Why I Really Don't Like Shaking Peoples' Hands

You just never know where someone's hand has been.



BTW, Jake Peavy denies he cheated, and that there was anything but dirt on his hand. I, a lifelong Dodgers fan, think Peavy is a lying bastard.

RIP Charlton Heston

He wasn't just a gun rights advocate, but was one of the very first Hollywood celebrities to publicly speak out against racism. Heston also participated in the 1963 civil rights march with Martin Luther King.

Not holding my breath that it'll happen, but I'd be interested to see how much class and restraint the left side of the blogosphere will exercise over the news of Mr. Heston's unfortunate passing.

Update (8:36 am): Well, that didn't take very long. You can always count on the unhinged at DU to come through.

Must Be Something in the Vermont Water

Dem-speak is fun stuff. As noted by Ed Whelan, the term "anti-Catholic" to U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT)apparently means one Catholic, i.e., judicial nominee Robert T. Conrad, criticizing another Catholic, a nun, for displaying contempt toward the Catholic Church.

On a side note, I wonder if Judge Conrad dared the nun he criticized to knock a battery off his shoulder. (Oh, like you weren't thinking that).

Good Gawd

There must be some adage about farting in the forest with nobody around that applies to this. (h/t)

At least Barr won't be running as, and isn't pretending to be, a Republican; unlike a certain Blame America First congressman from Texas who poses for pictures with and willingly takes campaign money from white supremacists.

Speaking of Stupid

Ted Turner is epically so.

I think that they're patriots [the Iraqi insurgents/terrorists] and that they don't like us because we've invaded their country and occupied it. I think if the Iraqis were in Washington, D.C., we'd be doing the same thing: we'd be bombing them too. Nobody wants to be invaded.

I actually heard an audio clip of this quote on the Laura Ingraham radio show this morning, and paraphrasing what one of Laura's producers said in response, Ted Turner is an inspiration for all the intellectually stupid people in this country who aspire to be a billionaire.

Reason 983232938 Why Most Academics are Plain Stupid

Looks as though there's some movement afoot to try and boot John Yoo off of the law school faculty at UC Berkeley over his authorship of the so-called "torture memo." This memo was written in 2002 while Professor Yoo was the Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice.

Setting aside the issue of whether certain authorized war time interrogation techniques that the U.S. employs, e.g. waterboarding, is "torture" under all circumstances (it's not, in my view), for these idiot academic leftists who most likely worship at the altar of killing babies in the womb, and probably defend the murderous rantings of Ward Churchill, to be suggesting that John Yoo should be fired from U.C. Berkeley for moral turpitude is beyond chutzpah. Indeed, it's just one more example which goes to prove that any freakin' moron can be a university professor.

Resurrecting the Dragon...In Song and Dance

Aside from the shock of seeing a Chuck Norris column on Townhall.com, I'm just bowled over at the news there are plans to create a Broadway musical on the life of Bruce Lee.

Just all the way around weird. (h/t)

Juuust a Bit High

Odds are that the few people in the crowd who felt the need to boo are BDS liberals. (h/t)

I saw the highlights of this inaugural game at Nationals Park, and as is usually the case for games I miss seeing on television, there was an exciting finish involving a game winning home run in the bottom of the 9th inning.

Paging Professor Kmiec

This quote from Obamessiah doesn't seem to be a real good indicator that he'd accommodate opposing, pro-life, points of view as President (h/t):

"Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old," he said. "I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn't make sense to not give them information."

Outnumbered

We may need to do a little more "crusading." (via Drudge)

Giving Christianity a Bad Name

It really is disturbing how some people in this world can be convinced that this is exactly what God wants them to do when their children become sick:

A grand jury indicted an Oregon City couple accused of failing to seek medical treatment for their gravely ill daughter who died this month.

(...)

The couple's daughter, 15-month-old Ava, died at home March 2 from bacterial bronchial pneumonia and infection. A deputy state medical examiner said Ava's medical problems were treatable with antibiotics.

The Worthingtons belong to Oregon City's Followers of Christ Church. According to church tradition, when members become ill, fellow worshippers pray and anoint them with oil.

Dozens of children have been buried in the parish cemetery over the past 50 years, and a 1998 analysis by The Oregonian newspaper found that many of the deaths could have prevented with medical care.

Thank Goodness for Women

Because most men probably would be too distracted to pay attention to and actually analyze anything Pamela Anderson (I feel a surge in the hit counter) has to say about politics.

Probing Kmiec

The Anchoress proffers a plausibility, but I find pauli's analysis more compelling.

WWDD?

What Was Dubya Doing?

In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court rejected President Bush's attempt to literally make the State of Texas submit to international law and set aside the criminal conviction of a Mexican national who committed rape and murder.

'K...

Douglas Kmiec, a constitutional law professor at Pepperdine University who until about a month and a half ago was also on the Mitt Romney campaign team, appears to have flipped his lid by expressly endorsing Obamessiah. (h/t)

As a Republican, I strongly wish to preserve traditional marriage not as a suspicion or denigration of my homosexual friends, but as recognition of the significance of the procreative family as a building block of society. As a Republican, and as a Catholic, I believe life begins at conception, and it is important for every life to be given sustenance and encouragement. As a Republican, I strongly believe that the Supreme Court of the United States must be fully dedicated to the rule of law, and to the employ of a consistent method of interpretation that keeps the Court within its limited judicial role. As a Republican, I believe problems are best resolved closest to their source and that we should never arrogate to a higher level of government that which can be more effectively and efficiently resolved below. As a Republican, and the constitutional lawyer, I believe religious freedom does not mean religious separation or mindless exclusion from the public square.

