Emmett Hogan's Echo Chamber

Slow Internet, Slow Blogging

2007-06-30T15:00:00.000-05:00

Or nonexistent, rather. After graduation, I arrived home in Chicago to find that the wireless network I had been piggybacking on was now password-protected. (Yes, I stole internet access, you would have done it too, don't lie.) I apologize to all of my regular readers (to wit: myself, people I directly prod to read it, and - if LaRouche has it right - Dick Cheney).

The Hogan clan is in the process of switching to another satellite TV provider who can also give us high-speed internet access. If all goes well, I'll be back going on about nothing in no time.

"It's a Management Tool"

2007-06-30T14:48:00.000-05:00

...so, does that mean he's going to bill the city?

Sarkozy Ahead!

2007-05-04T13:40:00.000-05:00

After their televised and widely watched debate this week, Nicholas Sarkozy has extended his lead over Ségolene Royal in the French presidential election. The scuttlebutt is that Royal imploded in the debate, but Sarkozy kept his cool throughout.

The election is Sunday. Go Sarkozy!

More Tag Clouds

2007-05-04T13:39:00.000-05:00

The Republicans this time.

Devil's Details

2007-05-02T17:38:00.000-05:00

More pictures of Michigan Law School's gargoyles here. All pictures are by fellow law student Brian Pascal.

Desert Island Debate

2007-05-02T11:08:00.001-05:00

Hard-hitting stuff. I can't believe how lame so many of the answers are. The four front-runners all said "books."

Pithiest answers: Brownback, Tancredo.

Three Down!

2007-04-30T18:55:00.001-05:00

One to go.

Go Hillary!

2007-04-27T23:04:00.001-05:00

I'm liking her more and more....

Al-Qaeda's the Problem in Iraq

2007-04-27T22:51:00.000-05:00

...and Harry Reid's the problem here.

Rank Hypocrisy

2007-04-25T12:34:00.000-05:00

Tim Blair has the goods on Media Watch.

They Didn't Study

2007-04-24T11:12:00.000-05:00

Apparently not.

Wow!

2007-04-23T17:56:00.000-05:00

I totally want to live here!

"I'm So Excited. I'm So... Scared!"

2007-04-22T19:41:00.000-05:00

We knew caffeine was dangerous.... But it's what it does on the inside that's most destructive.

"That is at best misleading, and at worst outright Pelagianism."

2007-04-22T11:12:00.000-05:00

How often do you get to throw that down in an argument? Not enough, clearly.

"Some of us are truly born bad."

2007-04-21T01:40:00.000-05:00

Lucid words in the pages of the Gray Lady.

It's April 20!

2007-04-20T18:10:00.001-05:00

What should I do?

"Bespectacled cynics prone to neuroses who are actually doing just fine"

2007-04-20T17:56:00.000-05:00

That's NPR's audience, right there.

[HT: Douthat, on Sullivan.]

UPDATE: Oh, and Wikipedia links to this delightful bit of scandalmongering about Glass's unsuitability as a life partner. From 1998! (Well, only part of it's scandalmongering, really.)

Here's the best bit:

"Get this," says Barry. "He dumps me and does this radio piece about getting his hair cut. That is Ira to a T. You know what he used to call me? He used to call me his 'little ghetto girl!' We were reading the New York Times one morning a couple of weeks in, and he looked at me and said, 'You don't know what the IMF is, do you?'"

Wow. You can taste the condescension. He should give a master class.

Tragedy in Real Time

2007-04-19T00:50:00.000-05:00

A striking account of NBC's handling of materials from the Virginia Tech murderer.

He's Man's Best Friend

2007-04-18T16:11:00.000-05:00

Found this in the Office of Career Services. (Kidding.)

More Regulations on Gun Reporting Now!

2007-04-18T13:50:00.000-05:00

An idea whose time has come.

[I know, "whose" is improper, but that's the expression.]

