Law Students

Oh Boy

Posted on July 03, 2008
McCain down 5 in . . . Montana.HT: LH

Fake Out In Buenos Aries

Posted on July 03, 2008
Well, not Buenos Aries literally. More like the jungles of Colombia.Government agents posing as rebels tricked a gang of armed desperados into handing over 15 hostages during a rendezvous deep in Colombia's unforgiving jungle.The Colombian government's bloodless rescue of the hostages Wednesday was the product of a perfectly executed ruse that depended on old-school spy games rather than high-tech gadgetry...

Blue Angels

Posted on July 03, 2008
Latest conversation with Tuco and DH:Tuco: The Blue Angels are dicks. 'Sure, it's great to have them warm up over my office building (we're lakeside) - but the constant sonic booms get a bit annoying. Kind of like a Chinese New Year dragon is pretty cool, but if came into your office every five minutes, lobbing firecrackers, you'd probably want it to stop...

2012 Election

Posted on July 03, 2008
I know the 2008 election hasn't happened yet, but it's about time we start moving forward with this blog's coverage. All the way to the next Presidential election in 2012.Pablano at FiveThirtyEight.com, an incredibly good site run by a guy (tending left, but eminently fair) who works at Baseball Prospectus, notes what the Electoral College will look like in 2012...

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More on Obama's Credibility Gap

Posted on July 02, 2008
Slate has a good running tab of the shifts, clarifications, flip-flops, and broken promises of the Obama campaign.In addition to the topics I've discussed, they mention FISA, Social Security reform, and Welfare Reform.I understand the rationale of wanting hope and change...

Predicting the Powell Endorsement of Obama

Posted on July 02, 2008
Campaign Spot claims that Powell endorsing McCain would actually be "an enormous upset" for Obama, because the writing on the wall is that he'll endorse Obama.Right now, Powell's going to be largely, if not primarily, remembered as the man who sold the Iraq war at the United Nations...

Annoying the Base

Posted on July 02, 2008
I love this comment from Kos:Obama is now clearly not looking much different than every other Democratic politician who has ever turned his or her back on the base in order to prove centrist bona fides. That's not an indictment, just an observation.Now I know there's a contingent around here that things Obama can do no wrong, and he must never be criticized, and if you do, well fuck you! I respect the sentiment, but will respectfully disagree...

McCain Gains Two Critical Endorsements

Posted on July 02, 2008
Sure, it looks like Bill Clinton is finally coming around to support Barack Obama.But does Obama have Stephen Baldwin? No.An incredibly big coup for McCain. Baldwin supported President Bush in both 2000 and 2004, when Bush won both elections.But Baldwin is small potatoes...

Video of the Night

Posted on July 02, 2008
Petula Clark's "Downtown" auf Deutsch.I like that they don't translate "Downtown" to German.And of course, it triggers in my mind this clip:

Torture But Not That Bad For Torture

Posted on July 02, 2008
Christopher Hitchens volunteered to be waterboarded so he could describe it. His main points are:(1) It counts as torture.(2) As torture goes, it's not that bad (see below)(3) We still shouldn't do it because it's tortureWhen contrasted to actual torture, waterboarding is more like foreplay...

Michelle Obama's Fav/Unfav Ratings

Posted on July 02, 2008
AP reports she's at 30/35.That's what happens when you make gaffes like these and explain them poorly.

Wes Clark, Presidential Qualifications, and McCain

Posted on July 01, 2008
Marc Ambinder has an excellent take on Wes Clark's statement that McCain's "riding" (he was actually piloting, it wasn't a carpool) in a plane that was shot down in Vietnam isn't a qualification for the Presidency.[T]he statement is both patently obvious and patently false...

Almost-Stardom

Posted on July 01, 2008
The lives of B-listers, the ones you see in US Weekly at the grocery store, are prominently displayed here:[W]e take a drive with [Spencer] Pratt in [Brody] Jenner?s Mercedes G55 (MSRP: $105,275) down the Pacific Coast Highway, passing Mel Gibson?s house and eventually David Geffen?s...

Obama's Two Contradictions on Gay Rights

Posted on July 01, 2008
1. He opposes gay marriage and doesn't think such marriages are "real," but applauded the California Supreme Court's decision to legalize it.2. He thinks states should decide whether to legalize gay marriage, and thinks that marriage is between a man and a woman, but opposes California's November Initiative because it's divisive...

Fear-mongering Lieberman?

Posted on July 01, 2008
Joe Lieberman is getting called out for fear-mongering regarding a possible terror plot in 2009, during the first year of the new presidency.Here's the video:Seems pretty reasonable to me. That doesn't mean, of course, that there *will* be an attack. It means we need to be especially vigilant next year...

Shadowboxing

Posted on June 30, 2008
A friend sent me an email commenting on Wesley Clark's statment that McCain lacks "executive" military experience. Her e-mail was entitled "Good Point" with the following caption: "With all due respect, how does getting tortured qualify as experience?"Such a view depresses me...

