President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that he would be nominating federal judge Sonia Sotomayor to fill Justice David Souter’s open seat on the Supreme Court. Just about every news source – the Associated Press, the New York Times, the Washington Post, to name just a few – will tell you that, if confirmed by the Senate, Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic judge to sit on the highest court in the land.
While it is certainly exciting for someone of her singular upbringing to be even nominated, it does us little good to throw around superlatives. After all, that is not what being judicious is all about. There is even an argument to be made (as other publications such as the Wall Street Journal have vocalized) that Benjamin Cardozo, who served on the Court from 1932-1938, may have descended from Portuguese Jews and would technically count as the first Supreme Court justice of Hispanic descent. Fair enough.
But as a practical matter, Sotomayor’s ethnicity will not affect her confirmation. Assume it will even bear strongly on how she will cast decisions and pen opinions, as she has famously said it should. Such considerations are, politically speaking, largely irrelevant to the question of her confirmation.
As soon as Minnesota Senator elect Al Franken is seated – and he will be seated – the Democratic Party will control a supermajority in the Senate. That is a voting block powerful enough to invoke cloture to break any Republican filibuster, while having plenty left over for the simple majority required to vote her in. Dems also control the Senate Judiciary Committee, which conducts the confirmation hearings, twelve to seven. It would be more or less fruitless to speculate about scenarios where this voting block is not completely behind Barack Obama and his nomination. Barring some shocking revelation or similar game-changer, the likelihood of Sotomayor not being confirmed is negligible.
So then what is so important about her ethnicity? Perhaps it is important to people because they want to call attention to something that makes them happy, excited or proud. Fair enough.
But to ascribe anything more than symbolic or nostalgic importance to her ethnicity, once we have ruled out its relevance to the political realities of her confirmation, comes dangerously close to judging her based on her heritage. And any judge, liberal or conservative, will tell you the importance of trying not to do that.
[AP, NY Times, Washington Post, WSJ, CNN, State Department, US Senate]
Jeff Dubbinis a TheSequitur.com senior editor.
I’m still trying to figure out whether this story is funny or sad.
WTOV of Steubenville, Ohio, reports that a clown was arrested for drunken driving while at an event where she was meant to entertain children. Police say the clown, Patricia Ingalls, left the scene of an accident prior to attending the event, where children later witnessed her being led away in handcuffs.
She feels bad about the incident. “[The children] were all hanging on me and saying, 'Don't take the clown,'" WTOV reports Ingalls as saying.
So, funny or sad? I’ll break it down and let you decide.
The sad parts:
There’s nothing funny about drunken driving or leaving the scene of an accident.
What should have been a joyous occasion for the children at this event turned into a possibly traumatizing episode of their lives, and they will never be able to look at clowns the same.
It is likely that Ms. Ingalls will have trouble finding gainful employment in the near future. That is, if you can call being a clown gainful employment in the first place.
The funny parts:
There’s a drunk clown – that by itself is worth a laugh.
In addition, the idea of a clown getting wasted before performing at a children’s party might be hilarious in the next Judd Apatow movie (prediction: either Seth Rogen or Vince Vaughn would play the clown).
While I feel bad that children had to see this, the terrified, helpless looks on their faces would be hilarious to the cold-hearted, cynical observer (or Internet blogger).
After this careful analysis, it looks like a draw: this story is equal parts sad and funny, leaning to one side or the other depending on your disposition. (In my case, that means it’s leaning a little toward “hilarious.”) [WTOV] Branden Hart, TheSequitur.com's managing editor, works as an editor in San Antonio.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney has been appearing in interviews to convince America that so-called enhanced interrogation techniques like waterboarding have kept us safe. In other words, to prove that torture works. But his “proof” amounts to nothing more than asserting: we did it, and nothing happened, so therefore it worked.
Everybody knows that just because two things happened together does not mean one caused the other. Yes, the United States tortured alleged terrorists in the past seven and a half years. And yes, America was not attacked for seven and a half years. But America has also had the TV show "24" playing for the last seven and a half years – maybe that’s the reason!
And it is not even true that Americans have not been attacked. American soldiers in Iraq have certainly not felt the bounty of safety acclaimed by Cheney. According to the Department of Defense, Operation Iraqi Freedom has resulted in 4,287 U.S. military casualties (as of May 11, 2009). Why didn’t torture protect them?
