Skip to main content

RedState.com: Your Dramatic Overreaction Of The Day

Pejman Yousefzadeh reacted to Andrew Sullivan's post about the controversy regarding Dr. James Dobson, and the thank you note he received from Judge Alito.
I really have no brief for James Dobson, but this is absurd. Unless you are the kind of person who sees a wink-wink-nudge-nudge-say-no-more element in just about every bit of human interaction, it's hard to see what the big deal is regarding the fact that Alito was polite. It doesn't signify a desire to engage in any kind of quid pro quo, and if Sullivan actually does think that Alito's letter is enough to demonstrate his supposed lack of independence, well, let's all thank goodness this hanging judge of a blogger isn't a real judge in the court system. And I say this as someone who believes Sullivan to be quite intelligent and eloquent on a number of issues.

Noting, perhaps, that he is on thin ice with this kind of innuendo and anxious to shore up a weak position, Sullivan protests that his suspicions are somehow well-founded. Why? Because Dobson read Alito's letter on the radio! Because writing a thank-you letter constitutes "associating with overtly political entities"! (Query: Was Andrew Sullivan upset that Justice Alito attended the State of the Union, where "overtly political entities" were in abundance?) And finally because "there is more than just a hint of a constitutional quo for a political quid in the letter," and Sullivan "hoped [Alito's] jurisprudence would not amount to a carte blanche for whatever the Christianists demand. The letter suggests otherwise." How this is the case, we do not know and Sullivan does not tell us. I guess we are just supposed to take his word for it.
Adam C also commented on reactions from Taranto:
Now, Alito's defenders will doubtless point to Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution, which stipulates that federal judges "shall hold their offices during good behaviour." Surely, they will argue, sending a thank-you note qualifies as "good behaviour."...

Luckily, there is a way Alito can defuse the scandal. All he has to do is send a note to Sullivan thanking him for his endorsement. Then, when he casts a vote against same-sex marriage, Sullivan's pet issue, it will be clear that there is in fact no quo.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Al Cardenas Comments on Univision Democrat Forum

Al Cardenas is Chairman of Romney for President's Hispanic Steering Committee. I got the following email from the campaign. Boston, MA – Al Cardenas, the Chairman of Romney for President's National Hispanic Steering Committee, issued the following statement regarding tonight's Democrat presidential forum on Univision: "Tonight's Univision forum demonstrated once again the consequences that a President Clinton, President Obama or President Edwards would have on the Hispanic community.  Whether it's tax increases for families and the two million Hispanic business owners, socialist-style health care, coddling dictators, opposing free trade with our allies or putting family values last, the Democrat presidential candidates made clear how out of sync their policies are with the best interests of the Hispanic community. Mitt Romney has put in the effort to reach out to this vital bloc, and, after watching tonight's debate
Post a Comment
Read more

Harry Potter Mania -- Discussion

There is a great discussion going on at WorldMagBlog on the whole Harry Potter mania. Nothing to do with Latinos, I suppose, but I thought I would ad my two cents. A reader commented: I think its interesting how much people want to be in a group that is all connected by some common thread. It says a lot about our desire for homogeny, not always along racial, sexual or religious lines, but also simply based on what we do in our spare time. The interesting thing about Harry Potter fans vs. Star Trek fans is that a vast majority of them are kids who have grown up with the books, or the parents of said kids. I wonder if what sort of effects this will have on them as they get older (and whether or not they will remain HP fans). We live in an obsessive culture. Posted by David B. at July 22, 2005 07:54 AM This is an interesting phenomenon. I would think it is indicative of our society, more than anything else. I tend to agree with the idea that it shows a desire or need for communi
Post a Comment
Read more

Communism: Good Money for the "El Viejo"

I guess Fidel Castro is doing ok . Forbes lists Castro as one of the richest in the world, right up there with the Queen of England. I bet he didn't like the attention. It was hard to figure it out, but it seems they managed to throw some numbers together. In the past, we have relied on a percentage of Cuba's gross domestic product to estimate Fidel Castro's fortune. This year we have used more traditional valuation methods, comparing state-owned assets Castro is assumed to control with comparable publicly traded companies. A reasonable discount was then applied to compensate for the obvious disclosure issues.
1 comment
Read more