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March 2nd, 2005 Things that make you go hmmm - Levitra advertises on Fox News Channel & Outdoor Life Network hunting shows incessantly. The Levitra chick, always out for that "quality sexual experience", has become the punchline in many a joke here at Casa de Maynard. Fox News & OLN hunting shows are watched by red state voters, who have more children & bigger families than blue state voters. Why does that drug's makers think they need to advertise there, as opposed to, say, CNN? Unknown Blog - With all the new links to MM.net generated by the History Carnival & Vox Blogoli, I have new opportunities to explore previously unknown blogs. Some that blogrolled me include Anthroblogology and Cowboy Blob. Thanks guys! Unfortunately though those guys are higher on the TLB list than I, so they don't qualify for the official UBOTW title. That "award" goes to Chaos In Motion this week, who linked to the "This Is My Rifle" post, but considers it " Simplistic (overly so in cases)". Well, that's the point, its just an overview, not a book. Which I think I will write. Eventually. Iraqi Army Strength - From Global Security, again, we have a follow-up to the previous posting about Syria, Iran, & Iraq regarding Iraqi military strength.
So we find that Iraq is more powerful than Syria but less powerful than Iran by a factor of about 2 to 1. With Iran's 3.3 to 1 military spending above Iraq's, why didn't we take out Iran before Iraq? Simple, the two front issue again. If we can strike Iran from both the west and the east that puts them in the position of defending two fronts, splitting thin resources between them, weakening both sides. Again, we are the only nation on Earth that has won a two-front war, and we are the only nation that can support a two front war today. Personally, I would prefer at least two more Army divisions, another carrier group, and a few more Air Wings before we launch into Iran. But first things first: Syria is weaker now, so lets get rid of them before we take on Iran, so that we don't have them knocking on our back door. Jefferson, the Death Penalty, & the Courts - The Supremes dictated yesterday that you can't execute people who commit heinous crimes if they commit them while younger than 18. My views on the death penalty are previously known, as are my views on the Judiciary, so I won't dwell on them here. But this, however, is a ridiculous decision, and it directly usurps power from the legislature. Combine this decision with Lawrence v. Texas (that legislatures may not make law based on moral judgments) and you have a Judiciary that Jefferson feared. Some quotes from Thomas Jefferson are in order, from the Library of America volume on his writings (ISBN 0-940450-16-X). The first quote is from a letter to Judge Spencer Roane on the limits to judicial review. He writes on the hypothesis that the branches of government are both independent and that they check and balance each other (as opposed to the view that the branches are not as independent because they check and balance each other):
So the power of government is only truly checked by the people, and then only when the people act to check it. Thus the need for an activist populace and a traditionalist judiciary. The second quote, from a letter to Thomas Ritchie on judicial subversion. He speaks first of legislatures who tax and spend, but are checked by the limits of the purse and the power of elections. He then moves on to what he considers the greater threat, namely:
Hover over the Latin to read its meaning. In other words, they know what they want (power) and they know how to get it (re-construing the constitution to give supreme power to the government). Since they are in charge of interpreting the constitution, that puts them in charge of the power strings. Further on:
So the big stick of judicial correction is a small stick because it is rarely, if ever, used. Again the lament against disregard for public opinion, the voice of those under governance. Finally:
Regard the will of the people, for they are the ones under governance. If you disregard that you undermine the legitimacy of the rule, moving it farther away from the republic and closer to the absolutism Jefferson and others had spent a lifetime opposing. But Mr. Kennedy, writing for the court, objects to Jefferson: “[I]n the end our own judgment will be brought to bear on the question of the acceptability of the death penalty under the Eighth Amendment.” So not the legislature, but the unelected, the permanently appointed, shall rule the land. This reeks of authoritarian rule without consent. How utterly un-American. |
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This site is copyright 2001-2005 by Matthew Maynard. All rights reserved. All your trademarks, copyrights, insignia, and other distinguishing characteristics are belong to you. Sharks in suits make for good joke material. Don't leave a mess on your way out. Links to external websites are valid at the time of article authoring and may decay as time goes by. But we'll always have Paris. The opinions on this site are those of their author and do not represent anyone else's views. That is, unless and until you agree with them, at which point they become yours as well. Opinions expressed in the comments belong to the comment poster and may be edited for content. Play nice with others, since you want them to play nice with you. |
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