From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V13 #314 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Thursday, November 4 2004 Volume 13 : Number 314 Today's Subjects: ----------------- 2 Robyn tix for Chicago show [Dolph Chaney ] Re: So it came to Ohio... [Carrie Galbraith ] Re: So it came to Ohio... [Tom Clark ] Re: Big Boy Dirt Bummer ["Gene Hopstetter, Jr." ] Re: So it came to Ohio... ["Stewart C. Russell" ] summing it all up [Dolph Chaney ] Re: robyn on studio 360 [Tom Clark ] RE: So it came to Ohio... ["Bachman, Michael" ] Re: So it came to Ohio... [James Dignan ] Re: So it came to Ohio... [Carrie Galbraith ] Re: So it came to Ohio... [Rex Broome ] RE: So it came to Ohio... ["Marc Alberts" ] Fwd: ...Unbelievable [Rex Broome ] Re: So it came to Ohio... ["Stewart C. Russell" ] Re: summing it all up [steve ] Re: ...Unbelievable [2fs ] Re: So it came to Ohio... [2fs ] Re: Cat's Cradle election eve BiTorrent [Aaron Lowe ] RE: fegmaniax-digest V13 #313 ["Brian Hoare" ] Re: So it came to Ohio... [Jeff Dwarf ] RE: So it came to Ohio... [Jeff Dwarf ] RE: Cat's Cradle election eve BiTorrent ["Larry Tucker" ] Re: ...Unbelievable [steve ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 14:30:14 -0600 From: Dolph Chaney Subject: 2 Robyn tix for Chicago show The Famous Mr. Ed Doxtator has notified me that he won't be able to use his 2 tickets to the Chicago show -- "Dave Shaw has two spare tickets. If you know of someone who wants them, you can get ahold of him on starforbram@yahoo.com." Tell Dave that Doc & Dolph sent ya; he's a very good guy (some of you met him at the SBs' Double Door show, I think). - -- Dolph ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 22:07:49 +0200 From: Carrie Galbraith Subject: Re: So it came to Ohio... On 03/nov/04, at 19:08, Brian Huddell wrote: > Well, consider that the States needs people like you now more than > ever. That's funny - that is just what we discussed over dinner tonight. That and how we needed a lot more wine to get through the rest of this day... On a brighter note - I did receive the latest Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds cd today! Great! Now I can get REALLY depressed. Be Seeing You, - - c ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 13:04:54 -0800 From: Tom Clark Subject: Re: So it came to Ohio... On Nov 3, 2004, at 11:57 AM, steve wrote: > > Having restored decency to the White House, President Bush now has a > mandate to affect policy that will promote a more decent society, > through both politics and law. His supporters want that,... But the other 49.9% of the country is scared shitless by it. > ...and have given him a mandate in their popular and electoral votes > to see to it. Now is the time to begin our long, national cultural > renewal... i.e., "if you're not a christian zealot you don't count" > ...("The Great Relearning," as novelist Tom Wolfe calls it)  no less > in legislation than in federal court appointments. It is, after all, > the main reason George W. Bush was reelected. - Bill Bennett > > Oh man - this is the kind of shit we're in for during the next four years. > > - Steve > __________ > burke banach riot colossus octant ottawa myers humboldt corrosive > audrey manatee byway vagina crystal tangy ecology - -tc, drums - "Humboldt Corrosive Vagina Crystal" ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 15:10:51 -0600 From: "Gene Hopstetter, Jr." Subject: Re: Big Boy Dirt Bummer > From: Jon Lewis > Subject: Re: Big Bummer (First Avenue Requiem) > > Jon Lewis (frantically listing things so as to mollify enormous sense > of W-despair) I think listening to Boy Dirt Car would help alleviate that sense of despair. Heck, I just may dig up my copy of "Winter" tonight and play it real loud. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 03 Nov 2004 16:17:11 -0500 From: "Stewart C. Russell" Subject: Re: So it came to Ohio... Tom Clark wrote: > > Oh man - this is the kind of shit we're in for during the next four years. I prefer what a much wiser Bill said: Bill Hicks once told a story about an American friend of his who complained about the USA. When told, "well, if you don't like it then move somewhere else" the friend's reply would be, "What? And become a victim of our foreign policy?" Stewart ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 15:27:27 -0600 From: Dolph Chaney Subject: summing it all up "With a bigger majority, we can do even more exciting things," said House Majority leader Tom DeLay, a Republican from Texas. Blarg. - -- Dolph ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 13:54:26 -0800 From: Tom Clark Subject: Re: robyn on studio 360 On Nov 3, 2004, at 11:25 AM, Rex Broome wrote: >> Robyn Hitchcock on Studio 360! >> November 2, 2004, 11:20 am >> >> Robyn Hitchcock will be interviewed and perform on the NPR program, >> Studio 360 on 11/13. > > Hey, that's kind of a good show. There's always a theme that the > guest addresses with the host throughout the hour... wonder what it'll > be for Robyn? > "Detailed Directions to Nightclubs" - -tc ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 17:02:26 -0500 From: "Bachman, Michael" Subject: RE: So it came to Ohio... WTF were all those Bush voters in Ohio thinking with all the manufacturing jobs lost in the state the last 4 years? Were they intimidated by the "You will be damned in eternal hellfire if you vote for Kerry" message that the evangelicals were preaching? Michael B. Time Magazine article for 49% of the US voters attached. [demime 0.97c-p1 removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a name of timemagazine.jpg] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 12:16:29 +1300 From: James Dignan Subject: ...Unbelievable *Queues* at voting stations? *Electoral advertising* on polling day? *Different methods of voting* not just nationwide, but within some states? Waiting on the outcome of one state - *again*? I know that your country is one of the world's longest-lived republics, but don't you think the voting process might need a tweak after 230 years? It's old, creaky, and seems to cause everyone nothing but trouble and anger. And so is the voting system. And do you think you can do everyone a favour and keep the litigation over this one going for four years - give the rest of the world a breather and the parties a chance to choose some real candidates for next time? James PS: Sorry, the Kate Bush fan in me got the better of the subject line - -- James Dignan, Dunedin, New Zealand -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.- =-.-=-.-=-.- You talk to me as if from a distance .-=-.-=-.-=-. -=-. And I reply with impressions chosen from another time .-=- .-=-.-=-.-=-.-=- (Brian Eno - "By this River") -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-= ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 12:19:11 +1300 From: James Dignan Subject: Re: So it came to Ohio... >Having restored decency to the White House, President Bush now has a >mandate to affect policy that will promote a more decent society, >through both politics and law. His supporters want that, and have given >him a mandate in their popular and electoral votes to see to it. Now is >the time to begin our long, national cultural renewal ("The Great >Relearning," as novelist Tom Wolfe calls it)  no less in legislation >than in federal court appointments. It is, after all, the main reason >George W. Bush was reelected. - Bill Bennett Hmmm... can anyone here say cultural renewal sounds a lot like "Cultural Revolution", doesn't it? James - -- James Dignan, Dunedin, New Zealand -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.- =-.-=-.-=-.- You talk to me as if from a distance .-=-.-=-.-=-. -=-. And I reply with impressions chosen from another time .-=- .-=-.-=-.-=-.-=- (Brian Eno - "By this River") -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-= ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 01:45:27 +0200 From: Carrie Galbraith Subject: Re: So it came to Ohio... On 04/nov/04, at 1:19, James Dignan wrote: >> Having restored decency to the White House, President Bush now has a >> mandate to affect policy that will promote a more decent society, >> through both politics and law. His supporters want that, and have >> given >> him a mandate in their popular and electoral votes to see to it. Now >> is >> the time to begin our long, national cultural renewal ("The Great >> Relearning," as novelist Tom Wolfe calls it)  no less in legislation >> than in federal court appointments. It is, after all, the main reason >> George W. Bush was reelected. - Bill Bennett > > Hmmm... can anyone here say cultural renewal sounds a lot like > "Cultural Revolution", doesn't it? I just finished a long email to a friend about how the Romanians are all asking me about this election. They talk about Ceauceascu (it's still somewhat of a whispered name) and ask why we can't see the telltale signs of Totalitarianism. I shake my head. I think I'll be living in some post apocalyptic movie or Star Trek episode before 2008 - - when, supposedly, we'll have elections again. Carrie J. Galbraith Fulbright Senior Scholar Faculty of Art University of the West Timiosoara Romania ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 15:58:40 -0800 