Over at Popehat, Ken has delivered yet another awe-inspiring post: A Day in the Life of a Defense Lawyer. Enjoy.
Bonus: http://militaryunderdog.com/
Bonus: http://militaryunderdog.com/
"And if an epitaph be my story, I'd have a short one ready for my own: I had a lover's quarrel with the world." -- Robert Frost
Showing posts with label popehat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label popehat. Show all posts
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Ken's Genius on Display
Ken has written many amazing posts, but this one takes the cake:
http://www.popehat.com/2010/10/28/trust-in-the-devil/
Giving the government the power to do things we like tends to give the government the power to do things we don’t like. In a perfect world, conservatives would see that reposing uncritical trust in prosecutors and cops ultimately promotes the government’s power to regulate their businesses and their health care. Liberals would see that trusting regulators and bureaucrats increases the government’s power to jail citizens upon flimsy evidence.
Maybe one day more people will meet in the middle and recognize that the appropriate stance of an informed citizen towards all elements of the government is vigilance, skepticism, and firm support of individual rights against the state. Perhaps more people will agree that the correct response to any government attempt to control the individual is to question: “What evidence do you have to support this? Is it really believable? Can it be trusted? Is it enough?”
Oh, the lucidity.
http://www.popehat.com/2010/10/28/trust-in-the-devil/
Giving the government the power to do things we like tends to give the government the power to do things we don’t like. In a perfect world, conservatives would see that reposing uncritical trust in prosecutors and cops ultimately promotes the government’s power to regulate their businesses and their health care. Liberals would see that trusting regulators and bureaucrats increases the government’s power to jail citizens upon flimsy evidence.
Maybe one day more people will meet in the middle and recognize that the appropriate stance of an informed citizen towards all elements of the government is vigilance, skepticism, and firm support of individual rights against the state. Perhaps more people will agree that the correct response to any government attempt to control the individual is to question: “What evidence do you have to support this? Is it really believable? Can it be trusted? Is it enough?”
Oh, the lucidity.
Friday, November 5, 2010
California Post-Election Summary
The LA Times' Cathleen Decker writes an excellent post-election summary for California. I've been telling everyone that the GOP cannot appear to be anti-Latino and win any presidential election or any other election that counts California votes. Ms. Decker lays out why the GOP is doomed unless it changes its whitebread ways:
California in 1994 was more white and proportionately less Democratic than it is today, thus more similar to the country today. Nationally, non-whites made up only 22% of the Tuesday electorate; in California they made up 38%. Latinos nationally represented 8% of the national electorate, just shy of a third of their power in California. The California and national exit polls were conducted by Edison Research for a consortium of news organizations, including television news networks and the Associated Press.
Tellingly, Latinos in California had a far more negative view of the GOP than other voters — almost 3 in 4 had an unfavorable impression, to 22% favorable. Among all California voters the view of Republicans was negative, but at a closer 61% negative and 32% positive. Latinos had a strongly positive view of Democrats, 58% to 37%, whereas all voters were closely split, 49% to 45%.
The best part? State Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring: "The reality is that Democrats have strong relationships with urban and immigration communities that Republicans have not had, and that must change," he said. "It is not only a matter of politics; it is a matter of mathematics." More here.
Bonus: Ken's take on the elections here. An excerpt:
On Russ Feingold: To paraphrase Homer Simpson, I like my beer cold, my TV loud, and my Democrats FLAMING. Democrats ought to distinguish themselves from Republicans by supporting the rights of the accused, opposing military adventurism, and resisting the encroachment of the post-9/11 security state. If they don’t, they are just sh*tty second-rate Republicans with less of a pretense of fiscal responsibility.
On Oklahoma's Sharia Law Stupidity: Oklahomans took a strong stand against having Sharia law imposed upon them. As far as I can figure, the only way you can have Sharia law imposed on you is if at some point you consented contractually to having it imposed on you. Meanwhile, my plaintiff-side clients still routinely get binding arbitration imposed on them, which makes Sharia law look like an appearance before Judge Harry of Night Court. Maybe the idea is you can contract away your right to anything resembling due process only if it’s in front of irritable retired judges in really expensive office suits, not if it involves weird robes and ululating and stuff.
