The Black Republican

I strongly suggest this piece by Debra J. Saunders as "Recommended Reading".

The Butcher of Baghdad has been captured.

First of all, many apologies for falling down on the job. Apparently I ran myself a little thin (proverbially speaking only, unfortunately), and when Thanksgiving arrived and I took a breather, it lasted quite longer than I expected. With any luck, I'll shake it off soon and return to the pace I'd developed during October and November.

John Fund writes a good piece today in reference to the situation at the Supreme Court. Sandra Day O'Connor (no known relation) has apparently become even more pliable than the most ardent stict-construction-pessimists thought possible. Referring to Linda Greenhouse, the judicial affairs reporter at the New York Times, Fund quotes retired Justice Laurence Silberman's observation that justices will sometimes become so enamored of their own name being in the newspaper, they'll write opinions just for the praise Greenhouse will confer on them. I prefer a simpler calculation: when the Supreme Court can grant its impramatur to the wholesale abridgement of political speech, it's again gone the way of Dred Scott in imposing its own will on the people, Constitution be damned. Expect nothing short of total upheaval in this country to pry the cold dead fingers of judicial activism from the bench.

On a lighter note however, Fund reminds us that there is still a faint glimmer of Truth and Justice on the Old Lady's scales, imbalanced though they may be at the moment:

Back in 1992, Judge Silberman did praise one justice who had proved impervious to such influences. "Clarence Thomas has, for some time, resolutely refused to read all but a couple of newspapers," Mr. Silberman declared. "There will be, I would bet my shirt, no journalistic hole bored in his ozone level." More than a decade later, Justice Thomas has indeed remained true to his principles. President Bush would be well to look for men and women of Justice Thomas's fortitude when it comes time for him to fill the next vacancy on the Supreme Court.