j b l o g

Testing

2008-03-25T15:14:00.001-05:00

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Finis

2006-05-14T09:24:00.000-05:00

JBlog has, for all intents and purposes, already folded. It just needed to be made official.

I have a few ideas for a new blog--a blog that would be more focused and have a narrower vision. If those ideas come to anything, you'll know.

Thanks to JBlog's readers for, well, reading.

Gospel Jesus

2006-04-09T13:25:00.000-05:00

There's a terrific Gary Wills op-ed in today's New York Times. Wills chides Republicans and Democrats alike for exploiting the Jesus of the Gospels for political ends.

I feel considerable chagrin at this very common myopia among Christians--here in the South and elsewhere--that somehow their own politics are not only aligned with their Christianity, but the only appropriate such alignment. As Wills deftly points out, one thing is sure: political provincialism is not consistent with the gospel life.

Wife Blogs

2006-04-04T10:39:00.000-05:00

I'm not officially giving the blog up yet. But as JBlog fades into the inner recesses of your memories, a new Ward-run blog emerges. It's a project by my lovely wife. Check it out here.

Crash Critiques

2006-03-02T13:18:00.000-06:00

Without giving this more thought than I already have in weeks past, I will say that the flurry of criticism directed at Crash in general (and its award-getting potential this weekend in particular) makes little sense to me.

If you didn't like the movie, fine. But where all these write-ups about Haggis's misunderstanding of modern-day race problems coming from?

Sure, political correctness has stamped its indelible mark on race issues, and that has led to less name-calling (at least in public) and more getting-along (at least on the surface). But from some of the recent reviews I've read, you'd think race has finally become, for most Americans, a purely peripheral problem. And to them, I want to say, Are you really so absurdly out of touch with our America?

The crystallization of the criticism is that Haggis made Crash too blunt. Racism is no longer as Spike Lee portrayed it a decade age, these writers say. It is now more insidious and under-the-surface than ever, and with such subtlety comes the necessity of a subtlety of artistic vision (a subtlety found mostly lacking in Crash).

Honestly, this distinction just seems unimportant. Who cares if a new generation (a more "PC" one, as we say) forces racism to put on a new mask? It's still here.

It's perfectly okay to dispute the best way for an artist to go about treating an ever-evolving problem. And there are sure to be many good and compelling answers. But it isn't enough, in my view, to simply say Crash is obsolete, a movie for a previous era. That its devices and techniques don't "work" in 2006. We've "moved on." Haggis is "naive." And on and on.

Because art doesn't have to be of the mirror-image variety to shed light on reality. On a reality like American racism, art actually needs to be better than mirror-image. It needs to be blunt enough to (alternately) resonate with some people, and make others very, very angry.

If that was its intention, it's safe to say Crash did its job.

Seinfeld and the Law

2006-03-02T12:25:00.000-06:00

At Barely Legal, a blog run by a couple of funny law students, there's a post about how unfunny Seinfeld would get if a lawyer were added to the cast. It's pretty funny.

The Foers

2006-02-28T08:40:00.000-06:00

So, the Foers are a bigger power-family than I thought. Their most famous member, Jonathan Safran Foer, has gotten lots of acclaim for his novel Everything Is Illuminated and, to a lesser extent, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. These books are very hip right now.

The NYT has an article today about Jonathan's brother Franklin Foer, who is preparing to take over as editor of The New Republic, a well-respected magazine in Democratic circles.

And the WSJ's Law Blog had a post not long ago about the Foers' dad, Bert. He's the president of the American Antitrust Institute (AAI) in D.C. and a former attorney at Hogan and Hartson (whose appellate practice, incidentally, Chief Justice John Roberts headed up before moving on to the D. C. Circuit).

All of this is fascinating to probably no one but me, so apologies in advance.

Sowell on a Tragic Character, Education

2006-02-24T12:02:00.000-06:00

Wow. Two terrific Thomas Sowell columns in three days.

The first is about the disservice schools' social promotion policies do to kids' educations.

The second is entitled "Another Academic Casualty." It artfully bemoans Lawrence Summers' forced exit from the Big H.