In various ways, Senator Barack Obama and I may disagree on aspects of these important fundamentals, but I am convinced based upon his public pronouncements and his personal writing that on each of these questions he is not closed to understanding opposing points of view, and as best as it is humanly possible, he will respect and accommodate them.

I can certainly see why Kmiec would not want to endorse, much less vote for, John McCain. But he's nuts if he thinks a President Obamessiah will be accommodating to the "opposing points of view" that Kmiec allegedly espouses and believes in.

Gloria in Excelsis Deo

A most blessed and happy Easter to all!

John McCain and The Surge

Oh, not the military action in Iraq, but my hit counter. For the past week, I've gotten a big surge of visitors to this here blog primarily by those of you Googling "John McCain," "pastor" and "John McCain's pastor."

(Heh. That oughtta bump me back near the top of the search result list).

Way of the Cross With a Chinese Flavor

Given that the upcoming Summer Olympics are in Beijing, it's probably not coincidental that Cardinal Zen of Hong Kong was selected to compose the Way of the Cross meditations for this year's Good Friday service at the Colosseum.

Also make sure to check out the awesome artwork accompanying Cardinal Zen's meditations. (h/t Amy Welborn)

Clueless in Berkeley

A classic illustration of how to divert attention away from an otherwise dumb message with a totally avoidable mistake.

False Equivalency Alert!

From the Harvard Law educated Obamamessiah (h/t Powerline):

I can no more disown [Jeremiah Wright] than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

Borrowing from the Obamamessiah's campaign slogan - Spanish version: Sí usted puede.

Update: Is it Obamessiah or Obamamessiah? Think I'll start going with the former since it seems to have a better flow.

I'm a Wave

Great news for me. I've been provisionally accepted into the MBA program for fully employed folk at Pepperdine University. It's not quite a top 10 program like the one at USC and UCLA, but it seems to be fairly respectable.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to borrow money for this endeavor, but I think it'll be worth it in the long run. And as much as I'd love to be able to go to Malibu for classes, I won't be. Pepperdine has a convenient satellite campus for its MBA program down in the OC. As a matter of fact, it's right across the street from USC's MBA satellite campus.

"Happy" 30th

Nice to see local college, and my sister's alma mater, Cal State Fullerton make the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament for the first time in 30 years.

Interesting that when the Titans were last at the Big Dance in 1978, they made it all the way to the Elite 8, and had beaten teams from the University of New Mexico, which featured future L.A. Lakers great Michael Cooper, and the University of San Francisco, which featured Bill Cartright, a future longtime NBA player and champion himself.

Why No Focus On John McCain's Pastor?

That was the question asked by liberal political pundit Kirsten Powers on Fox News' The Strategy Room today when the topic of Obamamessiah and the well publicized anti-American and racist ravings of his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, came up. I suppose that would be a pretty good question if it wasn't for the fact that McCain, unlike Obamamessiah, hasn't made his pastor a part of his presidential campaign. Nice attempted diversion, though, Kirsten.

Speaking of the Rev. Wright being a part of his campaign, it seems Obamamessiah is now actively trying to erase it from everyone's memory.

Bobby Jindal For President 2008!

I'm writing him in, unless McCain taps Jindal or someone like Chris Cox to be his VP running mate.

But It's Perfectly Fine In Black-Liberation-Theology-Land

So if you say what Rev. Wright said is racist, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S RACIST! Got it?! (h/t five feet of fury)

When Moses finally escaped the Egyptians, he turned to God and asked, "There could surely be no one as bad at those people?" God said to Moses, "Yes there are. Beware the honkeys. Beware the crackers. Especially beware the Jews. I hate all those people. Frankly, if you blow up their buildings, that's okay with me."

That wisdom speaks even more to us today as we are beset by honkeys. America is a country founded by crackers and run by Jews that exists for no other reason than to kill black people. They invented AIDS to kill us. They made crack to drug us. They use hidden ninjas to stage black on black violence. Hillary does not understand this. In fact, she's busy in her hollowed out volcano working on AIDS version two. That's why they are scared of a black man being president, because he will cut the millions of dollars that go to black genocide and instead invest that money where God says it should be: In killing honkey!

BTW, in his "repudiation" of Wright, notice how Obamamessiah never actually specifies, or quotes, any of what Wright said, but simply uses common lawyerese referential phrases like "the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue." (h/t John Hinderaker at Powerline)

Update (0316/07): Add character assassin to racist.

Reason #98493484394 To Never Trust The MSM

Just so we're clear: the Catholic Church DOES NOT have a new list of mortal or deadly sins.

Although the misreporting of the MSM on almost anything Catholic is to be expected, for normally reasonable and widely read political bloggers like Ed Morrissey to pick up and basically believe the crap being reported about the Church is really disappointing.

Update (3/13/08): Geez, now one of the bloggers at the American Spectator is perpetuating the lie. What is with you people and instantly believing stuff the MSM "reports" about the Catholic Church?!

(Demo)Cat Fight!

If John McCain loses in November, his will be a prime case study on how NOT to run a presidential campaign. (h/t Red State)

I'd Almost Say The News Was Divine Intervention

Michelle Malkin takes note of what Eliot Spitzer was going to do today before news of his illegal indiscretions broke.

This morning, NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer had been scheduled to speak to the Family Planning Advocates’ 31st Annual Conference. The abortion racketeers are seeking more money. And he was preparing to push legislators to do their bidding–before he was forced to cancel his appearance.

As payback to his abortion industry supporters, Spitzer had supported “the Reproductive Health & Privacy Protection Act (RHAPP)” under the guise of “codifying Roe v. Wade.”

