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Bench Memos - National Review Online

Covering The Supreme Court -- from National Review Online

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Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 05:00:54

Getting the Times Square Bomber's Confession -- By: Andrew C. McCarthy

Posted on May 06, 2010
According to Katie Couric, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has been watching the Times Square bombing case more closely than anyone. He nevertheless pronounced over the weekend that the terrorist would probably turn out to be ?homegrown -- maybe a mentally deranged person or someone with a political agenda that doesn?t like the health-care bill or something...

The Case for Federalism -- By: Rep. Rob Bishop

Posted on May 06, 2010
For my whole life, Republicans have tried to reduce the size and scope of the federal government. Yet, over the last five decades, the federal government has continued to grow. Federal spending surpassed $100 billion per year in 1962. It reached $1 trillion in 1987...

The Marbury Myth -- By: Robert Lowry Clinton

Posted on May 06, 2010
?We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the Court says it is.? These famous words of future Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes have become a cliché for judicial supremacy -- the idea that the Supreme Court is the ultimate, exclusive interpreter of the Constitution, having the final word on all matters pertaining to its meaning...

April Diary -- By: John Derbyshire

Posted on May 06, 2010
Skies darken over Korea North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, 69 years old and in poor health, is trying to position his youngest son as successor. He goes into the succession chess game in a weak position, though, having botched an economic reform last year and met stiffening resolve on the part of the U...

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Give Crippling Sanctions a Chance -- By: Clifford D. May

Posted on May 06, 2010
There is no greater threat to national and international security than the possibility that Iran?s current rulers -- militant Islamists, terrorist masters, and sworn enemies of both the Great Satan and the Little Satan -- may acquire nuclear weapons. Recently, a memo by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (leaked to the New York Times) advised the president that the development of a strategy to confront this threat is long overdue...

Soldier-Citizens for Congress? -- By: Victor Davis Hanson

Posted on May 06, 2010
Usually, a handful of ex-soldiers seek political office every election cycle. But well over 20 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans are running this fall for Congress alone. Almost all are riding a wave of public anger at incumbents over a profligate government and a dishonest Wall Street -- and a general feeling that the current Democratic remedy has proven as bad as, or worse than, the recent Republican disease...

In British Election, a Pox on All Three Parties -- By: Michael Barone

Posted on May 06, 2010
London ? British voters go to the polls today, and it appears likely that they will boot out the party in power for only the second time in 31 years. Margaret Thatcher?s Conservatives ousted a Labour government in May 1979, and Tony Blair?s ?New Labour? party ousted the Conservatives in May 1997...

Oslo Journal, Part VI -- By: Jay Nordlinger

Posted on May 06, 2010
Editor?s Note: Last week, Jay Nordlinger attended the Oslo Freedom Forum, the human-rights conference in the Norwegian capital. The conference is over, but the journal continues. Previous parts are at the following links: I, II, III, IV, and V. The head of Amnesty International, Norway, is at the podium, here in the Christiania Theater...

Prediction: Cameron Will Win -- By: Conrad Black

Posted on May 06, 2010
Britain votes on Thursday, and it is difficult to discern the defining issues; it?s a campaign of indistinct party leaders decrying the economy and bandying about platitudes endlessly. Under the British parliamentary system, where the executive sits in the legislature and must be steadily maintained by a majority there, there is a historic dread of a minority government -- ?a hung Parliament,? as it is called...

Liberty and the Supreme Court -- By: Gerard V. Bradley

Posted on May 05, 2010
In America today, when we think of liberty, our minds naturally turn to the Bill of Rights. Then we think of the Supreme Court, and some of us get a lump in our throats. For in this complex of thoughts, ?liberty? refers mainly to an individual?s prerogative to pursue his passions or to live her dream, even if doing so imposes great social costs and even if one?s path is contrary to the community?s deepest moral convictions about human flourishing...

