After Harriet Meirs' withdrawl of her supreme court nomination, President Bush has nominated appellate judge Samuel Alito Jr. for the position. Conservatives seem thrilled, and one thing at least can be said for Alito: he's got plenty of judicial history for politicians to fight over.
I'd love to get smart about this issue. But you really have to choose your battles, you know? It's all I can do to keep on top of the latest in pro sports and (to a lesser extent) the local high school. Now I'm seeing bloggers from across the spectrum digging up useful factoids on Alito as if he were some obscure Major League Baseball player who'd suddenly reappeared in the game after a two-year injury recovery period.
But my first impressions of Alito are pretty positive. He's exactly the opposite of all the things Meirs was criticized for: he's experienced as a judge, and he hasn't sent the president any birthday cards saying "OHMIGOD!!!11!!!! U R TEH ROCXS!!!1!!"
My NFL fantasy team lost by 10 points last night, but that's okay, because the Steelers pulled out the win. To be honest, I had thought Pittsburgh would wallop the visiting Baltimore Ravens without so much as breaking a sweat. I was wrong, however -- and it really goes to show how division rivalries will really make a team like Baltimore fight like a cornered rabid dog with three legs.
And the Dumbass Public Speaking award of the week goes to New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, who had this to say during a meeting with city business leaders:
How do I ensure that New Orleans is not overrun by Mexican workers?
The response, reportedly, was applause. Thanks to Finch for pointing this one out.
Look, I'm no huge fan of illegal immigration. You know why? Because it's illegal. But I'm pretty sure I know enough about the relationship between politics and the media to make the assertion that Nagin was incredibly inept to have let those words escape his mouth.
When it comes to New Orleans, insanity seems to be the order of the day. Many of you will remember the esteemed Louis Farrakhan, leader of America's Nation of Islam, and his theory on why the levees broke:
"I heard from a reliable source who saw a 25-foot-deep crater under the levee breach," Farrakhan said. "It may have been blown up to destroy the black part of town and keep the white part dry." [Link]
Kanye West weighed in with a bon mot about George Bush not caring about black people.
The news is too insane to follow any more. There's this avian flu "pandemic" on its way, right? That's the new word: pandemic. You know, like an "epidemic," but with global and apocalyptic overtones. My prediction is that bird flu coverage will exponentially increase as they run out of hurricanes to name with Greek letters.
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