From: Rex Broome Subject: Re: So it came to Ohio... James: > Hmmm... can anyone here say cultural renewal sounds a lot like > "Cultural Revolution", doesn't it? Cultural recidivism would be more like it. Bushie got back in, according to polls, on the basis of "moral values", war and economy be damned. If that ain't a mandate to go ahead with The Crusades on foreign soil and The Inquisition in the homeland, I dunno what is. When I hear the word "Democracy", I reach for my... [remaining text obscured by blood, bits of grey matter, shards of skull] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 16:10:10 -0800 From: "Marc Alberts" Subject: RE: So it came to Ohio... James Dignan wrote: > Hmmm... can anyone here say cultural renewal sounds a lot > like "Cultural Revolution", doesn't it? Well, the first syllables of the second words do sound remarkably similar. However, the meaningfulness of this remains to be seen, since the kind of cultural renewal that Bennett is talking about is much closer to the exact opposite of what the Cultural Revolution entailed than any other possible comparison. Marc ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 16:48:29 -0800 From: Rex Broome Subject: Fwd: ...Unbelievable James: > I know that your country is one of the world's longest-lived > republics, but don't you think the voting process might need a tweak > after 230 years? It's old, creaky, and seems to cause everyone > nothing but trouble and anger. And so is the voting system. Wittiest. Feg. Post. Of. The. Year. - -Rex - -- "Maybe baby election twelve who I really am!" - -Miranda Mellbye Broome - -- "Maybe baby election twelve who I really am!" - -Miranda Mellbye Broome ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 03 Nov 2004 21:45:21 -0500 From: "Stewart C. Russell" Subject: Re: So it came to Ohio... Rex Broome wrote: > > When I hear the word "Democracy", I reach for my... Y'know, I always thought the singer was going to shoot the proponent of democracy, not themselves. Stewart ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 21:24:30 -0600 From: steve Subject: Re: summing it all up On Nov 3, 2004, at 3:27 PM, Dolph Chaney wrote: > "With a bigger majority, we can do even more exciting > things," said House Majority leader Tom DeLay, a Republican > from Texas. > > Blarg. There is some hope that The Bugman will end up in jail along with his underlings for felony violation of Texas campaign laws. He hasn't been indited, but he did get a subpoena. - - Steve __________ Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 23:12:39 -0600 From: 2fs Subject: Re: ...Unbelievable On Thu, 4 Nov 2004 12:16:29 +1300, James Dignan wrote: > *Queues* at voting stations? > *Electoral advertising* on polling day? > *Different methods of voting* not just nationwide, but within some states? > Waiting on the outcome of one state - *again*? Hey, we also still measure shit based on some medieval twit's shoe size. See, TV presents everything as if it's entertainment...so most voters approach elections as if they're selecting which reality-TV show jerk they like best. *Actual* reality? What the fuck's that? I'm waiting for Ashcroft and Ridge to declare "reality" a terrorist concept, so that anyone inflicting unpleasant, upsetting facts upon the public that might lead them to realize the idiots are in charge will be shipped off to Gitmo pronto. And once I again I must apologize to the rest of the world for my idiot-brothers of fellow citizens. I wish it were consolation that 49% or so of us wanted to send the bastard one-way back to Crawford Texas - - but damn, that other 51%.... Well. Nader wasn't even a factor. Kills that argument. It gets worse, of course; Rehnquist is very ill, and the two likeliest Chief Justice successors are Antonin "Malevolent Beetle" Scalia and "Coke-Can Clarence" Thomas. - -- ++Jeff++ The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 23:17:29 -0600 From: 2fs Subject: Re: So it came to Ohio... On Wed, 3 Nov 2004 13:57:29 -0600, steve wrote: > Having restored decency to the White House, President Bush now has a > mandate to affect policy that will promote a more decent society, > through both politics and law. His supporters want that, and have given > him a mandate in their popular and electoral votes to see to it. Now is > the time to begin our long, national cultural renewal ("The Great > Relearning," as novelist Tom Wolfe calls it)  no less in legislation > than in federal court appointments. It is, after all, the main reason > George W. Bush was reelected. - Bill Bennett > > I think we should try to persuade the denizens of Reality-TV America that "mandate" is a gay dating service - maybe they'll turn on the Bushies in their confusion... Alternate response: Gee, Bill...I wouldn't *bet* on it... - -- ++Jeff++ The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 03 Nov 2004 23:47:42 -0600 From: Aaron Lowe Subject: Re: Cat's Cradle election eve BiTorrent At 07:46 PM 11/2/2004, Larry Tucker wrote: >I've uploaded a BitTorrent for last night Cat's Cradle show. It's a >soundboard matrix mix and 2 discs. >There was one song that I couldn't identify FWIW, it's a particularly haunting rendition of "Autumn Is Your Last Chance." So far, it's my favorite track from the set. Thanks so much for taping this and making it available, BTW. The sound quality is astoundingly good. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 22:38:00 -0800 (PST) From: Benjamin Lukoff Subject: Re: ...Unbelievable On Wed, 3 Nov 2004, 2fs wrote: > Well. Nader wasn't even a factor. Kills that argument. Nader so wasn't a factor, he almost came in fourth, behind the Libertarian candidate, Michael Badnarik. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 04 Nov 2004 08:37:08 +0000 From: "Brian Hoare" Subject: RE: fegmaniax-digest V13 #313 >From: Michael R Godwin >Good point, Brian. I think I am correct in saying that the Rawlinsons >appear in "The Intro and the Outro", which predates the Peel connection, >but they really blossomed on the Peel show. Yep, the Rawlinsons get a name check in the "The Intro and the Outro". Also pre-Peel is the track "Rawlinson End" on the Bonzo's (1972?) reunion "Let's Make Up and be Friendly" which is a little different in style and feel to the later stuff but well worth hearing. >I am a huge fan of the album, but the film is rubbish - does anyone know >why? "written by an alcoholic, produced by an alcoholic, and starring an alcoholic" (Neil Innes) I have only seen the film once, long ago, and that was before hearing the cd and I didn't get into it at all. >I haven't heard "Ndidi's Kraal", but a mate dismissed it as being in >very bad taste, which I find hard to believe. (-: It is quite bad. VS claimed to have no recollection of recording it. I think it must have been thrown together for beer money. There is an awful lot of Sir Henry being very , um, "colonial", which you have to take in an Alf Garnet fashion, but even if you do that there is no evidence of Viv's wit and no decent jokes. Brian _________________________________________________________________ It's fast, it's easy and it's free. Get MSN Messenger today! http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 05:04:01 -0800 (PST) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: So it came to Ohio... Tom Clark wrote: > steve wrote: > > Having restored decency to the White House, President > > Bush now has a mandate to affect policy that will > > promote a more decent society, through both politics > > and law. His supporters want that,... And nothing like be told what's decent by a degenerate gambler. And a slots gambler at that. > But the other 49.9% of the country is scared shitless by > it. > > > ...and have given him a mandate in their popular and > > electoral votes to see to it. Now is the time to begin > > our long, national cultural renewal... > > i.e., "if you're not a christian zealot you don't count" > > > ...("The Great Relearning," as novelist Tom Wolfe > > calls it)  no less in legislation than in federal > > court appointments. It is, after all, the main reason > > George W. Bush was reelected. - Bill Bennett > > > > Oh man - this is the kind of shit we're in for during the > next four years. "The Great Relearning" has a nice little Maoist ring to it, no? > -tc, drums - "Humboldt Corrosive Vagina Crystal" - -- Jeff Dwarf: triangle, kazoo, and other toy instruments; Goatfuckers Inc. ===== "[The Bush administration] deceived us about the weapons of mass destruction, that's true. We were taken for a ride." -- President Aleksander Kwasniewski, Poland "I wonder, even when Kerry gets elected can Bush still be impeached? I would love [for] him to be humiliated after all he's done." -- Elvis Costello __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 05:43:56 -0800 (PST) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: RE: So it came to Ohio... Michael Bachman wrote: > WTF were all those Bush voters in Ohio thinking with all > themanufacturing jobs lost in the state the last 4 years? > Were they intimidated by the "You will be damned in > eternal hellfire if you vote for Kerry" message that the > evangelicals were preaching? When push comes to shove, they were more afraid of Ellen DeGeneres and the Pet Shop Boys than Osama