McCain/Cox Sounds Great

Among the names that conservative pundits are bandying about as possible VP choices for John McCain is Chris Cox, the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and former longtime member of the House of Representatives from my congressional district here in California. (h/t Southern Appeal)

If Cox is tapped by McCain, I'll overlook for the time being the demands I made here and actively support McCain in the general election. I have that much respect and admiration for Chris Cox.

Good

Dubya has done the right thing here, and contrary to the shrill and disingenuous ravings of some in the Catholic blogosphere, waterboarding is not torture when we do it, and even if it was, it would only be legally applied under justifiable circumstances. Yes, "torture", like war, theft and killing, can be morally justified.

Ron Paul Sux (cont.)

I am trying real hard not to impute anti-Semitic motives on Ron Paul for his most recent inane moral equating of Israel with Palestinian terrorists, but there comes a time when you just have to call a spade a spade.

Man, I'm glad this crackpot has finally decided to end his embarrassing run for the GOP presidential nomination. h/t AmSpec Blog

Obama Cult

Set to the music of Cake. h/t Dan

Liberal Fascism

I haven't yet read the above titled best seller by Jonah Goldberg, but he's definitely going to have to add this episode to subsequent printings of his book:

Parents who lack teaching credentials cannot educate their children at home, according to a state appellate court ruling that is sending waves of fear through California’s home schooling families.

Advocates for the families vowed to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court. Enforcement until then appears unlikely, but if the ruling stands, home-schooling supporters say California will have the most regressive law in the nation.

(...)

“Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children,” wrote Justice H. Walter Croskey in a Feb. 28 opinion signed by the two other members of the district court. “Parents who fail to [comply with school enrollment laws] may be subject to a criminal complaint against them, found guilty of an infraction, and subject to imposition of fines or an order to complete a parent education and counseling program.”

Update (03/07/08): It might not be as bad as it has been made out to be.

I Was More Excited Over Bob Dole

Ho hum, John McCain basically clinches the Republican Party nomination for President tonight. While I would certainly rather see McCain be President than Hillary or Obamamessiah, you'll excuse me if I don't show a whole lot of enthusiasm for a guy who has an American Conservative Union lifetime rating that is lower than the ACU rating held by Chuck Hagel, the RINO U.S. Senator from Nebraska.

Hagel, of course, has recently been rumored to be someone whom Obamamessiah, if he's annointed elected President, might tap to serve in his Cabinet.

Hoop Dreams

This is one area where the Jesuits are objectively and extraordinarily good.

Actress + French + Oscar Winner = Idiot

Contrary to what the article says, Marion Cotillard did not cause a "political row" by revealing her status as a 9/11 Troofer. That would imply there's some legitimacy to what came out of her pie hole.

Women are Kinda Dumb

So observes Charlotte Allen in a few different contexts, including at Barry O. rallies and Hillary's campaign. (h/t The Corner)

"Women 'Falling for Obama,' " the story's headline read. Elsewhere around the country, women were falling for the presidential candidate literally. Connecticut radio talk show host Jim Vicevich has counted five separate instances in which women fainted at Obama rallies since last September. And I thought such fainting was supposed to be a relic of the sexist past, when patriarchs forced their wives and daughters to lace themselves into corsets that cut off their oxygen.

I can't help it, but reading about such episodes of screaming, gushing and swooning makes me wonder whether women -- I should say, "we women," of course -- aren't the weaker sex after all. Or even the stupid sex, our brains permanently occluded by random emotions, psychosomatic flailings and distraction by the superficial. Women "are only children of a larger growth," wrote the 18th-century Earl of Chesterfield. Could he have been right?

I'm not the only woman who's dumbfounded (as it were) by our sex, or rather, as we prefer to put it, by other members of our sex besides us. It's a frequent topic of lunch, phone and water-cooler conversations; even some feminists can't believe that there's this thing called "The Oprah Winfrey Show" or that Celine Dion actually sells CDs. A female friend of mine plans to write a horror novel titled "Office of Women," in which nothing ever gets done and everyone spends the day talking about Botox.

We exaggerate, of course. And obviously men do dumb things, too, although my husband has perfectly good explanations for why he eats standing up at the stove (when I'm not around) or pulls down all the blinds so the house looks like a cave (also when I'm not around): It has to do with the aggressive male nature and an instinctive fear of danger from other aggressive men. When men do dumb things, though, they tend to be catastrophically dumb, such as blowing the paycheck on booze or much, much worse (think "postal"). Women's foolishness is usually harmless. But it can be so . . . embarrassing.

Take Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign. By all measures, she has run one of the worst -- and, yes, stupidest -- presidential races in recent history, marred by every stereotypical flaw of the female sex. As far as I'm concerned, she has proved that she can't debate -- viz. her televised one-on-one against Obama last Tuesday, which consisted largely of complaining that she had to answer questions first and putting the audience to sleep with minutiae about her health-coverage mandate. She has whined (via her aides) like the teacher's pet in grade school that the boys are ganging up on her when she's bested by male rivals. She has wept on the campaign trail, even though everyone knows that tears are the last refuge of losers. And she is tellingly dependent on her husband.

A Shrill Lawyer's Conception of Enlightenment

In 2006, a G@y Area post-operative male transexual tried to get a boob job from Seton Medical Center, a Catholic hospital in Daly City, California. Seton initially denied the request, citing religious objections to such elective cosmetic procedures. The tranny then filed a lawsuit, and Seton obviously not wanting to incur a bunch of litigation costs, and possibly getting some bad legal advice, basically backed down. The following are comments from the tranny's attorney in response to the decision by Seton to kowtow to his client's demand:

“I’m glad that they’ve recognized that they’ve made a mistake,” said Hastings in an interview with CBS 5 News. But her attorney, Chris Dolan, was more belligerent. Referring to the hospital’s statement, he told CBS 5, “I don’t know where the confusion is, other than perhaps they were confused that that was illegal.” Despite the hospital’s reversal, Dolan said the lawsuit for monetary damages would go forward. “Like any good religious experience, first you need enlightenment and then you need atonement,” said Dolan. “And what we have here perhaps is a glimpse of enlightenment. Has it changed their heart? I don’t think so. Will it change their practice? It better.”

