Policy
No more term limits for elected officials in Venezuela
The Associated Press reported that a referendum removing term limits for electe
d officials in Venezuela passed 54 to 46 today. This means that along with Cuba, Bolivia, and Nicaragua, we’re going to be seeing a lot of the same faces in Venezuela for the next several decades. I wish Chavez would stop being so narcissistic and realize the benefits of the regular transfer of power in creating a lasting and more responsive government. Chavez has lots of examples in history to turn to realize that this seizure of control will not create sustainable progress in Venezuela. Simply put, one-man shows only work while that one-man is around. Look at an even recent example of a one-man show going south– Trump Entertainment is filing for bankruptcy after Donald Trump resigned from the board, for example. What is happening to South America and how is this happening?
Fear, Cowardice, and D.C. Politics
A president once said that there is nothing to fear but fear itself. He was wrong. Fear can be good. Fear, so long as it does not dictate our actions, can be a moderating influence. Read more…
The Israeli Elections & the US (UPDATED)
The final tally of Israel’s elections are not in yet, but the basic outline looks clear. Either the center-left Kadima will peel off an ultra-right-wing party to form a weak majority incapable of credibly negotiating for peace, or Kadima will fail and a right-wing government will form and be unwilling to negotiate for peace. It would be nice if Kadima and Likud were willing to seal themselves off from the insane and neo-fascist Yisrael Beiteinu party by forming their own majority, thereby demonstrating to the world that Israel rejects extremism, but that’s not going to happen. Instead, Israel will, one way or another, foreclose the possibility of a peace settlement for at least a year. What this means for American foreign policy is unclear, but it’s an enormous problem.
Winning Afghanistan
The Obama administration has begun a 60-day review of Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy, and the outlines of a debate over how to win there are beginning to emerge. At its heart is a familiar question: how do we define success?
The Filibuster Continues to Ruin America
The Washington Post reports that the Senate lacks the votes to pass the stimulus bill. And by that, they mean they don’t have 60 votes, the necessary number to defeat a filibuster. This is crazy, and why can’t we all agree to get rid of the stupid filibuster already? It was undemocratic when the Democrats did it for Bush’s judicial appointments, it’s undemocratic now. The Senate itself is sort of an absurd institution in modern America, and I’d be in favor of tossing the whole thing and having just a House of Representatives. But that’s not gonna happen anytime soon, so can we at least get rid of the insane, obstructive filibuster? The number of veto points in American politics is ridiculous, and it’s moments like these that it can be extremely frustrating and dangerous.
Late update: Nothing in this post takes away from my love for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington or this episode of the West Wing.
Should the CA Supreme Court Overturn Prop 8?
News broke yesterday that the California Supreme Court will be hearing oral arguments in March on a challenge the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the “amendment” to California’s constitution prohibiting same-sex marriage. I put the word “amendment” in quotes because whether Prop 8 actually constitutes an amendment is a big part of the dispute. The court directed the parties to argue three issues:
- Is Proposition 8 invalid because it constitutes a revision of, rather than an amendment to, the California Constitution?
- Does Proposition 8 violate the separation-of-powers doctrine under the California Constitution?
- If Proposition 8 is not unconstitutional, what is its effect, if any, on the marriages of same-sex couples performed before the adoption of Proposition 8?
The Exclusionary Rule & Comparative Law
The New York Times ran an interesting story yesterday about how the Supreme Court is inching closer and closer to repealing the exclusionary rule, a principle in criminal procedure in which any evidence that is improperly obtained by the state is automatically inadmissible in court. The story talks about last month’s decision in Herring v. United States, in which Chief Justice Roberts seemed to advocate a new standard for excluding evidence, writing (emphasis mine):
To trigger the exclusionary rule, police conduct must be sufficiently deliberate that exclusion can meaningfully deter it, and sufficiently culpable that such deterrence is worth the price paid by the justice system.
This statement suggests that Roberts believes in a balancing test for excluding evidence rather than automatic exclusion, which has been a principle of American criminal law since the Warren court laid it down in 1961 in Mapp v. Ohio.
Someday You Will Be Loved
Thursday was the 36th Annual March for Life in Washington DC. Something like 200,000 people came, gathered from every corner of our nation, drawn year after year to the juncture where activist judges met the lies of the pro-choice leading to the legal murder of an estimated 50 million children.
Last year I was there. I couldn’t go this year, but I did go to a rally in Lansing, MI. Somehow this was different than I had expected it to be. A few things hit me.
The Dark Side of the Golden Era
Ah the postwar boom. America’s Golden Era . . .
Several years ago I learned that the United States government carried out a program of forced sterilization on Puerto Rican women during the post-World War II era. Initially, I was shocked and appalled. Why would the government of Puerto Rico with the support of the U.S. government force sterilization on women?
The primary motivation behind this was eugenic. Puerto Rico was overpopulated (it still is) and birth rates were high. The government couldn’t get people to emigrate fast enough and Uncle Sam was worried about another few million people in one of its colonies. Basically what happened is what happens in China today: poor women were tricked or coerced into having abortions or being sterilized. Sometimes it was the only family planning option offered. At others there was no consent.
This came crashing down to me about fifteen minutes ago when I got a call from my father. My grandmother, his mother, died about a year ago. My father had always been very close to her and so, when she died, he took some of her personal effects, mostly letters, back to California with him from New York. He was nearly in tears and bitterness clung to every word. He skipped pleasantries and simply began speaking.
“Sometimes” he said “I am so pissed off at what the government has done.” Read more…
