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Clayton Cramer's BLOG |
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Clayton's commentary on news and events of the day. Broadly speaking, I'm a conservative with libertarian sympathies (getting more conservative as my children get older).
 Never forget! I ran for Idaho state senate in 2008--didn't win I've written a number of history books, as well as scholarly and popular articles, (see my web page). Relocating to Boise? Use my realtor, neighbor, and friend, Cindy Smith csmith@1realtyone.com.
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Saturday, March 22, 2008
Not Hearing This In The Idaho Statesman, Are We? From The Australian, March 22, 2008: Last Monday - on ABC Radio National, of all places - there was a tipping point of a different kind in the debate on climate change. It was a remarkable interview involving the co-host of Counterpoint, Michael Duffy and Jennifer Marohasy, a biologist and senior fellow of Melbourne-based think tank the Institute of Public Affairs. Anyone in public life who takes a position on the greenhouse gas hypothesis will ignore it at their peril. Labels: global warming All We Are Saying, Is Give Spell Checker A Chance Zombietime again attends an antiwar rally in San Francisco, and shows us some astonishing reminders that spelling isn't one of the strong points of the left.  She also points to this amazing sign which brings to mind the famous saying, "This isn't right. It isn't even wrong."  What does Boise have to do with this? Make sure you read the entire posting. For once, it is a worksafe set of images. The "Breasts Not Bombs" naked partial sex change bunch doesn't seem to have made it to this event. A Devastating Critique Of Obama Alan K. Henderson has a devastating critique of Obama's speech trying to defend his association with Rev. Wright: Obama explains that he stays with his church because he knows about Wright a lot more than just a few selected quotes. But aren't those few quotes sufficient to identify serious moral flaws that call into question a man's qualifications as a spiritual leader. Wouldn't Fred Phelps' "God hates fags" sound bite be enough to tell me that investing 20 years at Westboro Baptist Church might not be a good idea? Labels: 2008 presidential candidates Friday, March 21, 2008
Not Every Breakdown Stays Tragic Some times there are little victories. A reader found my blog while looking for a picture of the Moon. His story: I live in Fife in Scotland.Some people recover after treatment. By his own admission, he's not completely recovered, but he's well enough to live outside a hospital--an admirable aspiration for anyone struggling with schizophrenia. Certainly, if there is a way to make community level treatment work, that's the best possible choice. For some, it works, for others, it does not. His web page is here. Labels: deinstitutionalization Bearded Legislator Analysis Perhaps I am going to have to give up the beard. Adam Graham has crunched the numbers on this, and reports: No State for Bearded MenI know that for a lot of people who grew up in the 1930s, a beard was a sign that you were some sort of Communist or other dangerous freethinker. But I doubt that this could still be the reason. I don't believe that there's anything about LDS theology that prohibits beards, but I've been told that the reason that few Mormon men have beards is that Brigham Young University requires its students to be clean shaven. (Well, the men at least.) And indeed, this document indicates that it is a requirement for missionaries. My guess is that Mormon men stay clean shaven thereafter out of habit. Because Mormons are a significant fraction of the voters in Idaho, being clean shaven may be something of an advantage at election time, not because clean shaven is a secret identifying code, but perhaps at a subconscious level there is an identification of clean shaven men with positive images. How Bill Sali (R-ID) got himself elected with that beard of his really makes me wonder! Does "Typical Black Person" Sound Bigoted? Watching Barack Hussein Obama destroy himself isn't pretty: 610 WIP host Angelo Cataldi asked Obama about his Tuesday morning speech on race at the National Constitution Center in which he referenced his own white grandmother and her prejudice. Obama told Cataldi that "The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity, but that she is a typical white person. If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know - there's a reaction in her that's been bred into our experiences that don't go away and sometimes come out in the wrong way and that's just the nature of race in our society. We have to break through it. What makes me optimistic is you see each generation feeling less like that. And that's pretty powerful stuff"Talk about condescending. I'm not sure why Obama is trying to distance himself from Rev. Wright's Afrocentric racist sermons. It sounds like Obama has absorbed just a bit too much of it. If only Dr. King could see this day--would he be upset. Labels: 2008 presidential candidates It's Official I filed the Petition of Candidacy with the Idaho Secretary of State's office to run for state senate district 22. I'm led to believe that because of the Republican dominance of the two counties that make up the district (Boise and Elmore), if I beat the incumbent in the primary, winning the general election shouldn't be hopelessly difficult. The 2006 