Chris Dolan, a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center is a shrill ass-hat. If I were representing Seton, I'd advise it to assert its First Amendment religious liberty rights and remove this lawsuit out of State court, which is pretty left-liberal in the G@y Area, and into Federal court (not as left-liberal).

Happy Leap Day!

I don't know about you, but I'm just ontologically blown away by the fact that I'm living on a day that only exists once every 4 years. Good thing I wasn't born on this date, or I'd really be philosophically wrecked.

Devil With A Blue Dress?

I'm too lazy to use the LOL Builder so: Hillary sez, "I can has Whitehouse? K, Thx Satan! LOLZ!"

RIP William F. Buckley

Update: One of his last articles: Goldwater, the John Birch Society and Me.

Update 2 (2/28/08): Via The Corner, a 1997 interview WFB did in connection with the publication of his spiritual autobiography Nearer, My God. This book has some special significance for me because it was released at about the same time I decided to convert to the Catholic Church. Although I got through about half of Nearer, My God, for some unexplainable reason I never bothered to finish it. Might be time to do so.

Something Redeeming About John McCain

I've made a little hay here and in other places on the Internet about John McCain's lack of trustworthiness when it comes to selecting judges and justices for the Federal bench. All of this, of course, was within the context of a competitive primary election.

Although I still don't totally trust him, turns out that in 1998, John McCain was one of 29 Republican Senators who voted against confirming the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Given that Sotomayor, whom Jeffrey Rosen at Slate recommends as a Supreme Court nominee should the Dem nominee for President win the general election, is both female and Hispanic, McCain took a fairly significant political risk in voting against this otherwise presumptively leftist judicial activist. (h/t Ed Whelan)

Say It 'Aint So!

You might have read or heard about it already, but it seems the Washington Times has caved in to the PC forces, insofar as certain words and terms like "illegal immigrants" will now be used in the paper instead of "illegal aliens", while "gay marriage" will no longer be written with quotation marks around it.

Although the Washington Times has long been known to be politically conservative as far as its editorial page is concerned, perhaps the paper's hat tip to political correctness shouldn't be all that surprising. I can't remember where, but I think I once heard from some talking head on television that the news reporting in the Washington Times is, for the most part, not much different than the reporting in most other daily newspapers. That is to say, the news bureau of the Washington Times is tilted to the left of the political spectrum. Whether this is really true, I dunno. I'm just sayin'.

St. Ivo of Kermartin

Less well known than St. Thomas More, St. Ivo is also a patron saint of attorneys.

I only recently found out about St. Ivo from a colleague who references the "less famous" saint on the back of his business cards.

Extreme Lack of Quality Movies

I'd be curious to know if any of the movies that have been nominated for Best Picture at tonight's Academy Awards™ show were in the theaters for more than a month. Even better, if anyone has seen, or is willing to see, any of these movies more than once (if at all).

How Long Iz 24 Lolcat Hours in Hooman Tiem?

CA GOP On the Verge of Being Democrat-Lite

Can't say I'm really surprised. Once you lend legitimacy to the "It doesn't matter if he's not really conservative as long he has an 'R' after his name" attitude in elections, stuff like this goes from minor noisy rumblings that get defeated to something that is almost certain to happen. (h/t Michelle Malkin)

The California Republican Party once again faces an identity crisis heading into its annual spring convention, and this time a major donor is calling on the party to become more inclusive.

Businessman Lawrence K. Dodge delayed writing a check to help the party pay off $3 million in debt and wrote a scathing analysis of the party in a private letter, raising concerns similar to those cited by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger when he said Republicans were "dying at the box office" last year.

(...)

Delegates will decide this weekend on a new platform for the state party. Moderates and conservatives have been lobbying Republicans in recent weeks to support their respective versions.

The moderate platform follows through on Schwarzenegger's call last year for a version that concentrates on fiscal responsibility and low taxes with centrist positions on social and environmental issues.

"I think people are ready for a cohesive, unifying platform, and that's what ours is," said Virginia Chang Kiraly, 44, a Menlo Park Republican who is spearheading that effort. "It's not offensive, it's not strident, it's not divisive, and I think that's why we've had such broad support."

It's a Sin for Dudes to Go #1 While Sitting!

God in the KJV Bible (the Only True Bible™ ) sez so! (h/t Dan)

LOLOBAMA

For the uninitiated, the "language" in the above picture is this.

Welcome 4 Marks/CM People!

I'm pretty sure I know how you got here. ;)

Please feel free to look around and leave a comment or two.

Columbia Prof and "Hate Crime Victim" Sanctioned

So Madonna Constantine (interesting name, eh?), a professor of psychology and education at Columbia University, has been sanctioned for plagiarism. (h/t Michelle Malkin)

[Teachers College] confirmed in a statement later Tuesday evening that after an internal investigation TC had "found numerous instances in which she [Constantine] used others’ work without attribution in papers she published in academic journals over the past five years."

That's a pretty long time to be committing academic fraud. This story should make a nice topic of conversation the next time I see my cousin and his wife, who are both at Columbia U. as a graduate fellow and faculty member.