And as soon as you consider that America might not have been attacked even without torturing, you realize that Cheney’s repeated assertions contain one final fallacy. It’s never been enough just to avoid catastrophic attacks, which he is so thrilled about. Compare a world in which America does not get attacked but many nations despise it to a world in which America does not get attacked but all nations love and respect it. It is not enough to say, “We were safe for this limited period of time.” We can always be safer.
One way we can start: not surrendering our powers of logic when someone assaults us with faulty reasoning.
[CBS News, Department of Defense]
Jeff Dubbinis a TheSequitur.com senior editor.
No, that isn’t the title for the screenplay of my as-yet-to-be-written movie about an entertainment mogul solving mysteries with Colonel Sanders (although, I have the first draft done and it is AWESOME. Note to Oprah: you’re going to be a ninja in this movie, so keep that weight down).
For the next 24 hours, people went nuts over that chicken.On Tuesday, Oprah announced that people could visit her Web site, and for the next 24 hours, would be able to download a coupon for Kentucky Fried Chicken’s newest menu item, grilled chicken.
For the next 24 hours, people went nuts over that chicken.
CNN reports that the frenzy resulted in long lines at KFC, angry consumers blogging about being unable to download the coupon, and resulted in the below quote from a woman who couldn’t get her free chicken:
"I'm a big girl," Shannon Edwards told CNN affiliate WBAL-TV in Baltimore, Maryland, on Thursday after she was turned away from a KFC. "I like to eat. So I'm kind of disappointed I have to go to McDonald's now."
Poor Shannon, exiled to the land of chicken nuggets when she couldn’t get her grilled chicken. Unfortunately, such is Oprah’s power. And that power should be feared by all. Unless, of course, her next publicity campaign is called “Everyone give Branden Hart all your money.”
Then, I can assure you, there would be nothing to fear at all. [CNN]Branden Hart, TheSequitur.com's managing editor, works as an editor in San Antonio.
Financial backers have raised over $100 million for the George W. Bush presidential library, Time reports, reaching that amount faster than many of his predecessors.
The George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation is chaired by former Bush Commerce Secretary and Texas oilman Donald L. Evans, and members include many of Bush’s “oldest and biggest financial backers,” according to the report.
The library would house Bush’s official papers. No word yet on whether his personal journal will be included, but such a document would certainly offer a unique view into the daily life of one of the most unpopular presidents of all time.
Excerpted below, for the first time ever, are selections from some of the most important days in Bush’s presidency, as recorded in his personal journal.
Tuesday, November 7, 2000
This may be the most exciting day of my life. The anticipation is too much to bear. Laura told me to calm down, but I can’t! I guess she doesn’t get as excited as me about Taco Dinner Tuesday!
Monday, September 10, 2001
Tomorrow is going to be terrible. I have to go read a book to a bunch of kids. Laura says it’s important cause kids need to read and stuff. Man, I’m bummed. I can’t even get excited about Taco Dinner Tuesday.
Tuesday, September 11, 2001 – 6:00 a.m. EST
It’s Taco Dinner Tuesday!
Tuesday, September 11, 2001 – 10:50 a.m. EST
Laura says I’m going to be too busy tonight for tacos. Why do the terrorists hate Taco Dinner Tuesday?
Thursday, March 20, 2003
Invaded Iraq today. Well, not me, a bunch of other guys. But Uncle Dick says they’ll do what I say. When I told him I’d rather have them come to Crawford and help me clear some brush, he told me he made a mistake, and they actually only do what he says. This being President thing is confusing sometimes.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Met with Pooty-Poot today. Russians talk funny and smell like Smirnoff.
Friday, September 2, 2005
Went to New Orleans today. Laura tried to tell me not to bring my beads, but I told her you have to take beads to New Orleans. But when I got there, it was all wet and there were people crying everywhere and I didn’t see one naked chick the entire time. Mardi Gras sucks.
Wednesday, November 8, 2006
I’m sad. Rummy Rumsfeld resigned today. Uncle Dick says it’s because he’s a yellow-belly coward who can’t do what he’s told. I don’t care why. I always liked it when Rummy came over. He always brought treats for both me AND Barney.
