Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
by John Cole| 12 Comments
This post is in: Republican Stupidity
I missed the whole Cornyn imbroglio, but I am glad to see that his idiotic and offensive comments were met with widespread scorn, and attempts to excuse Sen. Cornyn or to claim he was ‘taken out of context’ are simply absurd. Cornyn’s apology was a real treat, too, containing this gem:
My point was, and is, simply this: We should all be concerned that the judiciary is losing the respect that it needs to serve the American people well. We should all want judges to interpret the law fairly
by John Cole| 27 Comments
This post is in: Republican Stupidity
Just to let you know how insane loudmouth bullyboy Tom DeLay is, check out these comments from VP Cheney:
Vice President Cheney says he opposes revenge against judges for their refusal to prolong the life of the late Terri Schiavo, although he did not criticize House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) for declaring that they will “answer for their behavior.”
Cheney was asked about the issue on Friday by the editorial board of the New York Post. He said twice that he had not seen DeLay’s remarks, but the vice president said he would “have problems” with the idea of retribution against the courts. “I don’t think that’s appropriate,” he said. “I may disagree with decisions made by judges in any one particular case. But I don’t think there would be much support for the proposition that because a judge hands down a decision we don’t like, that somehow we ought to go out — there’s a reason why judges get lifetime appointments.”
And that reason is an independent judiciary, something that rankles would-be theocrats like DeLay.
by John Cole| 16 Comments
This post is in: Foreign Affairs
With all of the turbulence of the past few weeks, we shoujld give the NY Times some credit for keeping their eye on the ball.
Robert Mugabe stole another election in Zimbabwe with a campaign of fear and intimidation, and the NY Times has two editorials on the issue. Kristof’s is particularly good:
The hardest place in the world to be an optimist is Africa.
Much of Africa is a mess, and no country more so than Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. The continent has been held back by everything from malaria to its nonsensical colonial boundaries, but the two biggest problems have been lousy leaders and lousy economic policies – and Zimbabwe epitomizes both.
What makes Robert Mugabe a worse oppressor of ordinary Zimbabweans than the white racist rulers who preceded him is not just the way he turned a breadbasket of Africa into a basket case in which half the population is undernourished. It’s also the fact that he’s refusing to let aid organizations provide food to most of his people. He prefers to let them starve…
If the old white regime here was deliberately starving its people, the world would be in an uproar. And while President Bush should be more forceful in opposing Mr. Mugabe’s tyranny, it’s the neighboring countries that are most shameful in looking the other way.
There’s a liberal tendency in America to blame ourselves for Africa’s problems, and surely there’s far more that we should do to help. We should encourage trade, forgive debts, do research on tropical diseases and distribute mosquito nets that protect against malaria. But some problems, such as Mr. Mugabe, are homegrown and need local solutions, like an effort by South Africa to nudge him into retirement.
Something has to be done.
by John Cole| 7 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
The Pope has died, but his legacy will live forever.
by John Cole| 12 Comments
This post is in: Movies
I forgot to mention this in the chaos of the past few days. I picked up Closer the other day, mainly because I like Clive Owen (he should be the next Bond, and I loved I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead) and because I was thrilled about seeing Natalie Portman prancing around in a thong on my widescreen. Sue me- progressive scan DVD players and HDtv’s rule.
I watched the movie, and I have this to say- I am no prude, but Closer was the filthiest movie I have ever watched in my entire life. That title had been reserved for The Postman Always Rings Twice for a certain scene that still mortifies my mother, but they were pikers compared to the directors of Closer.
And all the damned cheating. Just infuriates me. Overall- color me unimpressed.
by John Cole| 32 Comments
This post is in: Republican Stupidity
Here’s a question I can’t get out of my head. What if Terri Schiavo had had a living will saying she wouldn’t want a feeding tube to keep her alive for decades with no reasonable hope for recovery? Legally, of course, there’d be no issue. She’d get her chance to die in peace. But morally? The arguments of the proponents for keeping the feeding tube in indefinitely suggest that removing the tube is simply murder. If that is the case, then how can removing the tube ever be justified – even if she consented in advance? Murder is murder, right? Isn’t a “living will” essentially a mandate for future assisted suicide? It seems to me that the logic of the absolutist pro-life advocates means that this should be forbidden too. They should logically support a law which forbids the murder of anyone, regardless of living wills. In a society that legally mandates the “culture of life,” the individual’s choice for death is irrelevant, no? Or am I missing something here?
You aren’t missing anything. If some have their way, living wills will be invalidated:
RICHARD LAND, SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION: My position is that I would morally object to it, but not legally, if it was the clear, manifest will of the person who is having the feeding tube removed. In other words, I accept that people have a right to refuse medical treatment. And if it was clear that Terri Schiavo had clearly said, I do not want to have a feeding tube if I
by John Cole| 11 Comments
This post is in: Previous Site Maintenance
Is there anything more exasperating than catching trackback spammers in the process of spamming you, and struggling to update your MT Blacklist with the new url’s while the assholes are continuing to add hundreds of trackbacks?