Another, and related, topic of conversation is the curious side note mentioned in the linked to article: In October last year, Ms. Constantine, who is black, made some headlines as an apparent "victim" of a "hate crime" when a noose was found on the door to her office. Exactly who put the noose there is still unknown, but given recent events with Ms. Constantine, you gotta wonder...

Your Anti-Religionism is Showing

John Derbyshire of National Review has got this running blog post thread attacking Ben Stein for having the temerity to star in and make a documentary movie about the administrative silencing of scientists in academia who dare to challenge the doctrines of Darwinism with Intelligent Design theory. Seems 'ol Derb doesn't buy the fact that ID is not the same as Creationism. As such, ID really isn't science to Derb (does he think Darwinism is?!) thus Ben Stein is either an idiot or a disingenuous propagandist for making Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. I personally am looking forward to seeing this movie, and I thank John Derbyshire for giving me notice about it through his seeming obsessive need to be an obnoxious ass-hat toward ID advocates.

And They All Talk With Straight Faces

My old law school has produced a 10 minute promotional video that essentially consists of the dean and some current and former students giving scripted testimony about how great and wonderful Trinity Law School is. What's not said, of course, is that for the past 8 to 10 years, the bar pass rate for Trinity graduates is well below 20 percent. There are several reasons for this outside of the quality of education at Trinity, e.g., the high number of part-time students who have families and full time jobs, but the inescapable fact of the matter is that the low bar pass rate pretty much makes a Trinity law degree worthless on the open market.

Trinity also does almost nothing in the way of career development, like helping students obtain summer associate positions. The closest thing that Trinity has to a career program is a big cork bulletin board hanging in a hallway with a "Jobs" sign stuck to it. With something like 90 percent of the law instructors at Trinity being active practicing lawyers, you'd think the school could do a little bit something more.

Anyhow, although I like the fact that Trinity tries very hard to maintain an orthodox Christian environment, as perfectly illustrated by the herein referred to promotional video, it's not a law school I could really recommend to anyone who is planning on practicing law, but not as a sole practitioner. Trinity's academic creds just aren't there, and the school simply doesn't do enough in career development to compensate for it.

Real Christians™ are Liberal, Pro-G@y and Pro-Abortion

So adjudges Chuckles Barkley, who also thinks conservative so-called "Christians" are unbiblically judgmental. h/t Creative Minority Report

fake christians
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There's Constitutional Law

Then there's the Constitution established by our country's Founding Fathers.

Yes, there is a distinction, and starting this spring, the George Mason University School of Law will be requiring its students to take a new course that focuses "on a large number of important original legal sources familiar to the founding generation, ranging from Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights to the Federalist (and Anti-Federalist) Papers, along with constitutional debates at the Philadelphia Convention and in the First Congress." h/t Bench Memos

America's No. 1 Enemy: San Francisco

Nancy Pelosi should forever be held responsible for any American lives that are lost as a result of her refusal to allow the House of Representatives to vote on and renew the soon to be expired Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

It Was Fake...Right?

Look Who (Hearts) Obama

Actually, it shouldn't be a surprise that the Illinois chapter of Planned Barrenhood endorses Barry O. and his presidential candidacy, given his stated love for Roe v. Wade. But encouraging other pro-aborts to send Obama a valentine seems a little over the top tacky. Then again, we are talking about people who want to kill as many unborn children in the world as they possibly can, so maybe not.

It's All About Context for the PC-Left

Powerline blog reports the hypocrisy of Duke University which, on the one hand, publicly scolded the wrongfully prosecuted members of the lacrosse team for having strippers at a party, but on the other hand, hired strippers and other sex workers to perform in a so-called "art show."

Duke, of course, defends its sex workers show on the theory that these performers are "artists touring university campuses across the country to present a show with political discussion, musical theater, and displays of sexuality." According to Taylor, the political discussion at Duke consisted of one performer claiming that women are driven into the "sex industry" because the "only other option is working a minimum-wage job or less," a claim that was undercut when one performer said she had left a regular job to make more money for "my extravagant partying lifestyle." In fact, it turned out that several performers were college graduates with other career options available to them.

Sticking It To Berkeley

This is cool. In response to the City of Berkeley kicking the Marines out, my congressman, John Campbell, introduced a bill that would strip Berkeley of more than $2 million in hidden budget earmarks.

Not that something like this shouldn't have been done anyway, seeing as how Berkeley was getting over $200,000 to provide gourmet organic lunches to students in the Berkeley School District. Yikes!

The Huckster Wins Kansas Caucus

Not that it's really significant since McCain is going to be the GOP nominee, but given the fact Sen. Sam Brownback, a former presidential candidate himself, endorsed and has been campaigning for McCain, I wonder what Huckabee's win in Kansas today says about Brownback's stature and influence there.

Not As Smart As Hitler

I'm struggling over whether I should consider Ann Coulter's latest controversial zing to be really over the top mean or the most witty thing I've heard or read in my life.

Coulter compared a potential alliance between disillusioned conservative Republicans and Sen. Hillary Clinton to the alliance between Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin during World War II, which was formed to defeat Hitler.

"I'm not comparing McCain to Hitler," she added. "Hitler had a coherent tax policy."

Tick, Tick, Tick...

Three of four people sitting in a windowless room for 2 hours are sick with a cold. I happened to be the one person who wasn't sick.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

If mom hadn't called me this afternoon, I would have totally forgotten today is Chinese New Year. Kind of funny/ironic that this is the Year of the Rat in light of it being a presidential election year and all.

Anyway, luck and prosperity to you all!

Romney Really Does Deliver Some Very Good Speeches

His campaign "departure" speech was one of them, which I heard live on the radio today. I especially liked the fact he used the USC fight motto, though I'm pretty sure that's not why he injected it.

