Affirmative action can’t help but distort our democratic values.  Consider the institution of special “diversity seats” in the Amherst student Senate.  Diversity seats are bad enough.  But clever conservatives at Amherst actually managed to wrangle a diversity seat for conservatives.  A bad idea, of course, but one that nicely draws out the flawed logic of affirmative action itself.  Now the Amherst student Senate has reversed itself and denied the conservatives their diversity seat.  Of course the whole idea of “diversity seats” mocks democracy.  Under the guise of aiding minorities, a leftist majority tyranny stacks the political deck by packing the Senate with like-minded votes, over and above what a fair election would have yielded.  This turns those who oppose representation by “victimhood” into victims themselves.  The student Senate and the conservatives alike are caught in the contradiction.

A federal appeals court has ruled that doctors cannot be barred from
recommending pot to their patients. The judges held that such restrictions conflict with a doctor’s free-speech rights. “An integral component of the practice of medicine is the communication between doctor and a patient. Physicians must be able to speak frankly and openly to patients,” Chief Circuit Judge Mary Schroeder said. That’s cool, I guess. But isn’t this true about a lot of other professions as well? What about the world of financial planning. My broker cannot give me “inside information” without losing her license or even going to jail.  Isn’t it an “integral component” to the practice of financial planning to speak “frankly and
openly” to clients? Of course, medicine and investing are different but that
doesn’t necessarily mean one is always more important than the other. A
doctor is free to recommend ganja for my headaches but a financial planner
isn’t allowed to give me information that would permit me to pay for my
wife’s heart-transplant.


Also, despite what the propagandists say, medically prescribed pot is not
always a medical necessity. Sometimes — though not always — doctors
prescribe pot because their customers (i.e. patients) want to get pot when
other drugs would be more effective. In other words, the court understands
that free speech in a doctor’s office isn’t always about medical needs,
sometimes it’s just about bidness, and yet the Doc’s free speech rights are
still absolute.

This is me testing the new blogger software.

I still can’t get over the unutterable vulgarity of the Wellstone “memorial.” Remember all the kind, generous and genuine things Republicans and conservatives said about the dead Senator in the wake of his death? The surviving Wellstone children didn’t have the grace to welcome the Vice President to the memorial service, but you give them that. What you don’t concede to the Wellstone survivors is the right to turn a politically ecumenical memorial service, presumably something to which all Minnesotans and Washingtonians were invited to mourn, into a partisan political rally. Trent Lott and Jesse Ventura were right to leave after being insulted so gravely at such a solemn occasion. It’s perfectly understandable that Democrats would want to capitalize on sympathy for the dead Wellstone and build momentum for Mondale going into the election. But you do that at a rally after the memorial service. You don’t turn a commemoration of the dead into a get-out-the-vote event. I was moved nearly to tears by the grief Sen. Tom Harkin showed last week, as he doubled over in tears trying to make a statement before cameras on the day of Wellstone’s death. But with his performance yesterday, Harkin proved himself no statesman, simply a political hack. Even the NY Times in its coverage today said there were no tears at yesterday’s memorial service. I hope the Minnesota voters remember this insult on Election Day, and vote accordingly.

A Minnesotan e-mails: I just read your post about Coleman and the poll that just came out – do not believe it. There is huge backlash already taking place after last night’s fiasco. If Mondale’s lead is only 8 after 5 days of Wellstone tributes this race is going to be a coin flip. Coleman is just playing the part of the wronged candidate.

The radio stations are just on fire this morning with complaints about the tackiness and unfairness of the service and coverage of it. The media outlets feel totally burned and now either look foolish or partisan (when they are both in reality). People are calling in demanding equal time for the other parties and station managers are lamely trying to explain themselves. Jesse Ventura and his wife got up and left when that weasel was screaming “Win it for Wellstone” ( he continues to vex me by acting like a rational leader these last few weeks of his term).

Norm Coleman said this morning it would take a miracle for him to win this thing. In a poll taken Monday, before the Dem lovefest last night, Mondale was already leading.

