Scanning the ‘sphere

Glenn Reynolds has a wonderful economy of words and he rarely sounds less than curious and ebullient (and we love that in him) but twice today he’s sounded just a wee bit tired of the double-standards that come from politicians, academic institutions, etc., and I rather like reading him this way, too!

Here he is on Congress:

I DON’T WANT TO HEAR THEM BITCHING ABOUT “EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE,” EITHER:

All 13 members of Congress subpoenaed in the Duke Cunningham investigation have refused to turn over documents and testimony, citing congressional privilege. This was under advice from the House general counsel.

Keep in mind, this is the same Congress that, when questioned by Major League Baseball over its constitutional authority to investigate the steroid scandal, replied that its jurisdiction extended to “any time” and “on any matter.”

So while they seem to think their subpoena power is universal, don’t expect them to be held accountable themselves.

Pretty brave talk from an institution whose approval ratings are where they are.

Yeah…Congress is funny that way. And about the academy, he posts Michael Barone’s excellent point that Columbia will not welcome ROTC to the campus because they’re being sensitive to gays…but they don’t mind welcoming a man who hangs gays for, well, being gay. Michael Barone emails:

Just a random thought on Ahmedinejad speaking at Columbia.

Columbia doesn’t host ROTC or (I think) military recruiters on campus, because it would be just too offensive to do so, because the military obeys the law passed by a Democratic Congress and signed by Bill Clinton which bars open homosexuals from serving in the military. OK.

But Columbia does host Ahmedinejad who heads a government which executes homosexuals for the crime of being homosexuals.

So it’s obnoxious beyond belief to exclude homosexuals from military service, but it’s not obnoxious beyond belief to hang them from the neck until dead.
[…]
Why does Lee Bollinger think a man who heads a regime that executes homosexuals–not just excludes them from military service, but hangs them by the neck until dead, in public ceremony– should be honored with an invitation to speak at Columbia?

To which Glenn replies with a touch of sage and snark:

Because Ahmadinejad doesn’t like Bush, and that covers all sins?

He’s quite right, of course. All I know is, I read about Ahmadinejad coming to NYC (and wishing to lay a wreath at 9/11) and thought, “once upon a time Rudy Giuliani would not allow Yasir Arafat into Lincoln Center. I think he’d enormously enjoy saying “no”…and a whole lot more, to Ahmadinejad.”

This lady sums it up well. She misses the tough Mayor.

More info on Norman Hsu here and here and here, and other shady or questionable Clinton fund-raiser “bundlers” here and here. Doesn’t the press seem very incurious about this whole story? AND about Sandy Berger being back on Hillary’s team? As little coverage as possible. The press obligingly changes the headlines to blare a very lame joke by Hillary (some fun with that here), and the even more pathetic (and potentially back-firing) bite one of her lapdogs tried to take out of Rudy. Yeah, that’s smart – after you’ve spent the last 15 years saying, “our personal life is our personal life; there should be a zone of privacy” and (quite reasonably) “hands off Chelsea”, you get one of your minions to go after Rudy’s personal life, marriage and relationship with his kids. THAT’S going to scare those social conservatives away! And no one will notice the hypocrisy! (Well, okay, most of the press wont…)

And the press isn’t making much of the fact that Mrs. Clinton – who many on both the right and the left said missed a real moment last week – voted against the Congressional condemnation of the Moveon.org ad smearing Gen. David Petraeus. Captain Ed notes:

It’s a particularly sad commentary on the Democratic Party that they cannot bring themselves to support the very commander they sent to lead American troops in battle by a unanimous vote. It’s not a case of a few fringe politicians like Bernie Sanders or Barbara Boxer, either. The Majority Leader, Harry Reid, and his chief deputy, Dick Durbin, refused to condemn the smear on Petraeus’ honor. Hillary Clinton and Chris Dodd, both of whom want to become Commander in Chief over the military, chose to endorse MoveOn’s smear campaign against a man who has dedicated his life to defending this nation and serving presidents in a nonpartisan manner.

Uh-huh. She wants the moveon money…but she somehow wants the public and the military to believe that she’ll be a trustworthy and honorable Commander-in-Chief. Egad. She’s not really inspiring. She’s not really impressive. And yet she is the “it” girl for the press and they’ll do anything for her. I just don’t get it. Is it because they love Bill so much? I GOT his appeal. I do not get hers.

Meanwhile, even Wesley Clark says Moveon made a mistake with that ad and he says Petraeus told the truth.

Podcasts you might want to listen to: Siggy, Fausta and Dymphna apparently go into a slugfest. Meanwhile if you have not checked out Julie (Happy Catholic) Davis’s “Forgotten Classics”, you’re missing a treat. I can’t listen on the computer because before he left Buster did not set me up on itunes and his brother took the speakers on the other computer – but I’ve heard her by other means, and she is wonderful reading these great old books – a very lively character actress – although I don’t know where she finds the time! She is in the latter stages of Georgette Heyer’s The Black Moth, (which I will now have to re-read) and I have it on excellent authority that she will soon be starting Rumer Godden’s China Court! That should be a great one.

My dream: She and I do a tag-team on a Jeeves and Wooster novel, with Julie doing all the big parts and me showing up for the little ones! I’ve always, always wanted to give voice to Aunt Dahlia and Anatole, the temperamental French Chef. And Madeline (“I call her a ghastly girl because she is a ghastly girl!”) Bassett – I’ve always wanted to do that soupy, droopy baby voice! Perhaps someday!

Oh death, where is thy victory?. A moving story.

And because it’s lovely and sad – a gorgeous Mother of Sorrow