Soon, the face of liberalism in America will have a new name. Whether it is Barack or Hillary, the result would be the same if they were to win the Presidency. The opponents of American culture would push the throttle, devising new justifications for judges to depart from the constitution. Economic neophytes would layer heavier and heavier burdens on employers and families, slowing our economy and opening the way for foreign competition to further erode our lead.

Even though we face an uphill fight, I know that many in this room are fully behind my campaign. You are with me all the way to the convention. Fight on, just like Ronald Reagan did in 1976. But there is an important difference from 1976: today… we are a nation at war.

And Barack and Hillary have made their intentions clear regarding Iraq and the war on terror. They would retreat and declare defeat. And the consequence of that would be devastating. It would mean attacks on America, launched from safe havens that make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like child’s play. About this, I have no doubt.

The Only Way McCain Can Win Me Over

After years of skipping the CPAC convention, John McCain is scheduled to speak there today. For me, this is what McCain must say in order to persuade me to support him in the general election should he be the Republican nominee for President (which seems to be pretty certain at this point):

- He does not support federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, and favors an outright ban of such research.
- His organization of the Gang of 14 and effective kowtowing to Senate Democrats on judicial nominations was wrong.
- The McCain-Kennedy immigration reform bill was a mistake.
- The McCain-Feingold campaign reform bill, and his express support for the unconstitutional application of it against pro-life advocates, were a mistake.
- The McCain-Lieberman climate stewardship bill was a mistake.
- He favors oil drilling in ANWR.
- His opposition to the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 was a mistake, and the reasons he gave at the recent debate in Los Angeles for why he opposed them were a lie and he's sorry.
- His negative suggestion that Sam Alito was too conservative was a mistake, and that he falsely denied ever making such a suggestion.
- He apologizes for repeatedly lying about Mitt Romney supporting a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.
- He takes back the comment he made to Tim Russert that Hillary Clinton would make a good President.
- He apologizes for seriously considering a run as John Kerry's running mate in 2004.
- He favors a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

Ronulans and Hucksters Clash

Humorous side note to yesterday's Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses. The Ron Paul (Ron Paul! Ron Paul!) campaign is claiming on its website that it made a deal with Mike Huckabee at the West Virginia Republican convention whereby Paul, in exchange for his supporters helping Huckabee move past Romney and over the 50% threshold, would get 3 of the 18 West Virginia delegates that were up for grabs and which Huckabee eventually won. Problem is, the Huckabee campaign is denying there was such a deal.

USC Doesn't Rebuild. It Reloads.

In addition to being Ash Wednesday, which on the grand scale of things is infinitely more important, today was the National Letter of Intent signing day for college bound senior high school football players.

Although it had already obtained commitments from a number of highly recruited players, USC got somewhat of a pleasant surprise today when Nick Perry, a standout defensive end from Detroit, Michigan, announced he was going to 'SC rather than stay in his home state and play for either the Univ. of Michigan or Michigan State. All things considered, Nick made the right decision. Fight On!

Why I Voted for Romney

After a string of anti-McCain posts and thinking about Dale's quick hit complaint about people who only say "vote for Romney because he 'aint McCain", I felt a little compelled to write this. As I previously posted before the California primary, Romney is basically my candidate of choice by default. I had wanted to vote for Fred Thompson, but of course, his candidacy never gained any traction and he dropped out shortly after the South Carolina primary. My support for Thompson was based upon the belief that he was the most consistent conservative among the leading pack of candidates. Thompson's record as a Senator, I think, largely supports this belief.

Although he basically expressed the same positions as Thompson on issues like abortion and illegal immigration, it is because Romney doesn't really have the record to back them up that made him my fall back candidate. But since Thompson dropped out of the picture, and none of the other remaining legitimate candidates either expressed or possessed a record which supports the conservative positions held by Romney, I was, and am still willing, to give Romney the benefit of the doubt on his conservative conversion.

Update: I also found Romney's endorsement by National Review to be persuasive.

Pro-Aborts for McCain

The Maverick™ gets a curious endorsement by the Republicans for Choice PAC. Wonder if he'll do the right thing and decline it. Something to keep an eye on.

Confirmed: Huckabee is McCain's Beeoch

Mike Huckabee wins 18 delegates at the West Virginia Republican convention after striking a back room deal with front running John McCain. This deal had the intended effect of screwing Mitt Romney, who otherwise would have won. Good 'ol American politics? Maybe. But I better not hear Huckabee make any more idiotic football analogies which suggest that he's still running for President because he believes he has a real chance to win the Republican nomination.

Romney's Glimmer of Hope in the Golden State

It's pretty much of a given that John McCain will win the lion's share of Republican delegates in tonight's Super Tuesday primaries. However, recent polls show that Mitt Romney has been surging in California and might very well "win" the state's winner take all by congressional district primary. (For the Republican Party in California, there are 3 delegates assigned to each of the state's 53 congressional districts. Whoever wins the most congressional districts will receive a bonus number of delegates; 11, I believe).

If the polling trend proves accurate, and California ends up going for Romney, I think there's a better than average chance that Romney could overtake McCain in the next round of primaries in March. At the very least, Romney could ride his campaign all the way to the National Republican Convention.

Update: As of 10:30 p.m. PST it appears McCain has been declared the winner of the overall vote for the California Republican Primary. Even worse news if you're anti-McCain like me is that McCain is leading pretty big in all of the congressional districts that have started reporting.

McLame Lies

I just picked this up listening to Rush. So, in addition to lying about Romney supporting timetables for withdrawal from Iraq, and falsely denying he suggested Justice Sam Alito is too conservative, John McCain lied about why he opposed President Bush's proposed tax cuts in 2001 and 2003.

