It's easy to condemn political polarization in the capital, quite another matter to do something about it. One suggestion that might help comes from Todd Pettys of the University of Iowa law school: have the Supremes choose their own leader, thus eliminating the job as a bone of contention. There is no reason the chief justice should be a crony of the chief executive or be chosen on the basis of his/her ideological predilections. Here's a summary of Pettys' essay:
"This Article contends that the United States Supreme Court's nine members should be permitted to decide for themselves who among them will serve as Chief Justice. The Article does not challenge the Constitution's procedure for filling vacancies on the Court; rather, it argues that, once the President and the Senate have staffed the Court with a full complement of Justices, those Justices should be allowed to choose their own leader. After pointing out the Constitution's silence on the matter, the Article argues that our practice of allowing the President to specify which Justice will be Chief is a vestige of a time when people believed the Chief Justice would be one of the President's most trusted aides. The Article identifies numerous reasons why the President- and Senate-centered selection practice should be changed."
Choosing a Chief Justice: Presidential Prerogative Or a Job for the Court? by Todd E. Pettys (Journal of Law & Politics, Vol. 22, p. 231, 2006) can be downloaded from the Social Science Research Network eLibrary (SSRN - you'll need to sign-up for a free membership).
Good Eatin': The Village Idiot (Melrose)
If you're stuck east of Sepulveda but craving Ye Olde King's Head grub, salvation has arrived in the form of The Village Idiot, a British pub with dark hardwood floors, wood-beamed ceiling, exposed brick, lots of windows, and an open kitchen. It may look like the California Pizza Kitchen, but the savory pies (omg: steak and potato with pearl onion), fish and chips, and fresh ginger-spiced cake with pear compote and crème fraîche are strictly from the mother country. 7383 Melrose at Martel; 323-655-3331 (here's a review on Eater LA).
Report From Huffpo's Melinda Henneberger: Clinton Team's Testy Response To Edwards' Speech Against Sending More Troops...
"John Edwards had a hard time getting through yesterday's anti-surge speech at Harlem's Riverside Church, repeatedly interrupted by cheering from the pews. Standing where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached against American involvement in Vietnam 40 years ago, the former Democratic senator from North Carolina declared that, 'As he put it then, there comes a time - not just for Dr. King, but for all of us - when silence is betrayal.'"
Wouldn't it be nifty if the Clintonites were testy with the president instead?
The rest of the story: The Huffington Post
Wouldn't it be nifty if the Clintonites were testy with the president instead?
The rest of the story: The Huffington Post
Joe Biden shows his mettle
A week ago on Sunday, presidential wannabe Sen. Joseph Biden, the leader of the Senate
Democrats on matters pertaining to foreign policy, was asked on Meet the Press what he intended to do when President Bush ordered additional American troops to go to Iraq. "There's not much I can do about it," Biden whimpered. "Not much anybody can do about it. He's commander in chief....It'll be a tragic mistake, in my view, but as a practical matter, there's no way to say, 'Mr. President, stop.' "
Democrats on matters pertaining to foreign policy, was asked on Meet the Press what he intended to do when President Bush ordered additional American troops to go to Iraq. "There's not much I can do about it," Biden whimpered. "Not much anybody can do about it. He's commander in chief....It'll be a tragic mistake, in my view, but as a practical matter, there's no way to say, 'Mr. President, stop.' "
World Opinion: What the Foreign Press Thinks about U.S.
WatchingAmerica makes available in English articles written about the U.S. by foreigners for foreign audiences. The site offers its own translations and is updated
frequently. "If coverage of an issue, on a particular day, surprises or irritates," the editors write, "remember that we are reporting what is out there, and trying to show the fullest range of views. We don't endorse the content presented, or imply anything about the motivation behind or accuracy of the original sources. Watching America does not seek to influence opinion by selective presentation, but sometimes global opinion can be quite polarized. It may, therefore, fall outside the spectrum of debate in the United States or appear one-sided." The site is supported by ads and donations. <http://watchingamerica.com/>
frequently. "If coverage of an issue, on a particular day, surprises or irritates," the editors write, "remember that we are reporting what is out there, and trying to show the fullest range of views. We don't endorse the content presented, or imply anything about the motivation behind or accuracy of the original sources. Watching America does not seek to influence opinion by selective presentation, but sometimes global opinion can be quite polarized. It may, therefore, fall outside the spectrum of debate in the United States or appear one-sided." The site is supported by ads and donations. <http://watchingamerica.com/>
2008: Maybe we should adopt the WSJ's trick of picking stocks by throwing darts
So it looks like we are going to have to choose, at a minimum, from among John Edwards, Hilary Clinton, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Hussein Obama (as he will be known to Faux News and the GOP), Al Sharpton (if he can find some Republicans fatcats to pay his bills again), Tom "Look, I'm termed out, okay?" Vilsack, Bill Richardson (well, maybe), and, as of this week, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden (gratifying that Evan Bayh and Mark Warner hold themselves in the same esteem that I do and pulled out of the race; too bad Russ Feingold did likewise).
The entertainment value of a Biden candidacy is not to be undervalued. To take one example -- and there will be many more in the months to come, during former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter's Senate testimony in the run-up to Iraq, small "d" democrat Biden opined, "The decision of whether or not the country should go to war is slightly above your pay grade" (to his credit, Sen. John McCain later replied that he "wished that the administration had consulted with somebody of Ritter's pay grade during the Vietnam war") (source: <Wikipedia>).
Keep 'em coming, Joe.
The entertainment value of a Biden candidacy is not to be undervalued. To take one example -- and there will be many more in the months to come, during former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter's Senate testimony in the run-up to Iraq, small "d" democrat Biden opined, "The decision of whether or not the country should go to war is slightly above your pay grade" (to his credit, Sen. John McCain later replied that he "wished that the administration had consulted with somebody of Ritter's pay grade during the Vietnam war") (source: <Wikipedia>).
Keep 'em coming, Joe.
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