A quick trip around Hannity's America...
Left-Wing Law
President Bush's appointments of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, produced a lot of squawking from the mainstream media about the ominous, rightward drift of the Supreme Court. But don't get the wrong impression.
The New York Times reported last weekend on a speech that left-wing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered at Ohio University, in which she described her legal philosophy. Justice Ginsburg's comments demonstrate that the court's left flank remains as strong as ever. According to Ginsberg, "I frankly don't understand all the brouhaha lately from Congress and even from some of my colleagues about referring to foreign law." Taking a line straight out of the Obama administration's playbook, she said, "You will not be listened to if you don't listen to others."
Justice Ginsburg went on to say that torture is never justified, even when it is used to extract information that could save lives. Ginsburg also rued the fact that we're not more like Canada, in that the Canadian Supreme Court is cited internationally far more than the U.S. Supreme Court.
Note to Justice Ginsburg: The Supreme Court's job is to interpret and apply the Constitution of the United States, not to win an international citation contest or a popularity contest, for that matter. So you may want to redirect your energies.
San Francisco Treat
Whenever the San Francisco Speaker Nancy Pelosi opens her mouth it tends to get comical. And if you throw Jon Stewart into the mix, it makes for a very special edition of Liberal Translation:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": Were you in on the discussions of how this TARP money is allocated? Of the rules in which people are using it? How do they come to that?
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF.: That is a Treasury Department decision.
LIBERAL TRANSLATION: Congress only allocates the money. Treasury wastes it.
PELOSI: And it's what's in the best interest of the economy, they tell us.
LIBERAL TRANSLATION: We don't do oversight. The Obama administration can do what they want.
PELOSI: But every time you open the paper you see that the systemic risk of one industry or another has risen to that level.
LIBERAL TRANSLATION: The San Francisco media can be very informative.
STEWART: It seems insane.
PELOSI: We need some answers, you're absolutely right.
LIBERAL TRANSLATION: I may be one of the highest-ranking government officials in the country... but I have no answers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Not a lot of talk of accountability from the speaker of the House during her "Daily Show" appearance. I guess for her, the buck stops elsewhere.
Michelle's Entourage
The tough economic times that we find ourselves in have apparently not reached the pocketbook of first lady Michelle Obama quite yet.
This weekend the New York Post reported that the first lady made some history on her recent trip overseas with the president when she brought along her very own makeup artist and hairstylist aboard Air Force One. Both the hairstylist and makeup artist traveled as official guests of the president during the first family's voyage through Europe and the Middle East. The addition of Mrs. Obama's stylists to a presidential delegation is reportedly a first for our country.
And if you're like me, you may not have noticed some of their handiwork. According to the Post, because the first lady has been criticized for looking angry in the past, "her high-arched eyebrows were reshaped with a softer arc that gave her a friendlier appearance."
The first lady's office says Mrs. Obama paid for these services out of her own pocket. Still, I'd hate to have been the White House staffer who got bumped off Air Force One for a curling iron.
Ready, Set, Sue!
The Meltdown is brought to you by Democratic Congressmen Henry Waxman and Edward Markey. Some Americans could get very, very rich if these two Democrats have their way.
The Washington Times reports that Representatives Waxman and Markey have authored a bill that would allow victims of global warming or those who expect to suffer harm from it to sue the federal government or private businesses for damages. Harm is liberally defined as -- get this -- "any effect of air pollution, including climate change, currently occurring or at risk of occurring."
No, that's not a joke. Even better, Mr. Waxman is so proud of his bill that he has set an accelerated schedule for passing it through his committee, the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
It's a good thing we don't have a problem with frivolous lawsuits in this country, right? Thanks in advance, Mr. Waxman, for your great disservice to our legal system and our nation.
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