In a presidential debate on Wednesday, McCain said he voted against the Bush tax cuts because he wanted to rein in spending.

"I disagreed when we had tax cuts without spending restraint," the Arizona senator said.

The explanation fits with his history of railing against wasteful federal spending. But it does not fit with McCain's comments when he opposed the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003.

In 2001, McCain said the tax cuts favored the wealthy at the expense of the middle class. In 2003, he said there should be no tax cuts until the Iraq war costs were known.

Bottom line, McCain sucks.

Trinity Law School Will Never Be ABA Accedited

It was already kind of a long shot that the law school I graduated from was ever going to pursue accreditation by the American Bar Association. Now it appears that this pursuit will never happen in light of the 75% bar passage requirement that the ABA is set to adopt as an accreditation standard. h/t Patterico's Pontifications blog

FYI - The bar pass rate for Trinity Law graduates over the past 7 to 8 years has been less than 20%. When you consider that the average pass rate for first time takers of the California Bar Exam is 70%, that's pretty awful. And it doesn't seem to be getting better.

Weird People In This World (Cont.)

It's not as weird as this, but the fact that someone got to this blog by doing a Google search for "tori spelling nazi camp" is up there.

Choosing What Is Foolish To Shame The Wise

Part of the first chapter of St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians was read at Mass today, and it's something that I found to be both comforting and inspiring in my current employment situation.

[26]For consider your call, brethren; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth;
[27] but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong,
[28] God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
[29] so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
[30] He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption;
[31] therefore, as it is written, "Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord."

The foregoing verses, I think, also provide a great pre-Lenten reflection on the virtue of humility.

Congrats to Francis Beckwith

On being named Inside the Vatican's top Person of the Year. (h/t) Mirror of Justice blog.

As I note here, Dr. Beckwith is a former instructor at my old (cough) law school, who "reverted" to the Church early last year.

The Axis of RINO

What I Do With Time On My Hands

Attend a political rally for Mitt Romney and shoot a shaky and blurry video of it.

RINO Governor to Endorse RINO Presidential Candidate

More specifically, Ahnuld will be (clap) pahmping-up The Maverick™ .

In a related matter, I didn't watch the GOP debate at the Reagan Library tonight (mostly because I forgot it was on) but there seems to be a consensus in the politically conservative blogosphere, e.g., Powerline and Ed Morrissey, that McCain looked and did pretty bad, while Romney won. Whether or not this will help Romney for next Tuesday is unclear, but I personally hope it does.

I Guess It's Politically Significant

Longtime Congress critter from Los Angeles Maxine Waters, who infamously said she had to march at a "pro-choice" rally because her mother couldn't have an abortion back in the day, has endorsed the presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton. In addition to being a fairly prominent Democrat, Ms. Waters is black. Given the recent controversies that Hillary has had with racial issues, I guess Waters' endorsement will help her in her battle against Obama for the Democrat presidential nomination.

I May Have To Edit The Banner On The Right

Reports are being made that RINO Rudy Giuliani will be dropping out of the presidential race next Tuesday Wednesday (YAHOO!), and will be endorsing The Maverick™. Not a real surprise to me if this endorsement happens, and it's just one more reason why I think conservative Republicans should refuse to support John McCain.

Blast From The Past

I just discovered that somebody got here by doing a search for the name of the gal I briefly blogged about back in 2002.

Wonder if it was her?

Reminder: We're One Week Away From Ash Wednesday

St. Thomas Aquinas

Today is the Angelic Doctor's feast day (St. Thomas also happens to be my patron saint).



"Good can exist without evil, whereas evil cannot exist without good."

New Year, New Look

Hopefully, more consistent blogging that you might find worth commenting about.

Hey, at least come back for the music (scroll to the bottom).

Abstain From McCain



Lots of reasons to, ranging from amnesty for illegal aliens, McCain-Feingold (McCain, through this friend of the court brief, expressly went after and tried to silence pro-life advocates), and support for continued stem cell research on human embryos.

Man, I Hope It Was For Legitimate Research

Someone got to this blog by doing a Google search for "having sexual intercourse in vegetative state."

I Know I'm Just Gonna Keep Thinking About It

OK, so I went and voted early today in the California primary, and I used one of these new computerized voting machines. While I'm using my right hand to push buttons, I'm holding and reading the things I marked on my sample ballot in my left. After choosing who and what to vote for, or against, I come to a screen that asks me if I want to accept or decline a paper verification printout. This verification printout is supposed to be like a receipt from a retail store. If you push the "Decline" icon, the computer assumes you don't want to cast your ballot, and asks if you want to start over.

Since I wanted to cast my ballot, I pushed the "Accept" icon expecting something to be printed out somewhere. All the while, I was still holding up my marked sample ballot in my left hand. When I didn't see anything printed out anywhere, I went ahead and just pushed the "Cast Ballot" button. After doing this, I lowered my left hand and noticed a small window by the side of the computer screen I had been using. Inside the window was apparently my paper verification printout. Unfortunately, by the time I noticed the printout, it was starting to scroll back into the machine, so I didn't get to see if it matched what I had selected on the computer.

Although I'm pretty sure my ballot was correctly cast by the computer, the small sense of doubt created by my failure to see the verification printout just irks me. I should have just voted by absentee ballot...

My Selection by Default



He's at least clever enough to make this play off his name.

Which reminds me, pitchers and catchers report to spring training on February 14.

Dude, Where Ya Been?

Just been too darn lazy to consistently blog. Plus, I've mostly been hanging around the discussion forums at 4Marks.com, a Catholic oriented social something or other with an online dating feature that you pay money to join.

