the weaker party

Mike the Mad Biologist has a preference .

What are we to make of this story ? Time Magazine puts possible losses in the war in Afghanistan on the cover of its editions across the wor...

More psychology. A book called The Lucifer Effect is getting hyped at the moment. It concerns itself with an old story, the ability of ...

Considering how much of the evidence introduced in trial courts is testimony based on memory, it's worth pondering how much one's me...

Apparently New York City has been flirting with the idea of stricting photography in public spaces. Is photography protected by the Constitu...

In 2301 we're set to cover the media. What has always interested me is the degree to which that same people can come to different conclu...

According to the most recent update by the Texas Community College Teacher's Association , these are the top legislative issues for comm...

Many thanks to Tammy for inviting me, and Davon Ruiz's class to her home for the National John Edwards House Party . There were about 30...

Recent issues of concern to Manvel : - the annual financial report - the depth of underground cables and pipes - the timing of the red light...

As much fun as national politics can be, local politics always have a greater practical impact on our lives. Alvin, Manvel, Friendswood, and...

More than Alvin, soon to be not-so-tiny Manvel has had to adjust to being in the path of Houston's continued growth. Recent meetings ha...

2302 students should read the following Slate article on the relationship between executive privilege and Congress' investogative powers...

Dan Patrick wants to pay women to not have abortions . What do you think? Ethical? Practical? Effective? All or none of the above?

Foreign Policy, a noted journal, has included an article outlining the case for the impeachment of George Bush. It was written by a former m...

I've yet to see 300 , and probably won't until it's on HBO, but I'm confused about what message the movie is trying to send ...

I tend not to be an alarmist, but the following post raises troubling questions regarding the direction our defense apparatus may be headed....

2301 students: Were going to hit this report hard next week.

Who should run corrections and detention facilities. Governments can be inefficient, but free market efficiencies can be brutal. Here's ...

Texas Legislators seem anxious to pick a fight with the 14th Amendment's citizenship guarantee. HB 28 , if passed, will deny services to...

John Yoo is an interesting guy, much reviled by some. He was responsible for developing arguments supporting further expansions of presiden...

Would you like to help online investigative journalists comb through the thousands of pages related to the attorney firings (excuse me--atto...

The evolution of internet content continues. Blogs are attempting to go beyond simple commentary to full on reporting of events. Sometime ag...

The dark side of Giuliani for many, myself among them, has been the hint of authoritarianism in how he governs. The Daily Dish has a recent ...

If you are interested in following the special election in Houston to fill the vacancy left by Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, check out this link . I...

Though the Texas governor lacks powers over the Texas government that the president has over the U.S. government, the governor has always ha...

If there is a silver lining for the president behind the significant clouds that have accumulated recently, it's that Congress' appr...

This is disappointing. The guy who made the big sister ad has been identified and it's a democratic operative with ties to the Barack O...

The first major anonymous attack ad has surfaced on YouTube. The Washington Post is reporting that it has aired more than any official ad.

MySpace is adapting itself to more fully become a political tool. Read up on it here . It promises to be a more effective way to reach out t...

President Bush will not let top aides (ie., Karl Rove) testify under oath about the firing of the attorneys. Good move? He sounds strong, wh...

That was the vote today in the Senate revoking last year's change in how U.S. Attorneys replacements are appointed. Instead of being abl...

...and complains about the increasingly contentious battles Supreme Court nominees are likely to face in the future. They will not be judged...

Did anyone else know that this website was out there? It lets you check out the apartment of the Geico caveman. He lives better than I d...

While we were discussing the DC gun control case in class today, the Supreme Court was considering arguments about whether school administra...

This story claims that the White House is already looking for a replacement for Attorney General Gonzales and offers a few names. He is losi...

I had no idea what legs the fired district attorney controversy would sprout, but Democrats in Congress seem to be smelling blood and even a...

There are few political laws with the weight of the laws of physics, but it may be appropriate to state that for every judicial action there...

Fascinating article in today's Washington Post about Robert A. Levy , the non-gun owning, wealthy resident of Naples, Florida (and lawy...

The Supreme Court hasn't weighed in much on the Second Amendment , but that's going to change soon due to a successful challenge of ...

...is about over and I'm curious (within limits) about what exactly you did. I imagine that more than a few of you work and have respo...

Here is WaPo coverage of the speech that Karl Rove gave at the Clinton Presidential Library. As tends to occur at this point in every seco...

Bill Gates testified today before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee that today's schools are not preparing Ameri...

Karl Rove is scheduled to speak tomorrow at the Clinton Presidential Library.

There on the front page of the New York Times you see photos of three key players in the Libby trial. -Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prose...

It's been a while since I've posted on the Scotter Libby trial, but now that guilty verdicts have been issued, it's appropriate ...

Here's some back and forth in Slate regarding congressional power to manage war.

The promised hearings regarding why eight U.S. Attorneys were fired last year begins to day in the House and the Senate . Aside from the me...

In 2301 we have been discussing the problems that the two major U.S. parties face in keeping consistent positions on issues. Republicans are...

Today the Washington Post begins an online video series on the rise of lobbying. Aside form any merit the series itself will have, its a fur...

