Sonia Sotomayor and the Politics of Race
[caption id="attachment_36645" align="alignright" width="399" caption="President Barack Obama announces federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor, right, as his nominee for the Supreme Court, Tuesday, May 26, 2009, in an East Room ceremony of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)"][/caption] Kevin Drum notes that he's already tired of the "kabuki" that has emerged in reaction to the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 27, 2009 08:07
Supreme Court Diversity
There's a shocking lack of diversity on the U.S. Supreme Court, WaPo staff writer Robert Barnes points out. There hasn't been a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant put forward in the five nominations since Justice David H. Souter came to the court in 1990. With Souter's impending departure, the demographic will be seriously underrepresented on a court that features five Catholics and ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 26, 2009 06:49
Excommunicating Kristol
Steve Bainbridge thinks the Republican Party should kick out Bill Kristol and others like him: "The USA does need at least one Daddy party. It needs at least one party that believes in individual freedom and limited government." There is a large contingent that wants to kick out RINOs, with rather widely diverging beliefs as to what constitutes a RINO. Everything ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 9, 2008 14:10
Palin Derangement Syndrome
Two lawyer-bloggers who I've followed for years are upset with me for buying into the "Sarah Palin was in over her head" meme. Xrlq accused me of drinking "the anti-Palin Kool-Aid" for buying into claims that Palin didn't know which countries were in NAFTA while Bill Dyer is "genuinely concerned for [my] mental health." As to the more "outlandish" ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on November 9, 2008 09:30
Questioning Their Motives
Victor Davis Hanson has a piece out today that I suspect will be the first of many of its kind. Intermixed with some excellent points about the perception of McCain campaign negativity, the politics of race, and scandalmongering, he aims this cheap shot at Republicans who have expressed dismay at McCain or even endorsed his opponent. Second, with Obama now ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on October 13, 2008 10:14
Sarah Palin, “Small Town Mayor”
Those who've read my previous commentary on Sarah Palin, notably yesterday's post on the announcement of Palin as McCain's VP pick, know that I think she's a poor choice. While she has many fans and may be possessed of some remarkable political gifts, she's a tough sell as "Ready On Day One" and thus undercuts McCain's best argument against Barack ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 30, 2008 08:58
Hillary Clinton for Supreme Court?
Ann Althouse goes apoplectic on a recurring meme that Barack Obama should promise Hillary Clinton the first Supreme Court vacancy in exchange for withdrawal from the race and enthusiastic support. She observes that Clinton "has no judicial experience and has never done anything to indicate that she is any sort of a legal scholar or has anything like ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 22, 2008 07:31
Republican Diaz-Balart Disrupts Lantos Memorial
Silliness in Congress has morphed into ugliness, including a disruption of the memorial service for recently passed colleague Tom Lantos, NBC's Mike Viqueira reports. Republicans are outraged. Democrats are putting forward a resolution holding White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress. House GOP rank-and-file are planning a dramatic walk out ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 14, 2008 14:51
Caption Contest Winners
The Blue Hair States Edition OTB Caption ContestTM is now over. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES) ✰ THE WINNERS ✰ First: Rich - Wow, mom's got a new hairstyle Second: McCain - Please no more pictures of grandma's Bush. Third: Chip - "Didn't I see you last week in a ground hog costume?" HONORABLE MENTION Steven Taylor - Hey! I thought I sent Harriet Miers ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 11, 2008 19:48
Huckabee Getting Harriett Miers Treatment?
Marc Ambinder sees a "conservative counter-revolution" breaking out on talk radio and the blogosphere wherein the "same forces that joined to force the White House to withdraw Harriett Miers' Supreme Court nomination" are ganging up against Mike Huckabee's surging presidential campaign. Rush Limbaugh, still the most listened-to talk radio host on the planet, has taken to calling Huckabee the "Huckster." ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 19, 2007 09:32
Bloggers Regurgitating Talking Points?
Since no subject fascinates bloggers quite so much as bloggers, it's no surprise that former White House communications director Dan Bartlett's Texas Monthly comments on the subject have generated a blogstorm. In the critical exchange, highlighted by TPM's David Kurtz, Bartlett reacts angrily to a question about a "myth that there’s an underground tunnel between the Fox News studios ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 6, 2007 09:17
Huckabee and the Decline of the Religious Right
Two pieces today give insights into the longshot presidential bid of Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and the role of evangelical leaders in the Republican Party. Michael Gerson notes Huckabee's irritation that demonstrably less conservative opponents are garnering endorsements that should rightly be his. When I asked former pastor and current presidential candidate Mike Huckabee his response to Pat Robertson's ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on November 9, 2007 16:48
House Democrats Pass Contempt Citation Against Miers and Bolten
The standoff over subpoenas for Bush advisors who are refusing to testify is moving to the next level. The House Judiciary Committee approved a contempt of Congress citation Wednesday against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and one-time Counsel Harriet Miers, setting up a constitutional confrontation over the firings of federal prosecutors. The Justice Department said it would block the citation ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 25, 2007 19:05
Bush Won’t Enforce Contempt of Congress
The Bush Administration announced yesterday it will ignore demands from Congress to issue contempt indictments for officials the president has ordered not to testify. Dan Eggen and Amy Goldstein report on the front page of today's WaPo: Bush administration officials unveiled a bold new assertion of executive authority yesterday in the dispute over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, saying that ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 20, 2007 11:41
Sandra Day O’Connor’s Legacy Quickly Undone
Dahlia Lithwick laments the speed at which Sandra Day O'Connor's legacy on the Supreme Court has been undone. During the final weeks of the Supreme Court term, it was hard not to be struck by one recurring theme: Former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor—a few short years ago the "most powerful woman in America," a "majority of one," the "most powerful person ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 10, 2007 08:04