California in 1994 was more white and proportionately less Democratic than it is today, thus more similar to the country today. Nationally, non-whites made up only 22% of the Tuesday electorate; in California they made up 38%. Latinos nationally represented 8% of the national electorate, just shy of a third of their power in California. The California and national exit polls were conducted by Edison Research for a consortium of news organizations, including television news networks and the Associated Press.
Tellingly, Latinos in California had a far more negative view of the GOP than other voters — almost 3 in 4 had an unfavorable impression, to 22% favorable. Among all California voters the view of Republicans was negative, but at a closer 61% negative and 32% positive. Latinos had a strongly positive view of Democrats, 58% to 37%, whereas all voters were closely split, 49% to 45%.
The best part? State Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring: "The reality is that Democrats have strong relationships with urban and immigration communities that Republicans have not had, and that must change," he said. "It is not only a matter of politics; it is a matter of mathematics." More here.
Bonus: Ken's take on the elections here. An excerpt:
On Russ Feingold: To paraphrase Homer Simpson, I like my beer cold, my TV loud, and my Democrats FLAMING. Democrats ought to distinguish themselves from Republicans by supporting the rights of the accused, opposing military adventurism, and resisting the encroachment of the post-9/11 security state. If they don’t, they are just sh*tty second-rate Republicans with less of a pretense of fiscal responsibility.
On Oklahoma's Sharia Law Stupidity: Oklahomans took a strong stand against having Sharia law imposed upon them. As far as I can figure, the only way you can have Sharia law imposed on you is if at some point you consented contractually to having it imposed on you. Meanwhile, my plaintiff-side clients still routinely get binding arbitration imposed on them, which makes Sharia law look like an appearance before Judge Harry of Night Court. Maybe the idea is you can contract away your right to anything resembling due process only if it’s in front of irritable retired judges in really expensive office suits, not if it involves weird robes and ululating and stuff.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Homeland Security Coming to a Screen Near You?
The Department of Homeland Security is now pursuing people who download illegal movies. Why? Because they consider illegal downloads part of the war on terror. Yes, they are being serious. Civil-liberties-be-damned and mission-creep serious. More HERE.
“The reason the Department of Homeland Security is protecting Shrek is because we are all about protecting the homeland. We’re all about protecting American interests,” says John Morton, assistant secretary of DHS...“If you don’t think undermining Hollywood’s ability to produce a “Shrek,” undermining the creativity that goes into creating a “Shrek,” undermines the United States,” Morton says, “you are sadly mistaken.”
Who the heck pays these people? Oh, wait, we do. Sigh.
“The reason the Department of Homeland Security is protecting Shrek is because we are all about protecting the homeland. We’re all about protecting American interests,” says John Morton, assistant secretary of DHS...“If you don’t think undermining Hollywood’s ability to produce a “Shrek,” undermining the creativity that goes into creating a “Shrek,” undermines the United States,” Morton says, “you are sadly mistaken.”
Who the heck pays these people? Oh, wait, we do. Sigh.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Another Popehat Quote
From Popehat.com's Patrick:
This is the problem with the Western left: they can see a noose with perfect clarity when the hangman is a conservative. But when the noose is placed by their fellow leftists, they’ll call it a necktie every time.
Patrick sounds like he's channeling Neil Postman, who believed Huxley's Brave New World was more likely than Orwell's 1984.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays
Ken from Popehat.com has written yet another flawless post. I don't know any other website I regularly visit where I think, "It's like he's writing what I think, if only my IQ was 100 points higher, and I had a better sense of humor." Click HERE for Ken's post on political correctness, Jesus Christ, and the Christmas spirit.
Ken, I bow down to your superior wit.
Ken, I bow down to your superior wit.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Debate on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
In case anyone is interested in my latest attempt at reasoned discourse, check out the comments section of this post.
Excepting Ken's comments, I call it, "The Triumph of Rhetoric over Reason." It's not a pretty day for logic.
Neil Postman, author of Amusing Ourselves to Death, would be both proud and sad that his predictions have come true.
Excepting Ken's comments, I call it, "The Triumph of Rhetoric over Reason." It's not a pretty day for logic.
Neil Postman, author of Amusing Ourselves to Death, would be both proud and sad that his predictions have come true.
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