Here and There

Christopher Hitchens agreed to undergo a demonstration of waterboarding.

He quit after about 15 seconds of the demonstration. In a corresponding piece for Vanity Fair, Hitchens says that, without any equivocation or doubt, the technique is torture.

What struck me was how sterile the demonstration was. There’s full lighting, probably air-conditioning, Hitchens has the comfort of knowing he’ll survive and go home to his belongings and loved ones. Those and other conditions are antithetical to what actual prisoners go through. And even given such “handicaps,” Hitchens is certain of the horrendous nature of the technique.

Srsly, when do we prosecute the people who gave and carried out the orders to do this?

John Cole draws analogies to Roe v. Wade. I’m no scholar of the court, but that seems fitting.

I’ve been trying to wrap my head around what it will mean since I first saw the headline this morning. Okay, it is now absolutely legal to keep firearms in your home as a means to self-defense. I’m fine with that. Should someone intrude or invade your privacy, I guess you should have the right to blow holes in their kneecaps. I’m not too terribly concerned with that.

And, considering thugs who already carry guns around in public, no law will abate such behavior, criminal or not. Thugz will be thugz, yo.

What I am concerned with (again, on a kneejerk basis) is the wanton recklessness this could lead to.

Could it really get worse than it already is?, you ask.

Yes, I fear.

I am afraid of the slippery slope leading from “self-defense,” in the “home,” to the use of firearms anywhere one so chooses. Someone cuts you off in traffic? Bam! They’re dead, or at least hurt bad. Someone picks up your newspaper by accident (antiquated example?), sorry, suckah! Boss fires you for what you consider to be no real reason at all? “Fire” his ass, just like that!

I know, i know, these things already happen. I guess I just worry about a more-permissive atmosphere for them to happen in. I worry about the spread of guns. I worry about increased usage.

Tell me, should I quit worrying?

You can hit all three reps at once with this form letter.

Basically, enough Democrats in Congress may be willing to compromise on the new FISA bill, which offers telecom immunity and actually expands government spying power.

If you trust people like Russ Feingold, who has an amazing civil liberties track record, this is a bad compromise:

“Under the Bond proposal, the result of the FISA Court’s evaluation would be predetermined… the FISA court would be required to grant immunity.” - Feingold and Senator Chris Dodd on Senator Kit Bond’s proposal

I brushed off your endorsement when I got wind of it early in the day. But damn you, you made me watch your speech.

And now I copy the embed code with wet eyes. Yes we can!

SCOTUS takes six years to get it right. Go Justice Kennedy.

Do not give a misbehaving child what (s)he wants.

And with that implicit analogy, this blog now turns its full attention toward taking down John McCain. Reader submissions are accepted.

The aim will be to expose John McCain for what he is — an old-school politician, beholden to special interests with deep pockets who play by their own rules. The arguments about approach to government are tired, but must be hashed out. The real question is who these candidates are, what they represent, and how they will lead and represent the United States of America at home and to the world.

Given these tenets, the choice should be pretty clear, methinks.

I’m a little nervous about people like this:

McCain has said he will appoint Supreme Court justices to the right of John Roberts. With two liberal justices (Stevens and Ginsberg) facing likely retirement, that means a 35-year setback for women’s rights is nigh if McCain is elected.

I’m just saying …

Gay marriage ban overturned in California by the state Supreme Court.

Solid NYT editorial on the court-ordered shutdown (read: violation of the sacred First Amendment) of a website that published leaked business and government information.

The Crime? Exposing illicit activity related to the prison at Guantánamo Bay.

McCain’s win in South Carolina underscores his viability and possible front-runner status. Of course, that could all change in the Florida Primary on January 29. Some may add that wins in New Hampshire and South Carolina do not a front-runner make. C’est possible.

But my gut tells me McCain will pull this one out. As much as it pains me to say, he’s the least nutty of the bunch, and the most viable in a general election.

Which leads me to …

Both my gut and polls show Clinton and Obama beating every GOP candidate except McCain. And in head-to-head matchups with the Arizona senator, Obama fares better.

Please hold your fire, but in a head-to-head of Clinton vs. McCain, I would give McCain a very close look and consider voting for him.

So a vote for Obama is a vote for getting a Democrat back into the White House. Remember that, besides all the problems currently facing the country, we’ve got some old-ass supreme court justices dying to retire (bad pun?). It’s essential, in order to draw the court back to something resembling the political center in this country, that we elect a Democrat.

The ruling is thought to be in Obama’s favor. When he spoke with the San Francisco Chronicle’s editorial board today, he seemed to agree.