We will soon (after spring break) be dwelving further into ideology--at least my 2301 classes will. It'll be useful to bring up a few th...

One of the stories I have been remiss in not covering is the controversy concerning JetBlue and the way it handled its passengers who were s...

...rears its head twice this week. It turns out that his ancestors owned Al Sharpton's ancestor's . And it seems that Vice Presi...

Interesting consequence of divided government: Apparently both President Bush and Vice President Cheney have taken to warning Pakistan, the ...

The Washington Post has more information regarding the firings of the attorneys that will testify before Congress next week. The White House...

This time its the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law and it concerns the firing of eight atto...

Here is Wikipedia's entry on Evolution . Here's Conservapedia's .

I had no idea, but apparently I have been sending you biased information by linking to pages from Wikipedia . We all know that the infomrati...

I've posted this comment a bit late (my apologies) but one of your fellow students has questions about the wisom of the surge. Can you h...

Thanks To Jessica White for bringing up this story in class. Do the red light cameras in Houston violate constitutional rights and if so, wh...

A few stories have cropped up regarding the cohesiveness of both the environmental movement and the Episcopalian Church given conflict about...

Monday was the third time I've had jury duty since I've run out of excuses for not having to go, and once again I didn't make it...

For some time now environmentalists in Texas (both of them) have been adamantly opposed to Gov. Perry's plan to allow TXU Energy build a...

Despite winning reelection with only 39% of the vote, the governor is steamrolling a variety of initiatives. Each however is being checked t...

There is a governing crisis occuring across the globe that could not happen in the United States due to our plurality or winner take all vot...

Thus Spake Plankton : "Now get up there and show him how the common man prepares his frozen dairy treats." -spoken as he orders Pa...

The world has a new media sensation--as if we needed one--and his name is Larry Seidlin, Judge Larry Seidlin. He's presiding over the he...

In what has to bad news for Anti-Hillary Conservatives, the New York Times reports today (link may not work) that Richard Mellon Scaife , th...

Another controversy has surfaced surrounding a peculiar word in a place where children might hear it. Librarians are lining up on either s...

The blogs are all a twitter on the distribution of an odd memo by Warren Chisum, the chair of the Texas House Appropriations Committee , pr...

I promise a full outline of the processes underlying the non-binding resolutions against the surge in Iraq in the near future, but for now c...

Days ago a German court issued charges against American officials for the "extraordinary rendition" of a German citizen, now an It...

I'll admit it. Sometimes I google myself to see what I find. Usually nothing much. But I googled this website's title "If men...

I've been remiss in not touching on the non-binding resolutions against sending additional troops to Iraq now in the House. If we recall...

We are about to find out just how much power the Texas Governor in fact has. The House Public Health Committee is set to hold hearings on a...

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings yesterday (2/14/07) on " Judicial Security and Independence ." In the question and an...

Texas seems determined to join California and a handful of other states in moving its 2008 presidential primary up to February 5th . If it h...

A week after top Republicans were ready to concede defeat to Hillary, some now argue that Rudy Giuliani is the man to beat . The obvious qu...

Many in the blogging community (and today CNN) wonder if there is a connection between watching the television show 24 and support for tort...

The presidential election is still a year and 9 month away and already some Republicans are preparing for what they see as an inevitable vic...

More oversight hearings in the U.S. House of Representatives, this time the Oversight and Government Reform Committee is investigating the u...

A nice posting by Larry: I was wondering when this was going to pop up on the blog. Not being a constitutional expert myself, this sure seem...

There's much to mull over regarding Gov. Perry's executive order requiring 6th grade girls in Texas to be immunized for the human pa...

We need to chew on the procedural rules that have allowed the minority to prevail over the majority on the fate of the non-binding resolutio...

Slate attempts to come to terms with it's impact on politics .

A scary little story in this morning's chron.

The post below makes me wonder if anyone has ever written a history of fall guys in American history. It would make a good read.

In a follow up to a posting from January 17, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detaine Affairs--Cully Stimson, has resigned . H...

We are about to find out whether and how U.S. power can be checked by other countries. The case involves the " extraordinary rendition...

2301 students might want to catch up on the current controversy involving the use of the above adjective--among many others--by Senator Jose...

Yes I'm very proud of the headline, thank you. Who knew that the first major battle over freedom of speech this semester would involve g...

More oversight from the Judiciary Committee, but this time its the House Judiciary Committee and the subject is the constitutional status o...

Austin raises a point in his comment to the post about filibusters that ought be expanded: "I would expect a filibuster on the war fu...

Rumors are circulating that Republican Senators may organize two filibusters . The first is a relatively straight forward one by Mitch McCo...

One of benefits of a committee hearing is the testimony itself. Currently the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding hearings titled " E...

This link takes you to a critical appraisal of Frank Luntz --who has announced that he is leaving Washington following the Republican defea...

ACC has a new rep in the Texas House. Mike O'Day won a special election to replace Glenda Dawson. We will be following his first session...

Today's New York Times contains a story documenting the changing reputation of a man who used to head the city's parks commission fr...