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Slow news day –> Open Thread. What is your dream ticket for the 2008 Presidential Election?

Give me Condi Rice-Jeb Bush ‘08!

Claudio

Well, close enough:

I understand that my views on laws governing abortion set me in the minority in our Commonwealth. I am prolife. I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, rape, and to save the life of the mother. I wish the people of America agreed, and that the laws of our nation could reflect that view. But while the nation remains so divided over abortion, I believe that the states, through the democratic process, should determine their own abortion laws and not have them dictated by judicial mandate.

I don’t know what I think about Gov. Romney yet. If the only other Republican potential nominees are Sen. Allen, Sen. Frist, Sen. McCain, Giuliani, Pataki, and Rep. Tancredo, then I might have to give Gov. Romney a much closer look.

Claudio

Hilary Clinton has long begun her campaign for the presidency. She is now targeting New York City universities, as I have received this email from her office:

Dear [somebody],
My name is [somebody else] and I am an intern at Senator Hillary Clinton’s campaign office. The interns are interested in increasing college awareness about the upcoming Senatorial re-election in 2006. More specifically, we are looking to expand political visibility throughout the campus as well as raising money for the campaign. We are looking to sell Hillary t-shirts at a reduced college rate and to distribute information about the campaign. Please let us know who we could contact regarding this issue. Thank you for your help. The number at the office is 212-213-xxxx or you could email us at [email].

Grrr. Well fine, if Hilary’s peeps are beginning their assault on the college campuses, then I will do my part to counter it. I urge all of you to go and register to volunteer with the Ed Cox campaign. Also, I will try to bring Cox, Ognibene, and some other real Republicans to City College in the fall. I will keep y’all posted on that as it progresses.

Claudio

Ed Cox for New York Senate, 2006

…that AG2 is actually going to replace Justice O’Connor and eventually be made Chief Justice…

(1) There will be a Supreme Court resignation within the next week. But it will be Justice O’Connor, not Chief Justice Rehnquist. There are several tea-leaf-like suggestions that O’Connor may be stepping down, including the fact that she has apparently arranged to spend much more time in Arizona beginning this fall. There are also recent intimations that Chief Justice Rehnquist may not resign. This would be consistent with Justice O’Connor having confided her plan to step down to the chief a while ago. Rehnquist probably believes that it wouldn’t be good for the Court to have two resignations at once, so he would presumably stay on for as long as his health permits, and/or until after Justice O’Connor’s replacement is confirmed.

(2) President Bush will appoint Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to replace O’Connor. Bush certainly wants to put Gonzales on the Supreme Court. Presidents usually find a way to do what they want to do.

And his aides will have an argument to make to conservatives (like me) who would be unhappy with a Gonzales pick: Bush would not, after all, be replacing a conservative stalwart like Rehnquist with Gonzales. Gonzales would be taking O’Connor’s seat, and Gonzales is likely to be as conservative as, or even more conservative than, O’Connor. Indeed, Karl Rove will continue, Gonzales is as conservative a nominee to replace O’Connor as one could find who could overcome a threatened Democratic filibuster. Bush aides will also assure us privately that when Rehnquist does step down, Bush will nominate a strong conservative as his replacement. They might not tell us that nominee would be as an associate justice, for Bush would plan to then promote Gonzales to chief justice–thus creating a “Gonzales Court,” a truly distinctive Bush legacy.

Good idea, but can he get all that goodness confirmed?

Claudio

So, the Senate finally apologizes for looking the other way as almost 5,000 people were legally lynched in this great nation.

It is about time.

Now, what is the significance of this move? Well, although I would like to take the apology at face value, but then there is Sen. George Allen’s shady history of ambiguously-racist activities. This has become one of the debates surrounding the apology: whether the apology is a purely political move for a senator who will probably run for president and has little support among black people in his own state.

Probably is.

The more substantial debate has been sparked by a number of different black bloggers with more conservative analysis (see here and here, for example).

My personal stance on this whole issue is a bit more tempered. I won’t take the same stance as McWhorter (who by the way, voted for Kerry) and argue that the apology is “insignificant” because it reinforces the cult of the victimhood within the black community. I certainly believe that the apology will function in that manner, and this is definitely a bad thing, but the apology was certainly a necessity. The cult of victimhood can only be properly addressed from within the community. Yes, this external action will feed into it, but there is little to do to control this. That’s where McWhorter has a point - it would be nice to have some black leaders step forward and dance this fine line: acknowledge the necessity of such an action and simultaneously prod the black community onward. Good luck getting that out of anybody but Cosby.

On the other hand, I am definitely not taking the position of Barber, who all but drags minorities through the mud for all types of intra-community violence. Yes, blacks and Hispanics (eh) should catch a beatdown for the destruction of their own community through gang violence (they can help it). Lynching was another story, they couldn’t help it. To disparage the apology is to absolve the Congress of guilt. Her off-the-cuff (and out of her mind) diatribe against black people may have some merit, but this is neither the forum nor the form in which to discuss the separate problem of intra-community violence. Give a nod to the apology, then proceed to take on black self-destruction.

Lynching was straight up wrong, and the fact that Congress never did anything about it due to the filibusters of southern Democrats (yes, who later became Republicans) is the harsh reality of it all. In stating this, I have to be informed by Malcolm X:

You’re not to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it. — Malcolm X

Newt Gingrich chillin’ with Hillary. His words to his party?

“Any Republican who thinks she’s going to be easy to beat in 2008 really misunderstands the Clintons.”

Thank you, Captain Obvious. And you appearing with her on the pedestal in some hare-brained attempt to infuse your presidential prospects is pure preposterousness.

So now Hillary gets to continue to trumpet herself as the second-coming of the Moderate. Great, give her more swing votes. More currency in Middle America. That’ll help the party!

Again, thanks Newt, for all you do for America.
Claudio