christopher_hallam

Over at Greg‘s place, I explain that while I’m skeptical that “political rhetoric” is to blame for the Tuscson shooting, the Republican reaction makes it clear that they understand that the tone of much of conservative criticism crosses a line. One other thing I’d say, although I don’t know exactly what to make of this […]

There’s a lot still to be learned about Jared Lee Loughner, the alleged perpetrator of a shooting spree in Arizona yesterday that left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords critically injured, and six people, including a nine-year old girl and Judge John Roll, dead. Almost immediately the event, both the left and right began placing the blame on […]

Two things that you’ve probably heard are happening when in fact the opposite is the case: Defense Secretary Robert Gates is cutting the defense budget. Actually, as Spencer Ackerman writes, the cuts mean that overall defense spending will rise, but by $78 billion less than before. The Democrats are eliminating the filibuster. In fact, the […]

I’ve tangled with Jennifer Rubin all week over the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case, but since she says that the crux of the issue is “whether a meritorious claim of voter intimidation was dismissed under pressure from left-leaning civil rights groups and whether there is reason to believe there is a sentiment against […]

Over at Greg‘s place, I compare the GOP’s decision to avoid reading the superseded text of the Constitution to the decision to publish a version of Mark Twain‘s Huckleberry Finn without the word “nigger.” The reason to include the superceded text is to remind us that the Constitution, while a remarkable document, was not carved […]

Following in Shani Hilton‘s footsteps, I offer my first Gchat: Max: ey dog you are the first person i’ve ever sent a gmail im to be proud That was 5:22 p.m. on February 6, 2006. If you’ve ever been at a carryout in DC at midnight with a crackhead trying to sell you a kid’s […]

Saba Imtiaz writes about those who called for the assassination of Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, after he spoke out against the a law that punishes blasphemy with death and in support of Aasia Bibi, the Christian woman who was sentenced to die for allegedly violating it: But none of these men […]

Yesterday, I ended up re-reading George Orwell‘s famous essay on nationalism, which, although it was written more than fifty years ago, offers a more devastating response to the jingoistic vision of American Exceptionalism conservatives are always accusing President Obama of not adhering to than anyone else could possibly offer: A nationalist is one who thinks […]

There are at least two ways to be a results-oriented judge if you’re an originalist. The most common way is an obtuse reading of the plain text. My favorite example of this is Justice Clarence Thomas arguing that constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment don’t actually refer to conditions of confinement, but merely the […]

Chris Beam had a good piece on libertarianism in New York Magazine that Radley Balko described as “a thrashing disguised as a primer.” There’s no question that what Beam wrote was a takedown, but it was also about as fair as a criticism of an entire ideology gets. If there were really egregious errors of […]