I love it when Mark Brown (or any reporter-columnist) discovers his inner cynical self. What we need are more Diogenes and fewer Pangloss.

James Kilpatrick on why Martin Luther King did not deserve a national holiday:

These practical objections provide the least of the objections. Note that of the nine Federal holidays, only two honor specific individuals: George Washington and Christopher Columbus. We have no Federal holiday for such towering figures as Jefferson, Madison, and Lincoln.

A decent sense of historical perspective should tell us that Martin Luther King, influential as he was in the field of civil rights, was no John Adams, no John Marshall, no Benjamin Franklin.[No National
Holiday For Dr. King, Miami Herald, August 30, 1983]

Another victory for affirmative action, I guess.

“Rage, rage, against the dying of the featherbed,” says Instapundit, commenting on Wisconsin unions’ ban on Republicans in their Labor Day parades.

Dylan T. has never been more aptly paraphrased. (See “featherbedding.”)

Don’t bet on it, says top man.

Not surprising: Pius X people hold contemporary church in deep suspicion. If it happened, it would be on their terms and would be a very interesting development.

Lost Oak Parker.

Clarence Thomas receives high praise from New Yorker writer:

[T]his year has . . . been, for him, a moment of triumph. In several of the most important areas of constitutional law, Thomas has emerged as an intellectual leader of the Supreme Court. Since the arrival of Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., in 2005, and Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., in 2006, the Court has moved to the right when it comes to the free-speech rights of corporations, the rights of gun owners, and, potentially, the powers of the federal government; in each of these areas, the majority has followed where Thomas has been leading for a decade or more. Rarely has a Supreme Court Justice enjoyed such broad or significant vindication.

The writer, Jeffrey Toobin, quotes NU law prof Steve Calabresi, a co-founder of the Federalist Society:

Of the nine Justices presently on the Court, he is the one whose opinions I enjoy reading the most, [says Calabresi]. They are very scholarly, with lots of historical sources, and his views are the most principled, even among the conservatives. He has staked out some bold positions, and then the Court has set out and moved in his direction.

What do you know?

(Thanks to News Alert)

Conor P. Hickey not quite asking, “Whence comes such another?”

Our President is unprecedented. In order to stop illegal immigration, President Obama sics Eric Holder on border states. In order to finally kill Bin Laden, he makes his unprecedented Middle East apology tour and makes nice with the Brotherhood who are burning Christian churches in Eygpt, Iraq and elsewhere. In order to create jobs for folks, President Obama’s folks call the working folks at Tea Party rallies domestic terrorists. Unprecedented.

More like “I haven’t heard this song before.” (Seems to me, etc.)

Chicago Catholic News has had this up for a week

You gotta believe . . .

The bottom-line, fundamental reason I endorse markets over government direction of the economy – the essential reason I support extensive and vigorous private property rights and the consequent decentralization of decision-making that this institution brings – is that I cannot tolerate the mysticism that motivates too much reliance on government.

. . . in something, so why not holy mother state (Dorothy Day’s words)?

It’s magic:

Too many people, including otherwise very smart people, believe in secular magic. They believe that words written on paper by people, each of whom receive a majority of votes on certain days of the year of adult citizens living in certain geographic areas, and who utter ritualistic pronouncements under marble domes in buildings conventionally called “capitols,” are somehow endowed with greater understanding of society’s complexities and with superhuman capacities to care about the welfare of strangers. . . . .

Etc., from Don Boudreaux a few years back.

He keeps his cards so close to his vest, you’d think they were painted on, but he has advice for the legislative branch:

President Obama called Saturday for Democrats and Republicans in Congress to work together to pass legislation reviving the faltering U.S. economy.

Good idea! Has he any suggestions that enough of them might agree on?