Why Durbin Is a Dick

Many good things come out of Illinois. Illinois produces grain, electronics, earth movers, and cars. We have, to our dishonor and shame, also produced Senator Richard Durbin. Durbin is a great defender of the little guy, unless that little guy is in the womb. This disregard for the sanctity of human life is made even worse by the fact that Senator Durbin purports to be a Catholic.
The support that Durbin offers the abortion "rights" lobby is unwavering, constant, and total. It means that he must stonewall the confirmation of any "extremist" judicial nominees. What makes a judicial nominee an extremist? Ironically, Catholicism seems to rate high on this ranking- - just look at the way he went after Miguel Estrada. Why, he might actually believe the religion he adheres to, unlike Senator Durbin.
Whether the Senate calls cloture or changes rules, or shuts down the government for a few days- - it indicates the importance of a fair judicial nomination process. Unless one of these people does something like advocating the end of search and seizure rules, or the abrogation of free speech, they deserve consideration. And Senator Durbin should be made Citizen Durbin in 2007.

Couldn't Say It Better Myself

This was a letter to the editor of the Peoria (IL) Journal Star by Norman Ashwood.

Please tell me again why Miguel Estrada was not qualified to be a federal judge. Was it his lack of education? His radical views? Or was it just because Democrats were afraid to have a conservative Hispanic succeed? None of these? Please tell me the answer.
It sure appears that Democrats don't like minorities that are Republicans. It's almost like they need to be made an example of. That way, we can keep them down on the plantation.
I would appreciate a response from Illinois Senator Dick Durbin as to why Miguel Estrada was not qualified. He really helped get this guy's scalp, and I think he should share his joy with all his constituents.

Law as an Excuse II

Here's another quote, this one being by a Dr. Freeman in the Fortnightly Review of September of 1871.

We have reached the state which our fathers called unlaw, not the state where law is silent, but the state when law is turned about and become its own opposite, the state when the institutions which were meant to declare right, and truth, and freedom, had been turned into engines of wrong, and falsehood,and bondage.

The Dream of Scipio

Cicero, in his De Res Publica, justifies the work of so many to create the Roman Empire through a story. The story is of how the General Scipio (I want to say Africanus) had a dream where he was above the world, and could hear the music of the planets and stars. He saw how, in the grand scheme of things, the Romans had achieved very little. All the same, he was aware that Rome, for all her children had sacrificed to build her, was dear to the gods.
So it is important to remember that even if we feel discouraged, we must continue to try to , as Aristotle urges, strain every nerve to live according to what's best in us.

Just Give Me a Reason, Baby

Why do we do the things we do? Obviously, we have reasons of the heart, reasons of the pocketbook, and reason of the mind. The big Reason. Former Clinton slimeball Robert Reich wrote a book about how reason was on the side of the Demogogues, I mean Democrats. He calls his enemies Radcons, apparently short for radical conservatives. I don't know how he gets dressed in the morning if he doesn't know that the words "radical" and "conservative" are antonyms. Saying someone is a radical conservative is like calling someone a brilliant idiot. Radcons believe all kinds of horrible things. Oppose abortion? If you do you're not using reason. What kind of reason leads one to the conclusion that a twenty week fetus, having all the brain and nerve cells it will ever, in its whole lifetime possess, deserves no legal protection? It must be George Carlin reason: "Which do you want to F__k, a woman or a fetus?" It is, to be sure, reason generated by the testes. Why is empathy unreasonable?

Law as an Excuse

Reading today about William the Conquerer, I came upon a quote from a contemporary who remarked,

As men spake more of right law, so men did more unlaw.

Indeed, this is how law functions today. People look for creative excuses for the "right" to things which properly speaking, aren't rights at all. Real rights come from our relationships with others. I defend the people with whom I live. My children have a right to be housed and fed, not because of some abstraction, but because they are my children. My parents have the right to live comfortably in old age because I owe it to them.

This is worlds away from the "rights" language of today. I have a right to abort my baby. I have a right to live as a libertine. What relationship gives one such a right? These aren't rights at all- - they are statements of legal permission.

Terri Schiavo

This is my first experience in blogging, so (as they say), pardon the dust. Most of the figurative dust comes from the media. They deny they have an agenda, but they offer only one side of the Schiavo tragedy. They act as though the future of the euthanasia movement is more important than the right of Terri Schiavo to live her sad life with whatever love her real family (and I'm not talking about her inbred, selfish husband) can give her. When they made the movie Soylent Green in the early 70's, euthanasia was a room with pretty movies and a soothing death featuring calming music. Euthanasia today is apparently starvation and a morphine drip. God forbid this happen again.