Sheriff Myron Freeman, the Felon’s Best Friend

As reported by Beth Warren and Rhonda Cook, in today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution (registration required),

Weeks before the Fulton County Courthouse shootings, sheriff's officials received an e-mailed message from the mother of alleged killer Brian Nichols expressing concern that her son could become violent in court if he was convicted of a rape charge, officials said Wednesday.

Update on the Pope – Grave but Stable

The Pope has received the last rites, and all roads leading to and from the Vatican have been shut down. The Vatican claims that the Pontiff’s condition is grave but stable.

Straight Talk Regarding the Pope

While the media and parishioners alike -- how’s that for an odd couple? -- fantasize that Pope John Paul II is going to recover and get his strength back, New York’s Edward Cardinal Egan was a breath of fresh air, in speaking in his Easter Mass of the 84-year-old Pontiff’s “difficult final days.”

Home Health Tip

If you ever pick up jock itch, and you’ve got small children in the house, see if you have any zinc oxide-based (like Desitin) diaper rash creams. If so, they are a workable substitute for clotrimazole and tolnaftate creams, and will save you a few bucks and a trip to the drug store.

An Exercise in Shameless Self-Promotion

Check out my story, which is the March cover story for Middle American News, “GOP Web Sites Suppress Immigration Debate.”

Terri Schiavo (1963-2005), RIP.

For some thoughts on the Schiavo case, hit this link.

Cochran Gets Burned

“The glove didn’t fit, but the coffin did!” Thus, Dave the Taxi Driver in the Rockaways on Wednesday, in response to the death of O.J.’s lawyer, Johnnie Cochran, who learned the hard way that cancer kills rich and poor alike. I had just observed that the notorious attorney must be in a warm place, just about now.

Jesse: Triangulating Schiavo?

Has anyone considered that Jesse Jackson’s intervention into the Schiavo case could be an example of brilliant, Clinton-style triangulation, in order to try and bring conservative Democrats (and even some Republicans) back into the fold? If you recall, Madame Hillary has made two overtures to the Right in recent months, in softening her approach on abortion, and in taking a way-to-the-right-of-the-GOP position on illegal immigration. Jesse’s trip to Florida could be a calculated portion of more of the same. Note, too, that DNC apologists keep telling us that Howard Dean is a “moderate Democrat.”

Is Jim Lehrer Pro-Life?

On the March 21 edition of the Lehrer Report, Jim Lehrer moderated one of the greatest debates I’ve ever seen, pitting Jay Alan Sekulow of the religious conservative American Center for Law and Justice, and Harvard prince Laurence Tribe, considered by many to be the most influential constitutional theorist in the country. (Of course, I haven’t seen that many great debates, as opposed to shouting stalemates. But this was great. I won’t call it Ali-Frazier great for the simple reason that it lasted less than 15 minutes rather than 15 rounds, but the fighters were going at a furious clip.) At one point, Lehrer said to Tribe, “You came down on the wrong side” of the issue, before correcting himself and saying, “other.” Each antagonist was essentially taking positions identified with his opponents: Sekulow was arguing for the federal government to take over a matter that had been decided by a state, while Tribe was defending state’s rights. Ah, rhetoric. Actually, things weren’t quite as simple as that. Social and religious conservatives have traditionally supported the idea of the state, including the federal government, enforcing morality. And Tribe, who is a socialist, nonetheless has a libertarian side. I know that that sounds odd, but there you have it. Tribe, who has a pretty plastic interpretation of the Constitution, can play any issue any way he likes. Left libertarianism means that the state has maximal obligations to the individual, but the individual has no obligations toward the state. That position is morally obscene, but not illogical, if you leave the terms intact. But when you realize that the state is merely the representative machinery of society, and society is merely people, it becomes illogical, as well. If every individual has absolute license, then all freedoms cancel each other out. My license negates your freedom. But since you also enjoy license, how can I make any demands on you? In any event, even if Lehrer does support reinserting Schiavo’s feeding tube, that would not necessarily make him an opponent of abortion. Although anti-abortion forces have sought to link the Schiavo case to their movement, there is no necessary moral or logical connection between opposing abortion and supporting the reinsertion of Terry Schiavo’s feeding tube.