I think Barney’s sad too. Maybe we’ll go poop in Uncle Dick’s office together.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
WOOHOO! Stocks are through the roof! For the first time, the Dow closed over 14,000, which is really awesome, according to Ol’ Henry [Paulson]. I call him Ol’ Henry because he looks old and reminds me of Skeletor. Remember Skeletor, from He-Man? I bet Skeletor would have made a good Secretary of something. Probably Secretary of Being Awesome and Hating He-Man. She-Ra was hot.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Ol’ Henry’s really upset today. He’s muttering something about how the stock market has tanked and we’re all screwed. I just imagine he’s wearing a purple cape and talking about Castle Grayskull. I laugh and laugh and laugh.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Laura says we have to go back to Texas tomorrow. She says that it’s probably best this way, because people don’t really like me right now. It’s okay, I tell her, because I’ve still got all my friends: Uncle Dick, Ol’ Henry, and Barney. But Laura says that Uncle Dick and Ol’ Henry aren’t really my friends – they just used me to leverage their careers to gain positions of power that would allow them to subtly manipulate me and further their own political agendas. I don’t know what any of that means. All I know is I’m so sad right now, I don’t know if anything could ever make me happy again.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
WOOHOO! It’s Taco Dinner Tuesday! [Time]Branden Hart, TheSequitur.com's managing editor, works as an editor in San Antonio.
At 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Republican Senator Arlen Specter announced he would be changing his party affiliation to Democratic, the Washington Post reports. Assuming Al Franken is seated as Minnesota’s senator (he has won every recount and court hearing so far), this switcheroo would give the Democrats a 60-member filibuster-proof caucus.
The moderate conservative’s positions on any specific issues are not likely to change, but the power dynamics in the Senate surely will. Now, should a Republican minority member delay a vote on legislation by exercising a filibuster, any sixty voters could institute “cloture” – a process of immediately ending debate and bringing about a vote – to make sure no legislation on the Democratic agenda is blocked. So even if Specter does not vote with the Democrats on all substantive questions, he will still be expected by party leadership to follow them on procedural matters like cloture.
Specter’s seat will be challenged in 2010 by former congressman and Republican Pat Toomey, the Associated Press reports. They last clashed during the 2004 Republican Senate primary, which Toomey nearly won. That was not the only hint that Pennsylvania politics might treat Specter more favorably as a Democrat; there are 4.4 million registered Dems in the state over only 3.2 million GOP-ers, according to the report.
How is Specter benefited by this drastic move? Where he used to be ranking minority member on the judiciary committee, he will only be the second most senior majority member (second to committee chairman Patrick Leahy), which actually carries fewer rights. His support might be seen as more given than precious, the way it was so sought-after when the Democrats needed his support to pass the partisan stimulus plan.
But he will also belong to a party where he feels more ideologically at home, representing a state more aligned with his newer party as well. And for a lifelong statesman like Specter, that may be the most important benefit of all. (In addition to the favor, funding, and endorsement power of the nation’s most popular and ruling political party.)
[Washington Post reports, Bloomberg, AP]
Jeff Dubbinis a TheSequitur.com senior editor.
Correction: Apr. 29, 2009: Due to an editing error, we incorrectly reported in this article that there are 4.4 million registered Democrats in the city of Pennsylvania, rather than the state of Pennsylvania. We regret the error.
After seeing what looked like a normal Boeing 747 flying at low altitudes, mirrored by two F-16 fighter jets (see video below), residents of New York and New Jersey understandably panicked, the New York Times reports.
Calls flooded emergency hotlines. People who saw or heard about the incident began evacuating office buildings in droves. And in general, a sense of confusion set in as people watched what seemed to be a commercial airliner being pursued by Air Force jets – a hauntingly familiar situation for those who lived through the attacks of 9/11.
Calls flooded emergency hotlines.In reality, the jet was the backup plane for Air Force One, and the exercise is being explained by officials as a photo-op. “The mission on Monday, officials said, was set up to create an iconic shot of Air Force One, similar to one that was taken in recent years over the Grand Canyon,” according to the Times.
Late in the day, Louis E. Caldera, director of the White House Military Office, issued the following statement:
“Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision. While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it’s clear that the mission created confusion and disruption. I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused.”
People...began evacuating office buildings in droves.New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg claims not to have known about the exercise beforehand, though an F.A.A. spokesman claims that all appropriate parties were notified.
Regardless of who was notified, what was Caldera thinking when he approved this photo-op? What reasonable person would think that the unannounced flight of a Boeing 747 followed by two fighter jets in New York City would cause anything BUT panic?
This exercise was ill-advised at best, and all for a photo-op? I’m amazed that anyone, much less senior officials, thought this would be a good, much less acceptable, idea.
