In a breach of protocol, Associate Justice Sam Alito was filmed during the State of the Union address last night shaking his head and mouthing “not true” in response to the President’s criticism of the Citizens United ruling on corporate campaign finance limits. Ironically, Rep. Joe Wilson promised to restrain himself during this speech and not scream “you lie” again during the President’s speech. For a justice, this breach (shown below) is no less remarkable. It is, in a word, injudicious.
Category: Congress
In a decision that could have a dramatic effect on the upcoming elections, the Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 in favor of a group of conservative filmmakers in the “Hillary: The Movie” Case. The result of the decision could increase spending for corporations, unions, and nonprofits in the election. I previously discussed the case and the likelihood of this 5-4 ruling. I discussed the case on this segment of Countdown. Other commentators like Glenn Greenwald have also weighed in on the case with similar views, here.
Leading Democrats are hinting at the possibility of changing the rules in light of the victory of Scott Brown in Massachusetts — possibly doing away with the long-protected right to filibuster. Rep. Barney Frank has called for the Senate to change its rules while Vice President Joe Biden has decried the use of the rule by Republicans.
Continue reading “Dems Debate Changing Rules After Loss in Massachusetts”
ABC has a truly bizarre and disturbing story. Brian Ross reports that a military contractor has encoded hidden New Testament Bible passages on high-powered rifle sites. The contractor is Trijicon, which apparently confirmed the practice.
Continue reading “Sighting The Bible: Military Contractor Found Adding Biblical Citations to Weapons”
There is an interesting controversy brewing over the current version of the health care bill in which Amish families are exempted from the mandatory coverage. Other groups may also receive exemptions.
Continue reading “Congress Exempts Amish From Health Care Bill”
Mark McGwire has come clean about playing dirty with steroids. In the statement below, he admits to using steroids during the season when he broke the home run record in 1998.
President Obama has renominated Indiana Law Professor Dawn Johnsen to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. She is opposed by Republicans over her views on subjects like abortion. Much of the criticism over Johnson focuses on a single footnote in a brief — a further example of how the confirmation process works to winnow out anyone how has ever uttered an interesting or provocative thought.
Continue reading “Footnote Filibuster? Obama Re-Nominates Johnsen for OLC”
Retired Lt. General Tom McInerney appeared on Fox News to offer his own proposal for making air travel safer: strip search all Muslim men between 18 and 28. That’s right, strip search every Muslim male at the airport.
Continue reading “Fox Expert: Strip Search All Muslim Men Between The Ages of 18-28”
The Obama Administration’s nominee to head the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is facing some serious questions after the release of a letter showing that he had intentionally or inadvertently misled Congress over his violation of privacy laws while at the FBI. While the Democrats are continuing to support Erroll Southers, civil libertarians have great misgivings over the controversy.
Continue reading “Nomination Goes Southers: TSA Nominee Caught in False Statement to Congress”
Happy New Year to all of our blogging family. This has been a remarkable year for the blog. We are now solidly in the top ten legal blogs, according to the AVVO rankings and we have over doubled our number of visits from last year. The success is almost entirely due to our regulars who bring insight, humor, and passion to legal and policies issues every day. I cannot thank you enough.
Continue reading “HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!”
Happy New Year’s Eve to all of our blog family.
The final day is here in the galactic struggle for blog dominance. This afternoon, voting will end and, while the vote count has now been hidden by the ABA, we cannot give up our righteous battle.
Continue reading “VOTE NOW: HOURS TO GO TO THE CLOSING OF THE ABA POLLS!”
In August, President Obama proclaimed that he would not tolerate pork in the defense budget by declaring “If a project doesn’t support our troops, we will not fund it.” He is being accused again of a substantial gap between his rhetoric and the reality of his politics. He just signed the 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill with an estimated $4.2 billion in pork contained in 1,720 earmarks.
Continue reading “Fighting For Pork: Obama Breaks Promise on Wasteful Spending in Defense Bill”
We are now four days short of the finish line in the ABA top blog competition. While the vote count has now been hidden by the ABA, we must learn to fight blindfolded and trust our senses, Little Grasshoppers.
Continue reading “FLOG THE BLOG: FOUR DAYS LEFT FOR BLOG IMMORTALITY”
Best wishes to everyone celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah. To paraphrase Tiny Tim, “And God bless us, everyone . . . even Legal Satyricon.” Continue reading “MERRY CHRISTMAS”