June 2005

Heroin at the City Water Department?

ArchPundit June 9, 2005 3 Comments

Rich is saying it hurts Daley a lot.

My take is perhaps counterintuitive, but what I would argue is intuitive. The public always knew that Daley tolerated a lot of shenanigans and lately there were too many to forgive so his poll numbers dropped, but every case was one of the typical corruption you would expect.

I think this one hits as an abberation and has little effect on Daley. Sure, it’s not good news, but does anyone think he wouldn’t have come down like the Hand of God on anyone selling heroin in His City? Or that any underlings don’t understand that? It just doesn’t stick to him the way other problems do.

I can always be wrong, but I don’t think has any long term effects. Though I feel awfully sorry for the next Chicago city employee to get caught with any drugs on the job–he’ll probably be perp walked with the Super of Police personally escorting him whether it’s for a joint or a kilo of coke.

Blagojevich with 80% of the Public on the Emergency Rule

ArchPundit June 9, 2005 3 Comments

And that’s all states, not just a blue state like Illinois. NARAL released a report on the 40th Anniversary of Griswold v. Connecticut that points out overwhelming support of the public for pharmacists filling contraceptive prescriptions.

Should pharmacists who personally oppose birth control for religious reasons be
able to refuse to sell birth control pills to women who have a prescription for them, or should pharmacists not be able to refuse to sell birth control pills?

Should be able to refuse ………………………..16
Should NOT be able to refuse……………….80
(Don?t know)………………………………………….4

Pro-Choice and Anti-Choice Americans Oppose Refusals
Opposition to pharmacists refusing to fill women’s birth control prescriptions is strong across the ideological spectrum. For example, 74 percent of respondents who identified themselves as ?pro-life? opposed giving pharmacists this discretion; 87 percent of selfidentified pro-choice respondents and 79 percent of people with ‘mixed or muddled’ views on abortion, respectively, thought pharmacists should not be allowed to refuse to fill prescriptions.

Next Week

ArchPundit June 9, 2005 0 Comment

Like Tom I’ll be scoring AP tests. Unlike Tom, I’ll be doing Government and Politics.

Also unlike Tom, I have no illusions about the average AP test takers view of democracy and will just be amused instead of bemused.

I’ll also be slow most of the week for that reason.

The General Wants to Work for Albertson’s

ArchPundit June 9, 2005 0 Comment

It seems his reliance on faith healing was a limiting factor years ago, but no longer…

Giving the Con Law Lecture Where It’s Most Needed

ArchPundit June 9, 2005 1 Comment

The Senate

I know it’s boring to talk about things like Lochner, but few legal cases matter more

For those who pay attention to legal argument, one of the things that is most troubling is Justice Brown’s approval of the Lochner era of the Supreme Court. In the Lochner case, and in a whole series of cases prior to Lochner being overturned, the Supreme Court consistently overturned basic measures like minimum wage laws, child labor safety laws, and rights to organize, deeming those laws as somehow violating a constitutional right to private property. The basic argument in Lochner was you can’t regulate the free market because it is going to constrain people’s use of their private property. Keep in mind that that same judicial philosophy was the underpinning of Dred Scott, the ruling that overturned the Missouri Compromise and said that it was unconstitutional to forbid slavery from being imported into the free States.
That same judicial philosophy essentially stopped every effort by Franklin Delano Roosevelt to overcome the enormous distress and suffering that occurred during the Great Depression. It was ultimately overturned because Justices, such as Oliver Wendell Holmes, realized that if Supreme Court Justices can overturn any economic regulation — Social Security, minimum wage, basic zoning laws, and so forth — then they would be usurping the rights of a democratically constituted legislature. Suddenly they would be elevated to the point where they were in charge as opposed to democracy being in charge.

Justice Brown, from her speeches, at least, seems to think overturning Lochner was a mistake. She believes the Supreme Court should be able to overturn minimum wage laws. She thinks we should live in a country where the Federal Government cannot enforce the most basic regulations of transparency in our security markets, that we cannot maintain regulations that ensure our food is safe and the drugs that are sold to us have been tested. It means, according to Justice Brown, that local governments or municipalities cannot enforce basic zoning regulations that relieve traffic, no matter how much damage it may be doing a particular community.

