JimEd Speaks Out

He never mentioned Nicholas Berg. Or Daniel Pearl. Or a single person killed in the World Trade Center. Nor did former Vice President Al Gore talk of any soldier by name who has given his life in Iraq. And he has the audacity to condemn the Bush administration for having ``twisted values?''

Abortion was not expected to be a major issue in this election year beyond its usual function as a rallying point for each party's core constituencies. But now the nation's Roman Catholic bishops and the Democratic Party appear to be headed for a politically charged collision over abortion.

Former vice president Al Gore accused President Bush's war cabinet of reckless incompetence yesterday and called for the resignations of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and CIA Director George J. Tenet.

There was widespread outrage when word got out that Justice Antonin Scalia had gone duck hunting with Vice President Dick Cheney while Mr. Cheney had an important case pending in the Supreme Court. That outrage grew when Justice Scalia was allowed to remain on the case. Now Chief Justice William Rehnquist has appointed a committee to look broadly at federal judicial ethics. This has the potential to do some good, although the committee's skewed composition raises concerns about whether it will strengthen the rules or weaken them. Judicial ethics are too important to fall prey to self-protectionism or to partisanship. Congress and the public should watch closely and insist that any changes raise the standard of judicial conduct.

A federal appeals court yesterday upheld the only law in the nation authorizing doctors to help their terminally ill patients commit suicide. The decision, by a divided three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, said the Justice Department did not have the power to punish the doctors involved.

The majority used unusually pointed language to rebuke Attorney General John Ashcroft, saying he had overstepped his authority in trying to block enforcement of the state law, Oregon's Death With Dignity Act.

Wouldn't it be a hoot if it turned out that Chihuahuas actually were a type of rat? That's the premise put forth in a Watley Review article which reports that cancer researchers analyzed DNA collected from 85 different breeds of dogs and "determined that the Chihuahua is actually a type of large rodent, selectively bred for centuries to resemble a canine."

By their incredible bravery and selflessness, New York's firefighters and police officers saved far more civilian lives on Sept. 11 than anyone could have expected. Their leaders were also heroic, rushing to the scene and providing calm and decisive command and control under unbelievable conditions of pressure and peril. Commissioners Bernard Kerik of the Police Department, Thomas Von Essen of the Fire Department and Richard Sheirer of the Office of Emergency Management were part of this leadership team.

Bacteria in the mouth can latch onto the AIDS virus and prevent it from infecting cells -- which could help protect infants from catching the deadly virus from their mothers, researchers reported on Tuesday.

A record year for political advertising has brought with it a hail of televised exaggerations, omissions and mischaracterizations that pollsters say seem to be leaving voters with mistaken impressions of Senator John Kerry and President Bush.

President Bush, seeking to convince skeptical Americans that he has a plan to bring stability to Iraq, outlined a five-step program calculated to articulate his objective of a sovereign Iraqi government, and to begin to reverse the damaging fallout over U.S. soldiers’ abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

The bar panel's newly unveiled proposals for revamping the Model Code of Judicial Conduct would actually weaken the core provision that requires judges to avoid not just actual impropriety in all their activities, but also the appearance of impropriety. Although the new version retains the appearance standard, it waters it down by saying that violations will not "ordinarily" lead to professional discipline unless there are charges of other rule violations. Intentionally or not, as Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont aptly noted last week in a letter to the bar association's president, Dennis Archer, that transforms a crucial ethical mandate into "an ancillary add-on" and significantly diminishes its moral force and deterrence value.

On Monday, the wedding bells are due to start sounding in Massachusetts but not everyone will be in a celebratory mood. May 17 is the fateful day when, at the behest of the Supreme Judicial Court, same-sex marriage will become a legal reality.

BY DOING SO, these cities are raising concerns that same-sex marriage in Massachusetts will lead to the redefinition of matrimony nationwide, despite widespread public disagreement.

George Bush has called for a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman, and in doing so has lit off a firestorm.

Frankly, I could care less. 

But, if a definition of marriage is desired, it must be done via a
constitutional amendment. There is no choice. Both John Kerry and John Edwards say they are against gay marriage, but say an amendment isn't needed because this should be decided by the individual states. I don't remember Democrats being fans of states' rights.

Both Johns are either so disingenuous or so ignorant of the Constitution that neither are qualified for the White House. Even the most cursory study of the Constitution would show why it cannot be handled by the states.

Article IV, Section 1, Clause 2 of the constitution reads:

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. 

If one state (say Massachusetts) issues a marriage license to a gay couple, all other states must recognize that license. Period. There is no way around it -- though it would flip around the courts for years, in the end, the Full Faith and Credit clause will prevail. And it would have to. What if West Virginia decided it did not recognize driver's licenses issued by Virginia or that New York decided not to recognize a professional license issue by California? Chaos. That's why the constitution was set up as it was.

Some arguing against the amendment say it is not necessary, because Congress merely needs to repass the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) adding a clause that the Supreme Court did not have review authority of the act. Actually, this provision exists and should be used more often to keep activist jurists out of the legislative arena. However, not in the case of DOMA.

Article III, Section 2 of the constitution reads:

Clause 2: In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

Again, a total ignorance of the Constitution. The green highlighted portion is what these ignoramuses hang their hat on. Unfortunate, the red highlighted portion is what gives the Supremes original jurisdiction when states are involved. Ques who would be parties in any DOMA litigation.

The bottom line, if you are going to have a definition of marriage as  heterosexual, it takes an amendment.

The other stupid thing I hear said is that we shouldn't strap future generations with our current national mood. If the mood change the amendment can be repealed. Remember Prohibition?? It didn't take generations to get rid of that.

Damn, I wish people in high office would read the Constitution at least once in their lives.

U.S. software giant Microsoft and German business software maker SAP announced plans on Wednesday to work closer together to improve products and simplify connections with other programs.

The number of prisoners serving life sentences has increased 83 percent in the past 10 years as tough-on-crime initiatives have led to harsher penalties, a study says.

Nearly 128,000 people, or one of every 11 offenders in state and federal prisons, are serving life sentences, according to the study released Tuesday by The Sentencing Project, a Washington-based group that promotes alternatives to prison. In 1992, 70,000 people had life sentences.

The Senate by a single vote rejected an election-year effort Tuesday to extend federal unemployment benefits.

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, was the only senator who missed the vote. He was campaigning in Kentucky.

Inmate Nicholas Krahmer kicks back on a bunk and enjoys one of the latest perks of prison life: A tiny new flat-screen TV that is the envy of many viewers on the outside.

The 7-inch set resembles flat-screen models installed in cars or on airplane seats. But it beats the alternative, he says--a night in the recreation room with about 150 other inmates who are prone to brawls over what to watch and where to sit.

Public opinion of President Bush’s handling of hot-button issues such as the economy and the war on terrorism is near the low point of his presidency, but Democratic rival John Kerry has been unable to capitalize on the Republican’s slide, an Associated Press poll found.