As you might be able to guess, I like to mostly talk about politics in the forums, though I occasionally will banter about some less contentious matters, like spaghetti (clams and beef hot links sauce is some good eatin').

Since my paid membership is about to expire, and I'm pretty sure I won't renew (I don't need to pay money to be ignored by women), I should be back blogging on here again soon. I'm sure you're really excited about that.

Morons at Princeton

How much of a full blown idiot do you have to be to question the propriety of a Catholic Supreme Court Justice who attends the Red Mass? See Marci A. Hamilton of Princeton University as an illustration.

Hope His Lawyers are Being Paid Hourly

Dan Rather goes ape sh!t crazy and files a civil suit against CBS for, get this, "intentionally mishandling" the discredited story about President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard. Gunga Dan also asserts he was wrongfully made the scapegoat by CBS, while at the same time claiming that the fabricated tale about Bush getting special treatment was never proven to be fake.

I figure one of two things will happen here. Rather either loses his case on summary judgment, or whatever it might be called in New York State, or he accepts an undisclosed settlement offer, i.e., almost nothing with waiver of attorneys' fees, from CBS.

Here's a link to an apparent copy of the complaint filed by Rather. Thirty-two freakin' pages!

Not a Good Start

Just days after hiring him, UC Irvine fires noted constitutional law scholar and flaming political liberal Erwin Chemerinsky as its first law school dean. The chancellor of the university basically, and comically, blames the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy™ for the decision.

As much as I disagree with Chemerinsky in his interpretation of the law, the guy really does know his stuff. I personally discovered this when I studied for the Bar a few years ago, and the constitutional law review course I used was presented by Chemerinsky, via videotape. Not only was his presentation well structured, Chemerinsky wasn't using any notes as he spoke, and it didn't seem like he was reading off a teleprompter or cue cards. UC Irvine, I think, has made a huge mistake in not retaining Chemerinsky, and it isn't doing itself any favors by laying the blame on unnamed conservative pressure groups.

Beckwith on Catholic Answers Radio

Recent Catholic "revert", Francis Beckwith, is the featured guest on Catholic Answers radio today. In addition to being the former president of the Evangelical Theological Society, Dr. Beckwith used to be an instructor at my law school, though he didn't actually teach any law courses. Trinity Law School has a Master's degree program that can probably be best described as a hybrid of Christian apologetics and political science. I thought about enrolling in the program while I pursued my law degree, but then I discovered I would have been required to sign a statement of faith that included some beliefs an observant Catholic could not sign off on.

Highlanders on the Rise

This is interesting. My undergrad alma mater, UC Riverside, is a top 20 national university according to the Washington Monthly. Coming in at number 15, UCR is ranked ahead of several Ivy League schools like Penn (17), Harvard (27), Yale (38) and Columbia (41).

Even more interesting, though, is which school was ranked number 1: Texas A&M. (h/t)

My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir

I've really been anticipating the release of this autobiography from Clarence Thomas ever since I first heard about it five or six months ago at a Federalist Society meeting that featured John Yoo, one of Justice Thomas' former law clerks.

Looks as though Justice Thomas will also be doing a kind of book tour. He's scheduled to appear in So. Cal. at Chapman University on December 17.

What Got My Ass Kicked Off of CatholicMatch.Com

To be more accurate, what effectively got me kicked off: writing "bobbackwardsisbob.com" in response to an objectively racist, i.e., anti-semitic, comment made by another member of the site named, you guessed it, Bob. The administration of Catholic Match said my comment, which was written in the politics discussion forum on the site, was a personal attack. Unbelievable.

Well, at least they've agreed to give me a pro rated refund of the money I paid for membership.

Clarification: Man, I'm having a bad choice of words day. I literally was not kicked off of Catholic Match. I chose, instead, to terminate my membership, at Catholic Match's "invitation," because the administration of Catholic Match restricted my posting privileges on its discussion forums for the above state reason.

Update (8/20/07) I'm back on CM again with full privileges after an apology from the administration.

I Don't See Nothin'

For about five months now, I've been commuting from Orange County to San Bernardino County for a new job. So I figured since tomorrow is a Holy Day of Obligation, and I have to be all the way out in the Inland Empire for work, I'd go to a parish near my office for Mass. Not being familiar with the area, I naturally went to the website for the San Bernardino Diocese. Try as I might, however, I can't find any mention on the site of tomorrow being the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Therefore, I have no idea if the local parishes are going to be on their Holy Day Mass schedule. Rather than take a chance, I'm just going to go to the morning Mass at Holy Family Cathedral in Orange County, and arrive about a half hour later for work.

The Powerhouse Justice

I'm currently reading Supreme Conflict by Jan Crawford Greenburg, who is a correspondent for ABC news. Some pretty illuminating stuff about the SCOTUS, the chronology of which pretty much starts from when Sandra Day O'Connor was nominated and confirmed as a Justice in 1981.

I just recently finished the section on my favorite Justice, Clarence Thomas. Contrary to popular perception and characterization, Thomas was never Justice Scalia's intellectual water boy when he began his tenure on the Court. Indeed, during his first couple of weeks as a Justice, Thomas actually persuaded Scalia to change his mind on two cases.

An interesting side note about Clarence Thomas in Supreme Conflict is that shortly after the contentious battle over his confirmation to the Court, Justice Thomas had apparently discovered, and began drawing spiritual and emotional strength from, the Litany of Humility prayer. Given the words of this prayer, I have to believe that this is what has prevented Justice Thomas from "evolving" on the Court and lurching into judicial activism like Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is largely portrayed as being hyper-sensitive to public opinion.