In Case You Missed It: Krauthammer on Death Counseling

Charles Krauthammer has written the definitive column on the alleged “death panels” created by a (now deprecated) version of the one of the healthcare reform bills before Congress.  His perfectly sane take: they aren’t death panels at all, and calling them such is absurd, but they are (or would be, if they had any chance of being enacted) a slight nudge from government for people to consider non-extraordinary, less expensive end-of-life care for their final days.

Your Reading for the Weekend: Government “Stimulation” Doesn’t Shorten Recessions

Economist Alan Reynolds has a nice op-ed up today addressing the question of whether governmental efforts to prevent or shorten recessions actually work.  Upon a review of the historical evidence, he concludes (prepared to be shocked) that they don’t.

Reynolds goes further, arguing that the inverse is in fact true: recessions last longer and are more severe where governments intervene more.  Reynolds evidence for this latter point (at least that which he presents in the piece) is weaker and not terribly persuasive, but the article is still a good read for exploding the myth that governmental stimulus efforts have had great success in combating economic downturns.

If I Had a Hammer, I’d Hammer in Primetime

From the file of News Items That Common Understanding Suggests Cannot Possibly Be True But Apparently Are, former GOP House Majority Leader Tom Delay (you can call him “The Hammer”) will be a contestant on the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars on ABC.

No Place for “Empathy” on SCOTUS

I was going to write something about why President Obama’s repeatedly stated desire for (what he considers) empathy in judges is so wrongheaded and detrimental to the rule of law, but Jonah Goldberg's column today covers that ground very nicely indeed.  So instead I’ll just send you to his column here and get back to writing a pre-trial memo.

So, It’s Sotomayor

After I read the last pre-announcement news coverage (especially this item in the Times) this morning and thought a bit more about Obama’s proclivities I came to expectation that the pick to replace Souter would be either Judge Sotomayor or Solicitor General Elena Kagan. Frankly, I had guessed and was hoping that it would more likely be Kagan –during her career in academia she gained a reputation for being relatively fair toward those on the right—but Sotomayor was always a decent possibility for fairly obvious reasons.  Although we’re hearing a lot about some foolish things that Sotomayor has said in the past,  it seems a fairly safe bet that her confirmation process will proceed fairly smoothly.  Assuming that no serious ethical issues emerge (and that she doesn’t repeat her “I’m an inherently better judge than a white male could be” line in front of the Senate, which she won’t) there won’t be any serious effort to filibuster her approval.

So, the first Supreme Court Justice placed on the Court by Obama will be a pick that satisfies demands of two very important interest groups in the Democratic coalition, will take Souter’s place as reliable member of the “progressive” block on the Court, and won’t draw as much confirmation fire as a full-throated, no separation-between-law-and policy jurist would have. An entirely predicable but fairly safe political move, just like President Obama likes em.  

WV Man Sues McDonalds For Mental Distress, Etc. After (Supposedly) Finding Part of a Fingernail in His Iced Mocha

And the hits just keep on comin’ . . .

Per this story from the West Virginia Record, a Mr. Jason Lycans of Putnam County is suing McDonalds after he bought an iced mocha and allegedly found “part of a fingernail”  in his drink.  Alas, no other details were given in the story about the  characteristics of the horrific contaminant.

Mr. Lycans, to no one’s surprise, apparently cannot present any proof that he actually contracted any disease from the item. Instead, he asserts that he is entitled to (presumably hefty) compensation for “medical testing”, emotional distress, and the lost ability to enjoy an iced mocha.

Of course, in many ways the real story here is not that someone is willing to bring  lawsuit against a deep-pocketed company (and its franchisees) with flimsy proof  and, even if the incident did actually occur, having suffered no real harm; everybody knows that there are many such greedy dirtbags walking around. The real story is which member of our glorious West Virginia Bar was willing to sign their name to such a suit.  According to the Record,  one Bree Whipp Ogle, Esq. of Atkins Law Offices  is representing the now mocha-less victim.

About Bloody Time

According to the New York Times, Chrysler will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization today.  Negotiations with debtholders to restructure the company’s debt have, apparently, fallen through.

Gov. Rick Perry: Treason May Not Be Such a Bad Idea

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) claimed today that Texas entered the Union reserving the right to secede if it later chose, and postulated that circumstances might make that advisable in the future.

Specifically, according to the AP he said:

There's a lot of different scenarios. We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot.

Now, it seems that Gov. Perry didn’t actually suggest that Texas secede, but maintained that the state has the right to do so.   Accordingly, when I note that our national government has the perfect right to hang traitors,  don’t mistake me for saying that Gov. Perry’s neck should be fitted for a noose just yet.

By the way, this is the second time this month I’ve heard an idiot “Republican” claim that states have the right to secede.  (The first person shall not be named: let’s just say he’s a particularly, uh, strident fellow who I have regular dealings with.)  Thus, on behalf of my Republican, pro-Union ancestors, let us reaffirm: “The Constitution, in all its provisions, looks to an indestructible union, of indestructible states.”

But I Thought Europe Loved Us Again?!

Despite public and private pressure applied by World Beloved President Barack Obama, our erstwhile continental European allies have yet again refused to commit more combat forces to the fight in Afghanistan.  Moreover, this time around even Britain is shirking its responsibilities, sending only a few hundred addition troops after President Obama had asked Gordon Brown to send thousands.

A small voice  pipes up again, wondering if the U.S. couldn't strike a deal with the Islamic terrorist groups to confine their attacks to Europe and leave us alone. Of course we can’t, and even if we could that would certainly not be in our longer-term security interests.  But the voice is there.