I Agree with Simon Cowell

2007-04-18T12:45:00.000-05:00

If he did roll his eyes at the contestant, he was right. Coming as soon as it did on the heels of obvious criticism, contestant Chris Richardson's sudden shout-out on the Virginia Tech tragedy seems like an attempt to dodge the criticism. And an unseemly one, at that. Richardson had apparently intended to mention it, so it may just be a case of unfortunate timing.... Still, tsk tsk.

A Thought

2007-04-18T12:31:00.000-05:00

So now that the Dems are in control of the Senate, will Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens resign? Having been appointed by Ford, and being a Republican himself, the liberal jurist has apparently said he would prefer to have his successor appointed by a Republican president. With the Senate in Democratic hands, however, any misgivings Stevens might have about his replacement's philosophy being sharply divergent from his own would be assuaged somewhat. And it's anyone's guess, at this remove, what party will hold the White House beyond 2008.

So is a retirement coming down the pike?

US Passports: Now 20% More Patriotic!

2007-04-17T22:45:00.000-05:00

I'm surprised we didn't hear more about this sooner.

Cool!

2007-04-17T22:35:00.000-05:00

Science can be neat, man.

They Can Send Their One Kid

2007-04-16T14:02:00.000-05:00

China allows only one ticket per family to the 2008 Olympics.

Time to End the Federal Drinking Age?

2007-04-16T09:31:00.001-05:00

Yes it is.

Light Blogging

2007-04-16T09:30:00.000-05:00

I'm recuperating from my birthday.

"This is a moment when one wishes one were an alumnus of Dartmouth, so that one could vote for Steve Smith."

2007-04-12T11:08:00.000-05:00

So says Bill Buckley. Imagine how I feel!

Antisemitism in England

2007-04-12T10:58:00.000-05:00

Mark Steyn worries that its on the rise, and increasingly resembles its aggressive continental counterpart.

More on Murphy

2007-04-10T19:40:00.000-05:00

Glenn Reynolds has some thoughts.

"A Joint in One Hand, the Koran in the Other"

2007-04-10T16:45:00.000-05:00

There's no God but Allah, man! Best quotes:

"My child will learn to roll joints and smoke at the age of six."
"How can you outlaw weed? God orders us to smoke it."
"Friends, you can't take away the gun on a Muslim's belt, the horse beneath him or the joint in his hand."

HT: Sullivan.

Why No Fly?

2007-04-09T14:10:00.000-05:00

Orin Kerr sounds a note of caution about the Walter F. Murphy affair. All the same, based on what we know at least, a net that catches this guy is almost certainly cast far too widely.

No Apology Needed - I'll Sue Anyway

2007-04-09T12:21:00.000-05:00

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a grant of summary judgment for a store owner in a case where a customer was offended by a clerk's racial slur. Another clerk and a sales manager immediately apologized, the offending clerk was fired, and the store repeatedly made other gestures of consolation as well. Yet the Eighth Circuit reversed because it thought a jury might be able to find the store negligent anyway.

PS, the suit is for $5 million.

The Eternally Relevant Hayek

2007-04-09T11:11:00.000-05:00

Virginia Postrel notes that Friedrich Hayek's ideas on the state and the economy were all the more a revelation as they came in an intellectual environment that was hostile to free markets generally. How far we've come.

Online Poll Chicanery

2007-04-09T10:55:00.000-05:00

An online March Madness poll to assess the "coolest law school" has been removed because of "a number of gaming attempts." The final poll was between NYU and Michigan; it was parallel to another bracket, UVA and Georgetown. (Totally UVA - although the notion that any law student or school is in any way "cool" is kind of absurd.)

According to the poll system host,

[a]t least 4 different automated scripts were being run to try to influence vote totals beginning earlier today.

The scripts were starting to cause severe performance problems for the Vizu.com site. We attempted to block by IP the attempts but whoever was behind one or more of the scripts kept moving to new machines. We finally were forced to delete the poll to end the problem completely.

