That's what he's saying, right? Gingrich hopes that by holding the threat of a trip to Congress courtesy of the U.S. Marshals Service over judges' heads, judges will be more likely to issue rulings that please congressfolk.

You read that right. Gingrich proposes to make the folks charged with reviewing acts of Congress more susceptible to congressional influence.

Gingrich says if there is broad opposition to a court decision, Congress should subpoena the ruling judge to defend his or her action in a hearing room.

When asked if Congress could enforce the subpoena by sending the Capitol Police to arrest a judge, Gingrich assented.

“If you had to,” Gingrich said. “Or you’d instruct the Justice Department to send the U.S. Marshall.”

That's an interesting reversal. The U.S. Marshal Service ordinarily provides security for the federal courts and judges. Gingrich's suggestion is an extreme departure from the vision of Founders. Alexander Hamilton wrote at length about the dangers of subordinating the judiciary to the legislative and executive branches. History buffs might review Federalist #78, in particular, on this issue.

Gingrich is banking on his scheme being well-received by voters angry at how often judges rule without considering whether their decisions have majority support. Of course, the Constitution says nothing about judges making decisions based on the popularity of the outcome.

The idea that Congress should be exercising some sort of super-review over judges is also insanely short-sighted. It may sound great when we stand on the brink of Republican control in Congress. But imagine the squawks of outrage were future Democratic Congresses to start hauling in conservative judges for questioning.

It's confusing to me that folks who love to complain about politicized court decisions want to make the judiciary even more political-minded in this manner. There are better ways to get rogue judges under control. Governor Perry has proposed several, actually. Reducing the carefully balanced separation of powers is not among them.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 09:39 AM | Comments (492)
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Via Drudge, courtesy of John E., comes this data point on the SCOAMF's little Christmas getaway:

The total cost (based on what is known) for the 17-day vacation roundtrip vacation (sic) to Hawaii for the President, his family and staff has climbed to more than $4 million.

That shared sacrifice crap is for the little people, eh? Especially those staffers and Secret Service agents who might like to spend some time with their families instead of getting dragged halfway around the globe with King Putt.

If only presidents could concern themselves with such things. If only ...

"Christmas has always been a very special day for as long back as I can remember," Ronald Reagan once wrote in a letter. "Maybe this was due to my mother and her joyous spirit about the day."



Although President Reagan could have spent his White House Christmases with family at his beloved ranch in Santa Barbara, Calif., he instead stayed in Washington, D.C. His sacrifice allowed Secret Service agents and other aides to spend Christmas at home with their families.

*Sigh*

Posted by: andy at 08:59 AM | Comments (90)
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Two games already this week. I got em both. No one is more surprised than me.

Seasonal cheerleaders today.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 08:44 AM | Comments (244)
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Last week I solicited AoSHQ readers to send in links to their own books if they (or someone they knew) had published books that they'd like to see featured in a Sunday Book Thread. I thought it would make a neat holiday feature: we bookworms get to add to our ever-growing list of books to read, and the writers get a bit more exposure (and perhaps some coin to jingle in their pockets).

The email address will remain available, so keep sending in those plugs for your books: aoshqbookthread AT gmail DOT com.

Ray Robison sends Nancy Pelosi's Amgen Conflict (Kindle edition). A day without the opportunity to mock Nancy Pelosi is like a day without sunshine. (Ray also recommends his e-books Saddam's Secret Terror Documents and The Media's War on the Military.)

Kent Steele sends Stacey's Quest, the story of a 15-year-old Philadelphia girl caught in an EMP attack on Black Friday. If you liked The Hunger Games, you'll probably like this one too.

Wotan recommends Robert Lescroart's series of novels featuring Dismas Hardy. Here's a link to the first Dismas Hardy novel, Dead Irish.

Kevin sends Obama Haiku: Tea Party, Conservative Poetry About the Greatest Human Being Ever to Walk Among Us by Rufus Kings.

John McKay (whose excellent Brave Men In Desperate Times I've mentioned in a previous book thread) sends his most recent book It Happened in Atlanta: Remarkable Events That Shaped History.

Reader Keri sends a link to a book written by her husband Brent Michael Kelley: Chuggie and the Desecration of Stagwater. A horror novel featuring a protagonist who is always drunk should be right up our alley!

Christopher DiGrazia sends a link to his book The Director's Cut, a murder mystery set in 1914. The protagonist and main sleuth is a silent-movie sex goddess named Theda Bara, so what's not to like? (You can also check out Christoper's website here.)

Sabrina Chase (isn't "Sabrina" a cool name?) sends a link to her latest: The Last Mage Guardian. If you're a fan of fantasy, this looks like a good one to pick up.

Ann Wilson, being a giving soul, sends a link to 12 (count 'em!) free e-books in the Terran Empire series. Ann is bringing the gift-giving season early this year! (These books are on the Gutenberg site, and can be downloaded in any number of formats, so you should be able to find one for whatever reading device you're using.)

This is a rich haul of bookly goodness right here. If you not only buy and read these books, but recommend them to friends and family, this has a two-fold effect: one, it spreads good reading material far and wide, which is always a good thing; and two, it makes sure that the authors of these books are rewarded for their efforts. And not just in terms of cash money (which is always nice), but in the knowledge that their readership is growing. We may be a bunch of drunken hobo-slaughtering vulgarians, but we are cultured vulgarians who appreciate finely-wrought prose and seek to promote the literary art.

Remember that if you buy your books (or other stuff) through the AoSHQ Amazon Storefront, Ace gets a little profit from every purchase at no cost to you. It's a pain-free way to give back to Ace for keeping all of those filthy hobos off the streets.

