There are a few ways to look at the Bush Administraton’s approach to the war on terror. The two we hear the most from are on the fringes — left-leaning civil libertarians argue that we need to close Guantanamo and repeal the Patriot Act and FISA, and right-leaning Unitary Executive lunatics argue that the powers granted the President in wartime (nevermind that we are not at war) transcend the Constitution. There is not enough said from the center.

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Posted at 01 January 09 at 17.01 in Law, Books

Toobin closes by saying that we will thus get the Court we deserve. It is impossible not to immediately think of the infamous Mencken quote: “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it – good and hard.” But we can do better, and we must.

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Posted at 14 June 08 at 20.06 in Law, Books

A meditation on the value of change in American politics

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Posted at 08 September 07 at 14.09 in Law, Books

The New York Times is running an editorial tomorrow slamming Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for being terrible. It is awesome.

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Posted at 10 March 07 at 22.03 in Law