Big Week at the Supreme Court!
It’s a big week at the Supreme Court. The Court here’s oral arguments on March 2 in Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, No. 13-1314. (I was a finalist for the Redistricting Commission; often, we are blessed in failure!) The Court has framed the issues as follows: (1) Whether the Elections Clause of the United States Constitution and 2 U. S. C. § 2a(c) permit Arizona’s use of a commission to adopt congressional districts; and (2) whether the Arizona Legislature has standing to bring this suit.
The “Elections Clause” provision is located in Article I, Section 4.… Continue reading
Senator Marco Rubio at CPAC: What a Mess!
The 2016 election is only 619 days away. From time to time, between now and then, MRW will highlight candidates/potential candidates and their flaws. Today, we feature Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) Senator Rubio’s campaign is nascent, and he helped himself not at all at CPAP on Friday morning.
Senator Rubio used his speech before the Conservative Political Action Conference, in part, to comment on the U.S. fight against ISIS. Steve Benen for MSNBC, in Rubio blasts ISIS strategy he supports, reports on the fiasco of a speech. First, he shares what Senator Rubio said, in part:
“ISIS is… Continue reading
Bibi and the DHS Shutdown: Congress at Work!
Regular readers know that I avoid certain topics, including the Middle East. Nothing is absolute, however, and Tuesday’s speech to a joint session of Congress by Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu provides a more than adequate basis for commentary.
You’ve probably heard about this fiasco for awhile. The nuts and bolts are simple. Speaker of the House John Boehner invited the Prime Minister to address Congress while he was in Washington for the AIPAC (American Israeli Political Action Committee) annual do! The invite was not cleared with the State Department or the White House. It was arranged, instead, through Israel’s Ambassador to… Continue reading
The Wednesday Curator – 2/25/15
From the land of Blow-Hard-Ia, populated by the likes of Mayor Rudy and Bloviator Bill-O, we’ve been receiving lots of excess decibels in the past several days. Best commentary on Mayor Guiliani and his asinine comments about whether President Obama loves America? Here’s Wayne Barrett, from the February 19 edition of the New York Daily News, with What Rudy Giuliani knows about love — a response to his ‘doesn’t love America’ critique of Obama. (Regarding Bill-O, he appears to be in charge of his own fall, and surely doesn’t need any help from the likes of me!)
For some… Continue reading
Judicial Selection, Redux
I believe I last ranted fully about elected judges in October 2014, in Judicial Selection: It’s Merit-Based in Arizona. (More recently there was some explaining about how many courts in Alabama ignored the same-sex mandate from the U.S. Supreme Court.) I do try to avoid same-subject posts, but I ran across Running for Their Robes and could not resist.
Running for Their Robes is a clip from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, which appears on HBO on Sunday nights. Truly funny, and in my humble opinion, fresher and better than Colbert or Stewart! Fresher because, well, Mr.… Continue reading
Dinner at the Oscars
Oscars Night! Sorry for the late post, but I haven’t been posting food pics lately, I had work this morning and early afternoon, and I cooked for dinner at home.
Here goes:
Gin Gibson, with tipsy–vermouth–olives and pickled shallots
Gluten free Mary’s Gone Crackers and leslie stowe raincoast crisps (also gluten free)
Watermelon radishes–amazing–and cucumbers
Roasted radicchio, King Oyster mushrooms, and Shishisto peppers
Crab Cakes
Mussels
Finally, and having nothing to do with the Oscars or dinner stay tuned for more information about Mark Rubin Bakes … Fruitcakes!
King v. Burwell; Can’t Quite Let It Go!
The Supreme Court will hear from counsel for the parties in King v. Burwell on March 4, a week from Wednesday. I have some thoughts. I want to start by sharing the issue, as the Court formulated it:
Whether the Internal Revenue Service may permissibly promulgate regulations to extend tax-credit subsidies to coverage purchased through exchanges established by the federal government under Section 1321 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Note what issues are not before the Court: Obamacare is bad; Obamacare costs me money; But freedom; etc. If process matters, the narrow question before the Court involves… Continue reading
People Who Matter, and Those Who Don’t!
I read King David by Ta-Nehisi Coates for The Atlantic, posted earlier in the day. Mr. Coates received the George Polk Journalism Award for Commentary for The Case for Reparations, published in The Atlantic in June 2014. Big deal! In the essay he recounts how David Carr taught him to be a writer, sharing his thoughts on an extraordinary man who passed, who made a difference in his and many other lives.
However you see Mr. Coates’ on reparations for African-Americans, please read King David as a primer about how to be an inspiring boss and leader. Yelling may… Continue reading
The Wednesday Curator – 2/18/15
Waiting for the Conservative Jon Stewart by Oliver Stewart appears at TheAtlantic.com on February 14. It’s a good and interesting read! Alert to my readers—or is that reader, singular—from Far Right-i-stan: You may not like this one!
Well, tolerance for the filibuster didn’t last long in the Republican Senate. Joan McCarter wrote Republican Senators Reportedly Starting to Agitate for Filibuster Reform for DailyKos.com on February 17. Running something is a lot harder than bitching about it!
Wisconsin has for a century had the Wisconsin Idea, embodied in the University of Wisconsin’s commitment to a search for truth. “Not so much,”… Continue reading
Standing to Sue/The Supremacy Clause
In all lawsuits, plaintiffs must have standing to sue. In federal court there must be: (a) a controversy which falls within the ambit of cases the federal courts can hear; and (b) a plaintiff suffering from or having the potential to suffer a real and direct injury. Without these two conditions you can’t sue.
Further, standing is necessary when a suit gets filed and during the entire process. If the risk of a direct injury when you sued goes away—because, for example, your status changes or a law you are complaining about gets repealed—your suit cannot go forward.
So standing… Continue reading
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