An interesting article from a history professor:

Clinton, however, had no…lofty ideals in his self-made scandal. He brought sex into the arena by first lying to the public during the campaign over Jennifer Flowers; then again by attempting to hush Paula Jones in her civil suit; then finally by giving false testimony to a Grand Jury. In the process, he managed to become the only president ever to be disbarred by allowing his attorney to submit a false statement to a federal judge. (There must be a standing joke here to the effect that if you aren

I’m sure that all the people (many of whom were no doubt self-styled feminists) who were wailing and keening about Tookie Williams will be protesting this any minute now:

An Iranian court has sentenced a teenage rape victim to death by hanging after she weepingly confessed that she had unintentionally killed a man who had tried to rape both her and her niece.

[crickets chirping]

Well, maybe tomorrow.

But it’s probably not the Iranian government’s fault. I’m sure they just do things like this out of an inferiority complex, and in response to the evil Western influences, and McDonalds, and Britney.

I’m sure they’ll behave better when they get nukes.

[Sunday evening update]

Just for the record, I don’t agree in any way with the commenter who is pining for a “Curtis LeMay type, who won’t care who’s in office.”

In today’s New York Times, the article “Go Ahead, Try to Stop K Street,” an argument is quoted from Newt Gingrich that you have to shrink government to curb lobbyists. “There is $2.6 trillion spent in Washington, with the authority to regulate everything in your life,” he said. “Guess what? People will spend unheard-of amounts of money to influence that. The underlying problems are big government and big money.”

Curbing the budget will only reduce the acceleration of lobbying, not reduce lobbying. It is a bargain. The Indian tribes are just smart to get in on it (if not in their choice of representation). In my joint paper with Livingston and Jurist, we say the following:

National lobbying of Congress and the President in 2004 totaled $1 billion. That may seem like a lot, but it is a pittance compared to the $2.3 trillion in Federal outlays. Congress and the President also pass laws and make executive orders that implicitly subsidize through loan guarantees, forbid activities altogether, impose work and investment rules that implicitly tax certain activities, and establish through the courts and federal agencies how property rights are defined. Thus, it is possible that Congress and the President influence perhaps twice as much of the economy as the Federal Government spends. Given that, $1 billion to buy influence on Capitol Hill is surely a bargain. With 589 bills passing both houses of Congress (enrolled) in the 108th Congress, that works out to about $3.3 million of lobbying per enrolled bill. Adding in campaign contributions per enrolled bill (about $400 million per session for the President

Congressman Murtha, the Dems’ new favorite war hero (now that they’ve given up on Senator Kerry), is concerned that it might look like a victory for us in Iraq. Yes, that would be terrible. How would the Democrats make gains in the House next year if that happened?

Congressman Murtha, the Dems’ new favorite war hero (now that they’ve given up on Senator Kerry), is concerned that it might look like a victory for us in Iraq. Yes, that would be terrible. How would the Democrats make gains in the House next year if that happened?

Congressman Murtha, the Dems’ new favorite war hero (now that they’ve given up on Senator Kerry), is concerned that it might look like a victory for us in Iraq. Yes, that would be terrible. How would the Democrats make gains in the House next year if that happened?

…I don’t recall all these Democrats complaining about a “culture of corruption” then.

…from Mark Levin, for all those Democrats and journalists (and both) who are hypocritically hyperventilating about presidential power and eavesdropping.

I know you’ll be shocked to hear this, but the UN has been wasting tsunami relief funds.

Glenn has more.

Robert Reich in today’s Marketplace Morning Report (“Spies Like Us”) talks about how unchecked executive power is a concern for business. We can argue about whether Congress authorized any means necessary with its vaguely worded declaration of war. We can argue about whether the ends justify the means. But if the President can designate anyone an enemy combatant with no judicial check, that suspends habeus corpus. Holding people without charge is not supposed to happen in America especially not to American citizens on American soil.

If the President can tap anyone’s US-overseas calls without judicial review and use the evidence against them, that suspends the 4th amendment protections on unreasonable searches.

If the President can search my library book record, that nullifies the first amendment right to freedom of the press as surely as staking out people’s bedrooms nullifies their right to privacy.

Innocent until proven guilty is being whittled away as people like Walt Anderson are being held without bail based on their reading list.

Reading unclassified information is not illegal. A free press requires that anything that is legally published should be read without legal consequence.

I believe that authorities have overstepped here. There are antibodies society should create to check an executive or Congressional majority tinkering with the Constitution.

I propose that libraries be reorganized to hide reading lists from authorities. In particular, books should be checked out anonymously. The main business problem this causes is that the library doesn’t know who to send an overdue notice to. To solve this problem, readers should be allowed to pay a substantial deposit in cash to check out a book anonymously which would then be returned when the book is returned.

Let the Executive Branch go to Congress for money and get a warrant for staking out the library if it is so all-fired important to find out what we are reading.

So check the Executive. Check the wire. Check out the books without Big Brother looking over your shoulder.