Tuesday, May 24, 2005
On Undemocratic Democrats
Jim Geraghty suggests that Republicans call out Democrats on their undemocratic ways:
Abortion, affirmative action, gay marriage ? all of these intensely controversial issues keep getting decided in the judicial branch, where there is no recourse or change, instead of the legislative branch, where lawmakers have to face the voters within a year or two. ...
The intensity with which the Democratic party has resisted letting the legislature decide these issues ? even on topics like partial-birth abortion ? could be interpreted as a full-scale concession on their part that they?ll never build a legislative majority for these positions.
The day that liberal Democrats decided it was much easier to get one judge to agree with them than to persuade 51% of the American people of the rightness of liberal Democratic ideas was the day that they guaranteed their politic demise.
Once federal judges ceased to block FDR's New Deal legislation, conservatives suffered roughly four decades of defeats before they changed their ways and enjoyed some real policy success. Barry Goldwater called the Eisenhower Administration "a dime store New Deal" for a reason. Kennedy ran to Nixon's right in 1960. Once President himself, Richard Nixon governed from the left. It took Ronald Reagan to be unashamed of his conservative principles and eager to make his case to the American people while liberals were deciding which lawsuits to file next.
The country would be better off with two energetic, competitive parties. Renewed liberal competition would be especially good for conservatives, who otherwise will grow just as lazy and corrupt as did liberals in an earlier era.
|posted by Jim on 1:50 PM|
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Monday, May 23, 2005
"Nuclear Option" Will Not Detonate Tomorrow After All
Fourteen Senators signed an agreement on confirming federal judges tonight in a document made public here.
A couple of immediate thoughts:
First, the Senate's Republican leadership did not cave, but rather played a bad hand remarkably well. While there are 55 Senators who were elected as Republicans, and only 50 votes were needed to invoke the "nuclear/Constitutional option", at least six Republicans deserted their party leadership's position: Susan Collins and Olympia Snow of Maine, Lincoln Chafee (RI, John McCain (R-AZ), John Warner (R-VA, Mike DeWine (OH). (There are two signatures on the agreement that I cannot read.)
The Senate has a Republican majority. It does not yet have a conservative majority.
Second, if you think this was a war, wait for a Supreme Court nomination after a "liberal" justice retires. While liberals will make a show of fighting a conservative nominee to replace a retiring conservative, like Chief Justice Bill Rehnquist, the real ball game for them is when a liberal justice, like Ruth Bader Ginsberg retires.
|posted by Jim on 8:40 PM|
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Friday, May 20, 2005
"Star Wars" of Course
Saw "Star Wars" III ("Revenge of the Sith") last night. Theatre was mostly full when I arrived, yet we were forced to sit through not only the usual previews and ads but something called "The 2wenty", 20 minutes of LOUD previews and ads for television programs with no mute button available. Few films will redeem such a seemingly endless wait.
George Lucas may claim that the movie script was written long ago but that does not mean the film (all digital) might not have been fiddled with to make political points. There is a hint of Osama bin Laden in General Grievous. Both the emperor and Darth Vader seem to have had their scripts vetted by Michael Moore.
My personal favorite "Kerry should be president" commercial was Obi Wan Kenobi informing Vader that seeing things as either "black or white" was the way of the enemy Sith. The thought police must have missed an earlier scene, in which the Sith emperor tells Anakin that "good is a point of view." (Patrick Ruffi has cleverly created a "Republican" Darth Vader here.)
When not beating viewers over the head with Hollywood leftism, "Star Wars" conveys other, more subtle allusions -- "better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven" announced Lucifer in Paradise Lost but Anakin Skywalker demonstrates it amid fiery lava.
This film is likely to make a lot of money. But the original "Star Wars," now episode IV, remains the best story of the lot. That was a day when scripts mattered more than special effects.
|posted by Jim on 7:40 PM|
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Tuesday, May 10, 2005
AZ Gov. Blocks Official English
Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano has vetoed an official English bill, claiming:
The Legislature, to date, has failed to appropriate adequate funding to allow schools to teach English-language learners. Consequently, under Senate Bill 1167, English is required as the official language, but funds are not available to help non-English speakers to learn to read, write or speak English. Under these circumstances, making English the only language for official action is contradictory at best.
The "Napolitano Rule" boils down to "Absent a taxpayer-funded English class, immigrants in Arizona have no personal responsibility to learn English and should not be expected to do so."
|posted by Jim on 11:03 AM|
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Thursday, May 05, 2005
Hispanic Baseball Players Complaining About Translations Again
New York Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran complained to Associated Press about communication difficulties and blamed, you guessed it, teams for not doing enough translating:
Most of the guys that come from Latin America, it's hard for them to communicate with trainers or coaches. ... On every minor league team, there has to be a coach or two that speaks Spanish."
Beltran was joined in his complaints by David Ortiz: "I talked to the union and said that you have to have a meeting for the Latin players in our language."
Meanwhile, Washington Nationals center fielder Jose Guillen, who was born in the Dominican Republic, doesn't believe the language barrier is a problem:
"You can trust me on this — they all know what's going on and they're all aware," he said. "They've been watching the TV. It's been in the Dominican. It's been all over the place in Spanish and in English."
|posted by Jim on 6:08 PM|
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