Barnett's Bill of Federalism
— Gabriel Malor

Randy Barnett discusses his proposed federalism amendments at Forbes. We looked at it in some detail a few weeks ago.

Barnett suggests that his proposal be taken up by states and tea parties instead of the purely symbolic sovereignty declarations. I agree, though I don't support every last one of his amendments.

It will become the rallying cry of Tea Parties and other citizen groups across the nation and, like the Contract with America, can provide an organizing document for candidates seeking state and federal office. Candidates to state legislatures can campaign on proposing it to Congress, and candidates for Congress can campaign on proposing it for approval by the states.

And I fully expect that the Supreme Court would try to forestall its adoption by moving toward the original meaning of the Constitution, which it is always free to do. After all, even without a Bill of Federalism, the federalism embodied in the written Constitution is still the Supreme Law of the Land.

The proposed Bill of Federalism with comments and explanation for each amendment is here.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:41 AM | Comments (85)
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Dueling National Security Speeches: Cheney v. Obama
— DrewM

A few above the post thoughts...For all those who want Cheney to shut up and go away (Hi Ms. McCain!), how many other people are able to put a sitting President so on the defensive that he has to schedule a major speech to rebut him? Obviously Cheney is hitting a nerve.

Now you can say that Obama may want this fight but it's pretty pathetic that the President of the United States wants to play such petty games.

Either way Obama doesn't look good. He simply wants to campaign and not govern.

Can you imagine if Bush felt compelled to give a campaign speech defending himself every time his critics attacked him a little too much? That's all he would have done.

And remember all the speeches Bush gave attacking Clinton for not taking terrorism seriously and causing 9/11? Yeah, me either.

Original post:
Cheney (Evil Be Upon Him) is giving a speech on the Bush administration's security policies, Obama will be giving one shortly on Gitmo and other topics. Obama already gave his.

Right now Cheney is taking out after the NY Times. It's AWESOME.

Thankfully he's also delineating the difference between what happened at Abu Ghrab and Gitmo. The former was sadistic BS, the other was a calculated effort to get desperately needed information.

Needless to say, Olbermann, Sullivan and the various incarnations of Glenn Greenwald are going to hate it. I love it.

An important reminder....3 (THREE!) terrorists were water boarded. That's it.

Now he's ripping Obama and his Orewellian name game which killed War on Terror and "enemy combatants". Did I mention this is AWESOME!?

In his speech Obama said,

Some Americans are angry, others want to re-fight debates that have been settled...that they have lost.

He's right. Too bad the Republicans didn't nominate someone who would make the case for those policies in the straight forward, factual way Cheney is doing right now. Thanks John McCain and the awesome Republicans Democrats and independents who nominated him.

More updates soon.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:33 AM | Comments (309)
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Leftists Weep: Obama Sides with Bush Administration Over Plame Case!
— Gabriel Malor

Heh. Joe and Valerie Plame sued Bush Administration officials in 2006 alleging constitutional violations by Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, and Richard Armitage, but the courts have not been very receptive to their imaginative claims. The Plames vowed to take it to the Supreme Court, however:

The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court not to hear an appeal of a lawsuit brought by Mrs. Plame and her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, against several top Bush administration officials. The department's move continued the Bush administration's policy to fight the suit, which has already been dismissed by two lower courts.

"The decision of the court of appeals is correct and does not conflict with any decision of this Court or any other court of appeals," said the brief filed by Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Assistant Attorney General Tony West, and Justice Department attorneys Mark B. Stern and Charles W. Scarborough. "Further review is unwarranted."

The Justice Department filing agreed with the lower courts that none of the Wilsons' several legal arguments gave an appropriate basis for such a lawsuit.

The butt-hurt Leftists sob: "The government's position cannot be reconciled with President Obama's oft-stated commitment to once again make government officials accountable for their actions."

