In a post tagged as “America’s Biggest Asshole,” Wonkette goes a little bit crazy denouncing Ron Paul, the sole Representative who failed to back a “harmless” House Resolution “[e]xpressing support for all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and rule of law, and for other purposes.”
Wonkette asks what might be the single most disingenuous question one could ask about the Constitution: “[W]here exactly in your pocket Constitution does it say the United States can’t give cost-free moral support to democratic movements?” The answer, of course, is that it doesn’t say this. And it doesn’t have to. The Constitution enumerates the powers of the federal government, which implies that actions not based on those powers are prohibited. Is it harmless to support “cost-free moral support”? Probably. Do Congress’s enumerated powers contain the power to pass harmless measures? No.
And if I may digress… Who gets to decide what is harmless, anyway? I’m pretty sure it’s not gossipy bloggers.
I’m probably just being a snotty law student who just finished taking Constitutional Law. But at least I didn’t call Wonkette a Senile Fucktard.
While checking on the status of a transaction on my Chase credit card, I noticed that I’d been charged a $39 fee for something or other. I called the number on the back of my card and spoke to a friendly woman who informed me that she could not remove the fee. I asked if anyone could. She said no. I asked to speak to a supervisor. He removed the fee with no hassle.
Apparently, Chief Halstead of the Fort Worth Police Department has promised to give officers “multicultural training.” Holy non sequitur, Batman. I’ve been to a training like this. It amounts to being told that calling coworkers names is bad and it’s not okay to ask to touch a black person’s hair. Not once did I hear anything about not cracking skulls. Do you know why? Because not cracking skulls has nothing to do with respecting diversity. You don’t crack skulls. Period.
One could say that the hate in people’s hearts can lead to crimes and this makes tolerance more than just a virtue—it may make targets of this hatred safer. You know what else makes these targets safer? Prosecuting the people who use the state’s monopoly on violence to crack skulls.
Reading about the raid on the Rainbow Lounge left me appalled and angry. So angry, in fact, that I actually took Dan Savage’s suggestion to write a letter to the members of the Fort Worth City Council who had not joined in calling for an investigation. I’m not much of an activist letter writer type, but I’m trying to stand up a little more for things I believe in. Here’s what I wrote:
Dear Councilmembers,
While Forth Worth Police Chief Jeff Halstead claims to be “happy with the restraint used” by his officers at the Rainbow Lounge, Chad Gibson lies in a hospital bed with life-threatening injuries. I am writing to urge you to join fellow Councilmembers Joel Burns, Sal Espino, and Kathleen Hicks in calling for an investigation into the recent police raid on the Rainbow Lounge. Even though I am not one of your constituents, the events that took place at the Rainbow Lounge have become national news and are of concern to me as a fellow American citizen.
Although the law may grant immunity to the officers against civil damage claims by Gibson, some measure of justice may still be served by an investigation initiated and supported by members of city government such as you. An investigation may shed light onto the motives of the officers and whether they acted in accordance with Federal, Texas, and Fort Worth law, or whether they took it upon themselves to enforce their interpretation of community norms.
As members of a representative body, you surely understand that elected bodies are best situated to define the norms of a community. And regardless of whether the presence of a gay bar is contrary to the values of the Fort Worth community, non-violent avenues exist to monitor and regulate such establishments and the drinking that goes on therein.
Did the police abuse their privilege to lawfully apply the use of physical force? A thorough investigation into this incident will help answer this question. Not calling for an investigation may be seen as a tacit agreement with the tactics used by the police department, and an abdication of your responsibility to oversee the questionable actions of municipal bodies.
This weekend is the 42nd anniversary of Loving v. Virginia. This is particularly meaningful to me because my wife and I are not of the same race.
It’s good to know that despite marriage being the province of the states, the Supreme Court will step in to ensure equality for everybody people who are not gay.
Andrew Sullivan has posted frequently on the murder of Dr. George Tiller. In particular, he has been posting messages from readers who describe some of the tough choices they have faced regarding whether to have a late term abortion. The writers of these letters cut across the ideological spectrum, but one theme does recur:
[A]lthough I believed in the right to choose, I did not think I would ever choose abortion for myself.
To me, this quote captures the only common ground in the abortion debate: the desire to minimize the number of abortions. How might this best be achieved? I don’t know if I can answer that. But I’m interested to see where efforts to reduce abortion might have the most impact.
The latest numbers I could find from the CDC are from 2005 and indicate 1.3% of abortions occur at or after 21 weeks gestation (I will refer to these as “late-term”). The CDC survey claims about 820,000 reported abortions for that year, yielding 10,660 late-term abortions. The Guttmacher institute cites a 2002 study indicating that 8% of women who have abortions do not use birth control. Using the CDC’s numbers, this yields 65,600 abortions (and that number could be higher if the women in this group have more than one abortion per year).
Let’s say that contraception is 75% effective, an extreme lower bound. If 22% of this group of women used contraception, that would reduce abortion more than eliminating all late-term abortions.
I admit that this analysis is shoddy and poorly researched. I think I’ve made assumptions, however, that will not undercut an assertion that the low hanging fruit of abortion reduction is on the side of pregnancy prevention rather than abortion prohibition. I know there is more to this, such as whether the abortion is to terminate an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy, or instead a reaction to news of severe birth defects or potential harm to the mother. Mostly, I was curious to look into these numbers to see where they would lead.
I still have about 70 pages to read about witches for a class at 7 o’clock. Having been hardened by case-law, you’d think a law student could breeze through 70 pages of historical narrative. Unfortunately, I’m a very slow reader. And I get distracted by kittens.
By insisting on the proper constitutional process for treaty-making, Republicans can join Mr. Obama in advancing a bipartisan foreign policy. They can also help strike the proper balance between the legislative and executive branches that so many have called for in recent years.
I haven’t received a chain email for quite some time. I was under the impression that the real time evolution of higher intelligence had lead to the natural death of chain emails, but my better informed friends were aware of the continuing existence of these instruments of idiocy.
I used to get these all the time. Then I convinced my mother to stop. That was years ago. So here I stand, my faith in humanity shattered. My inbox soiled. My knickers in a bunch.
Anyway, this isn’t from my mom. I take solace in that. Also, December was the tenth month in Roman times. And what is the “freshness of the Holy Spirit”?
Just want to tell everyone that I am so grateful to have each of you in my life. I pray you all have a blessed day. It was difficult for me to decide who I thought would DO this because many people claim to pray, but they do not. I hope I selected the right twelve. Please send this back to me.
(You’ll see why.) May everyone who receives this message be blessed. There are 12 months/12 disciples/12 tribes of Israel / Jesus’ birth celebrated in the 12th month. There is nothing attached. Just send this to twelve others.
Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. There is no cost, just a lot of rewards. Make sure you pray, and pray believing God will answer. May today be all you need it to be. May the Peace of God and the freshness of the Holy Spirit rest in your thoughts, rule in your dreams tonight, and conquer all your fears. May God manifest himself today in ways you have never experienced May your joys be fulfilled, your dreams be closer, and your prayers be answered. I pray that faith enters a new height for you; I pray that your territory is enlarged. I pray for peace, healing, health, happiness, prosperity, joy, truth and undying love for God. Now send this to
12 people within 5 minutes and remember to send this back…. I count as 2, you’ll see why. Suggestion: copy and paste rather than forward.