Miscellaneous Itemized

2006-02-24T11:12:00.000-06:00

From Slate: an article on the potential significance of Justice Alito's hiring older, more mature legal minds to clerk for him this October term. Significant? Probably not very.

From the Post yesterday: an article on Alito's "first day of school" at One First Street. Very funny.

From the NYT today: a fascinating (well, relatively speaking) article on a Texas oilman's clever tax planning move in late December. He made a tax-deductible 165M gift to a charity set up to benefit Oklahoma State's golf program, then moved it straight into a hedge fund he controls. Even though the hedge fund has waived all fees and any profit share on investments, this transaction is still clearly Advantage: Texas Oilman's Hedge Fund. I'm surprised that this could work, but apparently it could, and did.

Dersh and Bennett on a Cowering Press

2006-02-23T12:53:00.000-06:00

The blog looks to be dying a slow death, but there are still spurts of vitality left in her.

Here's the most unlikely op-ed duo you'll ever see: Alan Dershowitz and William Bennett co-authored this column, appearing in today's Washington Post.

The piece criticizes the press for its total abdication of duty in refusing to print the cartoons currently at the center of a global controversy. Believe me when I say it is well worth the read.

David Mamet's Cartoon

2006-02-17T16:21:00.000-06:00

I'm not a big Huffington Post fan, but David Mamet--the David Mamet--has a Cheney cartoon posted on it today. And regardless of what you think of Huffington, Cheney, or David Mamet, you should go see his cartoon.

Jackson Native to Clerk for USSC

2006-02-15T11:08:00.000-06:00

Steve Shackelford of Jackson, Mississippi is one of Justice Breyer's October term 2006 clerks. He is profiled here.

Mossad on Munich

2006-02-11T10:17:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Volokh, I found this article on Munich. If you're like me, you've read so many Munich reviews already that you don't feel the need to read another. This one's from a unique perspective, though: a former Mossad operative weighs in on the realism of Spielberg's film.

Jackson Attorney Gets Circuit Bid

2006-02-09T08:41:00.000-06:00

Jackson, Mississippi made it onto the WSJ's Law Blog this morning. The blog links to this Clarion-Ledger article on President Bush's nomination of Jackson attorney Michael Wallace to fill a Fifth Circuit vacancy. According to the article, Wallace has been a partner at Phelps Dunbar since 1986.

Coach

2006-02-08T08:12:00.000-06:00

The Times pays homage to John Vaught.

Name This Man

2006-02-02T12:43:00.000-06:00

Earlier today, the WSJ's Law Blog linked to this help-wanted ad from attorney Daniel Hull. Here's the text of the ad:

WANTED: Of counsel for growing Pittsburgh-based boutique business law firm. Must have at least 8 years of highest level federal Exec. Branch experience, world-wide connections, Yale Law degree, one year at Oxford, own money and people skills. Crowd-pleaser. Must be able to sell anything to anyone. And be originally from Hope, Arkansas. State government experience preferred but not required. Same for participation in Renaissance weekends, and fund-raising. United Nations experience also a big plus. You don’t need to re-locate. Happy to set up the office for you. Wherever you want. Harlem or Chappaqua, New York are okay. Or DC. You decide. You can work out of your house. Whatever.
NOTE: No previous private law practice experience necessary. Not a problem–no problem at all. Excellent benefits package.

Sound familiar?

Supremes' Clerks

2006-01-31T14:16:00.000-06:00

Underneath Their Robes links to this up-to-date list of SCOTUS clerks for next term.

It's at Prettier Than Napoleon, a new blog favorite I'll be returning to regularly.

Writing Scared

2006-01-30T23:25:00.000-06:00

I instinctively dislike conspiracy theories. They tend to be more than irrational. They tend to be wrong.

Unprovable. Far too intricate. And, at the core, wrong.

Can you lump today's NYT column--on the conservative alliance to paint the Supreme Court red--in that group? I don't know. But the explanation it proffers is surely not the most rational one, as even Jack Balkin, a Yale Law professor, agrees.