Boise County election results for the U.S. House seat was 51.6% for Republican (and a very conservative Republican, Bill Sali, who was despised by the leftist media). In Elmore County, which is a different U.S. House seat, it was 67.9% for the Republican. I will be opening a checking account for the campaign on Monday, and setting up a PayPal account to accept donations from the Internet as well. If you think that your contribution can't make much of a difference--there were less than 10,000 votes cast in my district in the 2006 for Congress--so it doesn't take an enormous amount of money to elect me. And especially when the incumbent received a C rating from NRA at the last election, and introduced a bill to add "sexual orientation and gender identity" to the state's employment discrimination law. The biggest town in my district is an Air Force base; the second biggest town has a mandatory gun ownership law. I also need to create a web page for the campaign. I've usually thrown web pages together (and yes, "thrown" is the right word) from raw HTML in the past. Does anyone have a suggestion for a quick and elegant looking HTML template for this sort of thing? UPDATE: I'm told the beard has to go--Idahoans may have beards (at least the men), but they won't vote for men with beards. I'm On YouTube I had a rather vigorous discussion with a lawyer for the other side in line in the Heller line. You can watch it here. Labels: gun rights Thursday, March 20, 2008
Not Busy Enough I spent the evening talking to a very large number of Idaho legislators--and I have been strongly encouraged to run for state senate against Tim Corder. The filing deadline is tomorrow, so I will need to get on this. I'll start begging for campaign contributions soon! You will have to comply, too, so that I don't get corrupted by all those contributions from George Soros, the Violence Policy Center, and the Human Rights Campaign! Idaho Statesman Published Me Today I'm not keen on the title they picked for it, but it does address the problem of deinstitutionalization. The comments section is open, and unsurprisingly, some of Idaho's liberals are reduced to ad hominem attacks. Labels: deinstitutionalization Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The Supreme Court Building This is a majestic building. It was built 1932-35 when labor and materials were cheap--and what a gorgeous result! This is the front--quite awesome to climb those steps.  Click to enlarge Here's some detail of the carvings above the entrance.  Click to enlarge  Click to enlarge I'm not sure what the classical architecture term for these statues to the sides of the steps, but instead of lions (like the New York Public Library uses), these are humans.  Click to enlarge  Click to enlarge  Click to enlarge Here are the bronze doors.  Click to enlarge  Click to enlarge Oh yes, every building has a back (except the Mobius Building), and that includes the Supreme Court!  Click to enlarge D.C.: What a Depressing Place There is so much in the way of beautiful architecture, but even a few blocks from the Capitol, it turns into a vast ghetto of decaying buildings, men drinking out of brown paper bags, and mentally ill homeless people. Here's the Capitol:  Click to enlarge Here's the front of the Supreme Court building:  Click to enlarge Here's the view of the Capitol from the steps of the Supreme Court building:  Click to enlarge I can see why leftist politics are so big in places like D.C. It would be very, very tempting, if you believed that people were basically good, to assume that there must be some vast conspiracy to oppress poor people and black people. I mean, what's the alternative? Very, very sad. Number 1 In Line For Heller You can read his story (with pictures) here. He describes a heated conversation: This guy wrote one of the amicus briefs. I'm sure someone here knows who he is. He was having a heated discussion with one of the two government lawyers from NYC who both contributed to amicus briefs.My readers will recognize the person in the picture, of course! Labels: gun rights The Meaning of "Bear Arms" One of the major contributions that I made to the Heller case was demonstrating that the term "bear arms" was widely used in non-military contexts. And I am pleased to see this exchange in the oral arguments, starting at page 36, between the justices and Solicitor General Clement uses a number of the examples that I found: JUSTICE SOUTER: But wait a minute. You're not saying that if somebody goes hunting deer he is bearing arms, or are you?I am also pleased to see Chief Justice Roberts prepared to remind everyone that the differing standards of review really aren't historical (p. 44): CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: Well, these various phrases under the different standards that are proposed, "compelling interest," "significant interest," "narrowly tailored," none of them appear in the Constitution; and I wonder why in this case we have to articulate an all-encompassing standard. Isn't it enough to determine the scope of the existing right that the amendment refers to, look at the various regulations that were available at the time, including you can't take the gun to the marketplace and all that, and determine how these -- how this restriction and the scope of this right looks in relation to those?UPDATE: Yahoo! One of the discoveries that I made ended up in Gura's response to Justice Breyer's attempt to use the 1786 Boston fire safety ordinance as a justification for a ban today: JUSTICE BREYER: Why -- now, when say "keep" and "bear," I mean you are -- I think you're on to something here. Because you say let's use our common sense and see what would be the equivalent today. Fine. Labels: gun rights For Those Whining About Alan Gura's Performance I've heard a few people whining about how well Alan did at oral arguments. To which I can only say: 1. Yes, you or I might well have corrected Justice Breyer about the number of gun deaths per year. But think of the pressure that Mr. Gura was under (first time before the Supreme Court)--and ask yourself if you would really have done better--or perhaps just flubbed something else. [UPDATE: Breyer talked about "killed or wounded"--so he was probably correct.] 