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*I recalled Prof. Anastaplo while paging through Professor Volohk‘s writings on the Second Amendment (the right to bear arms), which generally argue that the Second Amendment is a personal right (like the 1st Amendment) and not merely a right afforded to the state or community (like, for example, the 10th Amendment). Professor Volohk bases his argument, in part, on the supposed original intent of the founders. Professor Anastaplo, on the other hand, argues that the original intent of the founders was precisely the opposite, and reads the Second Amendment to convey a community right. Indeed, in his much-earlier The Amendments to the Constitution, Professor Anastaplo considers and refutes (pre-refutes?) many of Professor Volohk’s better “original intent” arguments. (Which is not to say that Professor Volohk is wrong in his analysis or history — only that it’s not the open-and-shut case sometimes suggested by Professor Volohk.)

From a Washington Post article on Chalabi, via Atrios : “Nobody knows how the president will finally come down on Chalabi. Right now Bush reportedly remains unconvinced that Chalabi is the one to lead Iraq into a democratic future. Jordan’s King Abdullah didn’t help matters: When he met with Bush recently, he is said to … Read more

if you’ve read about the horrible events in Mosul, you’ll need it. So, here you go, from Aunty Beeb: “Mr Blair, who is said to be a big fan of the show, recorded his dialogue in April for an episode in which Homer Simpson meets him in London. Actor Sir Ian McKellen and Harry Potter … Read more

According to today’s Boston Globe, “Massachusetts residents, by a solid margin, said they supported the Supreme Judicial Court’s landmark decision legalizing gay marriage, according to a Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll. The poll of 400 people, the first survey of Bay State residents since the court’s historic ruling, indicated that 50 percent agreed with the justices’ decision, … Read more

… which will not be normally subject to such fanfare. Actually, maybe it will be; we’re all making this up as we go along. Tonight’s additions are Sacred And Inane, Matthew J Stinson, A Fistful of Euros and James Casey. Alphabetization will commence… apparently not until somebody lets us do that. Moe PS: Von, old … Read more

It’s after midnight. So, as we know from the parade of TV specials this week, John F. Kennedy was killed forty years ago tomorrow. Obviously, I was not alive. It had a profound effect on my parents, especially my mother, the liberal Irish Catholic college freshman. My father went through a (fortunately brief)* Goldwater phase … Read more

I thought I’d continue the tradition of bloodthirsty late night posts, in this case combined with junior high journalism class: WHO: Tom Daschle of South Dakota WHAT: should resign as majority leader, or be voted out WHEN: at his earliest convenience WHERE: in the Capitol building WHY: 1. Because with the exception of Jeffords’ party … Read more

China is about to impose more stringent fuel economy standards for new cars, and especially for light trucks, minivans, and SUVs, than the United States. This is good news, but the contrast makes metaphorical smoke come out of my ears. We have abdicated, so completely. The world has given up on us, and decided that … Read more

Harley wants a Democrat in the White House! Harley wants to see Karl Rove frog-marched from his subterranean lair! Harley demands a music post!* Well, one out of three ain’t bad. “Death Cab for Cutie,” high-pitched emo-rockers that they are, have always found a soft spot in my heart. But I fear they’re starting to … Read more

First, I may have been mistaken about Baker. The general counsel of the Massachusetts Bar Association thinks the ruling does not allow civil unions as a solution, via the NY Times: “The court essentially stayed its order for six months “to give the Legislature a chance to respond to regulation of same-gender marriage in terms … Read more

Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court has finally decided their gay marriage case. AP story here. The headline is somewhat misleading; they leave the remedy to the legislature with a 180 day deadline, much like the Baker court in Vermont. This is probably bad for Dean’s campaign. I don’t care. It’s the right thing to do, and … Read more

… so nobody panic. (time passes) OK, that’s how it’s gonna be for at least the rest of the night: I’m bleary-eyed and can’t find the Change Time Zone Feature, so I’m going to stop now. 🙂

As a follow up to my post Saturday about the Democrats and genocide, I’ve found some quotes from Clark. From the Meet the Press transcript that von just linked to: “But I’d been on the Joint Staff, Tim, when we sat by and we let happen the slaughter of 800,000 people in Rwanda, hacked to … Read more

by von General Clark had a strong appearance on Meet the Press yesterday. Russ asked the right questions, and Clark mostly answered them the right way. I’m increasingly likely to support Clark over Bush, should he make it past the primaries. Unfortunately, my saying so may be the kiss of death for Clark, because my … Read more

Two unrelated items: 1. This young marine and adopted New Yorker is just a wonderful writer. Read it. 2. I watched Howard Dean’s speech at the Iowa Jefferson-Jackson Dinner last night (right after they auctioned off Tom Harkin’s tie and passed around buckets to raise money–politics is so unbelievably hokey sometimes.) It was a slightly … Read more

to prove I can write a short post: According to this survey, I am Charles Kennedy. My British relative approves. According to this one, I am “red” Ken Livingstone, which he says is “all right, if you don’t mind being completely f—— insane.” According to this, I write like a man. (It’s not close, either.) … Read more

There’s an interesting interview with the director of Amnesty International in Salon today. It’s mainly a critique of the anti-war movement (or at least its most visible members). But rather than start Iraq Debate Round 8072 I want to discuss these lines from the interview: “Certainly I have argued within Amnesty that in the face … Read more

This is ridiculous. The Justice Department is prosecuting Greenpeace for boarding a ship to protest illegal trade of mahogany. What Greenpeace did was illegal, and they were arrested by the Coast Guard, as is routine in a non-violent civil disobedience protest like this one. What is not routine is that: 1) the Justice department is … Read more

I’m von, I’m the third poster on the site, and I’m currently consumed by the following question: What the hell has going on at Daily Kos? I used to read Daily Kos. He was an insightful commentator on the Iraq war, and it didn’t hurt that his politics and mine have certain similarities. But what … Read more

Hi. I’m Katherine , host #2. The liberal one. I try not to froth at the mouth, and to paraphrase my mother, I don’t hate Bush, I just hate the way he’s acting. I’ve been volunteering for the Howard Dean campaign on and off since last March, which should give an idea of both my … Read more