UPDATE: Patrick (StPatrick) sends recommendations for the science geeks among us. Gribbin's In Search of Schroedinger's Cat is a classic which I've read several times over the years; and Tuxedo Park is an interesting history about the development of radar during WWII.

Posted by: Monty at 06:03 AM | Comments (80)
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Per Byron York's column in the Washington Examiner this morning.

This jibes with where I'm at right now. I've got a few "No effing way I vote for him/her" biases, but otherwise I'm open to most of the remaining candidates. They've all made fatal errors, so you can't single out any one of them as "toast" based on one single "Dean Scream" moment.

And really, when you think about it: What's the rush? I've got until January 3 to make a decision. It's not like my vote counts twice or even three times if I make up my mind today. Four years ago, I had already decided on Fred!, and I spent all fall trying to help drag his carcass over the finish line; however, this time I'm going to make up my mind at the last minute and then fall in behind whoever wins the nomination, unless he thinks that "blowback" caused 9/11.....or that 'tardasil is the greatest danger we face as a society.

Posted by: Russ from Winterset at 05:06 AM | Comments (108)
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One week 'til Christmas. So there are still a few days before I need to shop, right?

Posted by: andy at 03:44 AM | Comments (123)
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I was kinda surprised that Russia had nine of the Top Ten Snipers In World War II. I figured some American and German snipers would've made the list. As the article states, "the Soviet Union was the only country that had expressly trained sniper units in the decade leading up to the World War Two". The top sniper however is not a Russian. He is Simo Häyhä, a Finn.

How Häyhä did all this was amazing. He was basically on his own all day, in the snow, shooting Russians, for 3 months straight. Of course when the Russians caught wind that a shit load of soldiers were being killed, they thought ‘well this is war, there’s bound to be casualties’. But when the generals were told that it was one man with a rifle they decided to take a bit of action. first they sent in a counter-sniper. When his body was returned they decided to send in a team of counter-snipers. When they didn’t come back at all they sent in a whole goddamn battalion. They took casualties and couldn’t find him. Eventually they ordered an artillery strike, but to no avail. You see Häyhä was clever, and this was his neck of the woods. He dressed completely in white camouflage. He used a smaller rifle to suit his smaller frame (being 5ft3) increasing his accuracy. he used an iron sight to present the smallest possible target (a scoped sight would require the sniper to raise his head for sighting). He compacted the snow in front of the barrel, so as not to disturb it when he shot thus revealing his position. He also kept snow in his mouth so his breath did not condense and reveal where his was. Eventually however his was shot in the jaw by a stray bullet during combat on March 6 1940. He was picked up by his own soldiers who said half his head was missing. He didn’t die however and regained consciousness on the 13th, the day peace was declared.

Once again total killsÂ…. 505 sniper + 200 submachine = 705 total Confirmed KillsÂ…all in less that 100 days.

Posted by: CDR M at 05:53 PM | Comments (720)
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In light of our current consternation over the intractability and bloody-mindedness of Congressional Democrats, and the added evidence of a Great Climate Change Swindle coming from the Climategate II email set, here's a longish article discussing 2009's failed effort to ram through cap and trade.

Overview
Since the 1970s at least, organized opponents of entrepreneurs and industrialists who would utilize natural resources for industrial and economic expansion have pointed to the negative externalities of such expansion on the air, water, and several peoples of the world as reason to restrict and even stop the industrial processes which use and damage the natural environment.

In April of 2009, hearings started on the draft of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) , a bill which would make it more expensive to produce domestic fossil fuel-based energy by placing a tax on carbon-based compounds which appear as unavoidable by-products of producing fossil energy. In June, the bill was passed by the House of 111th Congress, 219-212. Due to political circumstances, it was never taken up by the full Senate, and therefore died ignobly at the expiration of the term of the 111th.

Ironically, the bill was not necessarily American, having been largely based upon the EUÂ’s Emission Trading Scheme; it was not about clean energy, but rather about restricting our access to energy the bill deemed to be dirty and transferring large amounts of wealth; and it was not about security, since the result would necessarily be the increased use of foreign energy sources. It was, however, an Act, and did appear first in 2009.

At the heart of the legislation is a cap-and-trade system that sets a limit on overall emissions of heat-trapping gases by government fiat while allowing utilities, manufacturers and other emitters to trade pollution permits or allowances among themselves. The cap would grow tighter over the years, pushing up the price of emissions and presumably driving industry to find cleaner ways of making energy.

more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 02:44 PM | Comments (200)
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Somebody smarter than me can splain this I'll bet.

As a condition for GOP support of the payroll tax measure, Obama has to accept a provision that forces him to decide within 60 days whether to approve or reject a proposed a Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline that promises thousands of jobs.

Seems like a punt to me... not really a win, just postponing.

So anyway, there's a game tonight, get a pick in.

Go Cowboys.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 10:50 AM | Comments (277)
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Via Ben Domenench...Andrew Kaczynski strikes again with another video.

This isn't a video from the Waaayyyyy Back Machine. It was last year.

Romney says the similarities that he likes between RomneyCare and ObamaCare are the "incentives"? As Ben notes, incentives=individual mandate and the fine for not having insurance.

So what we are left with is Mitt saying last year he wouldn't repeal the similarities between RomneyCare and ObamaCare that he likes (which in this video seems to include the mandate and fine) but this year he says he'll repeal it all.

I guess we'll just have to elect him to find out what he'll do! What could go wrong?

Added: Don't forget last year a blogger reported that Romney said to him that he wouldn't repeal the mandate. Team Romney quickly knocked it down but base on this video, you have to wonder.

Posted by: DrewM at 08:10 AM | Comments (360)
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