The New York Times is reporting that the Vice-President’s chief of staff, Scooter Libby, is to be indicted tomorrow for making false statements under oath. Karl Rove will not be indicted but will remain under investigation. Yes, you heard it right. According to the Times‘ reporting, there won’t be any indictments for leaking the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame (the original reason for the investigation). But don’t you worry. The opponents of this administration will spin this as if Libby and Rove are being charged with leaking her identity. Mark my words. Tomorrow morning, the hacks will be indicting the whole administration for something that the grand jury…
-
-
A Postmortem on the Miers Nomination
A Triumph of Principle over Politics In church life, it is an accepted axiom that “a mist in the pulpit is a fog in the pew.” In other words, a lack of spiritual substance in the pew is often a symptom of something that’s wrong in the pulpit. In the same way, conservative critics of Harriet Miers saw a nominee whose conservative bona fides could not be verified by her record. In the last several weeks, her misty record has looked more and more like a fog in the nominee. Just this week Miers’s speeches from the 1990’s have revealed a nominee who sounds more like a libertarian than a…
-
Miers Withdraws Supreme Court Nomination
The AP reports: WASHINGTON – Confronted with criticism from both the left and right, Harriet Miers on Thursday withdrew her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a statement, President Bush said he “reluctantly accepted” her decision to withdraw, after weeks of insisting that he did not want her to step down. For the whole story click here: “Miers withdraws Supreme Court nomination.” Mier’s Withdrawal Letter President Bush’s Statement Washington Post: “Harriet Miers Withdraws Nomination” New York Times: “Bush’s Embattled Nominee to Supreme Court Withdraws“
-
Book Notice
Thank the Lord! The contract is signed, and my dissertation is scheduled to be published this summer in Sheffield Phoenix Press’s New Testament Monographs series. The book will be number 14 in the series, and the title is “Articular Infinitives in the Greek of the New Testament: On the Exegetical Benefit of Grammatical Precision.” As you can tell from the title, this book promises to be a real page-turner. I fully anticipate for Susan and me to be able to retire on the proceeds that I will receive from this blockbuster treatise. This book will likely be the surprise hit of the summer, and I expect it will be flying…
-
“C.S. Lewis and the Quirky Idea of Male Headship”
Russell Moore has another great post. This one addresses C. S. Lewis’s views on male headship. The essay is titled, “C.S. Lewis and the Quirky Idea of Male Headship.” Moore is on a roll in this one. He comments on Wheaton professor Alan Jacobs’ speculation on C. S. Lewis’ view of the gender roles. Here’s one of Moore’s quotable zingers: “Jacobs argues that Lewis’s views of male headship would be articulated quite differently were he alive today . . . Professor Jacobs assumes then that Lewis’s views on male headship were culturally conditioned, that he would not consider the matter as important if only he could see the orthodox Christian…
-
Judge Bork Borks the Miers Nomination
I share some of the concerns expressed by Judge Robert Bork in this morning’s Wall Street Journal. The following selection in particular rings true: By passing over the many clearly qualified persons, male and female, to pick a stealth candidate, George W. Bush has sent a message to aspiring young originalists that it is better not to say anything remotely controversial, a sort of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” admonition to would-be judges. It is a blow in particular to the Federalist Society, most of whose members endorse originalism. The society, unlike the ACLU, takes no public positions, engages in no litigation, and includes people of differing views in its programs.…
-
“The Abortion Debate No One Wants to Have”
Patricia E. Bauer with her husband, Edward Muller, and their children, Margaret and Johnny Muller, in June at Margaret’s high school graduation in Massachusetts. Photo Credit: Courtesy Christina Overland Patricia E. Bauer, former Washington Post reporter and bureau chief, writes a stunningly pro-life Op-Ed today titled “The Abortion Debate No One Wants to Have.” The article discusses whether it is right to abort a baby simply because pre-natal testing confirms that the baby has a disability. In Bauer’s case, the issue is intensely personal because she is raising a daughter named Margaret who has Down syndrome. She writes this about her daughter: Margaret is a person and a member of…
-
Will James Dobson and Richard Land Be Subpoenaed?
It looks like James Dobson, Richard Land and others may very well be subpoenaed to appear before the Senate judiciary committee. The subpoenas look more and more likely as news of a certain conference call becomes public. According to John Fund in today’s Wall Street Journal, Dobson, Land and others were a part of a conference call, set up by the Bush administration, in which they received assurances that Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. Here is a paragraph from Fund’s piece: The conference call will no doubt prove controversial on Capitol Hill, always a tinderbox for rumors that any judicial nominee has taken…
-
Flu Pandemic: The Biggest Story in the News
As far as I’m concerned, the story about a possible flu pandemic is the biggest story in the news right now. The Wall Street Journal has run an insightful Op-Ed on the topic today titled “Reasons to Be Fearful: We are ill-prepared for a flu pandemic” by Henry I. Miller. Last week, Charles Krauthammer wrote a chilling piece on the subject in the Washington Post titled “A Flu Hope, Or Horror?” The common flu kills about 1% of those who contract it each year. The so-called “Bird Flu” kills 50%. If this particular flu virus mutates such that it can move from human to human with efficiency, then there could…
-
John Fund Reverses His Position and Opposes Miers
Conservatives continue to line-up against the Miers nomination. Today, the Wall Street Journal‘s John Fund joins them: I have changed my mind about Harriet Miers. Last Thursday, I wrote in OpinionJournal’s Political Diary that “while skepticism of Ms. Miers is justified, the time is fast approaching when such expressions should be muted until the Senate hearings begin. At that point, Ms. Miers will finally be able to speak for herself.” But that was before I interviewed more than a dozen of her friends and colleagues along with political players in Texas. I came away convinced that questions about Ms. Miers should be raised now–and loudly–because she has spent her entire…