Entries for February 2009

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Wow. And we thought Barack Obama's speech on Tuesday night ("oh, and by the way, we're going to cure cancer") was audacious. Now we've had a look at the Audacity budget.

Holy Reagan and Roosevelt, Batman! Before this guy is done, we're gonna need new synonyms for "bold."

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

The state of Maryland is debating Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposal to repeal the death penalty. And the U.S. Supreme Court will soon consider whether prisoners have a right to DNA testing that could prove their innocence.

So this seems an opportune moment to share a story from my upcoming book on Clarence Darrow. It's about the case in which Darrow worked as a prosecutor, and why the great defense attorney never forgot the lessons it taught him.

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

The media is biased—toward Republicans.

A new book by two Indiana University professors states that the coverage from the three TV networks—ABC, CBS and NBC—favored the GOP candidates in the four presidential elections between 1992 and 2004.

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

I have always thought that term limits were stupid. Or, perhaps more accurately, that the underlying assumption of the term limits movement was that Americans are stupid—and can't be trusted to conduct the necessary political house-cleaning at the polls.

Then there was the coincidence that, as the Republicans got to majority status over the last few decades, conservatives lost interest in the notion of limiting terms—an idea they promoted so enthusiastically when Democrats were in power.

Now that the Dems are back, we'll no doubt be seeing a rebirth of the movement over on the Right. But before we do, I want to register my opposition to a new term limits proposal—for Supreme Court justices—that would benefit the Left.

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

To the students of George Mason University: I salute you. Some of you are worried, this morning's paper reports, about losing your coveted U.S. News ranking as the No. 1 "school to watch" among national universities in these United States. You have no cause for fear in this corner of the empire. We do not scorn the election of Reann Sassie D'Loceanono Ballslee as homecoming queen. We applaud it.

The photograph in the Washington Post was taken from a distance, but Reann appears to have the requisite trim figure, glittery clothes, wide red lips, and flowing curls of a genuine American homecoming queen. That Reann is a guy—a hard-working and skilled senior in drag by the name of Ryan Allen—seems irrelevant. What does a homecoming queen do, other than pout and smile and tease and wiggle?

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Hey, Rob. I agree. President Obama's decision to add another 17,000 troops to the allied forces in Afghanistan—with perhaps another 10,000 to 12,000 to follow later this year—is the big dog that ain't barking here in Washington this week.

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Charmingly obscure opening anecdote, best if featuring Churchill or Disraeli.

Explanatory paragraph, contrived to show that knowledge of said anecdote is result of extensive scholarship, as opposed to a quick thumbing of Bartlett's.

Sly, self-promoting reference to one's intimate relationship with influential political figure.