It's not particularly surprising that a fight between a former stripper and a millionaire's son is good copy. What is surprising is that this case is going to end up in a dozen casebooks and that Anna Nicole Smith will become the mother of probate law for many generations to come. That's not bad for a stripper. |
Life on the appeals court tends to move at a leisurely and comfortable pace. |
One of the most shocking disclosures after Katrina and Rita was how little prepared the local and state governments were, not only in handling the hurricanes but also their aftermath. You got the feeling that states like Louisiana had the same level of hurricane protection as Iowa, |
People will rue the day they allow presidents to view themselves above the law. |
perfectly medieval...there was never any evidence of espionage. |
Prosecutors haven't revealed everything they have, so it's hard to render judgment on them. |
Roberts could not be more conservative on most issues. |
Specter wants to hold hearings that will withstand the test of time, not [be] someone who wants to carry an ideological point to an extreme. He will be very receptive to deep, probing questions from Democratic colleagues. The hearings might get testy, but it would have been a bloodletting with a different chair. |
The fact is, the federal law is perfectly clear. At the heart of this operation was a federal crime. The president has already conceded that he personally ordered that crime and renewed that order at least 30 times. This would clearly satisfy the standard of high crimes and misdemeanors for the purpose of an impeachment. |
The fact that you have different results in these cases is itself a problem. I've yet to meet anyone who seriously argues Andrea Yates was not insane. But by sticking to a rigid standard of only knowing right and wrong, you exclude the most common forms of insanity: people responding to evil voices. |
The great irony is that she might be saved by Democratic votes. |
The highest points I give Rehnquist is for his sense of long-term judicial strategy, |
The other irony is that Roberts is a lifelong advocate of federalism and states' rights. Like his mentor, Rehnquist, he has a narrow view of the commerce clause. |
The president's claim to be acting under the authority of the resolution borders on the ridiculous. |
The president's dead wrong. When the president admits that he violated federal law, that raises serious constitutional questions of high crimes and misdemeanors. |