John Roberts joins the Supreme Court’s liberal wing to uphold the health care law . Had the court struck down all or part of the law, there would have been massive political blowback from the media, Congress, and the White House itself. The Court, of course, is not just a judicial body but . . . . Continue Reading »
This is a great day for President Obama. The argument against Obamacare from constitutional norms has been fatally wounded to the extent of winning over persuadables. To the extent that pesuadables (especially fairly low information persuadables), feel in-their-bones that the government . . . . Continue Reading »
It appears that the Supremes have rewritten the law in order to uphold it. They simply call a penalty a tax, even though it was expressly stated not to be a tax. Why? Precisely for the reasons I predicted: The Supreme Court has vastly expanded the power of the federal government since . . . . Continue Reading »
At the Door of the Temple Bishop Philip Tartaglia, Public Discourse Circumcision Ruling Condemned as “Minefield” Kate Connolly, The Guardian Americans Losing Confidence in Everything but Themselves? Mark Penn, The Atlantic The Jesus Seminar Goes to Hollywood Tim . . . . Continue Reading »
Dear Readers, First Things is a non-profit. For more than twenty years readers have provided donations that have sustained the journal. Now the electronic age presents new challenges. I’ve written to our subscribers, who have responded with generosity. Now I’m writing to you directly on . . . . Continue Reading »
Since I want films about any and every sort of pop music since the advent of jazz, and about the rock music of 1966 to the present, for this topic I’m sort of overlooking the rock v. rock n’ roll distinction I insist upon elsewhere . And since what I really want are films that convey what . . . . Continue Reading »
An adult chimp has killed a baby chimp at the LA Zoo. From the story:The first chimpanzee baby born at the LA Zoo in 13 years was mauled to death Tuesday by an adult chimp in front of a crowd of visitors, including children, zoo officials said. Did the baby chimp have a “right to . . . . Continue Reading »
Brian Doyle investigates Edmund Burke’s personal life in this month’s American Scholar . Though almost everyone of a certain cultural-political persuasion “claims Edmund Burke as his patron saint, political forefather, lodestar and compass point, ancestral bulwark against . . . . Continue Reading »
1. I certainly wouldn’t mind abandoning the phrase, although someone should send the memo to Heritage (for example). 2. Judicial activism is becoming more nonpartisan or transpartisan as a concept. Our friend Ross Douthat writes today that conservatives should be happy that liberals are . . . . Continue Reading »
The Supreme Court just overruled multiple democratically elected legislatures to impose its policy preferences on the country by a narrow 5-4 majority. Keep that in mind tomorrow if (IF!) the Supreme Court strikes down the Obamacare individual health insurance purchase mandate. Just . . . . Continue Reading »
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