A few quickies / old business

So evidently writing a blog is harder than I thought. Sorry for the sporadic posting. When things get busy with academic research or social commitments I lose track of current events. No current events generally means no blogging...but we'll see.

First, best wishes to Publius from Legal Fiction in his absense. His was the first blog that I read and liked. It had a fresh view, and his ability to convey legal aspects to the uninitiated spoke of a deep patience and thoughtful mind. More than anything else I appreciate his calculated arguments, advocacy of empiricism, and rejection of pathos. His arguments were fun to read even when I did not agree, and his links introduced me to many of my favorite blogs. Godspeed Publius. In my greed I hope you find blogging too hard to give up.

Second, I'm losing faith in John McCain. The things I've heard over the years had led me to generally believe that he was a man of integrity. I'm starting to re-think. A few months ago, I checked out his voting record, and I'm sorry to say it is not nearly as moderate as I had hoped. (more later on easy ways to do this) Ok so maybe he's more conservative than I thought, but I still idolized his personal history and moral character. When he visited Guantanimo years ago, I thought "Good. Like no one else in politics, he will see to it that prisoners are treated with humanity." But what has happened? And what has he done about it? He wasn't exactly a whistle-blower, now was he? Did he see "persuasion" at work? Did he endorse it? I don't know. This Op-Ed is another disheartening piece. I'd rather see his quotes in context, but it looks like he's selling out the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth for a bit of Republican Primary capital. Was it unfair of me to have higher expectations?