Then again, I’m also amazed that it still surprises me when government officials do something so mind-numbingly insensitive. [New York Times]
Branden Hart, TheSequitur.com's managing editor, works as an editor in San Antonio.
President Obama has met with the leaders of credit card companies, many of them banks, to rein in arguably abusive practices and promote generally lower rates. This measure would mean relief for consumers in an era where debt is accumulating, but difficulty for banks, potentially cutting “heavily into profits at a financially difficult time,” the New York Times reports.
And since most of these financial institutions accepted federal bailout dollars, that presents the government with a moderate conflict of interest: as a shareholder in so many of these companies, the government (and by extension, the American people) actually stands to lose should these restrictions chafe too roughly. Only time will tell if these changes cut bank profits less than they cut slack to strapped taxpayers.
But is this really a time for Americans to be using credit cards more?
These measures… address the problem of credit companies profiting off of predatory practices Yes, credit cards offer consumers convenience, but that is more of a sales pitch than an existence-justifying reason. At its core, credit is a financial instrument meant to give people or companies money they do not have. That can be extremely useful when a paycheck only comes at the end of the month or a consumer has a particularly big but important purchase in mind. But at the same time, whatever happened to the old-fashioned virtue of saving money?
The measures the Obama administration and Congress are pushing are a confident step in the right direction. For one thing, they require “No more fine print, no more confusing terms and conditions” in credit card contracts, Obama said, shown in the video below. And they attack patently unfair practices, such as lowering one’s credit limit overnight to a level below the current amount charged to the card, and then piling on the resulting overage fees. They address the problem of credit companies profiting off of predatory practices, which is a repugnant way to drive profits.
But what about…the one where Americans sometimes try to live outside their means? But what about another problem, the one where Americans sometimes try to live outside their means? Will there ever be governmental regulations or legislation that addresses that? Forcing Americans to save more responsibly will not likely be the administration’s next maneuver – we need consumer spending up, after all, and favorable consumer credit rules will certainly help contribute. We also need individual liberty, to make spending and saving decisions for ourselves, as a matter of national pride and identity.
We need something like a more educated consumer, and telling banks to play nice isn't going to get us there.
[New York Times]
Jeff Dubbinis a TheSequitur.com senior editor.
A Detroit woman’s life was saved by her bra Tuesday morning, Reuters reports. [T]he bullet hit the underwire of her bra...The woman witnessed an alleged break-in at a neighbor’s house, and a police spokesman said that when she was spotted, someone fired a shot at her.
Fortunately, according to Reuters, the bullet hit the underwire of her bra, and while she sustained injuries, they were not fatal.
Bra-burning feminists – take heed! Those over-the-shoulder boulder holders may save your life. Plus, regular support is a great way to avoid pancake boobs, and let’s face it – nobody likes pancake boobs. [Reuters]Branden Hart, TheSequitur.com's managing editor, works as an editor in San Antonio.
According to ABCNews.com, the Food and Drug Administration announced today that it will not appeal a federal judge's order that overturned restrictions on dispensing an emergency contraceptive drug, which were put in place by the Bush administration. The ruling was overturned because the judge believed that it was originally passed under political, rather than scientific, pretenses.
This ruling is a tremendous step in the right direction when it comes to the issue of teenage pregnancy. The decision allows the "morning after pill," which goes under the trade name of Plan B, to be dispensed over-the-counter to 17-year-olds. Some critics believe that increased availability of Plan B will encourage promiscuity and increase incidences of sexually transmitted disease among teenagers. Supporters of the drug believe its availability is an important part of proper family planning and should be used in case of accidents, rather than for casual use as a contraceptive.
This ruling is a tremendous step in the right direction when it comes to the issue of teenage pregnancy. Additionally, taking Plan B – which is essentially a progesterone nuclear bomb – is not a pleasant experience and can hardly be considered an alternative to traditional contraceptives, so the promiscuity concern is moot. It is about time this country take a more progressive approach to its problems like teen pregnancy. Perhaps this is one of the first steps down that path. [ABCNews, AP, WSJ]
Adam Dubbin, TheSequitur.com's assistant managing editor, is a second year doctoral student in audiology at the University of South Florida.
Morning Coffee is a collection of top-fold news, oddities, observations and wisecracks, peppered with financial advice, movie reviews and more, gathered by TheSequitur.com contributors and the editors of the magazine's Nation, World, Culture and Progress sections.
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