ELECTION ’02 FLASH I was just editing John J. Miller’s piece for today on the Minnesota race and was surprised to be reminded that there’s a Democratic party convention there tonight to formally name Mondale as their man. I really thought that was last night.

This NYTimes piece says Muhammed was on the verge of giving investigators a confession when the the MD U.S. Attorney walked in to deal with federal weapons charges.

Maybe they were doing him a favor, based on the non-Democrat reception last night.

…I know, but neat all the same. Girl’s Club is gone.

Drudge has linked an important piece by Dick Morris on a recent decline in the president’s popularity. Morris argues that intensive campaigning by the president has weakened his image as a wartime leader. More important, Morris argues that the president still needs to make the case to the American people that an invasion of Iraq is necessary. I strongly agree with this. To this day, I don’t think that the real nature of the nuclear threat that Saddam Hussein poses has sunk in with the American public. The mainstream media, of course, hasn’t helped, since the many critics of an invasion seldom even address the key issues in favor of a move. On a more encouraging note, Kenneth Pollack’s, The Threatening Storm will be at number twelve on next Sunday’s New York Times best seller list. This might be a good time for the President to be seen publicly reading The Threatening Storm.

From Drudge: Executives Plan Wednesday Meet To Discuss Canceling Low-rated David E. Kelley GIRLS CLUB on FOX… Developing…


If Girls Club was remotely interesting, there would be Time magazine covers about it. Three twentysomething gorgeous lawyers who make their way in the mostly male waters of a San Fran law firm. In two episodes, a man on trial for rape killed himself accidentally while gratifying himself as he obsessed about blonde lawyer girl, too-much-makeup-girl gets sexually harassed, sorta, maybe (and makes an idiot of herself), brunette with glasses girl is dating a guy the other girls think is gay; as if a theme, she accuses her office nemesis of being a “dyke” for stealing her ideas. And that’s about the show. They whine to each other about how hard their little lives are. If this were a statement on “where women are” or “what women want,” we’d have some serious societal rethinking to do. Luckily it may be gone before Time gets a free cover.

Too many people on the voter rolls in Detroit.

The Florida Democrat’s last success was Reno’s concession.

GOP star-studded week campaigning for Jeb.

Just two of North Carolina’s 13 congressional districts are in play this year: the competitive 8th District along the South Carolina line from Charlotte to Ft. Bragg and the new 13th District that runs along the Virginia border from Greensboro to Raleigh. In both, the Republican candidates are turning in the last week to national security as an issue. Threatened incumbent Robin Hayes in the 8th has a new TV ad that features President Bush, jets taking off, waving flags, the works. But in neither race has the Democrat come out against the president on the war. Looks like an attempt to change the political subject. It may be thwarted in that the Dems have already taken steps to neutralize the issue. Could be a mistake GOP candidates are replicating elsewhere–downplaying other issues like taxes where the contrast is more stark.

John Hood is chairman and president of the John Locke Foundation, a public-policy think tank based in Raleigh, North Carolina, that focuses on state and local issues. Hood is also a syndicated columnist on state politics and public policy for the Durham Herald-Sun, and newspapers in 30 other North Carolina communities. He is a regular radio commentator and a weekly panelist on N.C. Spin, a discussion program on state issues that is broadcast on ten television stations across North Carolina, including stations in Charlotte, Raleigh, Winston-Salem, Greenville, Wilmington, and Asheville. His latest book is Investor Politics: The New Force That Will Transform American Business, Government, and Politics in the 21st Century.

…contesting the vote in Minnesota.

Barbra’s endorsements are up. But couldn’t she have saved some poor staffer some time by just telling people to vote the straight Democratic ticket?

Rick Fulbaum(sp?) on FOX just said, “The White House says time is running out in New York,” teasing a story on the U.N. resolution. I resent that. I really don’t think that is fair to New York. I have never considered the U.N. technically part of New York. More like an alternative reality.