Obama's Good and Bad Words -- By: Victor Davis Hanson

Posted on May 05, 2010
Barack Obama once warned, ?Don?t tell me words don?t matter!? He was right. They do. These days, financiers and investors are a ?bunch? of ?fat-cat bankers.? When your 401(k) tanks, surely a ?bunch? of ?fat-cat? miscreants who run a ?bank? did it. I have a fat cat -- and nothing is more unpleasant than to see this lazy pet sleep all day, yawn, and then turn over on his rolls of fat...

Teacher Quality in Colorado -- By: Frederick M. Hess

Posted on May 05, 2010
This week, Colorado?s state house is debating the pathbreaking teacher-quality bill that passed the state senate 21-14 on Friday. It?s a terrific proposal in many ways: It would dismantle teacher tenure, a hyper-rigid, industrial-era policy; require that teachers and schools mutually consent before a teacher can be placed in a specific school; establish procedures for handling teachers who aren?t placed; specify that teacher evaluations can be considered when layoffs are made; and mandate that schools hire and compensate teachers based on performance...

On Inclusiveness, the GOP Just Can't Win -- By: Jonah Goldberg

Posted on May 05, 2010
On July 27, 2009, former Florida House speaker Marco Rubio swung by the D.C. offices of National Review (where I?m a contributing editor). He was there seeking support for his then-long-shot candidacy for Mel Martinez?s U.S. Senate seat. That seat is currently held by George LeMieux, who was appointed by Gov...

Immigration and Sham Marriages -- By: Michelle Malkin

Posted on May 05, 2010
America?s homeland-security amnesia never ceases to amaze. In the aftermath of the botched Times Square terror attack over the weekend, Pakistani-born bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad?s U.S. citizenship status caused a bit of shock and awe. The response of Jeffrey Goldberg, a writer for The Atlantic magazine, was typical: ?I am struck by the fact that he is a naturalized American citizen, not a recent or temporary visitor...

Oslo Journal, Part V -- By: Jay Nordlinger

Posted on May 05, 2010
EDITOR?S NOTE: Last week, Jay Nordlinger attended the Oslo Freedom Forum, the human-rights conference in the Norwegian capital. The conference is over, but the journal continues. Previous parts are at the following links: I, II, III, and IV. Does the name Anwar Ibrahim ring a bell? He was the deputy prime minister of Malaysia in the 1990s...

The Boot on BP's Neck -- By: Tony Blankley

Posted on May 05, 2010
In the opening hours and days of an unanticipated event -- such as the current offshore oil leak -- usually not much can be reliably learned about the details of the intruding event -- but much can reliably be learned about the humans responding to it...

The Obama Administration Attacks For-Profit Colleges -- By: Stephen Spruiell

Posted on May 05, 2010
Imagine for a moment you are an idealistic liberal functionary within Obama?s Department of Education. Since Inauguration Day, you?ve been part of a massive expansion of subsidies for higher education, and you?re proud of your work. The stimulus bill enlarged the higher-education tax credit and increased spending on Pell grants...

A Spend-and-Borrow Debt Mess -- By: Larry Kudlow

Posted on May 05, 2010
The ink was barely dry on the $150 billion EU/IMF bailout of Greece when world stock markets tanked on two major fears. First, financial analysts are concerned that the bailout money won?t be enough to cover Greece?s borrowing needs from its out-of-control budget deficit...

Tim Burns's Hail Mary Pass -- By: Robert Costa

Posted on May 04, 2010
Western Pennsylvania is a breeding ground for strong-armed quarterbacks. Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas, and Dan Marino all come from the region. So it?s fitting that Tim Burns, the GOP candidate to succeed the late Rep. John Murtha in Pennsylvania?s 12th congressional district, is looking to complete his own Hail Mary pass on May 18 -- looking, that is, to become the first Republican to represent the sprawling, rural district since Nixon?s second term...

