Dems Win one and Lose One

Obamacare lives, at least for now. Chief Justice John Roberts was the tie-breaker in giving the Obama administration a few breaths of life for his biggest accomplishment and highest tax increase on the middle class in history. He should be so proud. But Roberts said the law was constitutional because it was a tax giving the GOP a lifeline if they can oust The One in November and take back both sides of Congress.

I won't deny that this is a win for Democrats but one wishes they would act like professionals who've been there before not like what we've come to expect they are. I can't fault the Chief Justice either, he voted what he thought was constitutional and that's what we expect from a judge (damn, I hope that's the case). He played both sides but he did it pretty damn brilliantly. Here's to hoping he wasn't trying to cement a legacy.

In other news, for the first time, an Attorney general and sitting member of a presidential cabinet was held in contempt by the full House...twice. Plastic Face Pelosi acted roughly how she did when she held the gavel, like a little baby who cries when she doesn't get what she wants. She's an utter embarrassment to the US.

Here's the story on the second vote that was to hold Holder in contempt in a civil manner:

The vote was 255 to 67. Seventeen Democrats joined the majority of Republicans in voting yes. GOP Rep. Dan Lipinski voted not present, and 65 Democrats left the floor before the vote.

Congratulations Dems (even though you sure didn't get everything you wanted), this now sets up a true battle in November and one in which Obama's already way behind when it comes to the only issue that matters, the economy.

So even though the libs are gloating, the GOP wasn't the real loser, CNN was.

Did Obamacare Die Today?

Probably not but the individual mandate--a crucial part of the bill--sure sounds like it did:



Hat tip: AP @ Hot Air

Justice Kennedy is the key vote as Roberts, Alito, Scalia and Thomas will probably strike it down.

This is the single-most important issue SCOTUS will hear in the last 25-years and one that will reverberate for decades. The only thing that could surpass this would be re-hearing Roe v. Wade.

I'm no lawyer but when one of the most liberal legal media members today says it was a bad day for Obamacare, I tend to listen.

Sotomayor, Racial Demagogues Take a Hit From SCOTUS

Merit-based promotions were proven to be the correct method of promoting people. You know, back in the day where hard work and education were actually rewarded by employers before the government stepped in and unconstitutionally instituted racial quotas.

In our brave, new post-partisan world where Obama was elected, race isn't supposed to matter anymore and 5 out of 9 justices said so today:

The Supreme Court's reversal Monday of a discrimination ruling involving a group of white Connecticut firefighters has provided critics of high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor with some fresh ammunition.

Republican senators and conservative groups contend that the justices' 5-4 ruling on Ricci vs. DeStefano represents a rebuke of Sotomayor's handling of the case. She was a member of a three-judge panel on the federal appeals court in New York that heard the action and sided against the white firefighters.

"This case will only raise more questions in the minds of the American people concerning Judge Sotomayor's commitment to treat each individual fairly and not as a member of a group," said Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sotomayor is a fan of the justice is not blind camp and was rebuked by the right-thinking justices. Perhaps we'll finally put an end to the quotas debate once and for all.

Now Obama Thinks He's Above Supreme Court

Chutzpah for sure from The One. He may well be smacked down by the high court, however:

The Obama Administration argued Monday that no court, including the Supreme Court, has the authority to hear a challenge by Indiana benefit plans to the role the U.S. Treasury played in the Chrysler rescue, including the use of “bailout” (TARP) funds. The Indiana debt holders, U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan wrote, simply have no right to raise that issue, thus putting it out of the reach of the courts.

...All of the legal filings expected in the Chrysler case are now before Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as Circuit Justice, and thus she or the full Court could now act on the three applications to postpone the sale of most of the auto company’s assets to a new company representing a combination with Fiat, the Italian auto company.

Ginsburg or the full Court probably will act by mid-afternoon, since there is a 4 p.m. deadline set by the Second Circuit Court. After that, the plan can go forward, unless the Supreme Court decides otherwise. A federal bankruptcy judge and the Second Circuit have approved the deal. The Circuit Court is expected to issue one or more opinions Monday explaining its decision. The Supreme Court, however, does not have to wait for that in order to act.

I wish it was Alito instead of Ginsburg but she got the draw.

This is a power play of historical proportions and one that will test the checks and balances intended by the framers of the Constitution. A check on Obama here may well give investors some confidence that their investment will be somewhat protected but a decision to allow Obama to go forward would have the opposite effect.

The Supreme Court has the chance to put a stop on our march to socialism and Obama doesn't want anyone standing in his way, not even SCOTUS. Let's wait and see if Ginsburg has the guts to challenge him.

Tigerhawk has more.

Thursday Morning News and Notes

Hey, what's up?

Here's the news in a flash:

-The Soto-Mayor selection is generating some serious partisanship. Gingrich leads the way.

-Joe Sestak gives Arlen Specter the finger. Spend that money, Arlen.

-Keeping an eye on ACORN.

-It's on: Intel agencies battle.

-Today's must read: The Liars Club.