The poll's sponsor, Abovethelaw.com, is understandably peeved:

Jeez, people. We're very disappointed in you. This is a sad commentary on ethics within the legal profession -- as well as the coolness of law students and/or lawyers. Don't you people have anything better to do than cheat in a silly online poll?

We've asked for more details about the cheating from the Vizu folks (and we may disqualify one or both schools depending upon what we learn). We will keep you posted.

I know more about this than I'm saying.

Le Pen's Offices Destroyed

2007-04-08T21:44:00.000-05:00

There was a riot. It got ugly.

Hat tip: Joe.

Spousal Unions in New Hampshire

2007-04-08T17:50:00.000-05:00

The House of Representatives in the Granite State - the third-largest legislature in the English-speaking world, incidentally - overwhelmingly approved a bill that would create "spousal unions," its own version of civil unions. If approved by the Senate and the governor, it would give gay couples all the rights of marriage, while retaining for straight couples only the moniker itself. The bill would also allow for recognition of lawful civil unions and marriages from other states as well.

This is typical New Hampshire: tolerant, fair-minded, and above all sensible. This is the spirit that makes me love the state. (Here's the bill, appropriately laconic.)

I hope it passes. It should make for some interesting questions once the presidential hopefuls start to stump there in earnest! Mitt Romney, in particular, should come out looking like a Gordian knot, as is his wont.

Law Prof and Korean War Vet - On the Terrorist Watch List?

2007-04-08T17:45:00.004-05:00

Apparently so. It bothers me greatly to see that government officials feel no restraint in noting one person's perfectly ordinary political views when it comes to identifying "terrorists." It's not as if the guy was even some kind of apologist for Islamic fundamentalism. Shameful.

How To Work Without Even Trying

2007-04-08T17:32:00.000-05:00

Ah, the life of the eye candy at Abercrombie & Fitch!

Incog Impresario

2007-04-07T15:49:00.000-05:00

Joshua Bell goes undercover to see if commuters will recognize beauty when they hear it. So is it art if it lacks a frame?

A Plea for Plain Language

2007-04-06T10:40:00.000-05:00

...in law school essays, from Volokh.

Insanity

2007-04-06T10:25:00.000-05:00

So some Filipino fellows are in the habit of getting nailed to a cross every Lent. The best quote, though, was this:

"They take this religion to the extreme," observed Gomas de Miguel, a tourist from Spain. "In Spain, we say we are Catholics but we don't do this anymore I think."

"Reports of My Death Are Premature"

2007-04-05T14:56:00.000-05:00

So says Alex Ross, sub nom. classical music generally. The decline and fall of classical music is one of the hoariest old chestnuts around, and yet reporters have no hesitation whatsoever in simply assuming it's true.

A State Is Trying to Set Its Own Foreign Policy (Again)

2007-04-05T14:31:00.000-05:00

California is looking to divest from Iran with respect to its pension investments. Unfortunately, they are probably preempted from doing so by the "dormant foreign affairs" clause of the Constitution; Massachusetts and Illinois both learned the hard way that there are strict limits on the states' ability to meddle in foreign matters.

Perhaps Congress can authorize, to a very limited extent, the exercise of such soft power on the part of states? It would allow them to establish policies that are preferred by their citizens, while ensuring that national foreign policy is not compromised. This would require very narrow tailoring, however; for instance, a ban on investment in the state of capital from a target country cannot be permitted.

"Please Fetch Your Can"

2007-04-05T12:51:00.000-05:00

Just another workday for Big Brother.

Yale Students Arrested for Burning US Flag

2007-04-04T16:30:00.000-05:00

So says Reuters. Two of the three were foreign students, and they burned a flag that was flying on private property. (Should the headline have given some indication of this? Maybe, maybe not.)

Why, That's a Pretty Picture

2007-04-04T10:38:00.000-05:00

Fountain near Café Gellert, Budapest, Hungary. September 2006.

