These aren’t the only conflicts at the summit, many of them owing to the new French Prime Minister’s arrival on the scene. Hollande wants to exit his country’s troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year, against the wishes of other NATO members.

Hollande is not “The new French Prime Minister.” Hollande is the new President.

Thanks!

I’ll repeat the question I posted at MyDD, since references are repeatedly made here to TED without any further identification.

What the fuck is TED?

Why would Obama come out in favor of marriage equality? He’s not gay.

Or do you have Obama confused with some other politician who takes action even when it doesn’t directly benefit him?

But, the Supreme Court!! The SUPREME COURT!! THE SUPREME COURT!!!!!

Don’t you understand that that’s why you always have to vote for whatever shitty candidate the Democratic Party coughs up? Otherwise, the Supreme Court might declare that the President has the right to order the death of American citizens without due process of law.

Oh, wait. . .

Why do you say that?

George Romney’s parents were born in the United States, but moved to Mexico for a time. The child of two American citizens born abroad is an American citizen by virtue of the parents’ status. George Romney never had to be naturalized. He was a citizen by birthright, as much as any other child of American parents.

If that doesn’t bring about Armageddon, nothing will.

Conservative Republicans are thoroughly disgusting people, totally lacking in human empathy, but they have developed a certain low cunning, together with the ability to hate to a previously undreamed-of degree. Now that it’s apparent to even the dullest among them that Gingrich has zero chance of getting the nomination, I suspect that they will largely swing behind Santorum, but it’s probably too late for him to put together a majority of delegates without making a deal with Gingrich at the convention. So he probably promises Newt the State Department.

Dreier’s retirement was a foregone conclusion, because his district got carved up six ways by the Citizen Reapportionment Committee. I think there was not a district which contained more than 20% of his old one.

Still, it’s good to see him go. He was always one of those smarmy types who are as partisan as they come, but talks about “my good friends” on the other side of the aisle. He should have been gone ten years ago, but the legislature passed an incumbent-protection plan that locked in a 34-19 Democratic advantage, and I think only one seat flipped in the course of the decade. The new map may result in Democratic pickups of up to 8 seats.

But, but THE SUPREME COURT! Everybody always has to vote for whatever shitty Democrat is running, decade after decade, or the Supreme Court will become more reactionary than it already is.

It’s true that you’ve now said twice that you expect the decision on cert to be 7-2.

Would you care to state which way?

All that it would “reinforce nationwide” is the peculiar situation in California, where an existing right to marry was overturned by a referendum. If there were five votes for a sweeping finding that the Equal Protection Cluase mandates recognition of same-sex marriage, then it would make sense for the libderal justices to vote for cert. But this Court would be extremely unlikely to make such a broad ruling, when the narrower one relied on by the panel yesterday is available.

Just to make it sporting, I’ll guess that they deny certiorari 6-3, with Scalia, Alito, and Thomas dissenting, but Roberts not wanting to force Kennedy’s hand on this particular case.

The Court doesn’t sit in September. They wrap up the term in late June or so and start the new one on the first Monday in October, meeting before then only in case of emergency.

I’m curious why people make the predictions they do about the vote on certiorari. Why would a justice who supports the decision of the panel vote to hear the appeal? And if one of the conservatives thought they will lose Kennedy, why would they support granting cert, and then creating a precedent binding all over the country, and not just in the states which comprise the Ninth Circuit?

As to timing, I’m no expert, but if their appeal for the writ were filed today, it’s certainly possible that the Court could consider it as early as their Wednesday conference next week. There doesn’t seem to be any need to brief the issues, which are clearly laid out in the majority and dissenting opinions of the panel which ruled yesterday.

For the good guys, there’s now nothing to be gained by the Supreme Court’s granting cert, as the case is confined to the unique facts (legalization followed by withdrawal). If four conservatives want to, they can grant cert, and then it will be up to Justice Kennedy. Reportedly, the Boies/Olson arguments and the opinion yesterday were tailored with Kennedy’s opinion in Roemer v. Colorado in mind.

Cullen is a declared candidate.

It is perhaps noteworthy that until Poppy Bush all of the Republican Presidential nominees since 1916 were “self-made men” who grew up in homes that were economically no higher than middle class, and in some cases lower. With Bush the Republicans became comfortable with nominating a child of wealth and privilege, and with the exception of Dole they have done so ever since.