Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
Rob Long ·
June 30, 2010 at 3:50am
Adam Freedman, I take it back. You argued, unpersuasively to me at the time, that Republicans should filibuster the Kagan nomination.
At the time, as you'll recall, I argued otherwise.
But now it's personal.
Kagan refuses to say, outright, that the government has no power to tell Americans what to eat.
When they came for my gun, I said nothing, because I had no gun. When they came for my capital gains, I said nothing, for (since 2008) I've had no capital gains. But when they came for my pimento cheese, my oyster po'boy, my Frito chili pie, I could say nothing, for there was no one else left to speak, and also: my mouth was full.
We need to take out country back.
I am only half-kidding.
The outrageous video is here:
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Comments:
Jun '10
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
He threw her a big fat softball over the plate, and she didn't even swing. The scary interpretation is, it sounded reasonable to her...dumb, but reasonable....
May '10
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
Clever use of Niemoller -- and entertaining -- though I think this comparison could get you in trouble? You were probably wise to admit that you were at least "half-kidding."
May '10
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
Half kidding about the filibuster or about eating that appalling stuff???
Brandon, why do you think the comparison could get Rob in trouble? I must be missing something.
etoiledunord, you're right, that's exactly how she sounded. Also, when she hesitated, it seemed like she was scouring her brain trying to find the trick in the question. She missed it, of course, and had to resort to calling the suggestion, "Dumb." Is that what the left always does with what they don't understand? (Then again, it's my response to modern art...then again, again, modern art IS dumb! but I digress...)
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
Rob, you big lug, I knew you'd come around. This is what people have to understand: if it's the health insurance mandate today, it's the green, leafy vegetable mandate tomorrow -- and sorry, green leafy vegetables sauteed in butter and generously salted won't cut it.
It's astonishing -- in a totally predictable sort of way -- that Kagan refuses to concede that the Federal government has no constitutional power to mandate our dietary choices. If liberty means anything, it is the right of consenting adults to tuck into foie gras wrapped in bacon every once in a while. Elena Kagan means to snatch that foie gras right from your trembling lips!
And besides, over at the other thread, I'm gratified to see that John Yoo has endorsed the call for a filibuster on the honorable principle that the Democrats have lived by the sword, and it's their fault if they die by the sword.
May '10
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
It's absurd, but she's also too clever to step onto that slippery slope, which is mostly what is going on in this clip. And don't worry, I'm pretty sure a comfortable majority of Supreme Court justices wrap bacon around lots of things.
May '10
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
Bacon - Trace? But surely this discriminates against certain religions and is of itself by extenion unconstitutional.
Kagan should have said that the US people have enought sense that such a law would never be passed and left it at that.
May '10
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
Coburn likely meant to take his argument further, step by step, if Kagan agreed that the government had no such authority. While she might indeed agree to such wild statist control as that, I suspect she refused to answer mainly because she knew it wasn't a simple question that would lead no further.
May '10
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
Rob was parroting a famous quote by German pastor Martin Niemoller, and Niemoller was referring to his lethargic reaction to the tyranny of Hitler and the Nazi party.
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
You're right Brandon -- it was an iffy choice. But you'd be horrified if you knew how seriously I take my eats.
It just seems odd to me that some people read the Constitution and find all sorts of rights there....for the government. It's like they're reading it upside down.
May '10
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
Rob, I think Brandon is being a little hyper-sensitive (and a teeny bit pedantic, as I doubt there's anyone on this site that isn't aware of the source you were parodying). It was a very clever use of the Niemoller, which has been used nearly endlessly in various forms. It's not like you called chicken a "holocaust on your plate."
I'm still horrified that you eat frito pie. Do you really use canned chili? I've always thought that stuff looked (and smelled, a lot of the time) like dog food. I could give you a lovely recipe for homemade....
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
Caryn, Caryn, Caryn. Are you sure you're from Texas? Can I see some ID?
The very best Frito chili pie isn't "made" so much as assembled. That's the whole point.
You take a small bag of Fritos, you slice it open along the side, the long end, forming what experts call "the insertion envelope." You then lovingly ladle hot Wolf Brand Chili into the bag (Wolf Brand is preferred: the old Wolf Brand slogan was: "Wolf Brand Chili! It's Husband-Pleasin'") but I suppose you could put in delicious, artisanal homemade chili as long as you didn't tell anyone. You smother the top in grated cheddar -- the kind already grated, from the supermarket -- and as it gets all melty and stringy you mix it up with a plastic spork and go to town. It's one of those things that's delicious if you're in the right place (high school football game; state fair; cold day picnic) but not so much if you're in the wrong place (wedding reception; Slow Food convention; meeting of the Comparative Literature Department at Yale University.)
May '10
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
Rob,
I'm from Alaska (though born in NYC, where I lived till age 19) and am currently in Cleveland. I lived in Texas back in 1978 for a few months for training in the USAF; other than that I've only been there one other time. Had my first burrito and first taste of Dr. Pepper there.
I have to admit the frito pie thing sounds (secretly) intriguing, but made with homemade chili. Since I have some in the freezer and cheddar in the fridge and am planning a grocery trip this evening... I'll get back to you.
Interestingly, there is some discussion of pimento cheese on my favorite foodie site today. They included this link:
http://www.calliesbiscuits.com/products/pimento-cheese
They claim the stuff is sublime.
Jun '10
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
I still think filibustering judicial appointments is pushing the envelope on the advise and consent role of the Senate, but we're in extraordinary times.
The Republicans should filibuster Kagan and simply read the comments the Democrats made back when they were defending the filibuster of Bush's appointments.
May '10
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
I've got acid reflux from reading Rob & Caryn go at it on Frito Pie recipes...
May '10
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
Frito pie is glorious, as are po boys.
I'm a Texan, and I approve this message.
May '10
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
Strong supporter of Frito pie and similar delicacies. Nothing says summer quite like half a can of chili dumped in bag of corn chips!
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
Sorry, Caryn, for some reason I had it in my brain that you were from Texas. Cleveland has its own chili tradition, which I wholeheartedly endorse. As I do any kind of homemade chili.
I'm agnostic on the Dr. Pepper issue, though I know its sacred in Texas. But if we travel a bit eastward and northward, to the mid- and deep-south, there we find the only truly fitting dessert, after scarfing up a Frito chili pie from the bag: An RC Cola and a Moon Pie.
By the way, Fritos really are a healthy snack. Sort of. No trans-fats. Just corn, vegetable oil, and salt. And what's wrong with that?
May '10
Re: Now it's Personal: Filibuster this Crazy Law School Dean!
I've heard about the local chili, Skyline I think it's called. Never had it; probably never will. I don't think I'll ever get used to mid-west tastes (they haven't the foggiest idea what pizza should be like and don't get me started on what they do to fish). But I am convinced by Rob's and the other supporters' enthusiasm and will try Frito Pie. As long as I get to use my home made chili. And Tillamook cheddar. I'm not sure what a po boy is, though.