Patterico's Pontifications

6/27/2005

I Know It When I See It

Filed under: Civil Liberties,Court Decisions,Humor — Patterico @ 9:25 pm



Eugene Volokh notes that Establishment Clause jurisprudence has, in the eyes of some, become a Potter Stewart-style ad hoc “I know it when I see it” test.

Which gave me an idea.

Everywhere that a potentially unconstitutional depiction of the Ten Commandments is displayed, public officials should construct a nearby depiction of two people engaged in the most explicit sexual acts their hired artists’ imaginations can muster.

When someone files suit against the Ten Commandments display, officials should find a shill to file suit against the sexually explicit display, as running afoul of obscenity laws.

Then watch the fun as the courts strike down the Ten Commandments display, even as they uphold the depiction of explicit sexual activity as expression protected by the First Amendment.

It’ll never happen, but it should.

Words Straight Guys Don’t Use

Filed under: Humor — Patterico @ 9:10 pm



Eugene Volokh has a post about words straight guys don’t use. His example: “adore.” Out of 27 comments, only one person has suggested others, and that person has three examples:

fabulous
to die for
I was in heaven

Well, only one of those is a word; the others are phrases. Follow the rules!

Before I looked at the comments to Volokh’s post, I had come up with the following:

fabulous
darling
sweetie

I asked Mrs. P. before she looked at the comments, and she said:

fabulous

and then she said that she was “not into the gay-bashing” and refused to answer further. (In fact, she’s probably going to slug me when she sees this post. Don’t tell her.)

What are yours? (For the record, answering the question does not mean you are “into the gay-bashing.”)

P.S. I sometimes call my daughter “sweetie.” Am I gay? You can tell me the truth.

Zbigniew Brzezinski: Neutral Expert? Or Democratic Shill?

Filed under: Dog Trainer — Patterico @ 7:21 am



Earlier this month, in an article I complained about here, the L.A. Times quoted Zbigniew Brzezinski regarding President Bush’s foreign policy, as if he were some sort of “expert” to whom we should be paying attention:

“The simplistic notion that you talk a great deal about democracy and twist a few arms and it will somehow come magically on its own is absurd,” said Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was national security advisor to President Carter.

In an article yesterday, we see that Brzezinski is officially shilling for Democrats (as if this were a surprise):

In the Democrats’ official response Saturday to Bush’s radio address, Zbigniew Brzezinski, the former national security advisor to President Carter, said: “This war has been conducted with tactical and strategic incompetenceā€¦. The president should provide the American people with a plan describing the key elements of a successful strategy in Iraq.”

When the L.A. Times quotes an “expert,” watch them like a hawk.

Weekend Posts

Filed under: Blogging Matters — Patterico @ 7:07 am



If you are a weekday reader, don’t forget to scroll down to read this weekend’s posts — especially my debate with Professor Bainbridge.

It’s a Supreme Court Day

Filed under: Court Decisions,Judiciary — Patterico @ 6:15 am



Howard Bashman lists the remaining cases to be decided here. Displays of the Ten Commandments will be the issue of the day.

Will there be a retirement? Will there be more than one? Who will be the replacement(s)? K-Lo points to a Chicago Tribune article that purports to narrow the field to Luttig and Roberts, but it’s still all speculation at this point.

Stay tuned to Howard’s site for breaking news.

UPDATE: The opinions have all been handed down. The Ten Commandments won in Texas and lost in Kentucky. Bashman has links to the opinions and other information here. You’ll probably have a hard time accessing the opinions for a while, however.

Retirement news will probably have to wait until later in the day.


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