In Stock Markets, Europe Overtakes America

2007-04-04T10:10:00.000-05:00

So says The Financial Times. For the first time since the First World War, apparently. Note that the figure includes Russia and non-EU states in Eastern Europe; I'd be curious to see what the figure is for EU-based stock markets alone. But I'm sure it's at least comparable with America's; after all, how big can the Russian stock market be? Honestly.

Confirmation

2007-04-04T10:02:00.000-05:00

A (not so) new study shows that hunger stimulates the brain. I always felt that I can focus better on tests when I skip breakfast. Take that, conventional wisdom!

Yes, I got this via Althouse.

A Question

2007-04-03T23:27:00.000-05:00

Who made Whoopi Goldberg popular? Who?

Context Is Everything

2007-04-03T15:53:00.000-05:00

I seem to remember a darker storyline. But hey, what do I know about romantic comedies?

If You Lie with the Logs...

2007-04-02T16:46:00.000-05:00

...you'll rise with the feces. Yes, I came up with that myself.

Marijuana 0 - No-Doze 1

2007-04-02T16:35:00.000-05:00

The inanity of our drug laws continues apace.

In fairness, it may just be a freak occurrence. But doesn't this just underscore that the toxicity of marijuana is far, far below the toxicity of caffeine? (To say nothing of all other drugs, including alcohol?)

I think it does, even though it's just anecdotal. I can't even see a freak occurrence like this with marijuana.

European Commission Investigating Apple

2007-04-02T16:04:00.000-05:00

...regarding iTunes and antitrust laws, apparently. Though there is this paragraph:

The Commission’s main concern is that iTunes’ current set-up in the European market prohibits users in one country from downloading music from a website intended to serve another country. Its move against Apple and the music groups was triggered by a 2004 complaint from a British consumer organisation criticising the fact that the UK version of iTunes was more expensive than Apple’s product in other European markets.

This sounds like it's more a question of consumers' free market rights than an antitrust issue. I wonder what's going on here?

UPDATE It's competition (European for antitrust). Of course, the source for this story is... the story above. Hm.

Will the RIAA Sue You, Too?

2007-04-01T15:32:00.000-05:00

Now you can find out!

Heh

2007-04-01T12:22:00.000-05:00

Google offers free WiFi via your toilet! Or so it would seem.

What a Dressing Down!

2007-04-01T00:30:00.000-05:00

Telling it like it is before the useless UN Human Rights Commission.

Shilling for Tehran?

2007-04-01T00:17:00.000-05:00

What is Nancy Pelosi doing?

Reagan's Eloquence

2007-04-01T00:10:00.000-05:00

Watch him give a master class.

Convictions in Biloxi Bribery Scandal

2007-03-31T22:42:00.000-05:00

A prominent lawyer and two state judges are going up the river. I'd like to know a bit more about the bribery, though. (Via Overlawyered.)

Prospects for a McCain Rebound

2007-03-31T21:33:00.000-05:00

The Weekly Standard has an optimistic diagnosis.

Something to Consider

2007-03-31T21:09:00.000-05:00

It's worth pausing to think about what the numbers on the dismissals in the Justice Department actually tell us. The Economist has some considerations. So what were the figures from the Clinton era?

Hail Big Brother

2007-03-27T18:19:00.000-05:00

One step closer to the creation of a helot class.

A Question for Ahmadinejad

2007-03-27T16:24:00.000-05:00

But what about the log in your eye?

Bush's Tax Cuts are "Social Darwinism"?

2007-03-27T16:08:00.000-05:00

That's what Obama said. Not to be outdone on outlandish remarks, Hillary had this to add:

Clinton said she wanted to return to a time when the country and its leaders had big goals and achieved them—like improving civil rights or sending a man to the moon. She said she wished President Bush would have used the opportunity of a unified nation after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to make the country energy independent or provide universal health care.

Hmm. What a revealing statement. So Hillary's advice was to use the goodwill of the country in the aftermath of 9/11 to pursue legislation with, at best, a tangential connection to the source of that goodwill? She really is just naked, raw, pure reflexive political ambition, isn't she?

