We Didn’t Start the Fire

February 10, 2018

We Didn’t Start the Fire

we didn't start the fire

Billy Joel

Here’s the fifth iteration of We Didn’t Start the Fire (Annotated), first published on July 13, 2014 and last posted on February 10, 2018. For whatever it’s worth, no post at Mark Rubin Writes gets more views

we didn't start the fire

Christie Brinkley

we didn't start the fire

Elle Macpherson

William M. Joel writes and sings songs. On March 23, 1985 he married tall and very classy Christie Brinkley. (They divorced on August 25, 1994.) Was Ms. Brinkley the Uptown Girl in Uptown Girl, Mr. Joel’s big 1983 hit song? Only maybe, for while Mr. Joel—the short, Downtown Guy—knew and was friendly with Ms. Brinkley when he wrote the song, at the time he was dating taller very Uptown babe

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Obamacare Repeal, and Free Labor and Employment Markets

September 21, 2017

Oh my G-d, have I written about the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare! More than 700 posts, and almost 10% mention the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. Here are a few of my favorites:

Health Insurance: Getting Personal

Who Called the Viruses and Bacteria?

More on Health Care … and We v. Me-I

Trouble Ahead: Thoughts on Health Care

The game ends on September 30, 2017, at midnight, Eastern Daylight Time. Senate reconciliation rules—obtuse to the nth—mandate that the Senate pass a new law by September 30, or not at all in 2017. (Not clear? Whether the House of Representatives must pass the same bill by 9/30, or if it can simply adopt the same bill before the Senate adjourns

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Mr. Joe Arpaio, President Donald Trump, and the Pardon Power

August 14, 2017

Joe Arpaio, President Donald Trump, and the Pardon Power

arpaio trump

What a Pair!

Trump says he’s considering pardon for Joe Arpaio by Matt Zapotosky for the Washington Post gives you today’s disgraceful news.* And it’s our jumping off point!

I wrote Pardon! and No Egos at Mark Rubin Writes. Pardon? in June and July, respectively. When I wrote the pieces I really expected President Donald Trump would give his family his first high-profile pardons. No matter, for those pardons will surely follow. For now, the Arpaio pardon raises some interesting issues.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio was sued several years ago.** The suit involved racial profiling. Judge Murray Snow, a U.S. District Judge in Phoenix, held the sheriff and others in civil

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You Can’t Go Home Again

July 28, 2017

You Can’t Go Home Again

mark hat

In April 2012—more than five years ago—I wrote You Can’t Go Home Again. (Truth be told, and I only note this because I read the piece again, I wrote the piece, mostly, in April 2011, when my daughter enrolled at my and her mother’s alma mater.) Alas, I had more Can’t Go Home experiences this week.

Two-day strategic planning conference. “Show up!” I did, and I gave myself a mini-staycation at our venue, Loews Ventana Canyon Resort. The resort sits less than a mile from the home my former spouse and I built and first slept in on Friday, March 13, 1992. The place our daughter called home for almost 24 years.

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Roger Ailes, Dead – Some Thoughts!

May 18, 2017

Roger Ailes, Dead – Some Thoughts!

roger ailes

Roger Ailes

For those of us who communicate in the public sphere about this and that, the passing of a person of less than sterling character presents many challenges. Deeply held beliefs about basic decency bump up against the need to be candid about a life lived poorly, especially when the decedent harmed many among us.

The passing of Justice Antonin Scalia brought those challenges into focus. On February 14, 2016, less than a day after Justice Scalia died, I posted Scalia – Thoughts about First Reactions!, in which I focused on the very issue mentioned in the preceding paragraph. (I found some comments about Justice Scalia truly offensive.) Four days later,

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The U.S. Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, and Originalism

March 20, 2017

The U.S. Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, and Originalism

The Senate Judiciary Committee commenced its hearings on the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. The seat has sat empty since February 13, 2016. (For those who count, the number of days happens to be 401, but it might be an even 400, if Justice Antonin Scalia was alive after midnight.)

I won’t waste time on the nonsense associated with the 401-day gap. (Historians will give the Republican Senate no mercy, for sure.) Instead, I’m prompted by What Gorsuch Has in Common With Liberals, a piece which Professor Akhil Reed Amar wrote for the New York Times on March 18.

Professor Amar

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We Didn’t Start the Fire (Annotated)

March 4, 2017

We Didn’t Start the Fire (Annotated)

[We dedicate this reposting to our ahistorical POTUS. If anyone knows the man, pass this along. The ignorance should astound everyone.]

Donald Trump

“Here at MRW we don’t routinely cite to ourselves, and I’m pretty sure we’ve never re-posted. No rule is absolute, however, and when reason dictates that we deviate, we’ll do the right thing.”

Those were our words on April 5, 2015, when we reposted We Didn’t Start the Fire (annotated). We Didn’t Start the Fire was first posted on July 13, 2014. It’s a long piece—5000 plus words—and lots of effort went into putting it together. Billy Joel, a very intelligent, serious songwriter/singer, wrote the song and chose the people

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The U.S. Supreme Court; It’s a Wrap!

June 27, 2016

On Monday, June 27, the U.S. Supreme Court issued decisions in Voisine et al. v. United States, No. 14-10154; Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, No. 15-274; and McDonnell v. United States, No. 15-474. With these decisions, the oddest Term in this writer’s memory is a wrap!

On the odd part, on February 12 or 13 Justice Antonin Scalia died suddenly at a hunting lodge in Texas. Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced within an hour of the confirmation that Justice Scalia’s death that the Senate would not vote on any nominee put forward by the sitting President of the United States. (Senator McConnell controls the Senate calendar, and is also the man who will

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Guest Blogger Steve Caine: Ms. Clinton v. Mr. Trump

June 24, 2016

 

Ms. ClintonMr. Trump

The pundits say: Trump is imploding, Democrats are gleeful, and Republicans are in panic mode. I hate to throw cold water on those rosy / dire predictions but over-confidence can have very negative consequences. If you want a Democrat in the White House next year be wary and focused.

In Part 1 of this two-parter I said this election cycle most brings to mind 1980. I’m not predicting a similar outcome, but I am concerned. (For young people, in 1980 President Jimmy Carter ran against former California governor Ronald Reagan in the general election.) And I’m still focused on 1980!

Donald J. Trump and Ronald Reagan differ in important ways: Mr. Reagan had been a two- term governor, with

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Thoughts About United States v. Texas

April 18, 2016

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument earlier today in United States v. Texas, No. 15-674. Texas and 25 other states sued the federal government to prevent the implementation of deferred-action regarding certain undocumented immigrants.

Lyle Denniston has an excellent overview of the case and the oral argument in Oral Argument: Search for a Fifth Vote on Immigration at SCOTUSblog. And, of course, Nina Totenberg is always worth reading and listening to; her piece, with a byline shared with Eyder Peralta for NPR, is On Obama’s Immigration Actions, Supreme Court Seems Sharply Divided.

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The judge who heard the case, Andrew Hanen, was tailor-made

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