Dancing with Sotomayor

Another confirmation hearing, another elaborate shooting match. Yesterday was nothing more than speechifying from the blowhards on the judiciary committee, and today begins the ritual waltz of question-and-avoidance. Why do we bother with these hearings again?

-I love the Republicans' attempts to destroy Sotomayor for having the temerity to admit that objectivity and impartiality are impossible (but nonetheless worthy) aspirations for mere mortals.

-I'm also amused by their attacks based on "her" opinion in the Ricci case, which was actually a per curiam opinion from the entire court and which agreed with precedent from several other circuits. The Supreme Court actually decided to change the standards for discrimination claims when they took Ricci, meaning they changed the law. Sotomayor was just unfortunate enough to be the one who heard the case before SCOTUS made the change.

-In responding to Russ Feingold's questions about executive power, Sotomayor says she hasn't had enough cases on the Youngstown Steel framework to answer his questions. WHAT?!? Who's supposed to believe that? That's from Con Law I, lady, and it's one of the most significant legal questions raised by the previous President's misbehavior. Really? You really didn't study up on that one for a congressional hearing? Really?

Republican Suicide?

It's been a few days since Palin's decision to retire hit the news, and I am still happy as a kleptomaniac on a commune that she says she wants to run for president. I see four possible outcomes, two of which are good and two of which are great.

First option: Palin might flash for a week or two and then fade away like she should have on November 5. The Republican machine will forgive her her trespasses and appoint her to some party sinecure (like the Democrats would have done with Howard Dean if he'd been incompetent), and she will vanish from the public eye, except for occasional commentator spots on Fox News. Who wins? America, because that ignorant demagogue is gone.

Alternatively, she might manage to keep enough momentum to make it into the Republican primary, which is still a free-for-all and, with luck, will remain so. If this happens, things can go three more ways.

Second option: Palin loses to an old white male (because the Republican Party's base simply will not change) and gracefully bows out to campaign for him. Republican forgiveness, sinecure, disappearing act, America wins.

Third option: The crazy bitch will run as an independent, drawing the critical Michigan militia and beehive hairdo demographics away from the Republican party. The Republican nominee gets Nader'd and we've got a second term for Obama no matter who the Republican nominee is. Winner: Probably the Democrats, depending on what happens in the congressional elections. Woo!

Last option: The Republican Party collectively loses its mind and actually nominates Palin instead of someone more sensible like Bob Dole's mouldering corpse or a stuffed eagle painted like the American flag. The entire nation runs screaming in terror, directly into the arms of the left. Democrats sweep congressional elections, Obama gets a third term, the Republican party disbands, truck nuts are outlawed, and clean, free energy is available to all. Well, maybe not those last few, but it will be a deathblow to the Republicans.

I mean, seriously, what sort of sycophantic morons does Palin have advising her? Anyone with a pulse and at least 75% of their brain can tell that she is over. Admittedly the last election was primarily a battle between a wizened old man and a sprightly newcomer promising change, but there's no denying that Palin as candidate for VP hurt the Republicans badly. Now she wants to run at the top of the ticket? Oh man, I hope she makes it.

Sotomayor

So I've lay quietly watching for the last few months and there really hasn't been much worth commenting on. Oh, sure, Obama rolled back most of the decisions Bush made by executive fiat, like abstinence-only "education" and the ban on stem cell research, but this was so obviously coming that its occurrence seemed more like a pro forma press release than an actual event. Sotomayor's nomination seems the same way, but it's important, so here goes.

Sonia Sotomayor comes to the Supreme Court from the Second Circuit, encompassing Vermont, Connecticut, and New York. She has the classic background of the liberal ethnopolitical giant: born into a racial minority, raised in a single-parent home, lifted herself into Princeton undergrad and Yale law school by her own boot straps, worked largely in public service. From what I've read, she seems an able and competent jurist with center-left leanings; when her appellate decisions were overturned by the Supreme Court, it was usually the conservative majority that did the overturning. Even if the identity politics is a bit stifling, I nonetheless approve.

In fact, damn near everybody approves, and they've been approving of her since Souter decided to retire. No, not since that flap over Bush v. Gore, just since he announced it publicly. Even two weeks ago, SCOTUSblog was publishing in-depth analyses of her decisions.

And her confirmation is a foregone conclusion. She's a logical successor to Souter who won't significantly alter the balance of the court, her personal narrative is absurdly compelling, and when push comes to shove, Obama has the votes he needs.

It will be interesting to see what the Republican smear machine tries to throw at her. Get the popcorn!

Toldja So

That is all.

A Reminder

I've been calling this one for Obama since June, and I still am.

Congress Listens for Once

I'm thrilled the House has voted down the bailout package. From what I've heard, there are new proposals being floated as an alternative to simply handing over a trillion dollars to foolhardy Wall Street sharks. They're taking their time, and I couldn't be happier. Get it fucking RIGHT!

Cottle-ing Palin

There's a really great piece about Republican tactics in the culture war over at The New Republic. Go check it out.

For God's Sake, Congress, Take Your Fucking Time

So now we have Paulson and Bush arguing that Congress needs to shove through a legislative response to the markets right fucking NOW OH GOD NOW DO IT NOW, the exact same way it shoved through the Authorization for Use of Military Force in 2001. You know, the document that was meant to justify a war with the Taliban and instead authorized seven years of American forces occupying a large chunk of the Middle East? Oh, and let's not forget the USA PATRIOT Act blitzed through Congress in 2001 as well, which has been used to justify all sorts of unconstitutional dragnet surveillance on the domestic population of America.

Quick action in a committee is almost never good idea because something inevitably gets fucked in the process. To respond to such a massive paradigm shift in the American market with a quick fix is unconscionable.

For god's sake, Congress, take your fucking time drawing up that rescue plan, and don't let the lame duck quacking in your ear rush you into a poor decision.

Titans Falling

Well, that's it. There are no more major private investment banks in America. So long, free enterprise. Welcome to the New Capitalism.

How much will it cost taxpayers? We don't know. This is a particularly thorny issue. Putting a specific value on the fallout requires pricing the securities that are collapsing, and the securities are collapsing precisely because their value is difficult to determine.

Expect more updates.

Socializing the Economy

"America privatizes profit and socializes loss." The current plan for an $800 billion bailout is an atrocity that will only encourage investors to take more and bigger risks in the future. I'm no free market dogmatist, but this is plainly bad policy. More as events develop.