UPDATE Mind you, I'm not being naive here. Bush certainly did use his political capital to pursue issues that had nothing to do with the War on Terrorism. Every politician does it. But for Hillary to be so gormless and to put it so bluntly.... One wishes that her political instinct would match her political ambition.

Should LSAT Scores Be Put on Resumes?

2007-03-27T15:15:00.000-05:00

A discussion. I'm inclined against; by the time you're looking for jobs, you have at least a few grades that provide some insight into a student's ability to grasp legal concepts. Moreover, as LSAT score is more determinative of admissions to law school than any other factor, one's school is essentially a proxy for LSAT anyway.

As imperfect as grades are, they are certainly more useful and illustrative than the LSAT, which does not test ability in an explicitly legal context.

McNonsense

2007-03-27T11:46:00.000-05:00

I don't know what kind of person is running McDonald's PR team. First, they condescended to the old woman who burned herself with their coffee, making the jury sympathetic to her and thereby snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Now, they rail against dictionaries for carrying an unflattering definition of the term "McJob." I suppose they had to object for appearance's sake, but they didn't have to insist that the definition be removed.

Words I Don't Know

2007-03-26T23:35:00.000-05:00

Haboob (n.) A violent and oppressive wind blowing in summer, esp. in Sudan, bringing sand from the desert. [late 19th cent.; Arabic habūb "blowing furiously."] Oxford American Dictionary.

More Straight Talk Express

2007-03-26T15:55:00.000-05:00

McCain is back to doing what he does best. Bloggers are such a natural target for McCain, I don't know why he's waited so long to woo them. Especially when there's a lot of ground for him to make up in the conservative blogosphere.

The Dangers of Email

2007-03-26T15:47:00.000-05:00

The latest in a never-ending series. This woman's a nut, and that guy seems outrageous too (though to a much lower level)....

Caracas' Creeping Socialism

2007-03-25T19:36:00.000-05:00

Not so creeping anymore. I guess McCain's concerns seem more and more justified.

Wow!

2007-03-25T16:59:00.000-05:00

That horse can move - even its tail has rhythm!

A "Breathtakingly Mendacious Tissue of Calumnies"

2007-03-23T10:20:00.000-05:00

Bruce Bawer has yet more evidence of Europe's ongoing crisis of confidence.

Settlement Agreement in James Joyce Copyright Case

2007-03-23T09:44:00.000-05:00

Here's a very interesting report on a settlement agreement in a dispute between the Estate of James Joyce and a Stanford professor who wrote a biography of Joyce's daughter, Lucia. The academic won a declaratory judgment allowing her to publish on her website exerpts from works relating to James and Lucia Joyce, the copyrights to which belong to the Estate.

Here's the press release. Academic scholarship is a paradigmatic example of fair use. I strongly suspect that the Estate was aggressive just to scare people away from engaging in copying that is undeniably protected.

More on the Koran-Quoting Court in Germany

2007-03-23T09:32:00.000-05:00

In The New York Times. This really was outrageous. And the woman was born in Germany!

One question I'd like answered, though: the judge said in her opinion that “[i]n this [Moroccan] cultural background[,] it is not unusual that the husband uses physical punishment against the wife.” Is this true? It shouldn't have had anything to do with her ruling, of course, but it would be interesting to know her basis for this assertion.

Barack O'Bama

2007-03-23T09:18:00.000-05:00

He has Irish ancestry, RTE reports. Go an, ya bye, ya!

I wonder if he's from Kilkenny?

A Shocking Decision

2007-03-22T22:03:00.000-05:00

For several reasons.

A Warning to Heed

2007-03-22T21:22:00.000-05:00

The EU Commission President warns against "political correctness and moralising politicians."