It's On: Souter to Retire

Associate Justice David Souter is retiring from the Supreme Court:

President Obama's to-do list just got a bit longer. Supreme Court justice David Souter has told the White House he wants to retire.

The former New Hampshire Attorney General was appointed to the court in 1990 by the first President Bush.

"He recognizes the proper role of judges in upholding the democratic choices of the people through their elected representatives with constitutional constraints," President George H.W. Bush said on July 23, 1990.

He was appointed by a Republican, but David Souter was a moderate and sided with more liberal justices on a number of cases, including the "Bush vs Gore" election recount dispute in 2000.

He was a reliable liberal vote in spite of the fact that George H.W. Bush nominated him when he had the opportunity to appoint another Scalia-type.

So now Obama has the chance to remake the court and with Justices Ginsburg and Stevens probably ready to retire soon, his choices will indeed shape the direction of the court for the foreseeable future. While conservative stalwarts Roberts, Scalia, Thomas and Alito will be there (hopefully) for years, it may well come down to replacing the liberals unless Obama can win another term than all bets are off.

Who will Obama pick?

Possible nominees who have been mentioned as being on a theoretical short list include Elena Kagan, the current solicitor general who represents the government before the Supreme Court; Sonia Sotomayor, a Hispanic judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; and Diane Wood, a federal judge in Chicago who taught at the University of Chicago at the same time future President Barack Obama was teaching constitutional law there.

I'm guessing they would all be Ginsburg clones.

The Voting Rights Act 45-Years Later

Yes, as has been pointed out in myriad studies and has been used by liberals for decades, we did have a serious race issue in the southern US in the early 1960's. Yes, we did need legislation to ensure that African-Americans were allowed to vote without interference and no, it was not passed because of men like Al Gore. Sr, Robert Byrd and other Dixiecrats but in spite of them. If not for the GOP, LBJ's legislation would have gone down to ignominious defeat.

That said, should the South continue to pay for the sins of the past?

The Southern states (Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas, as well as Alaska and Arizona) remain fully under the thumb of the federal government, and must get permission before making any change--no matter how minor--in voting procedures. Complying with the federal law cost those states and a handful of counties and municipalities across the country $1 billion in the past decade, one court filing estimates.

Today's arguments in the Supreme Court were incredibly compelling, and they got straight at this question, as raised by Chief Justice Roberts, to a lawyer defending the Act:

"Is it your position today that Southerners,” Roberts asked, “are more likely to discriminate than Northerners?"

The short answer to Chief Justice Robert's query is no.

Anyone who travels as extensively as I can tell you that the view of the South held by anyone from the North is stunted and remains in a pre-1965 mindset. People in the Northeast--especially liberals--believe that Bull Connor is still turning hoses on helpless blacks while southern governors are giving JFK the finger. They don't only think that white southerners are racist, they know they are.

To them I say, look around you. Then take a trip to Atlanta, Houston, Charlotte, Mobile, Knoxville or Memphis and tell me they are more racist than Boston, Newark, Philly, New York, Washington, DC or Baltimore. You can't because it's not true.

In the South, whites and blacks live together in the same communities and their kids attend the same schools. They respect each other for the most part and consider themselves Georgians, Alabamans, Texans or Tennesseans. You can't say that about us up here on the eastern seaboard.

In the aforementioned northern cities, we have a segregation that is nearly as insidious as that which was imposed in the South in the forties and fifties. It's a self-imposed segregation whereby blacks live in run-down cities like Newark, NJ or Camden, NJ and whites live in Chatham, NJ or Villanova, PA. These are a completely different culture and one in which the races mix only when absolutely required. Go to Atlanta and you'll see blacks and whites in equal numbers at a restaurant but where do you see the same thing up north?

Northern liberals have deluded themselves into thinking they are better than their southern brethren but they are the leading practitioners of this neo-racism. They flock to enclaves of whiteness like SoHo and Society Hill where you see no blacks living at all. They know exactly what neighborhoods not to go into because they are "dangerous" (read: black). They talk of equal rights but don't live it. They scoff at southerners who say "sir" and "maam" and label them rednecks but tend to have infinitely more racist tendencies.

I agree with Obama and his media sycophants, let's have a frank discussion on race. It will be shut down once those who consider themselves non-racists are forced to see the facts as they truly are.

Thursday Evening News and Notes

Notes from around the web:

Sarah Palin: "Bored, anonymous, pathetic bloggers who lie annoy me." Paging Andrew Sullivan.

Awesome! US soldier dresses down Iraqi police. Strong content warning as the guy is a soldier and he's addressing them like a soldier. I love when he calls out the dude laughing:



Justice Ginsburg has pancreatic cancer. I'm hoping for a full and quick recovery.

Newsflash: Al Gore is a lying idiot.

Throw a few million from the stimulus at this new US Navy weapon.

With the way Rush, Hannity, the right-wing blogosphere and others have essentially stymied Obama on the porkulus package, it's no wonder that rotund Democrat senators that no one knows are pushing hard for the the return of the un-Fairness Doctrine.

Supreme Court to Hear 2nd Amendment Case

Glenn Reynolds has more here and here.

Previously comments on the subject here.