Chicago Gun Ban Defeated

The opinion is available here:

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-1521.pdf

While the ruling is good news, as usual with Supreme Court opinions, it's a tour de force of sophistry. Why does it take 214 pages to say that all Americans are protected by the Bill of Rights? Why are the rights of all Americans subject to the opinions of five people? When did I ever consent to a system of governance that subjects my liberty to a vote of five people? Why does the Supreme Court feel itself entitled to ramble in its rulings, its babblings creating law and authority, along the way, free to be cited by other sophist lawyers and judges who, though having at least seven years of college, find the plain meaning of documents opaque? Why cannot the Supreme Court tersely answer the question before it, and shut up?

What has happened to the rule of judicial restraint that judges claim to obey? How did we ever let this country become a place where judges can boundlessly opine, and their ruminations are given the force of law?

This ruling ought be read for its essence, only, and the remainder, the surplusage, dismissed as irrelevant obiter dictum.

Great Article on the Perils of Endless War

Simply, the wars are bad. We need to come home, now. We cannot sustain this level of spending, and we are destroying the purpose of the military by engaging in permanent wars and occupations. We still have troops in Germans and Korea, making WWII and the Korean War now 60 and 50 years old, respectively. We flatly cannot afford permanent occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The national debt is at 14 trillion dollars, and rising. The only way out of this may be to repudiate the debt, and doing that will set off a deep depression in this country.

From the Washington Post.

The Republicans Are Becoming Nuttier and Nuttier

It's becoming increasingly difficult to see this party as anything but the party of hate, the party of angry old White men.

Check out this latest bit of nuttery from Texas. The Texas Republicans actually want to recriminalize sodomy, you know, getting a blow job from your girlfriend, and they want to make gay marriage a felony.

Seriously.

This the the Texas GOP's new platform:

"We believe that the practice of homosexuality tears at the fabric of society, contributes to the breakdown of the family unit, and leads to the spread of dangerous, communicable diseases. Homosexual behavior is contrary to the fundamental, unchanging truths that have been ordained by God, recognized by our country’s founders, and shared by the majority of Texans. Homosexuality must not be presented as an acceptable “alternative” lifestyle in our public education and policy, nor should “family” be redefined to include homosexual “couples.” We are opposed to any granting of special legal entitlements, refuse to recognize, or grant special privileges including, but not limited to: marriage between persons of the same sex (regardless of state of origin), custody of children by homosexuals, homosexual partner insurance or retirement benefits. We oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values."

The article continues. Read on. There's more good batshit crazy Republican nuttery in there.