I'm very glad for this. I remember being utterly disgusted with the patronizing tone of the Irish government when Irish voters rejected the initial proposal for the EU Constitution. The voters overwhelmingly rejected it. The response of the Irish ministers was to berate them for making the wrong choice and for embarrassing them in front of their Eurofriends. A few months later, they put the matter up again; now that the Irish voters had been sufficiently woodshedded by their moral leaders, they voted in favor.

Actually, I was upset with the Irish voters, too, for succumbing. They even voted for it by the same margin they had rejected it by the first time. It hardly dissuades the scolds on high when their scolding actually works.

Crazy Jurors!

2007-03-22T12:38:00.000-05:00

There's no way this award can withstand appeal. (Let's hope not, anyway.)

"Yeah, I Played Ugly Defendant Number Three"

2007-03-22T12:28:00.000-05:00

A new study concludes (confirms?) that jurors are more likely to acquit a defendant who is good-looking than one who is homely. But wait, there's more:

The study showed that while the jurors were swayed by attractiveness, they did not let race cloud their judgment. Black and white suspects were treated equally. When black suspects were convicted, however, they were given longer sentences.

Hmm, that's surprising, and encouraging. Less surprising:

Women jurors treat female suspects more harshly, especially when they think they might have used their looks to their advantage.

Men, on the other hand, tend to give attractive women the benefit of the doubt.

Street Scenes

2007-03-21T17:01:00.000-05:00

One reporter's view from the ground in Baghdad. That one reporter, incidentally, is Alex Kingsbury, cousin to my friend, Joe Gabaeff.

Scalia's Ignorance Only Proves He's Right

2007-03-21T15:13:00.000-05:00

It's a win-win. What's not to like about strict constructionism? It rocks!

McCain on Socialism in the Western Hemisphere

2007-03-21T14:41:00.000-05:00

This obviously targets the Cuban vote in that crucial state of Florida. But I wonder if it mightn't become a theme of his campaign throughout the rest of the country as well. Until 1991, anti-communism was the glue that held together the disparate strains of the conservative coalition - social conservatives, religious conservatives, libertarians, neo-cons, etc. Perhaps McCain feels that opposing the odious left-wing regimes of Castro and Chavez can perform something of the same function. After all, none of the current contenders for the GOP nomination seems to have the edge in cross-constituency appeal; what worked in the past might work now, for him, albeit to a greatly reduced extent.

Tehran

2007-03-21T11:02:00.001-05:00

... the Paris of the East. Here's a great quote:

An intense physical consciousness is quintessentially Persian, my friend later explained to me. It goes beyond appearances to a strong sense of pride in having what Iranians see as their superior culture and history. You could call Iranians the French of the Middle East.

In a good way, let's hope.

Why, That's a Pretty Picture

2007-03-20T12:01:00.000-05:00

Village in Maramures, a county in far northern Transylvania, along the Ukrainian border. September 2006.

Dr. Freud, Call Your Office

2007-03-20T11:39:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure what to make of this story. If the Iranian officers were in Iraq or Turkey to further the insurgency in Iraq, then they got what they deserve. But the most striking passage didn't involve Iran's claims or threatened retaliation - it was this:

“We’ve got the ability to capture a nice bunch of blue-eyed blond-haired officers and feed them to our fighting cocks,” he said.

Anyone know the ayatollah's take on double entendre?

Carol Burnett Sues Family Guy for Some Reason

2007-03-17T12:08:00.000-05:00

Why would she do this? If anything, Family Guy has introduced a bunch of twentysomethings to her characters. Face it, Carol, they might not otherwise have a clue as to who you are.

More Dog-Whistle Theories

2007-03-16T16:52:00.000-05:00

The New York Times is obnoxious. It says:

In partisan Republican circles, the pursuit of voter fraud is code for suppressing the votes of minorities and poor people. By resisting pressure to crack down on “fraud,” the fired United States attorneys actually appear to have been standing up for the integrity of the election system.

Oh really? And how did the Times, of all publications, manage to crack this "code"? Did they get a copy of our handbook? Did someone slip it to them?

