tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60089502024-02-08T07:32:26.696-05:00The New New LeftObservations and ruminations on the state of policy and politics.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07636102473002216664noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008950.post-14719709589160200512013-06-25T16:50:00.002-04:002013-06-25T16:50:43.749-04:00Some Thoughts on Shelby County v. Holder and the Roberts Court: Part II, The Sloppiness of John RobertsIn my last post I discussed why I think John Roberts is brilliant. This post will discuss why I think he is wrong, and often sloppily wrong.
Roberts' opinion today in Shelby County v. Holder held that the current formula for which jurisdictions are subject to pre-clearance of new election laws is an unconstitutional infringement on the sovereignty of the states because it is no longer Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07636102473002216664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008950.post-85475794281966738342013-06-25T14:48:00.000-04:002013-06-25T14:48:13.740-04:00Some Thoughts on Shelby County v. Holder and the Roberts Court: Part I, The Brilliance of John RobertsI finally finished reading the opinions in Shelby County v. Holder and I am once again struck by the sloppy brilliance of Chief Justice Roberts.
First, the brilliance. Roberts' opinion is basically a procedural one. He goes to great lengths to emphasize that the substantive rights embodied in Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) are not impaired by this decision. After today's sturm undChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07636102473002216664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008950.post-34448039244394101642013-01-25T12:54:00.001-05:002013-01-25T12:54:54.925-05:00The Latest on Institutional DysfunctionYesterday, the U.S. Senate reformed its rules in a way that largely leaves the filibuster intact. Today, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today ruled that President Obama's recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board in early 2012 were unconstitutional. Taken together, these two actions are a recipe for another two to four years of institutional dysfunction in Washington.
Today's Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07636102473002216664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008950.post-9738071596684826002012-12-14T13:48:00.000-05:002012-12-14T13:48:10.207-05:00Our Plague of Gun ViolenceIt has happened again. Today there was a mass-shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. A few days ago, it happened in a shopping mall in Portland, Oregon. We are still not that far removed from the atrocity in Aurora, Colorado. Mass shootings seem to be becoming a disturbing trend, but maybe that is just a byproduct of media hype. Even if they are not happening more often, I Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07636102473002216664noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008950.post-34740613416595727202012-11-01T10:31:00.000-04:002012-11-01T10:34:49.641-04:00The Truth is Still Inconvenient Read this.
It is directed at the journalistic community, but it really applies to all of us. What are we doing to fight climate change? I will be the first to admit that rarely does a day pass when I do not reflect on climate change, but it is even more rare that I take any action against it. This has to change today.
Climate change is real. Failure to acknowledge this basic fact should Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07636102473002216664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008950.post-78802109772093711362012-10-23T16:16:00.000-04:002012-10-23T16:16:21.319-04:00Why I am a DemocratIndependence is seen as a virtue in our political system. Partisanship and even the mere existence of political parties are seen as, at best, necessary evils of politics and governance. People are encouraged to vote for individuals and largely ignore the D or R next to their names. By an overly circuitous route, this bias favors my party. Democrats, although outnumbering Republicans, are more Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07636102473002216664noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008950.post-36144580386953307652012-09-11T13:11:00.002-04:002012-09-11T13:11:50.015-04:00Just When I Was Starting to Like WIn quiet moments over the past few weeks I have indulged in some fond reminisces of George W. Bush. Yes, I thought to myself, he had his faults, but he was generally decent. Decent in a way Mitt Romney is not. Bush went out of his way on September 17, 2011 to state that Islam is not the enemy of the United States and Muslims are welcome members of our society. Romney now embraces the purveyors ofChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07636102473002216664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008950.post-43763982423455217002012-09-07T10:29:00.000-04:002012-09-07T10:29:09.909-04:00God and Jerusalem and Party PlatformsA regular reader asked me what I thought about the brouhaha surrounding the Democratic Party re-inserting God and Jerusalem into the party platform. In short, it was politics at its silliest.
First, God. As Amy Sullivan points out, there was plenty of religiosity in the Democratic platform already and perhaps more than in 2008. As a firm believer in the separation of church and state, there was Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07636102473002216664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6008950.post-72945836530815339972012-08-31T13:30:00.000-04:002012-08-31T13:30:22.027-04:00Poor ClintIt seems like the big story from the last night of the Republican convention is Clint Eastwood's channeling of Grandpa Simpson.
It's funny, don't get me wrong, but it is also sad. Clint Eastwood is most people's definition of an All-American Success Story. He is very wealthy, widely-respected and even gave back to his community by serving as mayor of Carmel, CA. Yet even he is now sliding Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07636102473002216664noreply@blogger.com0