
Froom the comments section on Nate Silver’s 538 blog, where he notes a 1 in 4 chance of the GOP taking the Senate: October is known for its surprises, but I would not be surprised if the electorate became more informed about the facts, and the distortions prevalent on both Network and Cable TV, and […]
Well, That’s Comforting
From the concurring opinion of four Justice in Ex Parte Milligan (1866), arguing that Congress has the power to establish domestic military tribunals for certain crimes during wartime: We have no apprehension that this power, under our American system of government, in which all official authority is derived from the people, and exercised under direct […]
“Rape by Deception” Turns Out to be a Plea Bargain
A few weeks ago, Israeli newspapers reported that an Arab man had been convicted of “rape by deception” after having intercourse with a Jewish woman while pretending to be a Jew. Various blogs ran with the story. The more sober blogs noted that the crime of rape by deception was established as a crime in […]
Interesting Freedom of Religion Case from Israel
Jerusalem Post: The Jerusalem District Labor Court last week rejected a temporary appeal by a Muslim teacher at a private Christian school to allow her to continue working after she decided to wear a hijab in class after teaching without one for 27 years. Essentially, the court rule that as a private Christian school that […]
Shanah Tovah!
The category of “Best Rosh Hashanah Video on YouTube” is probably not that competitive, but here’s a favorite of mine. The Hebrew is actually PG-13 or so, and not especially profound. But I love how the “author” worked with a popular and very catchy Muppets song. Shanah Tovah, for the uninitiated, means “Happy New Year.” […]
Brouhaha Over the Koch Brothers
An article by Jane Mayer in the New Yorker on the libertarian Koch brothers has received a great deal of attention, including this piece by Frank Rich. The bizarre point of both pieces seems to be to undermine David Koch’s efforts to become a respected member of New York “society” by harming his reputation among […]
Tales from the Great Recession
The New York Times‘s stories on the Great Recession always seem to manage to find 20 somethings to interview who seem completely clueless about finances. Case in point: Through most of last year, Ms. Ben Othman could not find any work after she was laid off by a publishing company [but now has a somewhat […]
Deference and the Constitutionality of Health Care Reform
As constitutional challenges to the new health care law work their way up the courts, proponents of the the law’s constitutionality will inevitably argue that the Supreme Court should defer to Congress’s understanding of its own constitutional powers, especially when it comes to such significant legislation. As early as 1922, the Supreme Court wrote, “Whatever […]
Jesse Friedman Vindicated (Sort of)
Back in 2004, I wrote: I saw the documentary “Capturing the Friedmans” last night. The film is about a “normal” family torn apart when the pedophile father and his eighteen year-old son [Jesse] are accused of (and ultimately plead guilty to) violently molesting children who took computer classes in their home. The case arose against […]
Speaking Tour
My Rehabilitating Lochner book is due out in early ’11, and I’m hoping to visit as many law schools as possible (primarily through the Federalist Society) to talk about the book. I have some availability in the Fall, and significantly more in the Spring. If you are an officer of a student or lawyer Fed […]