As one who is always looking for scenic vistas,...those are truly wonderful photos.  Thanks for posting!  

I take your point, but add to it the point that once on the court, the justices are accountable to no one, even when they resort to such as absurdities as interpreting our Constitution from the point of view of foreign law.  

On the broader point of "tyranny," we will soon find ourselves in a situation where the question of whether we, as free men and women, can literally be ordered to enter into private contracts against our will might very well be decided on whether Justice Kennedy found his morning coffee to be agreeable.   You might not prefer to call it tyranny, but it certainly isn't liberty.  

James, I must compliment you on your endurance.  Are you on every conversation thread?  It's all I can do to get a word or two in after a day on the road, and you seem to be everywhere.  Mightily impressive.  

Perfectly and beautifully stated.  

Fair point.  I don't think he was engaging in class warfare either.  But I'd much rather hear him advocate across the board growth (which will be difficult when he limits capital gains rate reductions to those making less then 200K, accepting yet another faulty premise of the left), than classifying levels of concern for various groups.  I expect that from Democrats.  

[I share your consternation at having to defend him.  Get used to it if he's the nominee.]

I wrote this to a friend earlier,...so to quote myself: 

"The underlying problem I see with Romney's remark is this: Paraphrasing here, but he was asked about his ability to connect with voters. In response, all on his own, he began dividing American's into groups and telling us which groups would get his concern and which would not. The current occupant of the White House already does that. Romney wasn't goaded into dividing people up,...he wasn't on the defensive against a class-warfare charge,...he simply and preemptively accepted the division and argued on that premise, as well as the premise that perhaps the "safety net" needs some patchwork for holes. That's not a conservative argument nor a conservative perspective. It's yet another revealing glimpse into the way this guy's mind works,... and it doesn't strike me as particularly conservative."

Are we now to believe that a great armed rebellion against The Crown was fought by armed citizens in order to provide a Constitutional right of the state to arm its citizens for its own defense and not that of the people themselves? Mindful of the many good lawyers here, I nevertheless respectfully submit that there is no plain-spoken sentence in the English language that cannot be twisted and contorted beyond all good sense by a lawyer. As our Declaration states, our rights come from the Almighty, not an Olympian Council in black robes. The right to self defense is not negotiable, period. I predict that when we eventually lose the last of our liberties, it will be at the hands of unaccountable jurists, hurling their edicts like thunderbolts from on high, and walking away without so much as a single comment.

Though I did have to parallel park on Park Ave. in New York City once.  But that's a story for another day...

Actually, the last word is generally had by the other truckers in the parking lot, who talk all sorts of trash while another driver is attempting to park.  They can be a pretty raucous bunch.  When I first started in this job, I had to turn the CB off while trying to park.  For the newbie driver, it can be pretty intimidating to back that beast at a 45 degree angle, with only inches to spare on either side, while the other drivers take bets on what kind of damage you'll likely cause.   After awhile though, parking becomes fairly routine.  

This is a bird's eye view of a truck stop parking lot.  Look at the distance between trucks.  Both guys and gals who have been at this for awhile, can back a 53 ft. trailer into the narrow spaces you see in this photo and put the rear tires on a dime if you wish.  I haven't noticed that this particular skill resides in ladies more so than men.  It's more of an experience and practice factor than anything else, and it took me years to master the skill and reach a decent level of comfort with the task.   

Clearly, this is a signal that Boehner and McConnell need to reach across the aisle and compromise more. After all, if we offer a genuine alternative, the independents will jump ship. Not to worry though, Mitt Romney will hold their feet to the fire. Where's the bar?

Well, the Court has held lots of lamentable things.  Robert Bork addressed the right to privacy pretty effectively in his book.  

I agree with you there,....the problem being of course that in Roe, the Court took the power from the states on the basis of a Constitutional right that didn't exist, and nationalized the issue.  You wouldn't argue that Roe was a sound ruling, would you?  

I'm late to the conversation here,...but I do have a quick question.  If the Constitution is mute regarding the unborn, then it's also mute regarding a Constitutional right to abort the unborn, yes?   Kind of tough to have it both ways on this one.  

My buddy, Bob Lee, probably has the book in his extensive collection.  And if you want some stellar reference material, may I offer the services of my old line of work? 

The only thing truly shovel ready is a speech by Barack Obama.  

Something I've noticed about the potholes.  By the time the crews finish refilling the potholes on one section of highway, the ones they refilled on the previous section need work again.   It's not just a construction project.  It's tenure.