I leave you this fine evening with a column by Christopher Gacek. Key paragraph:
Dobbs is also highly critical of U.S. immigration policy. It isn’t just that the lawlessness of mass illegal alien migration offends him but that Washington and Wall Street elites are allowing immigration (and trade) policies to undermine America’s own political, economic and cultural institutions.
Bingo.
10-23-87 Friday. As of today, the Robert Bork nomination is dead. The United States Senate voted 58-42 against confirmation, which is what everyone expected in light of recent announcements. So President [Ronald] Reagan can now nominate someone else to serve on the [United States] Supreme Court. He has said, angrily, that he will nominate someone to whom Bork opponents will object just as strongly. I had to laugh when I heard this, because if he nominates another Bork (so to speak), that Bork, too, will go down in flames. Then again, perhaps Bork was rejected not because of his views, but because they were so well publicized. Senators had a long trail of law-review articles, essays, and legal opinions to use against Bork. The next nominee may be less public in this respect. As for who[m] that nominee might be, one name keeps coming to mind: Richard Posner. Posner is young, articulate, bright, and has an economic view of the world. But as Jules Coleman once said, Posner’s not a conservative; he’s a liberal Jew from Brooklyn. But many conservatives love the sort of analysis in which Posner engages: economic analysis. Things are getting interesting. [Posner is 68 years old, so he was 48 when this journal entry was written.]
Antonin Scalia is a Catholic and a judge. Does that make him a Catholic judge? See here.
This baseball writer thinks the Colorado Rockies will defeat the Boston Red Sox in six games. Great. He has jinxed the Rockies. What can I do to counter it? Hmm. I know! I’ll make a prediction! Boston will sweep the Rockies. All four games will be shutouts, for the first time in World Series history. The scores will be 8-0, 12-0, 4-0, and 18-0.
Addendum: Here is a New York Times story about the religiosity of the Rockies.
Addendum 2: Here is a New York Times story about the World Series.
Differences of power are always manifested in asymmetrical access. The President of the United States has access to almost everybody for almost anything he might want of them, and almost nobody has access to him. The super-rich have access to almost everybody; almost nobody has access to them. The resources of the employee are available to the boss as the resources of the boss are not to the employee. The parent has unconditional access to the child’s room; the child does not have similar access to the parent’s room. Students adjust to professors’ office hours; professors do not adjust to students’ conference hours. The child is required not to lie; the parent is free to close out the child with lies at her discretion. The slave is unconditionally accessible to the master. Total power is unconditional access; total powerlessness is being unconditionally accessible. The creation and manipulation of power is constituted of the manipulation and control of access.
(Marilyn Frye, “Some Reflections on Separatism and Power,” in her The Politics of Reality: Essays in Feminist Theory [Trumansburg, NY: The Crossing Press, 1983], 95-109, at 103)
Note from KBJ: If you have a cellphone, you are accessible to anyone and everyone, at all times. Think about it.
To the Editor:
Paul O’Neill says, “If we’re going to have a new American birthright to care, there will be new American responsibilities.” I couldn’t agree more! But the responsibility should be that Americans take better care of themselves, rather than having responsibility connected to a “mandate that all Americans pay in advance for coverage of catastrophic medical needs.”
I am tired of reading about “health” care when it ought to be called “sick’’ care. I work hard to keep myself healthy with exercise and a decent diet. If all Americans did this, there would be an incredible drop in sickness associated with poor lifestyle choices (smoking, drinking, no exercise, too much food). The high cost I pay for health insurance goes to pay for those folks who take zero responsibility for their health.
Until people start lifestyle changes, we will continue to see costs skyrocket.
Jan Gray
Richmond, Va., Oct. 16, 2007
Note from KBJ: If the letter writer is a woman, I’m going to marry her.
In this column, legal scholar Gary McDowell reflects on the failed nomination of Robert Bork to the United States Supreme Court. Later this evening, I will post a paragraph from my journal of 20 years ago, in which I discussed the nomination. In the meantime, read what federal appellate judge Richard Posner wrote about Bork.
In today’s paper:
NETFLIX PRICE CUTS PAY OFF WITH PROFIT GAINS
Stung by the recent success of rival Blockbuster . . . Netflix battled back in the third quarter with lower prices that revived subscriber growth and catapulted its profit well beyond analyst expectations.
Picture the post office or your local public museum or transit authority lowering prices to increase revenue.
Will Nehs
Kevin Stroup sent a link to this column by Dennis Prager. I wholeheartedly agree with Prager, which is why I began to require full names on this blog a few months ago (as a condition of commenting). It saddens me that there are so many cowards out there. A courageous, honorable person stands face to face with his or her rival and fights fair. You don’t hide behind a tree and throw rocks. You don’t stab people in the back. You don’t talk to others with a bag over your head.