GEORGE WILL HAS ANOTHER FAIL

In support of the SC gay marriage ruling, Will implied that James Madison would approve:

In 1824, in retirement 37 years after serving as the Constitutional Convention’s prime mover, James Madison, 73, noted that the 1787 “language of our Constitution is already undergoing interpretations unknown to its founders.” He knew that the purport of the text would evolve “with the changeable meaning of the words composing it.”

That would be fine if Madison meant he was OK with that BUT HE WASN'T. The full letter can be found here and this is the relevant paragraph:

With a view to this last object, I entirely concur in the propriety of resorting to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation. In that sense alone it is the legitimate Constitution. And if that be not the guide in expounding it, there can be no Security for a consistent and stable, more than for a faithful exercise of its powers. If the meaning of the text be sought in the changeable meaning of the words composing it, it is evident that the shape and attributes of the Government must partake of the changes to which the words and phrases of all living languages are constantly subject. What a metamorphosis would be produced in the code of law if all its ancient phraseology were to be taken in its modern sense. And that the language of our Constitution is already undergoing interpretations unknown to its founders, will I believe appear to all unbiassed Enquirers into the history of its origin and adoption. Not to look further for an example, take the word "consolidate" in the address of the Convention prefixed to the Constitution. It then and there meant to give strength and solidity to the Union of the States. In its current & controversial application it means a destruction of the States, by transfusing their powers into the government of the Union.

THE MOST INTERESTING POLITICAL EVENT OF THE WEEK

Rick Perry delivered an honest speech about the GOP and racism:

I know Republicans have much to do to earn the trust of African-Americans. Blacks know that Republican Barry Goldwater, in 1964, ran against Lyndon Johnson, a champion of civil rights. They know that Barry Goldwater opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, because he felt that parts of it were unconstitutional.

States supporting segregation in the South cited “states’ rights” as a justification for keeping blacks from the voting booth and the dinner table.

As you know, I am an ardent believer in the Tenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights. The Tenth Amendment says that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

I know that state governments are more accountable to you than the federal government is.

But I am also an ardent believer in the Fourteenth Amendment, which says that no state shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

There has been – and will continue to be – an important and legitimate role for the federal government in enforcing civil rights.

Too often, we Republicans – myself included – have emphasized our message on the Tenth Amendment but not our message on the Fourteenth – an Amendment, it bears reminding, that was one of the first great contributions of the Republican Party to American life, second only to the abolition of slavery.

For too long, we Republicans have been content to lose the black vote because we found that we could win elections without it. But when we gave up on trying to win the support of African-Americans, we lost our moral legitimacy as the party of Lincoln. As the party of equal opportunity for all.

It is time for us to once again reclaim our heritage as the only party in our country founded on the principle of freedom for African-Americans.

THE SFPD NEEDS TO CHANGE ITS IMMIGRATION POLICY

This murder is directly attributable to illegal immigration:

ICE had turned Sanchez over to San Francisco police in March on an outstanding drug warrant, spokeswoman Virginia Kice said. Immigration officials issued a detainer at that time, requesting notification prior to his release so arrangements could be made to take custody.
"The detainer was not honored," Kice said in a statement. "ICE places detainers on aliens arrested on criminal charges to ensure dangerous criminals are not released from prisons or jails into our communities."

DAVID GELERNTER AS WINGNUT VERSION OF SISYPHUS

He was on Bill "Slots" Bennett's radio show and made two claims that jointly imply that he is a conservative elitist: (1) The Supreme Court was wrong to legalize gay marriage; (2) the American people are wrong to support that decision.  According to him, the source of our problems is the liberal culture created by liberals and it must be destroyed.

We must imagine him very unhappy.

THIS IS NO LONGER LIMBAUGH'S AMERICA

I'm not sure it ever was but the Fat Lady has sung:

Poll: Majorities back Supreme Court rulings on marriage, Obamacare

By Jennifer Agiesta, CNN Polling Director
Updated 1:47 PM ET, Tue June 30, 2015

According to a new CNN/ORC poll, 63% support the Court's ruling upholding government assistance for lower-income Americans buying health insurance through both state-operated and federally-run health insurance exchanges. Slightly fewer, 59%, say they back the ruling which made same-sex marriages legal in all 50 states

I WASN'T GOING TO READ THIS...

mostly because of the title (The Next Culture War) and the author (David Brooks) but I'm glad I did.  Brooks seems to have become somewhat reasonable about the so-called culture wars:

Social conservatives could be the people who help reweave the sinews of society. They already subscribe to a faith built on selfless love. They can serve as examples of commitment. They are equipped with a vocabulary to distinguish right from wrong, what dignifies and what demeans. They already, but in private, tithe to the poor and nurture the lonely.

This culture war is more Albert Schweitzer and Dorothy Day than Jerry Falwell and Franklin Graham; more Salvation Army than Moral Majority. It’s doing purposefully in public what social conservatives already do in private.

CURIOUS RADIO AD

KNST is the local Clear Channel/Wingnut station in Tucson and for the last few days has been airing a political ad falsely claiming that Pres. Obama is "giving" Iran a nuclear bomb and using scary remarks from Marco Rubio.   I didn't catch the organization sponsoring the ads but I'm wondering where else it is airing.

ANOTHER "BE VERY AFRAID" MESSAGE FROM THE GASBAGS

Hannity has been claiming for months that there are about 93 million unemployed Americans and strictly speaking, he is correct BUT he claims that this is the real number of unemployed despite the fact that it includes students, home makers, the disabled, prisoners and others who clearly aren't in the labor market.

Today, Limbaugh jumped on this bandwagon:

IS SCALIA GOING A BIT DOTTY?

Antonin Scalia is 79 and his most recent contradiction of one of his own opinions started me thinking that maybe he is losing a little upstairs.  Scalia has made this kind of blunder several times in the past and perhaps the worst was his 2014 opinion about the EPA:

"This is not the first time EPA has sought to convert the Clean Air Act into a mandate for cost-effective regulation. Whitman v. American Trucking Assns., Inc., 531 U. S. 457 (2001), confronted EPA's contention that it could consider costs in setting [National Ambient Air Quality Standards]," Scalia wrote in his dissent, which was joined by Justice Clarence Thomas.

The problem: the EPA's position in the 2001 case was exactly the opposite. The agency was defending its refusal to consider cost as a counter-weight to health benefits when setting certain air quality standards. It was the trucking industry that wanted the EPA to factor in cost. The 9-0 ruling sided with the EPA. The author of the ruling that Scalia mischaracterized? Scalia himself.

The Google reveals that Scalia has done this a few other times this century:

2013: he contradicted himself on respect for Congress
2012: he contradicted himself on immigration

IS LIMBAUGH GOING SOFT ON POT?

He's said he's against the legalization of pot but today he heard out 2 callers who said it works on their medical conditions.  Normally, people who disagree with Fats don't get past the call screener.