Baracktose Intolerance

Posted on June 28, 2008
Via Slate: Baracktose intolerant (buh-RAK-tohs in-TOL-er-uhnt) adj. An increasingly common medical condition in which the affected person becomes violently sick in the stomach when exposed to adulation and deification of Barack Obama.

Yoo Testifies On Torture

Posted on June 28, 2008
I love this passage regarding my old boss, and Professor: Ellison wants to know whether the legal advice was implemented that reduced the definition of torture to acts that damage a suspect's internal organs. By which he means, Did interrogators use the tactics allowed by Yoo's theory of the law? The answer to this, of course, is yes, and to know that answer, all Yoo would have to admit is that he reads the newspaper...

1 Vote Away From a Police State

Posted on June 27, 2008
I don't own a gun, and have only shot one for practice once or twice. But I'm pretty conscious of the right to own guns, both for hunting and self-defense purposes. This morning, the Supreme Court struck down Washington D.C.'s handgun ban, ruling that the right to bear arms is an individual right, and that guns could be kept to protect the right to self-defense...

When Did This Happen?

Posted on June 27, 2008
North Korea is our buddy again? After famously declaring North Korea part of the ?axis of evil? in 2002, the administration abruptly reversed course on Thursday and announced it was lifting trade sanctions and removing the nation from the terrorism blacklist, after North Korea turned over an account of its nuclear work to the Chinese...

Dumb Comments Flourish

Posted on June 27, 2008
Grover Norquist on Barack Obama: "John Kerry with a tan." So idiotic and offensive. Why bring race into the discussion by alluding to the fact that Obama has darker skin than Kerry? What purpose does that serve? How is this valuable? Why not the John Kerry of Chicago, or the Jimmy Carter of the new century? Anything but race or religion guys.

Obama Reversal On Guns

Posted on June 27, 2008
I mentioned yesterday how the 5 conservative members of the Supreme Court saved the Second Amendment. And I also mentioned how both McCain and Obama expressed support for the decision. But watch 1:21 to 1:31 on this clip. Obama appears to say the exact opposite of what he said yesterday (The Supreme Court got it exactly right)...

Awards for Subtelty In Music?

Posted on June 27, 2008
Lately I've been listening to a lot of Neil Young's old music. Pandora associates it with Cat Stevens, so creating a Cat Stevens station meant that Neil Young music was also on cue. And it is super good. Much more than just Heart of Gold. Heart of Gold is awesome, sure, but it's a little bland after you listen to a few of the less commercial songs...

Go Dogs

Posted on June 26, 2008
We are all Fresnans today.Congratulations to Fresno State, which last night won the College World Series in baseball. (Think the March Madness tournament, but with bats and gloves instead of nets).Fresno State was forecast to be a Top 25 team coming into the season, but the Bulldogs lost 12 of their first 20 games...

Cat Fight (Michelle and Scarlett)

Posted on June 25, 2008
I'm curious what Michelle Obama's reaction was to the story underlying this post, which had starlet Scarlett claiming to have frequent email communication with the Senator.Probably not friendly. And it sounds like Barack wants to make sure he doesn't sleep on the couch again...

Obama as Urkel

Posted on June 25, 2008
Last night, comedian D.L. Hughley compared Obama to Urkel at the BET awards."He does look like the dude from 'Mad' magazine," Hughley joked of the Democratic presidential nominee in an interview with AP Television. "It's so funny because he ain't a cool dude to me...

What is Obama's 50 State Campaign Like?

Posted on June 25, 2008
Describing Obama's 50-state campaign in this article, Republican Strategist Alex Castellanos made this analogy."He is not trying to cobble together the old Democratic coalition of interest groups and get 48 percent like John Kerry," Alex Castellanos, a Republican media consultant, said in an e-mail message...

The Dream Supreme vs. Reality

Posted on June 25, 2008
Justice Anthony Kennedy appropriately enough wrote for the majority today in Kennedy vs Lousiana, inappropriately ruling that raping a child is not "proportional" enough a crime to get the hot shot. In other, but unfortunately fake, news today, the Dream Supreme Court ruled the death penalty totally badass: Supreme Court Rules Death Penalty Is 'Totally Badass'I am often befuddled by the Deep South but here is an instance where I am enamored of their steadfastness in the face of gibberish-spewing, child-rapist-loving Yankees...

Obama's Fresno Deficit to McCain

Posted on June 24, 2008
It's a well-known fact that victory in the state of California runs through the Central Valley, and its jewel -- Fresno.Well, maybe not *well known*, or a "fact," per se, but certainly an educated guess on my part that I haven't confirmed.John McCain has certainly recognized the importance of Fresno, as he visited the city yesterday to make an important energy speechCurious, I e-mailed one of the directors of the Democrats in Fresno group, Gary Shuster, who let me know that Obama hasn't yet come to Fresno...

More Consequences of Opting Out

Posted on June 21, 2008
The benefits of opting out of the FEC's campaign finance system are so numerous -- being able to raise unlimited funds, donate cash to down-ticket campaigns that can float your message, compete in states that otherwise wouldn't be in play, etc. -- that the negative consequences of opting out should also be pointed out...

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