bin Laden and the Iranian "we endorsed W" government. ===== "[The Bush administration] deceived us about the weapons of mass destruction, that's true. We were taken for a ride." -- President Aleksander Kwasniewski, Poland "I wonder, even when Kerry gets elected can Bush still be impeached? I would love [for] him to be humiliated after all he's done." -- Elvis Costello __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 08:52:58 -0500 From: "Larry Tucker" Subject: RE: Cat's Cradle election eve BiTorrent > -----Original Message----- > From: Aaron Lowe [mailto:aaronl@insightbb.com] > Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2004 12:48 AM > To: Larry Tucker; tapermaniax@smoe.org; fegmaniax@smoe.org > Subject: Re: Cat's Cradle election eve BiTorrent > > At 07:46 PM 11/2/2004, Larry Tucker wrote: > >I've uploaded a BitTorrent for last night Cat's Cradle show. It's a > >soundboard matrix mix and 2 discs. > >There was one song that I couldn't identify > > FWIW, it's a particularly haunting rendition of "Autumn Is Your Last > Chance." So far, it's my favorite track from the set. Thanks so much for > taping this and making it available, BTW. The sound quality is > astoundingly good. Thanks for the compliments on the recording Aaron. Needless to say I was extremely happy with the results. This was only about my 4th time out using the Neuros recorder. And now some more comments on the show. I don't think I've mentioned this to all but evidently Robyn is touring with only his acoustic guitar. For the Cradle show he borrowed a Telecaster from the opening act, Erie Choir, played through a Vox amp he borrowed from local Chris Stamey who was in the audience. I talked with the house soundman and he told me the soundcheck was really amazing and that he wished he'd recorded it. He said Robyn only played for about 5 minutes but it was one continuous string of snippets from 20 or so songs strung together nearly seamlessly. He'd never seen anything quite like it. Another nice thing is that Robyn hung around after the show for about a half an hour signing CDs and LPs. I have a friend that recorded the instore at Borders the next day which I was unable to attend. I hope to have a Torrent of it up within the week. Larry ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 04 Nov 2004 08:55:16 -0500 From: "Brian" Subject: Fwd: Hello from Haiti! Dear Fegs, At the risk of being political, I wanted to fwd a letter my friend Basil wrote to me: Well, ok, Im not in Haiti, yetbut I might as well be! I could not have imagined a more miserable outcome. Here is what we have to look forward to: 1- Count on a lot of death and destruction on the agenda for the next 4 years (Iraq, Syria, Iran, Palestine, etc, anyone Israel wants on the list will be on the list.) 2- We now can be assured of at least2 right wing fanatics to occupy the Supreme Court for a long long time to come with strong (almost certain) possibility of overturning the choice option for women. 3- Four more miserable years for the economy. Unemployed? Too bad. Go work at McDonalds, Bush calls it manufacturing job 4- Total control of the house AND senate, and dont count on the spineless democrats to try to stop them. 5- If you thought the Patriot Act was bad, just wait till you see part II, coming to a congress near you. 6- If youre rich, youre gonna get richer. If youre poor, then youre gonna get screwed. Count on it 7- Social Security? What Social Security? 8- Peace in the Middle East? Yeah right! Dont you ever forget it too, Sharon is a man of peace 9- Civil Rights? Constitution? Forget it, we have a new one, its called the Bible. 10- Bushs doctrine of Preemption: Dont even think of looking at us the wrong way, well nuke your ass and we wont need anyones permission to do it. 11- United Nations? If you havent seen that bumper sticker yet, its all over TX: GET THE US OUT OF THE UN 12- If you think its just 4 more years and Hillary will win, well, dont hold your breath, people hate her and Juliani is on the way. 13- Bush will make Double-Speak the official language of the United States. 14- Another Bush doctrine: Lie, lie and lie some more, and then repeat all the lies till the cows come home. Carl Rove figured this out: The American public is so bright that if you repeat the lies enough, theyll believe you. I can go on and on (brb, puke break). OK, back, I cant think of a time when I felt so discouraged and when there was so much at stake. All lost to a bunch of lying crooks that managed to easily manipulate the public through the politics of fear. Thanks a lot Osama Bin Dipshit! Its time for a new party, the democrats are dead. Canada anyone? - -- Brian nightshadecat@mailbolt.