Freespace

Ciceronian or Jaffanese?

This post reminded me of a similar story. In all three of Barry Goldwater’s published autobiographies, he claims that his line “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice” comes from Cicero’s orations against Catiline. Of course, having read Cicero’s orations against Catiline, I was puzzled by the fact that they don’t include the line, and at a party about a dozen years ago I asked Harry Jaffa about it since, of course, he wrote that speech. He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Yes, I don’t know why he keeps saying that,” he said. “I wrote that line myself....”

But I guess claiming that something comes from Cicero makes you sound more Senatorial than saying it came from Harry Jaffa.

Perverse morality

Wow, here's a good exercise for philosophy students: diagnose the perverse morality at work here. Basketball team wins by 100-0 margin. The winning team is criticized and attacked for it, and when the coach stands up for his team to say that he's proud of their success and hard work...he's fired. Why? The school explains: "It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christlike and honorable approach to competition."

Well, you can't disagree with them there!

Pride, falls, all that

An excellent column at Pajamas Media about Obama's risky hubris.

It may not matter in the end because he does, after all, have the votes to pass much of his agenda. But it is being remembered and absorbed by his opponents, and even by less politically-minded onlookers. They might wonder why the new president who has the luxury to be magnanimous isn’t. And when the going gets tough, or his Congressional majority narrows (as it usually does after the first mid-year election), he might need the good will of the other party.

If these things come back to bite him (and they will) it will hurt. Also, some excellent points from Peter Robinson:

the new president all but ignored the principal task of any inaugural address, that of reuniting the nation after the divisiveness of a campaign. Almost 60 million Americans cast their ballots for Sen. John McCain. What did Obama have to say to his opponents? “What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them.” Some olive branch.

America needs the money hole!

In The Know: Should The Government Stop Dumping Money Into A Giant Hole?

Margaret Thatcher's greatest moment?

Well, maybe not. But certainly one of them.

In the dark places

Watch this video. Disturbing, but important.

(HT: my father).

Ranking

Avvo Blog ranks Freespace as the number 96 legal blog. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but it's an honor to come in above MormonLawyers.com and Missouri Accident Lawyer Blog.

Changes in the rules of order

Chris Lawrence points out an interesting and dispiriting change being made in the rules of the House of Representatives. This change would further diminish the status of the House as a deliberative body...if such a thing can be imagined.

I am currently working my way through Dumas Malone's biography of Thomas Jefferson, and he mentions that one of the elements in Jefferson's manual, long since brought to an end, was the liberal use of the Committee of the Whole to deliberate about legislation. The Committee of the Whole was basically abolished and replaced by the standing committee system, a device which basically eliminates the possibility of serious, sustained debates in the Senate over actual legislation. Instead, the debates go on outside the legislature, and all that goes on inside is the actual generation of legislation pursuant to the perceived mandates of legislative majorities. In consquence, the power resides in the committee chairmen, not in eloquent, persuasive, intelligent legislative leaders.

Closing Guantanamo: meaning what, exactly?

Pres. Obama today issued an executive order to begin the closure of the Guantanamo Bay camp. What exactly it means really remains to be seen. The order says that the camp is to be closed within a year; it stops all pending military commission proceedings and bars any further such proceedings, pending a review of each individual detainee. That review will be conducted by a committee chaired by the Attorney General, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and possibly others to be identified later.

This committee will review the cases to determine “whether it is possible to transfer or release the individuals consistent with the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.” Those who cannot be “transferred” or released will be subject to further evaluation to determine “whether the Federal Government should seek to prosecute the detained individuals…including whether it is feasible to prosecute such individuals before a court established pursuant to Article III of the United States Constitution.” Anyone that the review committee decides cannot be “transferred,” released, or tried, will be subject to “disposition” by “lawful means, consistent with the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice.”

The Obama inauguration

Everyone's already seen it, but it's still worth posting

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Changefest '09 - Obama's Inaugural Speech

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video