"If [Alito] is not qualified to serve on the Supreme Court, then no conservative is qualified." --Mark Levin

This is something that ought to be considered. If the possession of conservative ideology disqualifies a nominee, then likewise it would make sense that the possession of liberal ideology would disqualify a nominee. We confirmed Ginsburg [sic?], if you recall.

Also, keep in mind what a conservative judge is. Conservatism is the opposite of activism and radicalism. It is the preservation of things that have gone before. Original intent and precedent are what are important to conservative judges, not enacting social policies. Alito once struck down an anti-abortion law, despite his personal feelings on the issue. A non-conservative judge will not be bound by the Constitution or by precedent, and rule broadly based on his or her own feelings, drawing justification from the most unappropriate places (foreign laws should not be considered domestic precedent). The real fear is that the last bastion of liberal power is in danger of becoming what it was intended to be all along...an unideological body designed to interpret the Constitution, not administer social change. Democrats are desparate and they are going to fight tooth and claw for this. Like a wounded badger, my friends. It is going to be ugly but it was inevitable.

Kudos to Bush. You got your act together.

I haven't posted a good column quote in a while...I found this one quite truthful:

"Now, I've written thousands of words on why I don't think hypocrisy is the worst sin imaginable. There's not a good parent in the world who hasn't felt like a hypocrite at one point or another with their kids. Telling your kids not to do certain bad or unwise things you did when you were a kid may feel hypocritical, but telling your children it's O.K. to do wrong out of some craving to be hip or to assuage your own conscience is the most asinine form of vanity I can imagine. Similarly, it's certainly wrong to do drugs, but does giving in to your addiction mean you should also advocate doing drugs for everybody? During the run-up to the Iraq war, how many times did we hear that it was hypocritical for the United States to topple Saddam since we'd worked with him in the 1980s? The upshot seemed to be that it is better to do wrong consistently than do right inconsistently." --Jonah Goldberg

Time now for a pointless, meandering post on sundry relatively unimportant topics that nonetheless interest me.

First off, it hasn’t been much more than a month or two since I was last down at the lake with the in-laws, and already I feel the gnawing urge to get out and do some shooting. I think it was not this last time, but the time before (June, maybe?) that I fired the Spanish 1911 copy. Nice gun…powerful, moderate accuracy. It is actually more burdened by my shooting technique; as is common amongst shooters new to high recoil guns, the subconscious urge to brace against recoil causes you to dip the nose as you pull the trigger, resulting in me aiming low too often. I’ve just got to train myself out of it. I’ve temporarily given up on an assault rifle…for now, I’ll make do with an Enfield and various handguns. In a close combat situation such as home defence, the advantages offered by an assault rifle, while not nullified, are somewhat diminished. A high power .308 cartridge is more appropriate on the open battlefield, but the prospect of being able to easily shoot through hollow doors at a would-be assailant is worth considering, still. The Enfield could do that, though. There is a definite advantage there…the door is locked, and while them firing blindly into the door would have little chance of hitting us, especially without them knowing the layout of the room, a shot fired into the door from the other side would have a better chance of taking out the intruder, or at least dissuading them from further pursuit. Seizing the advantage is key…with myself and an intruder with a clear line of sight in an open room, the odds are fairly even. Of course, with multiple guns at the ready and my wife being a good shot, that changes it a bit.

You have to know, I’m mainly doing this just to give liberals hives. I enjoy envisioning and analyzing tactical scenarios. I think it is worthwhile to consider these things, as in the unlikely incident that a home invasion occurred, there would not be time to consider the best course of action, only time to react. So I’m mainly just thinking aloud whilst baiting the anti-gun crowd. But still, I have an admiration for a well made firearm. Just like the glistening beauty of a finely forged sabre, an elegant firearm like an Enfield has both power and graceful aesthetics.

I was going to wax eloquent on music, but now I feel the muse of writing has left me, and I would only wax obtuse.

I’m having a great deal of fun with another hobby…see my brog:

http://stcrispins.blogspot.com