Saturday Morning Link Dump

You really should be reading Are You Conservative without my having to tell you, but in case you aren't, this one is especially good.

And for more information on the Alberto Gonzalez hearings in the Senate, which I have been largely ignoring, Liberal Larry does some first rate reporting. Key quote:

"'Ever enjoy a nice taco while you torture a prisoner, Pancho?' Sen. Robert Byrd grilled him."

Look for updates throughout the next few hours, while I look for new blogs to feature.

Update: I stumbled upon A Certain Slant of Light, and I was amused when in this post he sneers at the pretentiousness of celebrities becoming "affianced" instead of "engaged," and then I noticed he uses the word "postprandial" on his sidebar. Heh.

In this post, he takes issue with Walter Williams' claim that the U.S. was set up as more of a Republic than a Democracy.

"The thesis postulated by Messrs. Diamond, Fisk and Garfinkle is that the democratic elements of majoritarianism and strong centralized government are not irreconciable with the republican elements of checks and balances and limited, decentralized government. 'We argue that the American system is a novel experiment in reconciling the advantages of democracy with the sobering qualities of republicanism.'"

Certainly our Constitution is a mixture of approaches. But it might also be noted that any time Williams or anyone else refers to the "vision of the founders," you need to take what follows with a grain of salt. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were both founders, but their visions of American government were by no means the same.

Update: Ben needs to lay off the crazy pills. Seriously, I hear those can be bad for you. Unless you want to use evidence of crazy pill use to get out of jail.

Ben complains about Colorado drivers. I know a good solution for that. Move to Louisiana for about a month. Then move back to Colorado. You will notice that, quite miraculously, all the Colorado drivers have gotten better.

Note carefully that I said the Colorado drivers would get better. In Colorado there is a phenomenon known as the transitional California driver. Californians move to Colorado in large numbers and, naturally, have no experience driving in 20 feet of snow. But they see that all the Coloradans are still driving fast, so they think, "Hey, I can drive fast, too!" That, of course, is pure self-delusion. Now after a few years the Californians learn how to drive in snow, but there is a constant influx from California, so there is never any dearth of transitional California drivers. Sadly, Ben, not even moving to Louisiana can change that.

Update: Oh baby, gimme some of that sweet sugar!