2. This is a hard situation. Alan had to defend the individual right to bear arms--and at the same time, without letting the parade of horribles that scare the wits out of even those sympathetic to our point of view dominate the discussion. Yes, yes, it is definitely the case that the Second Amendment protects a right of law-abiding adults to possess machine guns. But this is the kind of argument that can be logically and historically correct, and yet lose the day. 3. It appears that we have the majority we need--and a perfect performance by Mr. Gura (you know, like the perfect performance that the rest of us just know we could have put on under that kind of pressure) might not change the results. It does not sound to me like those who are going to vote against us would have felt differently, even if we had used a time machine to bring James Madison into the courtroom to explain our position. Give it a rest. Labels: gun rights Heller Hearings As I mentioned last night, I wasn't able to get in to the arguments. Two acquaintances got in because they were lawyers who are members of the Supreme Court Bar; two more because they were at the Respondent's table; one was allowed in because she was an invited guest of Justice Thomas. The scene in front of the Court was pretty interesting. We had a huge crowd of people, either going in for the three minute line (you get to watch for three minutes and move on), or protesting. The various gun control groups were handing out signs, which were largely meaningless. The handmade signs on their side were either false ("3000 children a year are killed by guns") or simply outrageous ("The NRA arms terrorists and criminals"). On our side, most of the signs were at a bumper sticker level of thoughtfulness or cliched. The Second Amendment Sisters were there, and one of their numbers was holding a bullhorn and leading them in silly chants. The gun control side tried to do likewise, but there simply weren't enough of them. Unsurprisingly, this brought the media running--because it had good visuals. Serious and thoughtful discussions of the issues weren't of much interest to most of the journalists with whom I tried to speak.  Click to enlarge  Click to enlarge  Click to enlarge  Click to enlarge UPDATE: Here's the official transcript of the oral arguments. Labels: gun rights Tuesday, March 18, 2008
August Rush This movie starts in an orphanage. I found myself thinking as it started, “Wouldn’t it be nice if someone made movies that affirmed the potential for people to make something of their lives? Something positive?” And I found myself watching the most moving film that I have seen in many years. Predictable? Sure. Implausible in many places? Absolutely. Too many coincidences? Beyond any doubt. I will take as many more movies like this as I get. I don’t want to give it away, so I will tell you that the themes include: The power of a mother’s love. The importance of a family. The need to belong. And how sometimes, something wonderful can come from a mistake. The power of music to move us. I confess that I am a sentimental person, and this isn’t the first movie that has made me cry. If August Rush doesn’t make you cry with joy, there isn’t a movie that will. This is one of a small number of movies that I have seen on airplane, and found myself saying, “I am going to rent this when I get home, and watch it again.” Labels: film reviews Heller Arguments I wasn't able to get into the oral arguments, but two of my lawyer friends did get into the lawyers's section. From discussions that I had with attorneys at our table, and who watched the oral arguments, there seems to be general agreement that we have five votes clearly for an individual right (and almost certainly to strike down DC's handgun ban): Scalia, Alito, Thomas, Roberts, and shockingly and obviously, Kennedy. There is also believed to be a possibility that we might get Ginsburg as well. Stevens and Breyer seem to be clearly against us, and perhaps Souter as well. By now, the audio and perhaps the transcripts should be available. I'm at Denver Airport right now, so I will try and download them for analysis. Thanks to Bitter Bitch for dragging journalists over to Professor Cottrol and myself for interviews. Australian Radio News and Howard University's public radio station both interviewed me. Labels: gun rights Heller Line Pictures I went down last night to take some pictures of the public line for getting into the Heller oral arguments. It was dark, but it felt much like people waiting to get tickets for a rock concert. Sleeping bags. Camping lights. Pizza boxes! What makes this so unfortunate is that there are rumors that members of Congress may decide to attend--and they get priority over the masses on the public audience space. To be young has so many advantages!     