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 08:10:50 -0600 From: steve Subject: Re: ...Unbelievable On Nov 3, 2004, at 11:12 PM, 2fs wrote: > It gets worse, of course; Rehnquist is very ill, and the two likeliest > Chief Justice successors are Antonin "Malevolent Beetle" Scalia and > "Coke-Can Clarence" Thomas. The elevation of either of the above and the replacement of Rehnquist can only make things slightly worse. But the replacement of one of the swing votes or one of the "liberals" will make things interesting. Here's an article from The New Republic. I've removed the part about potential Kerry justices, who Rosen thought might be too internationalist. - - Steve, coming to you from the future home of the Dallas (Arlington?) Cowboys. HOW THE ELECTION AFFECTS THE COURT. Supreme Mistake by Jeffrey Rosen Issue date: 11.08.04 In fact, what is at stake in the election is not the future of Roe v. Wade, school prayer, or any of the culture-war issues that have inflamed the country since the 1970s. The left may be hesitant to acknowledge it, but the Rehnquist Court has largely sided with liberals rather than conservatives in these cultural battles. It has done so because liberals have won in the court of public opinion. And the chance of either Bush or Kerry getting through the Senate justices who want to revisit those well-settled precedents is low. Instead, the election will determine the future of the Supreme Court in unexpected areas that remain, for the moment, less visible than abortion, but no less important. If Bush wins, his aides seem determined to select justices who would resurrect what they call "the Constitution in Exile," reimposing meaningful limits on federal power that could strike at the core of the regulatory state for the first time since the New Deal. These justices could change the shape of laws governing the environment, workplace health and safety, anti-discrimination, and civil rights, making it difficult for the federal government to address problems for which the public demands a national response. And, if Kerry wins, the justices he appoints are more likely to turn to international law to define the meaning of U.S. constitutional guarantees, such as due process, cruel and unusual punishment, and equal protection. If taken too far, the new internationalism could ignite an entirely new culture war for the twenty-first century. In other words, there are dangers for the Court regardless of who wins the election, just not the ones that both sides are predicting. In every election since 1980, Roe v. Wade has dominated questions about the Supreme Court. But, on the Court today, there are six justices who support the core of Roe (Justice Anthony Kennedy dissented from the Court's 5-4 decision in 2000 to strike down bans on late-term abortions but still supports the right to earlier-term abortions). And, in order for Roe to be overturned, two of these justices would have to retire and be replaced by committed opponents. Even in the unlikely event that two such justices could be confirmed, the public overwhelmingly supports protections for early-term abortions. And conventional wisdom among political scientists, beginning with Robert Dahl in the 1950s and continuing until today, is that the Court does indeed follow the election returns and rarely challenges deeply felt currents in public opinion. This is why the Court, under the leadership of the swing justices, Sandra Day O'Connor and Kennedy, has extended the most popular liberal activist decisions of the Warren era while also endorsing conservative judicial activism as public support for the welfare state wanes. The Bush White House is well aware of this, which is part of the reason overturning Roe is no longer at the top of the GOP agenda. Bush administration officials who have participated in conversations about judicial nominations during the past four years say that overruling Roe v. Wade no longer comes up as a priority in discussions about candidates. This de-emphasis of Roe also reflects the widespread understanding that Senate Democrats would filibuster any openly anti-Roe candidates, making it politically impossible, under the current ground rules, for Bush to get them confirmed. Of course, if Bush is reelected and the Senate remains Republican, it is conceivable that GOP lawmakers might try to change the Senate rules so that filibusters could be ended by a simple majority of 51 votes, rather than the 60 votes currently required. For the past year, Senate Republicans, frustrated with Democratic filibusters of controversial Bush