In any event, we all know that this must be true, since the idea that Democrats would ever engage in voter fraud is absurd. Right?

Here's a newsflash, NYT: in "partisan Republican circles," the pursuit of voter fraud is code for... the pursuit of voter fraud.

Former Sen. Simpson on Gays in the Military

2007-03-16T16:07:00.000-05:00

I always liked Alan Simpson, a pragmatic conservative former senator from Wyoming. He voted for Don't Ask, Don't Tell - and now he's for dropping the ban entirely. He justifies this shift in part by emphasizing our need for "every able-bodied, smart patriot to help us win this war." He emphasizes, too, the ongoing changes in society's attitude toward homosexuals in the military; for instance, the "percentage of Americans in favor [of dropping the ban] has grown from 57 percent in 1993 to a whopping 91 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds surveyed in a Gallup poll in 2003." That's an amazing figure. He even says that General Pace's recent comment that homosexuality is immoral was "completely out of the mainstream of American thinking"; I wonder how true that is, although it unquestionably describes the trends.

Plus, Andrew Sullivan has a link to some pretty surprising poll numbers on the issue, some of which Sen. Simpson mentions.

An Artist's Eye

2007-03-16T15:57:00.000-05:00

There's more to the notion that you might suspect.

What Would Gandhi Do?

2007-03-15T18:36:00.000-05:00

Code Pink is throwing around that bit of pablum. Here's some actual evidence, put forward by actor, former senator, and potential presidential candidate, Fred Thompson:

During World War II, Gandhi penned an open letter to the British people, urging them to surrender to the Nazis. Later, when the extent of the holocaust was known, he criticized Jews who had tried to escape or fight for their lives as they did in Warsaw and Treblinka. “The Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher’s knife,” he said. “They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs.” “Collective suicide,” he told his biographer, “would have been heroism.”

Not much of a war strategy. Besides, the "collective suicide" strategy has already been taken, so no points for originality, ladies.

"Meddling ... for Political Reasons"?

2007-03-15T18:29:00.000-05:00

Perish the thought. Key quote:

As it does peerlessly, the Times has crafted the template for mainstream-media coverage of this saga. Loyalty to Bush and Gonzales — could anything be more sinister? That’s why, we’re told in yet another breathless dispatch, “Congressional Democrats … are investigating whether the White House was meddling in Justice Department affairs for political reasons.”

The storyline makes great theater. It is also absurd. You might as well ask whether Congress is proposing legislation for political reasons, or whether loyalty to the party leaders might have had a teensy-weensy bit to do with what bills got voted.

Indeed. Democratic indignation here is a bit hard to swallow. And furthermore:

So let’s be clear. The prosecution of individual cases proceeds in accordance with constitutional and statutory protections for the individual. It is inherently a legal, not a political, process. Politics ought never intrude on it. But the same is decidedly not true of prosecution in the macro sense of setting enforcement priorities.

However, we're learning now that Karl Rove has played a big hand in deciding on these and other firings, to a level beyond what I would expect is normal. This strikes me as inappropriate, although again, there's no real evidence that anyone was fired for their political beliefs and not because of a reluctance to pursue Administration priorities. We're also learning that, in sworn testimony, the Attorney General gave inaccurate information to Congress about the White House's involvement in these firings. Gonzales' chief of staff resigned because of this, and that may be all that's needed. But maybe not.

Islamic Law and Legal Change

2007-03-15T14:34:00.000-05:00

This is from F. Vogel's Islamic Law and Legal System, explaining why criminal penalties specifically stated in the Quran and Sunnah should be enforced to the letter, even though they may seem harsh:

[A] penalty is a "requital for what they have wrought"; the penalty has a retributive character, a righting of the wrong as ordained by God. But in conjunction with this is a reference to forgiveness of the penitent, possibly because infliction of the penalty is atonement for the crime. As one hadith states, "The hand of the repentant thief precedes him to heaven."

Amputation of the hand is the proscribed punishment for theft in Islamic law. More importantly, it can never change.