What is most ironic about this is that what Justice Brown is calling for is precisely the type of judicial activism that conservatives have been railing against for the last 50 years.

Nancy Grace Fun

ArchPundit June 9, 2005 0 Comment

Jeralyn has been having fun with the mob justice moron at CNN Headline News.

Austin Mayor has some fun at Grace’s expense in this set of comments

If CNN wants to be known as a news channel, here’s a hint–don’t put on idiots who assume a defendant is guilty and thinks high commentary is making fun of Mark Geragos’ cell phone.

This Cub Outside Thursday in Bloomington

ArchPundit June 8, 2005 0 Comment

t’s beyond comprehension. Walk outside, watch the ground pass under your feet and imagine heading for the next town, the next state. Imagine walking over mountains, across rivers, around lakes. Imagine doing it in snowstorms, thunderstorms and sweaty 95-degree heat. Then imagine doing it by yourself, your only human contact coming with strangers who don’t believe where you’ve been and can’t grasp where you’re going.

This has been the life of Bill Holden since Jan. 11, when, motivated by the story of Ron Santo, he hopped on a highway in Prescott Valley, Ariz., and headed for Wrigley Field with two goals: to raise $250,000 for juvenile diabetes and to arrive in time for the Cubs’ July 1 game against the Nationals. (Today, Monday, June 6, he’s in Springfield, IL, on his way to Lincoln, IL. About 240 miles still to go.)
…
If only they could find some luck with donations. As of late May, Wild Bill’s Walk has raised $80,000, well short of the $250,000 goal. But the folks at “This Old Cub” are hopeful that the stretch run through Illinois and certainly the city of Chicago should help Holden reach the $200,000 barrier.

“I’m hoping that when he walks into Wrigley Field, we’ll have 10,000 supporters behind him,” Mahoney said. “I hope people will be driving to work that morning, see Bill on Lake Shore Drive, know his story and then make a donation. It’s a worthy cause ? and Bill has put everything he has into this.”
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This is the ESPN story that really details Bill Holden’s walk from Arizona to Wrigley Field to create awareness of and fundraise for juvenile diabetes, as inspired by the Ron Santo movie. I haven’t seen anything in Illinois media yet.
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http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=drehs/050606
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The website with more information is here.
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http://www.thisoldcub.com/
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The Illinois itinerary for this month is here.
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http://www.thisoldcub.com/walk_where.htm
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June 9 “THIS OLD CUB” SCREENING and Wild Bill Holden: CASTLE THEATRE, 209 E. Washington St., Bloomington, IL – Flyer – (Adobe Acrobat Reader)
June 10 WILD BILL HOLDEN at Culver’s Frozen Custard and Buttergurgers, Morton IL – Flyer – (Adobe Acrobat Reader)
June 12 WILD BILL HOLDEN at Fazoli’s Restaureant, Normal, IL – Flyer – (Adobe Acrobat Reader)
June 14 Chenoa, IL
June 15 Pontiac, IL
June 15-19 Dwight, IL
June 20-23 Joliet, IL
June 24-25 Bolingbrook, IL
June 26-30 Chicago, IL
July 1 Wild Bill ends his 2100 mile “Walk-the-Walk” – Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
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The donation form is here.
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http://www.thisoldcub.com/wild%20bill%20form.pdf

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Special shout out to those in Bloomington. The Castle has been redone by Ben Slotky and is apparently way cool. I remember it when it was in bad shape before it closed (I saw the first Lethal Weapon there). I’ll be back this summer and it’s on the itinerary. I went to college with Ben’s brother Will and he lives down here. Ben’s a good guy and this is a good cause, so if you haven’t checked out the Castle this is the perfect opportunity.

Thanks to Jeff for the heads up.

Kubrick’s Genius

ArchPundit June 8, 2005 0 Comment

Unlike Ralph, I did know he was a photojournalist and, in fact, watching The Killing it’s pretty clear–he took noir from still to moving pictures. Just amazing stuff.

One of the few movies of his I haven’t seen is based on one of his Look pictorials

Let No Political Consultant Go Unhired

ArchPundit June 8, 2005 0 Comment

Gidwitz is pouring money into his own campaign. Mediocre campaign consultants everywhere rejoice.