nominees, have discussed this so-called "nuclear option." The rules could be changed either through a formal vote of the Rules Committee, which would also require 67 votes in the full Senate, or by a parliamentary maneuver involving a ruling from the vice president, sitting as head of the Senate, which would only require a simple majority. But, while some conservatives might support this tactic to push through a hard-right Supreme Court nominee, moderate Republicans like John McCain have opposed it on the grounds that it would make the Senate more like the House. And Democrats could retaliate by going nuclear themselves, demanding roll-call votes for every minute procedural issue and bringing the Senate to a halt. Since neither party has a strong political incentive to see Roe overturned (agitation for doing so comes from interest groups on the extreme right, not from the Bush White House, which understands that overturning Roe would lead women to defect from the GOP en masse), it's hard to imagine that the desire to confirm anti-Roe judges would lead a majority of Senate Republicans to cut their own throats. Instead of revisiting Roe v. Wade, a second Bush administration is more likely to focus on judges who will restore the Constitution in Exile. The phrase comes from a 1995 article by Douglas Ginsburg, a federal appeals court judge in Washington, D.C., whom Ronald Reagan unsuccessfully nominated to the Supreme Court after the Senate rejected Bork. Condemning American judges for being too deferential to the regulatory state, he announced, "For sixty years the nondelegation doctrine has existed only as part of the Constitution in Exile," along with other "ancient exiles" repudiated after the New Deal. The legal doctrines to which Ginsburg referred were largely abandoned in the 1930s to allow the federal government broad discretion to regulate health, safety, the environment, and the workplace. The most important of the post-New Deal doctrines was an expansive interpretation of Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce, which the Court extended to include any activities that might affect commerce indirectly. In 1995, however, the Supreme Court began taking tentative steps toward resurrecting some of the constitutional limitations on the regulatory state that had been dormant since the '30s. In controversial 5-4 rulings, the Court limited Congress's power to ban guns in schools, for example, and to punish violence against women, holding that the laws did not involve commercial activities and therefore couldn't be justified by Congress's authority to regulate interstate commerce. These decisions have been appropriately criticized as activist and contemptuous of Congress by liberal supporters of the regulatory state. A provocative new book by Thomas Keck accurately calls this The Most Activist Supreme Court in History because it has struck down 33 federal laws since 1995, the highest annual average ever. Nevertheless, the Rehnquist Court's so-called federalism revolution has not yet delivered what the conservatives hoped. Every time the conservative justices have appeared on the brink of striking down a federal statute with real political support, such as the Environmental Protection Act, O'Connor or Kennedy have written hedging opinions reassuring moderates that the Court intends to challenge congressional power only at the margins. But, if O'Connor or another liberal justice were to retire, and if Bush nominated a true believer in the Constitution in Exile, the federalism revolution would go into overdrive. And Democrats might not be able to block the appointment because, unlike abortion, federalism is not, at the moment, an issue the public understands or cares much about. If Bush is reelected, the president's advisers are determined to choose justices who will be strict constructionists in the mold of Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia. White House officials told me that even a respected judicial conservative like J. Harvie Wilkinson III, who has urged moderation in federalism cases, has been criticized by some presidential advisers as a "squish" for his refusal to carry the Constitution in Exile to its logical conclusion. Instead, these advisers might recommend someone more like Judge J. Michael Luttig, who tangled with Wilkinson in a recent case involving the constitutionality of environmental protections for red wolves. (Wilkinson said Congress could protect the wolves to promote tourism because tourism affects commerce; Luttig found the connection between tourism and commerce too remote.) Although both Wilkinson and Luttig are