Elena Kagan Picked for High Court Justice

Elena Kagan has been nominated by President Obama this morning just after seven our time, for Justice of the Supreme Court to fill Stevens’ seat. The President praised Stevens and said his judicial experience would be hard to replace. It's the first time the Supreme Court would have three women on it. It took time but we'll finally have three lady Supremes. It is hoped that Kagan will be able to "reach out and sway Justice Kennedy" and bring him back to the liberal side. Elena Kagan is solicitor general and has always been on President Obama’s “short list” and we mentioned her at the time a month ago. I personally have wondered why it took the President a whole month to come up with her name since he obviously had been giving the matter a lot of preliminary thought. Kagan is rightward leaning in her positions on executive power and unlawful detention and torture. However it can be argued that she took these positions on government power because that was her job at the time. However Glen Beck points out that she wrote a paper on college defending socialists in New York in the early 1930’s and argued that they should spend less time attacking her fellow radicals but in unity should be taking down the establish. Kagan is Jewish, so that now the Supreme Court has no Protestants left on the bench. She is just fifty years old and at this time will be the youngest justice on the bench. Kagen is also very sympathetic on women’s and gay issues and wants to eliminate “Don’t ask –don’t tell” and some say that she herself is a lesbian because she introduced her brothers rather than her husband and family. But one and all agree that it would be disasterous for her to “come out” at this time – even if she is gay. It is hoped by many on the left that she will “mature” and “evolve” as she develops her own judicial philosophy, since she doesn’t have a paper record, and as such that she will move leftward much as Stevens and Sutor did.

It would seem that this is not your father’s justice. The fourth and fifth amendments of the constitution are in the process of being shredded. As you know from watching “Cops” the fifth amendment is a joke because if you lie to a cop they will just make it harder on you piling on more charges. It would seem that operationally that the right against self incrimination is non existent. Even though I personally would not lie to a cop I don’t see how it’s my job to help they get a conviction. Why should I make their job easier for them. Of course the fourth amendment is gone. They may say “can I search your car” but you know they’re going to search whether you agree or not. There is also the doctrine of “exigent circumstances” elucidated by Mark Fermin in the OJ case where for instance if a cop gets a phone call saying someone’s wife is being beaten, the cops have to be allowed enterence into the house on that roomer. And if you lock the door against them, they’re just going to bash down the door and come in. And the whole “public safety” exception to the Miranda rights had originally to do was if you came upon a shooter shooting down at people in a public square and you ask him “how many other shooters are there out there”. But Eric Holder got eight hours to grill Shazad before reading him his Meranda rights, and now Holder wants more time. I said on the last post that Miranda rights were something we always have. But functionally it appears that this is not the case now. You have no rights. The cops can bring out the rubber hoses and start pummeling you and they can read you your Miranda rights when they get good and ready and not a moment before. This appears to be today’s reality. The fourth and fifth amendments of the constitution are pretty much shredded. The right against self incrimination apparently is not in inherent right. You only have that right if a cop wants to extend it to you. That’s the brave new world in which we live today.

Ladies and Gentlemen, as your President I feel it important to come before the American people at this time to announce my four finalist candidates for Supreme Court Justice. So without further delay, from left to right I would like to announce Levi Laviator, Dick John, Latrell Spreewell, and Levi Johnson. I feel confident that whichever candidate I pick will get a healthy stream of judicial opinion going within the Court and will take dead aim at the problem and hit their target every time.

I watched some video on the Philippine election and also a rather lengthly expose on the Times Square terrorist. Of course the thing the media is bashing us over the head with now is that they have rediscovered this notion of "If we don't fight them over there, we will be fighting terrorists over here". There is zero evidence that there is going to be some new wave of violence in this country. All the people in the news have been rank amateurs. Even Sixty Minutes, bastion of the left, had the "news" that terrorism is headed here, last night. If the media repeats it enough, the people will come to firmly believe in it, whether it is true or not.

Then I watched three Al Yankivick videos, “Ring-tone”, and “Don’t Download this Song” and “White and Nerdy”, the best of the three. A man was found guilty of killing a stranger with a cross bow. I’d like to be in the news for a crime like that. It’s not that I’m too White and nerdy, I’m too Old and nerdy. I think like my generation and use different dialog. Besides I’m not all that nerdy anyhow, although I do exhibit thought processes that resemble a nerd sometimes. We had Ravioli for dinner. Can we sink lower than canned ravioli, a small green salad, phony garlic bread and fruit cocktail for desert? Yes we can. They switched to a cheaper brand of ravioli that isn’t nearly as good. If there was any question about whether to go out for coffee to wash it down, that answered it. I got a large coffee at the bakery.

Leo Le Port said he dealt with some web sites with the philosophy “Trust – but verify”. I suppose I would fall into that category. I haven’t talked about the economic crisis in Greece simply because I haven’t studied up enough on it. They say if it weren’t for the socialist governments Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Spain had (PIGS) that none of those nations would be having the problems they are having today. Now they are saying they've solved the problem.

Bob Bennet blamed a “toxic” political environment for his fall from grace and coming in third in a state caucus in Utah and won’t be on the ballot this year. What we see from the tea party crowd is a rigid millitency where even the slightest deviation from the party line will not be tolerated, and Bennet voted for the bail out and a few other “questionable” items. Bennet says that he does not regret his votes. The question is, "How will these extremist picks in the primaries affect the results in November elections?" It could be Democrats will ultimately get elections and in the end the tea party crowd will have the futility of their ways exposed.

In “the battle for Canadian oil” it was another confrontation between newsmen, environmentalists, and oil company executives who say the region of the “oil sands” in Alberta has suffered no permanent damage because they replant trees, “and as you can see they are nice and healthy”. Reporters were followed by executives for miles down the highway after they left. In breaking news right now - - - Animal abusers will have to register at a police public data base if a bill passes. I didn’t know that arsonists had to register. This whole idea of "being on some kind of black list" may be growing in popularity, and the list of crimes you commit to get on such a list will be broadened.