LAW AND/OR ORDER. Now we come to the heart of the matter: the issue of order vs. chaos. Here we get to my three most basic objections to RRSD. a) Justices have life tenure, yo. It’s potentially great power with limited accountability. Why remove one of the few checks on the Court? This is the point I was making with my whole scrumptious-eclair imagery here. Read more

But that isn’t my most important point. This is: c) There is a higher order–represented not by the whim of the Court, but by the Constitution. This is the final point: RRSD replaces the Constitution with the Court. The Constitution becomes the thing you rely on only when no previous court has left its fingerprints all over the issue before the judges. Presidents–and Court justices–take oaths to uphold not the Supreme Court’s precedents, but the Constitution. The order they’re called... Read more

KIDS’ BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS: I love recommending kids’ books. So I was thrilled when an acquaintance asked for some thoughts on favorite books. First off, here’s my Crisis magazine piece about Christianity and children’s fantasy; you’ll find many of my favorites there. Here are a passel more, chosen more or less at random, that I hope will bring someone many, many happy hours. My tastes skew dark, so be forewarned, but some of these are very sunny: Diana Wynne Jones, esp.... Read more

“Being a priest is so great I can’t even believe it.” Heartwarming reading. Via the Cranky Professor. Read more

PUTIN PULLS PLUG ON LAST CRITICAL TV CHANNEL. Via The Rat. Read more

MARK SHEA on why the Pope isn’t doing what you want him to do (the first point is especially interesting to me–I’ve blogged about my problems with the third point in the series that begins here) and starting a lay Catholic reading group. The latter link is hugely, wildly, pom-poms-waving recommended. Shea also has the usual slash-and-burn theology (I mean that in a good way) and sundry intriguing posts. Read more

STUDY SUGGESTS DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE SEXUALITY. In other news, water wet. But if this study has any merit (and I can’t even guess whether that’s a big if), it is mildly interesting/confirming-of-what-I-already-think: “Three decades of research on men’s sexual arousal show patterns that clearly track sexual orientation — gay men overwhelmingly become sexually aroused by images of men and heterosexual men by images of women. In other words, men’s sexual arousal patterns seem obvious. “But a new Northwestern... Read more

YOU LIKE THE BIBLE, BUT NOT THE REAL PRESENCE IN THE EUCHARIST? I think you’ve irritated a lion! (Nice post from Lynn Gazis-Sax, in other words. I don’t actually know if her site’s title means “Don’t bug the lions.” That’s because I dropped out of Latin after “Canis est in via. Grumio Melissam delectat.” or whatever.) Read more

WISDOM TEETH: The day I moved back to D.C., in August 2001, my wisdom teeth were killing me. I could barely chew. I tried valiantly to eat a Roy Rogers hamburger at a NJ rest stop, because I love them (it tastes like they butter the bun, mmm) and the chain is no longer operating in D.C., but it just hurt sooooo much. So I went to see the dentist. My dentist recommended that the teeth be removed, which I’d... Read more

BENEATH THE VAST POST THERE, you’ll find reviews of “Spider-Man” and Mark Twain’s “Letters from the Earth.” Just so you know. Read more