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Random commentary and senseless acts of blogging.
The first Republican president once said, "While the people retain their virtue and their vigilance, no administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can seriously injure the government in the short space of four years." If Mr. Lincoln could see what's happened in these last three-and-a-half years, he might hedge a little on that statement. Blog critics Gryffindor House Slytherin House Ravenclaw House House Elves Beth Jacob Prisoners of Azkaban Muggles
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Monday, May 23, 2005
One phenomenon that I will never comprehend - or, using the more technically correct term, grok - is people standing in line for weeks or longer to see the latest SF blockbuster movie. I went to the new Star Wars on the day it opened, which is something of a personal tradition. I prepared myself for some lines; in fact, I had to wait behind exactly one person, then bought my tickets and went in. So why stand in line for weeks when others who don't can get the same tickets? Is your life really that short of things to do? And the film? More or less as others have reviewed it: a good movie that could have been great if the dialogue were better. Not up to the first trilogy, but substantially better than the other two prequels. The ending segues nicely to a setup of the original trilogy, although no explanation is or could be given for the fact that Obi Wan Kenobi chooses to hide himself and the infant Luke on Anakin's home planet. Thursday, May 19, 2005
One of the striking facts in this era of 'conservative' power is the complete absence of an actual conservative movement. Jonah Goldberg recently boasted of conservatism's frredom from dogma, but this is true only in the sense that 'undogmatic' and 'unprincipled' are taken as synonyms. Conservatism today seems taken to mean only supporting, by any means possible, political victories for the Republican Party and especially its extreme right wing. Any movement which actually stands up for any conservative principle: limiting government power, fiscal responsibility, or even national sovereignty when that means standing up to the GOP leadership is nearly invisible The current Topic A provides a conspicuous example of the phenomenon. I could, if I were pressed to do it or in the mood to be perverse, come up with arguments for why the nuclear option is justified or desirable. What I couldn't do, because it simply isn't possible, is argue that it is a conservative thing to do. This isn't merely because, as others have pointed out, dumping the filibuster has often been a liberal goal and would support the long-term liberal cause of a more activist legislature. The more basic problem is that conservatives are supposed to respect and conserve established institutions. It's what the damned word means. True conservatives are cautious, even excessively cautious, about undermining traditional structures with less than the most compelling need. Blowing up the stability of an institution that has functioned reasonably well for over two centuries in order to gain a short term partisan edge is simply something that no true conservative would ever consider doing. And yet, the nuclear option, which can succeed only if 90% of the governing 'conservative' party agrees to support it, is moving forward. For this even to be seriously under discussion is an acknowledgment that actual conservatism is entirely without impact in the Republican establishment. Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Back on the Links Gang Problems with internet connections have kept me away from this site for quite a while; on top of that, the posts I did write over that time got Bloggered. However, I once again have a stable connection and will be resuming posting. Incidentally, this isn't the only blog coming back from sustained hiatus. Jeff Cooper has been back in action for a while, although I only noticed it recently; so has his fellow legal blogger Sam Heldman. The Biscuit Report, which has but doesn't much use one of the more desirable URLs around, is a former Clark campaign blog back in new dress. |