intellectually serious and thoughtful candidates, both would be resisted by Senate Democrats because their records are well-known. Therefore, Bush might try a stealth candidate who has a shorter paper trail. Indeed, the White House already has a list of stealth candidates along these lines, many of whom are federal appellate judges appointed during Bush's first term. These candidates include people like Steven Colloton of Iowa, Jeffrey Sutton of Ohio, and Edith Brown Clement of Louisiana, whom the Senate unanimously confirmed in 2001. How would a stealth candidate like Clement perform on the Supreme Court? Everything about her record suggests she would enthusiastically support the federalism revolution. This year, for example, a group of Texas developers challenged the constitutionality of the Endangered Species Act after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in an effort to protect a rare species of underground bugs, denied them a permit to develop a shopping mall. The Texas appellate court rejected the challenge, but Clement joined a blistering dissent by Judge Edith Jones (another possible Bush Supreme Court nominee) criticizing the panel for crafting "a constitutionally limitless theory of federal protection." Taken to its logical limits, the Constitution in Exile would call into question not only environmental protections but workplace regulations like the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Furthermore, in the hands of a determined Bush majority on the Supreme Court, Congress's power to ban discrimination might be challenged as well. In a series of cases, the Supreme Court has limited Congress's power to authorize private individuals to sue states for discrimination or other violations of federal law. So far, the effect of these decisions has been muted by the fact that Congress still has the power to refuse to fund state programs unless the states promise in advance not to discriminate. But some partisans of the Constitution in Exile on the lower courts are already questioning that power. In an important case this year, a panel of the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., upheld a suit against the suburban Metro public transportation system by an employee who claims he was fired because he suffered from bipolar disorder. Congress had the power, the judges held, to condition the receipt of federal transportation funds on Metro's willingness to waive its immunity from lawsuits. In an unsettling dissent, however, Judge David Sentelle, a supporter of the Constitution in Exile, disagreed that Congress had the power to "expose the states to liability" for discrimination suits, because he thought there was only a remote connection between the purpose of the federal grant (supporting transportation) and the conditions of its receipt (preventing discrimination). This radical logic, if embraced and extended by a Bush-appointed Supreme Court, would represent a declaration of war on Congress, preventing the legislature from prohibiting race and sex discrimination in programs that receive federal funds and calling into question Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments. As long as Congress remains Republican, it's conceivable a Bush Supreme Court could get away with attempting to impose restrictions on congressional power that have been unthinkable since the '30s. But, eventually, the Constitution in Exile might be invoked to strike down federal laws that the current Congress cares intensely about--such as federal criminal laws whose connection to interstate commerce is sometimes hard to discern. At some point, if the Court turns sharply right on federalism issues, it's not hard to imagine a conflict between Congress and the Court more dramatic than anything we've seen since the Warren era. In short, the greatest danger from a Bush Court is not the overruling of Roe v. Wade but the overruling of the post-New Deal regulatory state. __________ Variety reveals that Disney is negotiating with Yuen Wo Ping, choreographer of groundbreaking actioners The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, to helm a live-action take on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The Snow update follows a woman who returns home to Hong Kong to attend her father's funeral after 20 years abroad. She discovers that her stepmother is plotting against her and escapes to mainland China, where she seeks solace with seven Shao Lin monks who, in turn, come to believe the woman holds the fate of the world in her hands and protect her. ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V13 #314 ********************************