Comments on: With McCain’s likely insurmountable delegate lead, lets start considering possible running mates

By: Don Squires

Don Squires — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 05:53:28 +0000

I can’t belive Michel Steele’s name has even been mentioned. What has he done politically? He was a ( one term) lt. governor of Md. I live in Md. and had not herd of the guy until he was running. Hell, I’d float Earlich’s name before Steele’s. Anyway, thats not the point. My choice, would be Alaska’s governor, Sarah Palin. She’s young, has a very good record, she’s conservative, and deffinatly a washington outsider.

By: hal yoder

hal yoder — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 22:13:40 +0000

I realize i am getting into this late… and i am a novice, never having left a comment on a political board before, but…. Guliani to my mind seems to be the best choice for vp. you haven’t mentioned him too much, but when you do there is little negative to say. Will he help the ticket? yeah probably, especially with independants. More importantly i think he would have a positive impact on the McCain administration.

By: WLS

WLS — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:07:52 +0000

True story from post-9/11 federal courtroom.

The Courthouse Security Officers (CSO) — the guys who man the entrances and run all the screening equipment — confiscate just about anything and everything that might remotely resemble a weapon, including anything sharp or pointed, right down to a 2 inch pocketknife.

But as I sat in court one morning about 4 years ago, I looked over at a pro se litigant who was there pleading some nonsense motion to the judge in some case against a big bad insurance company.
I noticed in his brief case that he had a pair of scissors — but these were not a little pair of round-ended kiddie scissors. Noooo — he had one of those pair of scissors that were about 8 inches long and ended in sharp points on the ends.

I motioned to one of the CSOs who was in the courtroom that he should look inside the guy’s briefcase which was sitting open on the desk. The CSO’s face went white, and he stayed very close to this pro se litigant — who was a little bit of a nut anyway — until the hearing was over and the guy left.

Needless to say, the CSO working the screening device at the front door was reassigned.

By: Scott Jacobs

Scott Jacobs — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:39:07 +0000

LMAO…

By: nk

nk — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:02:56 +0000

I used mine once to help the Clerk of the Court (the one whose desk is next to the judge’s bench) unjam her stapler. Honest Injun.

By: Scott Jacobs

Scott Jacobs — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:58:37 +0000

Same thing happened to me when I lived for a short while in Wyoming. my Brand new knife was on my blet infront of God and everyone, and we walked into a WalMart. I didn’t remember it was there for about 15 minutes (it happens). I was freaking out, but then noticed three guys with MUCH bigger knives on their belts.

Different culture than central IL I guess…

By: Leviticus

Leviticus — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:53:55 +0000

“It was a long time ago, though, and now Illinois’s “permissible inference” would not stand Constitutional scrutiny in a case like mine.”

-nk

You mean a prosecutorial inference of your intent in carrying a knife?

“I still keep my knife in my pocket, but I see others with theirs in plain view.”

- nk

That’s the way it is in New Mexico: nobody even notices. Last week, a clerk asked me to open a pop-top bottle of lighter fluid. I don’t have any fingernails (I’m a nervous nailbiter), so I took out my knife and used it to open the durn thing. She didn’t even bat an eyelash.

By: nk

nk — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:38:54 +0000

P.S. I remember you saying that you carry a knife. So do I. At age sixteen, I fell afoul of Illinois’s “Unlawful Use of Weapons”. I was charged with carrying a knife “with the intent to use it unlawfully against another person”. (Good thing they didn’t catch me with my Walther PPK.) My lawyer bargained the case out for a $120.00 fee. My record was expunged — no harm, no foul. It was a long time ago, though, and now Illinois’s “permissible inference” would not stand Constitutional scrutiny in a case like mine. I still keep my knife in my pocket, but I see others with theirs in plain view.

By: nk

nk — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:24:51 +0000

Leviticus #56,

I’m a lawyer, not a legal scholar, and there may be better authority out there, but Article III, Section 1, Clause 1 of the Constitution reads in part:

The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity ….

Law and Equity are branches of the common law which, for over more than a thousand years, established the allocation and burden of proof, so that I would say that Due Process means adherence to the common law in the absence of any other provision to the contrary.

By: voiceofreason2

voiceofreason2 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:06:53 +0000

Pablo,

Re #39. It is not primarily because he is black. It is because his achievements and positions are not of the status yet to make him seem more of a strategic pick based on his color.

He needs to be given the keynote addresses and other positions that elevate him to the national exposure. 2012 or beyond he could be a very good and viable choice.