It still hasn't quite sunk in for these folks, so I'll spell it out for them: Obama. Is. A. Liar. And it's damn hilarious when its the Left getting lied to.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 06:28 AM | Comments (35)
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Airport to Nowhere, Part II?
— Slublog

Who knew Rep. Mike Michaud (D, ME) was so powerful? After all, John Murtha (D, PA) only got $800,000 for his airport.

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Northern Maine Regional Airport in Presque Isle is getting $2.5 million in federal stimulus money to extend its parallel taxiway.

The announcement Tuesday by U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud said the project will provide the airport with a full parallel taxiway, improving operational safety and efficiency.

Michaud goes on to say the funds will create jobs and improve infrastructure. Without a doubt, it will provide a short-term stimulus to the economically depressed region, but is that particular airport worth $2.5 million of taxpayer money?

Presque Isle is a nice little city (well, city by Maine standards) in Aroostook County. Its population in the 2000 census was 9,511. That's not a lot of people. Perhaps, though, one should judge whether the money is being spent wisely by how many flights go in and out of the airport per year.

That number? Not so big. Last year, the number of flights was 4,522. On average, that's about 12 a day, or $552 per flight.

Feel like your money is being well spent?

Cross-posted at The Greenroom.

Posted by: Slublog at 06:14 AM | Comments (25)
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Outspoken "Human Rights" Organization Turns Out to Be a Bastion of Sexual Harassers
— Gabriel Malor

This story won't surprise anyone who has worked with or in the United Nations. The mostly infamous "peace" organization is fairly well-known for its culture of sexual abuse. I have friends from public policy school who worked there and bailed immediately after being subject to unwanted advances from superiors.

Part of the problem, as described in the the Wall Street Journal page one article linked above, is that there was no way to make a complaint that would be taken seriously.

Many U.N. workers who have made or faced accusations of sexual harassment say the current system for handling complaints is arbitrary, unfair and mired in bureaucracy. One employee's complaint that she was sexually harassed for years by her supervisor in Gaza, for example, was investigated by one of her boss's colleagues, who cleared him.

Cases can take years to adjudicate. Accusers have no access to investigative reports. Several women who complained of harassment say their employment contracts weren't renewed, and the men they accused retired or resigned, putting them out of reach of the U.N. justice system.

But that's not the whole story. The U.N. ranks are largely composed of non-Americans (in fact, Americans are routinely discriminated against within the U.N.). They simply do not share American distaste for sexual harassment and they have no desire to see that it ends.

So why should we have anything to do with the U.N.? It protects sexual harassers and tyrants. It coddles terrorists like Arafat. And everywhere its "peacekeepers" go, a bunch of women and children end up getting raped. Get rid of it already!

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 06:06 AM | Comments (27)
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Sacramento Bee Editors: Voters Are Teh Stoopid...No, Wait, Can We Get A Do-Over?
— Gabriel Malor

Via Patterico, the editors of the Sacramento Bee accidentally let the mask slip yesterday with a sarcastic and snooty editorial about the defeat of the ballot props. The gist was that voters are idiots who don't understand politics.

Then, after criticism from, well, everyone the paper pulled that editorial and replaced it with one with the opposite message: chiding legislators because they "had that one coming." Their excuse was that they accidentally published a draft that had been circulated in the normal course of business.

Nobody is buying this horseshit. The editors said exactly what they believed and then were shocked, shocked when they found themselves in a much-derided minority. After all, nobody they know voted against the props.

Click here for both editorials, saved for posterity by Doug Ross.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 04:25 AM | Comments (80)
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Top Headline Comments 05-21-09
— Gabriel Malor

Hello, New Day.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 03:55 AM | Comments (45)
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Overnight open thread – A chill, Skittles-scented wind is blowing through America (genghis)
— Open Blog

TonightÂ’s roundup:

Item #1: What kind of nation have we become where a man canÂ’t even express himself artistically in public? From the Seattle Times:

”A man who police said attached a string to his genitals to perform some sort of puppet show in the public area of a Federal Way apartment complex has been charged with felony indecent exposure.”