As I've been studying Islamic law this term, I've been on the lookout for signs of flexibility - of ways to adapt the law to changing societal norms. There is, in theory, an abundance of tools for adaptation, and Islamic law in its first few centuries developed a rich tradition of jurisprudence adapting Islamic law to different times and to places far beyond the Arabian peninsula. Yet that tradition has itself achieved an unassailable position, and Islamic jurists today - who seem to demonstrate both a monastic's reticence and an academic's turf-jealousy - would be at pains to update the law, if they had any inclination to do so. Complicating the issue is the jurists' skepticism of the sources of positive law, be they kings or democratic assemblies. Islamic jurists are ambiguous as to whether statutes and decrees are recognizable under sharia; at best, they are inferior companions to the jurist-deduced law, usul al-fiqh.

I feel justified in concluding from what I've read this semester that a legal tradition built squarely on religious precepts simply cannot function as a modern, comprehensive legal system. With Jewish law, canon law, etc., this is not much of a problem, since the "laws" here merely "bind" religious officials, offices, or adherents. In contrast, sharia purports to be an omnibus legal system with a divinely ordained answer for every legal question. I wouldn't want to have canon law govern my rights in a democratic society; indeed, canon law is uniquely inappropriate for this purpose. I find it increasingly difficult to see how any other conclusion can be reached with respect to Islamic law.

Hail Big Brother

2007-03-15T01:05:00.000-05:00

This does not bode well.

"This Is a Clear Free Speech Issue"

2007-03-15T00:55:00.000-05:00

Some further thoughts on the First Amendment rights of that pedophile pundit.

An interesting question: "given that the pervert does have the right to free speech, [what does] Obama's attempt to get the material censored says about his own commitment to First Amendment rights"? It's understandable for a parent to react this way, of course; but Obama is running for president.

The Modern Leisure Class

2007-03-14T23:39:00.000-05:00

Redistributive policies for those with too little leisure time? Why, that's a cause to champion.

[Thanks, D!]

US Attorneys Serve "at the Will of the President"

2007-03-14T14:09:00.000-05:00

Worth remembering:

United States Attorneys are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate for a four-year term. See 28 U.S.C. Sec. 541. Upon expiration of this term, the United States Attorney continues to perform the duties of the office until a successor is confirmed. United States Attorneys are subject to removal at the will of the President. See Parsons v. United States, 167 U.S. 314 (1897).

I Took Bribes "for the People"

2007-03-14T12:01:00.000-05:00

A class act. Interestingly, the Kerry campaign dropped him from their ranks shortly before the 2004 election, apparently due to the stench of corruption wafting from him.

Viacom v. Google

2007-03-14T11:40:00.000-05:00

The Journal has an interesting piece on Viacom's copyright claims against Google over its recently acquired YouTube. (There's more on the Law Blog as well.) The case implicates important questions regarding the applicability of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act's "safe harbor" provisions to a video-sharing site like YouTube. Viacom alleges that YouTube does not merely host websites that display copyrighted videos; rather, it "itself commits the infringing duplication, public performance and public display." In this way, Viacom argues, YouTube is unlike AOL and other ISP providers, which were within the contemplation of Congress when it passed the DMCA in 1998.

But surely the congressional record, if not the DMCA itself, contemplates the rise of new technologies? After all, it was the rise of new technologies that led to the DMCA in the first place. I don't see why AOL should enjoy a safe harbor even though it makes the display of copyrighted material possible, while YouTube does not. Neither AOL nor YouTube directly posts copyrighted material; they both provide ways (one through an ISP system, the other through a website) for displaying copyrighted material posted by others. Congress knew about ISPs and websites when they passed the DMCA. So why distinguish between them when it comes to the safe harbor provisions? Just because it's YouTube's business plan? But why can't a company build a business plan around a legitimate exception in copyright law, especially when YouTube is careful to avoid generating advertisement revenue from pages showing material that is not covered by a licensing agreement?