Around the Web on 10-20-05

In the process of catching up on the news after my recent media blackout in New Orleans, I encountered the following....

Houston, We Have a Pennant!

If that wasn't the headline I saw on the Houston Chronicles being sold in street medians today, it should've been. I am not much of a baseball fan, but I do tune in when things get really interesting, like when the local Rice Owls made it to, and eventually won, the College World Series in 2003. And so I've been following the Houston Astros of late, and I am thrilled to see that they finally made it to the World Series after a 5-1 win over St. Louis last night!

The Astros, who were 15-30 on May 24, are the first team since the 1914 Boston Braves to go from 15 games under .500 to the World Series.

By winning the best-of-seven series 4-2, the Astros have earned the right to face the American League champion Chicago White Sox in the World Series, which starts Saturday night at U.S. Cellular Field.

I was also very impressed with the Cardinals' fans.

A classy, red-clad, sellout crowd of 52,438 even gave the Astros an ovation while watching them party in the last game at Busch Stadium, which will be replaced by a modern stadium next door.

Good sportsmanship is a sign or respect and a recognition of excellence that transcends which side in a game one hoped would win. As such, their good sportsmanship is a sign that the fans in St. Louis have a real love for the game. Win or lose, I hope Houston's fans live up to the standard set at Busch stadium.

Coming Soon...

... to better stationery stores near you: The Bashar Assad pencil eraser.

From Picking Cotton to Picking Democrats

Awhile back, when I learned about Jesse Jackson's unhappiness with black New Orleanians being perhaps permanently unavailable to vote in New Orleans, I wrote:

[Jackson] fears two things: (1) a dilution of black voting strength in New Orleans resulting from countless decisions to remain elsewhere, and (2) a demonstrative education on good government for the black voters who do return.

It looks like I was right on the money.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin are up in arms because what has historically been a mostly black city may be on its way to becoming a largely brown city. Latino immigrants are coming to New Orleans from as far away as California to repair homes, clear debris, rebuild roads and do other jobs. According to a story in the Los Angeles Times, they're making about $15 per hour, and they've been so warmly received by contractors that many of them say they plan to stay, save money, buy homes, and put down roots in the Big Easy.

Before Katrina, New Orleans was only about 3 percent Latino. Now, demographers say the city's Latino population could swell to four or five times that amount.

The author of this piece reports that Jackson has proposed busing New Orleans's able-bodied, but aimlessly-wandering refugees back to the Big Easy to participate in the reconstruction work, something I noticed awhile back, and he makes the following excellent point:

City officials say that one thing that keeps former residents from wanting to give New Orleans another chance is the lack of subsidized housing.

Guess what? Latino immigrants have to contend with the same shortage. The difference is that the immigrants are not sitting around and waiting for government to come to the rescue. They're probably living two or three families to a house, and saving money to buy a home of their own.

That's how it used to be in this country before the advent of the welfare state. And, if the immigrant values win out in this struggle over those of the New Orleans officials it could be that way again.

Let's understand the stakes. This is a struggle between those who want to be seen as delivering salvation and those who believe that everyone is responsible for saving themselves. Funny. Given the government's slow response to Katrina, I thought that argument was settled.

If Katrina has exposed the consequences of the welfare state, perhaps the rebuilding of New Orleans will expose the benefits of doing away with it altogether. Not only have many government regulations already been shelved to expedite the effort, but now we also see that many from outside the "social safety net" are about to come to the rescue -- something the Jesse Jacksons of the world can only pretend to do.

Add "Incompetent" to the List

I have already stated why I oppose the Miers nomination on political grounds. I have also indirectly expressed my gut feeling that she is a lightweight. Now, apparently, that gut feeling has been confirmed, something I hope Harriet Miers never is! From Patterico's quotation of the Washington Post:

[S]everal constitutional law scholars said they were surprised and puzzled by Miers's response to the committee's request for information on cases she has handled dealing with constitutional issues. In describing one matter on the Dallas City Council, Miers referred to the proportional representation requirement of the Equal Protection Clause as it relates to the Voting Rights Act.

There is no proportional representation requirement in the Equal Protection Clause, said Cass R. Sunstein, a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago. He and several other scholars said it appeared that Miers was confusing proportional representation which typically deals with ethnic groups having members on elected bodies with the one-man, one-vote Supreme Court ruling that requires, for example, legislative districts to have equal populations.

Wow! One of Patterico's commenters adds, "[A]ny Senator who would vote in confirmation of Miers, Republican or Democrat, should have all support withdraw from them in their next election campaign. Voting for this disaster of a nominee would be a clear sign of utter incompetence and frank disrespect for the US Constitution." Hmmm. And what of nominating her in the first place? I am not sure whether to be more afraid that Bush made this nomination for tactical reasons (e.g., as a foil for the next nominee) or that Bush really wants her confirmed!

This is interesting. Many religious conservatives -- like this commenter -- oppose Miers. Many do so because they want an ironclad assurance that the Roe vs. Wade decision would be overturned if the opportunity presents itself, but many, including Ann Coulter, do so on the grounds that Miers is less than qualified as a constitutional scholar.

I think that a woman has the right to abort an early term fetus, but can see why some might object to the constitutional basis of the Roe vs. Wade decision. However, other goals of the religious right, notably those, like school prayer (or even the banning of abortion), where states' rights is to be used as a pretext for a piecemeal government establishment of religion on the state level, will require that a Justice deliberately evade the meaning of the Establishment Clause! To require that a solid constitutional scholar be willing to do this is to ask for a contradiction.

The Miers nomination, after this news, looks more likely to fail or even be withdrawn than it ever did. One wonders, though. If Miers were more adamantly "pro-life", would so many on the religious right still oppose her? Would the desire to ban abortion trump the desire for competence in the field of constitutional scholarship?

Is the desire for "competence" the same kind of window dressing that Intelligent Design is for Creationism?

American Cultural Imperialism

James Lileks writes a funny column on how American culture is invading nations around the world. My favorite line:

Drop a VCR and a TV in a remote Amazonian village, return a year later, and what do you find? Nothing, because you forgot to supply the generator. But leave one of those, and within six months the kids will be running around saying "No Luke I am your father" and making whoom-whoom lightsaber sounds. This fact gladdens the hearts of some, since it shows that American values freedom, justice, explosions are universal.

It's a lighthearted look at the fundamental contradiction of multiculturalism.

-- CAV

Updates

Today: Added link to Lileks column (HT: Jennifer Snow).