Today's Links and Minifeatures 2005 07 27 Wednesday

Carnival of the Vanities is up! Especially good Open Challenge to the Detractors of Rep. Tom Tancredo (I disagree, but it's a good article), Top Secret Democrat Party Strategy Meeting - Exposed! (I think it was intended as satire), Physics, Wealth Creation, and Zero Sum Economics, and History and Fantasy

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John Roberts Supreme Court news



Alberto Gonzalez needs to shut up. He's not the nominee. He doesn't speak for the nominee. Don't give the wing-nuts bait. Okay, he didn't really speak for the nominee. But statements like "A Supreme Court Justice is not bound by precedent if he considers it wrong," while by definition correct (otherwise, for instance, Roe vs. Wade would never have been granted cert), is nonetheless fanning the political flames in this contest. This is not really in anybody's best interest. Captain's Quarters has more.



Captain's Quarters has more on requests for confidential documents. Exactly how many of Ginsberg's confidential documents did they request?



A Legal Affairs Debate Club on legitimate questions to ask. (HT: Instapundit)



Powerline has more on precedents set by the last set of hearings.



Volokh Conspiracy debunks a lower federal judge disputing Robert's Appeals decisions on Hedgepeth. They also cite an Amusing coincidence.



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The Elephant in the Room: Notice how there's nothing on the causes of the violence in the article. Two words twice. Illegal Drugs. Illegal aliens. Both go away if we actually control our border. Being a civil libertarian, I think there would be less damage done if the drugs were legal than with the greatest degree of practical law enforcement, but if we're going to control this, let's control it.



The Immigration Blog has more on costs of illegal immigration, and advances fines on employers as the best way to solve the problem for the 500 millionth time. Question: If all Republicans are tools of corporate interests, why are Republicans the ones advocating this? Question: If (mostly) Republican rank and file and centrist voters are overwhelmingly advocating this, why the heck aren't the Republican leaders doing it? The first question is rhetorical, but the obvious answer to the second is that Republican politicians are afraid it will create single issue voters out of our largest minority. Why aren't the Democrats going after the issue and all the centrist voters? Because they're giving the Republicans rope to hang themselves, and they need hispanics and illegal hispanics to stay competitive. Ladies and gentlemen, I married into a hispanic family that's been here since 1916, and if you pin them down, they are opposed to illegal immigration also, and they're still registered Democrats. Keep it focused on the illegal aspect and disassociate yourself quickly from any racists remarks, and the issue is a winner. Pete Wilson figured this out ten years ago. Why can't anybody else?



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Iraq and War on Terror:



Gateway Pundit has a round up on unrest in Iran. HT: Instapundit



Iraq the Model has some great comments on the most recent draft of the Iraqi constitution. Since clerics are the only power structure that remain, independent of the Baathist party, from the old regime, I strongly suspect a quid pro quo for their support thus far.



Interesting bit from CQ. About time somebody called the Syrians on their support of the insurgency, but I wonder how much of it is "act tough because the americans are here"?



A Redleg's Perspective tells us of "The 1 weapon necessary for victory" (HT: Mudville Gazette)





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Michelle Malkin notes that Air America seems to be siphoning public funds out of New York City. Not that anyone's ever accused the left of having ethics or anything, but this is disgusting.



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HT to Austin Bay for some extra development off this Interesting report on the Chinese Economy



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Reason Online has a nice balanced post on the Violence Against Women Act. (HT: Dean's World)



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Arguing with Signposts has an article about consumer slowdown ahead. I've been saying, "When it hits, hold on to your hats!" for some time now. The average consumer is overleveraged, including with mortgage debt. When home values are no longer there to rescue the economy, watch out! This is one reason why I've been critical of recent raises to the overnight funds rate.



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Nailed! Why Hillary Will Never be President





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