Republicans in Resurgence -- By: Ramesh Ponnuru

Posted on May 04, 2010
A new poll by Resurgent Republic, a conservative group, confirms the trends that other political observers have been seeing: This year?s electorate leans to the right, with most independents seeing eye to eye with Republicans on the major issues. But the survey also includes some warning signs for conservatives...

Yes, Keep Drilling -- By: The Editors

Posted on May 04, 2010
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico threatens to do as much damage to U.S. energy policy as it has to the environment. Obama?s weeks-old executive order allowing for limited coastal exploration -- which we never considered a sure thing -- has been stayed and will probably be rescinded...

Thinking Bigger on Financial Reform -- By: Duncan Currie

Posted on May 04, 2010
In a recent article, I discussed three financial-reform ideas that Republicans should champion: (1) the one-page mortgage form designed by American Enterprise Institute scholar Alex Pollock; (2) the sweeping overhaul of government housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sponsored by Rep...

House Races in 2010 -- By: Jim Geraghty

Posted on May 04, 2010
?Hey Jim, could you put together a list of House races where it?s either an open seat race or a vulnerable incumbent?? the editors ask, oh-so-innocently. Do they have any idea how much work that entails? Scott Brown won a Senate race in Massachusetts by a healthy margin this year -- you can find a list of winnable House seats by starting at page one of Michael Barone?s Almanac of American Politics and working your way to the index...

The Shock Troops of Bankruptcy -- By: Rich Lowry

Posted on May 04, 2010
Editor?s note: This column is available exclusively through King Features Syndicate. For permission to reprint or excerpt this copyrighted material, contact kfsreprint@hearstsc.com or phone 800-708-7311, ext. 246.Greece?s largest public-sector union is taking to the streets to wage a ?social battle? against austerity measures...

Republicans Shouldn't Alienate Hispanic Voters -- By: Mona Charen

Posted on May 04, 2010
Imagine yourself inside Democratic National Committee headquarters, in the department of long-term planning. Huddling in the no-longer-smoke-filled room, no doubt stocked with eco-friendly coffee cups and whole-wheat snacks, the savants are pleased with themselves...

Jews Who Cheapen the Holocaust -- By: Dennis Prager

Posted on May 04, 2010
If there is any group that should know the uniqueness of Nazi evil and should not want the evil of the Holocaust cheapened for political purposes, it is the Jews. Yet, there is at least a 50-50 chance that if you read or hear a public personality use Nazi imagery to describe conservatives, the person is a Jew...

Oslo Journal, Part IV -- By: Jay Nordlinger

Posted on May 04, 2010
EDITOR?S NOTE: Last week, Jay Nordlinger attended the Oslo Freedom Forum, the human-rights conference in the Norwegian capital. The conference is over, but the journal continues. Previous parts are at the following links: I, II, and III. Sophal Ear, an American, is a professor at the U...

Resenting Achievement More than Wealth -- By: Thomas Sowell

Posted on May 04, 2010
Recent stories out of both Philadelphia and San Francisco tell of black students? beating up Asian-American students. This is especially painful for those who expected that the election of Barack Obama would mark the beginning of a post-racial America...

Iran and the Costs of Containment -- By: Michael Anton

Posted on May 03, 2010
?Even as momentum for Iran sanctions grows, containment seems only viable option,? reads a Washington Post headline from April 22. Leaving aside for the moment the dubious character of the first half of that assertion, is it really true that containment is now the ?only? option?It is certainly true that nearly everyone in Washington -- from administration officials to the permanent civil service to the foreign-policy establishment -- believes that, and has believed it for at least a year, if not longer...

Judicial Supremacy and the Constitution -- By: Robert Lowry Clinton

Posted on May 03, 2010
Many Americans are puzzled and angry about the judicial assault on religion, morality, and common sense that has been going on for the past few decades. People wonder, for example, how the First Amendment (which guarantees freedom of religion as well as separation of church and state) could possibly require the expulsion of religion from public life, or outlaw prayers at high-school football games and graduation ceremonies...

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