David Kirkpatrick's analysis of how the Reagan administration sought to "seed" the courts with regressive 18th-century-minded legal scholars is admittedly interesting. But it sounds more like Thanatos Syndrome than Real Life.

When Kirkpatrick isn't writing scared, he's writing petty. Here's one such excerpt from the article:

Conservatives had begun planning for a nomination fight as long ago as that February meeting, which was led by Leonard A. Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society and informal adviser to the White House, Mr. Meese and Mr. Gray.

They laid out a two-part strategy to roll out behind whomever the president picked, people present said. The plan: first, extol the nonpartisan legal credentials of the nominee, steering the debate away from the nominee's possible influence over hot-button issues. Second, attack the liberal groups they expected to oppose any Bush nominee.

The team worked through a newly formed group, the Judicial Confirmation Network, to coordinate grass-roots pressure on Democratic senators from conservative states. And they stayed in constant contact with scores of conservative groups around the country to brief them about potential nominees and to make sure they all stuck to the same message. They fine-tuned their strategy for Judge Alito when he was nominated in October by recruiting Italian-American groups to protest the use of the nickname "Scalito," which would have linked him to the conservative Justice Antonin Scalia.

Is this worth writing about? Come on, if savvy marketing in politics is news, I knew about it already. Give me something else, please.

Some real news.

Fill in the Blanks...

2006-01-25T19:14:00.000-06:00

Posted by: Carla

I have never been a fan of fill-in-the-blank Bible studies. Granted, growing up I've done my share of them, but I think they tend to be shallow (how in depth can you get when asked to look up Romans 3:23 and fill in the blank "who has sinned:_______") and also, in the actual meeting time they stifle meaningful discussion. The leader ends up asking, "What did you put in this blank?" and everyone answers by rote, leading to zero discussion or comment.

I may be overstating it slightly, but I would be willing to bet on the whole, it's more often true than not.

This critique in Modern Reformation examining Beth Moore's new book is more insightful than my whiny comments above. I would have been loath to criticize her a few years ago, but now I understand the deficiences the author points out.

Please Come to Ole Miss, Andre. Please.

2006-01-23T19:19:00.000-06:00

More on A3G

2006-01-22T21:11:00.000-06:00

The NYT has this supremely fascinating article on David Lat, a.k.a. Article III Groupie of Underneath Their Robes fame.

The piece is much less expose-ish than Lat's actual expose, which came courtesy of Jeff Toobin in a November New Yorker article. It is personal, biographical, and fairly revealing. Good read...

2006-01-22T18:56:00.000-06:00

Will Baude, a 2L at Yale Law School who blogs at Crescat Sententia, has an op-ed in the Times today on Roe. Read it here.

Opinionista Revealed

2006-01-18T11:03:00.000-06:00

Another blogger's anonymity is gone. Today the NYO unveiled Opinionista, creator of Opinionistas, a blog about a young associate's life at a NYC law firm.

O is Melissa Lafsky, a U.Va. law grad who worked in NY firms for a few years and has now parlayed her blog's enormous popularity into a book deal.

This is a blogger book Carla and I are actually looking forward to reading.

Up and Down Wall Street, It's the Most Wonderful Time of Year

2006-01-12T13:27:00.000-06:00

"Wall Street bonuses are in and they are big," begins this NYT article on the banner year that was 2005. Profits surged, and so did bonuses.

I-banking execs reaped the biggest harvests, of course. Goldman Sachs CEO Hank Paulson led the pack with total 2005 compensation of $38M.

One Day Down, Several To Go

2006-01-09T15:59:00.000-06:00

Alito's opening remarks lasted eleven minutes and went off without a hitch. It was an unpretentious, honest eleven minutes, impressive less for polish than for clear thinking and clean speaking.

It seems evident that, whatever else Samuel Alito is, over his head he is not.

As I watched Senator Leahy's remarks, I found myself wishing desperately that he could somehow be made to sit in the nominee's chair for a day. The good senator isn't particularly articulate at present; I'd be interested in his response to the kind of awkward, intense scrutiny he seems committed to inflicting on Judge Alito over the course of the hearings.

Tomorrow's Q&A session promises to be exciting and possibly uncomfortable. Be sure to tune in.