“According to the charging papers, one female witness "stated as Martin stood on the platform and exposed his genitals she saw that Martin had a string attached to his penis and was apparently manipulating it with the string like a puppet."

If he’d done this on a stage in Greenwich Village instead of on top of an air conditioning unit he’d be getting rave reviews from the local press in their theater sections along with lots of invites to the best dinner parties. My favorite comment so far (from the article) is: “At least the string kept it from being a hand puppet.” That comment could’ve only come from one of you drooling idiots, so ‘fess up: Which one of you made it?

Item #2: Performance art not your thing? Gizmodo has a list of Killer Sexbots. And by “killer,” they mean that you’re the one to die. Their criteria:

”So here's our list of sex robots who turn lethal. Note: We're not listing killer robots who just happen to be sexy. To win a place on this list, a robot has to have been built for sex, and then turned lethal. Feel free to debate our choices below. As it is, it's perhaps not that surprising to realize that the sexbot who goes on a killing spree is a more common trope than you might expect at first.”

My biggest complaint with the piece is the stand-in model they use to illustrate “Pris” from Blade Runner. I mean, what the fucking fuck? Pris was actually very cute but their version is just…alarming.

Item #3: Finally, just to prove that the ‘bots haven’t got us totally beat (yet), Cracked highlights 6 people with amazing skills (that are totally useless) I think they overstate the case somewhat though. There’s a couple of those skills I’m pretty sure I could find a real world use for. If nothing else, make sure you watch the YouTube vid of “Bobby Badfingers.”

Notice: Posted by permission of AceCorp LLC. Please e-mail overnight open thread tips to xgenghisx@gmail.com. Otherwise send tips to Ace.

Posted by: Open Blog at 06:17 PM | Comments (472)
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Four Arrested in Plot to Car-Bomb NYC Synagogues
— Ace

I see "religion," I even see "of," but I'm not seeing "peace."

They were sold fake C-4 by FBI agents posing as fellow "militants."

The FBI busted a homegrown terror cell late Wednesday night as the men sneaked around a Jewish temple in Riverdale planting what they thought were packages of C-4 explosives, sources told the Daily News.

The four men also allegedly had what they believed was a working Stinger missile in their car: officials said they wanted to shoot down a plane near Stewart Air National Guard Base.

Sources said the four men were arrested after a year long investigation that began when an informant connected to a mosque in Newburg said some militants wanted to buy eplosives.

FBI agents posing as militants sold them what they thought were C-4 and a plane-downing Stinger missile.

The weaponry was all phony.

The men were arrested as they planted fake bombs in front of the Riverdale Temple in the Bronx and under cars parked in front of the synagogue.

They also allegedly planned to blow up a second synagogue, the Riverdale Jewish Center.

One man was of Afghan descent. The others were jailhouse converts.

Posted by: Ace at 05:39 PM | Comments (235)
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California Elected Officials Will Get 18% Pay Cut
— Ace

Next year, alas, as the law doesn't allow their current salaries to be cut.

Highest paid in the country -- and will still be the highest paid after the cut.

And worth every penny, my friends.

eporting from Burbank and Sacramento -- A state panel this morning slashed the salaries of the governor, legislators and other elected state officials by 18% -- a day after voters rejected a plan by the leaders to address the budget crisis.

The cut will apply to officials elected next year.

...

The commission had wanted to decrease current officials' pay, but the panel's attorney said California law does not allow that.

...

But state Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny (D-San Diego), who will be termed out of the Legislature next year, called the decrease "excessive" and "punitive" and said it may discourage some people from running for state office.

That's the whole point, Denise.

One commissioner proposed cutting salaries (and a ridiculous $35,000 stipend for per diem expenses) by 25%. That sounds better to me.

Do I hear 30%? How about 35%?

This is really terrific, actually. Nothing encourages a legislator to take a good hard look at the state's finances like having his own finances jeopardized.

Thanks to gg.

Posted by: Ace at 02:34 PM | Comments (69)
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