I only found one person in line willing to defend DC's position--and she was a lawyer with Legal Community Against Violence who had written their brief. I had a heck of a time getting her to defend what the Second Amendment did protect. She agreed that it did protect some kind of an individual right--but exactly what, she wasn't prepared to articulate. She seemed focused primarily on the idea that whatever it protected, the Fourteenth Amendment could not incorporate the Second Amendment against the states--and that DC was not part of the federal government, and therefore the Second Amendment didn't restrict DC government--only the federal government. I sense a monumental victory coming for us when their side can't come up with an argument better than this. UPDATE: I removed one picture above with a sign that said "Guns Are Why America Is Free" because the law student holding it had been doing so just for fun, and felt that it would not go over well with his fellow law students, since his own views on this are more "nuanced" than that. A John Kerry in training! Labels: gun rights Monday, March 17, 2008
The Heller Line Volokh Conspiracy reports that the line for oral arguments for Heller formed 40 hours in advance. Okay, I don't guess that I will be getting in. I have an interview to do with NRA News in a few minutes; I'll drive by the Supreme Court building, and try and get some pictures of the lines (there may even be a line for members of the Supreme Court Bar by now) for the blog. Several commenters compared this to a rock concert: Maybe people will hold up cigarette lighters during moving parts of oral argument.The Court should really have held this in stadium, to deal with the anticipated demand. I will have to settle for being the nicely dressed guy in front of the building, in the hopes that the reporters will assume that I am on the side of D.C.--and get disappointed at what I have to say. Labels: gun rights Real Or Fake? Over at Crime, Guns, and Videotape is the claim that the recent Los Angeles Times article about the Heller case uses a photograph of a really, really tiny handgun--but that the "gun" in question was actually a German-made tear gas dispenser that was never considered a firearm under U.S. law--and can't be converted to a firearm, either. I can't immediately verify this claim. But which is more likely? That a mainstream media organization hasn't a clue? Or that a blogger has it right? Based on past experience, I'll side with the blogger. Democrats Who Put America First From the March 17, 2008 Washington Times, p. A6, "Inside Politics": Nationally, a quarter of those who back Clinton say that they'd vote for John McCain if Obama won the nomination (while just 10 percent of Obama supporters would do the same if he lost).Some of this may just be backers of each candidate trying to scare their opponents in the primary to coming around to their side--but I would not be surprised if a fair number of Clinton's backers recognize that the War on Terror really does matter more than politics. If so, an Obama nomination guarantees a McCain victory. Labels: 2008 presidential candidates U.S. Capitol Tour Visiting D.C.? Here's a tip. If you want to go on the U.S. Capitol tour, you need to show up by about 8:00 AM (or even better, earlier) south of the Capitol to get tickets for that day. However: 1. There is no parking nearby. If you can figure a way to take the Metro in (and even better, figure out how to get the fare card machine to issue a fare card), good. 2. Now that you have tickets for sometime later in the day, go visit the many museums along the National Mall near where you get the tickets. It now appears that getting into the oral arguments for Heller isn't going to happen--the line started forming Sunday at 5:30 AM. So we'll go on the Capitol tour instead. Sunday, March 16, 2008
CCR5-delta 32 And Bubonic Plague I mentioned a couple of years ago a very interesting documentary about the apparent connection between a particular genetic defect that seems to confer AIDS immunity and bubonic plague. I mentioned this in the hotel room last night, and Dave Hardy mentioned it. One of his readers pointed to this study that argues that the original work showing the connection between CCR5-delta 32 and bubonic plague has not survived more careful study. Dinner With Fellow Bloggers Bitter Bitch and Snowflakes in Hell met us for dinner. Here you can see all us lingering over dinner; notice the halo over Professor Olson's head.  Click to enlarge Labels: gun rights Another Set of Interesting Conversations Last night dinner was with the usual suspects at a Chinese restaurant in Alexandria that is purported to be a favorite of both Presidents Bush, called Peking Gourmet.  Click to enlarge From left to right that's my wife, me, Dave Hardy, Professor Bob Cottrol, and in the front row, Professor Joe Olson. Dave, Joe, my wife, and I, had lunch with Alan Gura today in downtown Alexandria. Dave, Joe, and I are now, in the words of one of the prominent attorneys working on the Heller case, "Santa's little helpers." I asked Joe and Dave, both of whom have argued before the Supreme Court, how important oral arguments were. Their response was that while oral arguments seldom win a case, they are, if not handled correctly, quite capable of losing an argument. Labels: gun rights |
