Category — Hawaii

Barack Obama has been adopted by a family of typical red Indians on a Crow Indian Reservation.  They’ve named him Barack Black Eagle after the surname of the adopting family parents Sunny and Mary Black Eagle.  His honorary tribal name is Awe Kooda Bilaxpak Kuuxshish, which means: “one who helps people throughout the land”.

In a dilute bit of Clintonian pain-sharing, Obama devoted  12 minutes of appreciatin’ to the name-givin’.  The desolate, government cinderblock, needle-park wastelands of Honolulu and Harvard Square came rushing back to Obama,

Senator Obama…told the Native American crowd of nearly 2000 that he knows what it’s like to be an outsider - that his struggles being an African-American are similar to theirs.

“I was growing up in Hawaii at the time, and where I was growing up there weren’t a lot of black families and so sometimes I was looked at as sort of an outsider and so I know what it’s like to be on the outside.  I know what it’s like to not always have been respected or to have been ignored and I know what it’s like to struggle and that’s how I think many of you understand what’s happened here on the reservation, and that a lot of times you have been forgotten just like African-Americans have been forgotten or other groups in this country have been forgotten”.

Forget Bill Clinton.  This is Kerryesque, without coherence, and seasoned with dense Freudianism, rancid populism, and puerile narcissism.   This clown is calibrating a moral and emotional  equivalence between his upbringing and the disasters inflicted (some of them self-inflicted) on Native Americans.

Read to the end of the link.  The subject of “wives” arises, which Obama thinks is humorous.   Luckily for the Crows, they aren’t Mormons or Branch Davidians. 

“It’s wonderful to be back in Oregon”. Obama said. Over the last fifteen months we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to, even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it”.

Has this man lost his bearings? Or can we blame it on “Schoolhouse Rock” or that typical white grandmother?

Proposed SAT question: How many states compose the United States if politician (A) has visited 57 states and has one more state to visit which is actually two states? Show your work.

UPDATE: Isn’t capitalism wonderful? These available soon!

                     John Kerry, mired in the swamps of thought… 

John Kerry was encouraged to put words together a few days ago by Massachusetts’ SouthCoast Today, reported at this link to ABC News Online.  Kerry is delighted about the possibility of electing an African-American President, and he dropped his opinion with his usual leaden, boat-anchor eloquence:

It would be such an affirmation of who we say we are as a people.  If we could elect an African-American president, young leader, who is obviously visionary about the ability to inspire people.

Dazzling analysis, John.  Kerry has declined from pandering simpleton to obsequious fart nozzle without anyone noticing.  Elect a guy who affirms what we say we are, not what we are, especially one who is visionary about (the) ability to inspire people.   Not A visionary himself, as a noun, not a visionary as an adjective, but a visionary about ability.  Or this:

(Obama would) “in some cases go around (in Muslim countries) their dictator leaders to the people, and inspire the people in ways we can’t do otherwise.”

I see.   Elude the mullahs and purity squads in a black robe, take a quick perambulation around Teheren or Mecca, stopping for a cup at Starbucks, or a plum at an adultery stoning, all the while inspiring the visionary abilities of Raji-Six-Pack.  Hmmm.  Oh, and this:

“He has the ability to bridge the divide of religious extremism. …To maybe even give power to moderate Islam to be able to stand up against this radical interpretation of a legitimate religion…Because he’s African-Amercan.  Because he’s a black man.  Who has come from a place of oppression and repression through the years in our own country”.

This is terribly difficult, and I’m glad he sorted it out.  Kerry confers legitimacy on Islam and, therefore,  illegitimacy on Islamists, the folks who are yearning for Obama’s healing touch;  and Obama is empowered because he’s a repressed (get therapy, Obama) black man who grew up oppressed on the mean streets of Hawaii, and screamed in silent agony at such degrading downscale pits as the Harvard Law Review.   Given enough time, Kerry would have stereotyped Obama into bringing cold watermelon to sun-scorched Saudis.

Please, Massachusetss, stop watering this houseplant.  Let it wilt and return to the soil .  Why in God’s name, with your great traditions of reformism, art, literature, radical individualism and patriotism, do you CONTINUE to send this facile moron to the Senate?

There HAS to be some criterion for his re-election other than lucidity, or the greater good of knowing that he’s not in Massachusetts; or even that his daily mental and verbal aberrations are a wellspring of laughs.   But maybe it’s even worse….a pitiful, hard-scrabble New England mass neurosis, pushing up through your rocky soil,  compels you to vote for John Forbes Kerry, over and over?  

Dismiss the Shi’ia - Sunni disputes over ritual and Mohammadean lineage, the intellectualized radicalism of Qutb and the Muslim Brotherhood, colonial border craziness, tribalism,  grievances with modernity, the complete Islamist philosophies of Bin Laden and others, failed assimilation, Muslim assertiveness in Europe and elsewhere…damn, forget it all.  Obama is black, Obama is visionary about ability, and with a pair of good shoes, he can “go around” Islamic despots and re-legitimize Islam. Mary Mother of God.   And this idiot votes in the American Senate.

The Boston Globe endorsement of Barack Obama isn’t surprising. However, if you’re a person who believes in electing a president with experience and accomplishments, the Globe endorsement is embarrassingly light in those respects.

As a public service, I’ve provided a moonbat to English translation for our readers:

America needs a president with an intuitive sense of the wider world, with all its perils and opportunities. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has this understanding at his core.

He’ll suck up to the UN.

Many have remarked on Obama’s extraordinary biography: that he is the biracial son of a father from Kenya and a mother who had him at 18

He’s an affirmative action hire.

that he was raised in the dynamic, multi-ethnic cultures of Hawaii and Indonesia

Oh, the many splendors of diversity!

the gritty and often thankless work of community organizing in Chicago

He was a moonbat without a job.

Similarly, his exposure to foreign lands as a child and his own complex racial identity have made him at ease with diversity - of point of view as well as race or religion.

I’ve been to Canada. Apparently, that would qualify me to be Secretary of State in the Obama administration.

He speaks with clarity and directness, and he is also a listener, a lost art in our politics.

Instead of waterboarding the terrorists, he’ll “listen” to them.

“I don’t oppose all wars,” he said in the fall of 2002. “I’m opposed to rash wars.”

Not exactly a deep thinker that Barack fellow.

His support for merit pay for teachers, or a cap on carbon emissions, suggests a healthy independence from the established order.

And since teacher pay is a local issue, he’d never get to implement it anyway. But thanks for the independence, Barack.

Obama’s critics, and even many who want to support him, worry about his relative lack of experience.

If you think the presidency is a good place for on the job training, then Barack’s your man. If putting a wholly unqualified moonbat in the White House scares you, then he’s not.

          HAWAII SURFER DONATES BOARDS FOR GAZANS

From Yahoo News Online, August 21, 2007, Dateline Jerusalem.

An 86-year-old Jewish surfing guru from Hawaii is bringing good vibrations to the impoverished Gaza Strip.

Dorian Paskowitz, a retired doctor who has been surfing for 75 years, donated 12 surfboards to Gaza’s small surfing community on Tuesday in a novel gesture to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

“God will surf with the Devil if the waves are good”, Paskowitz said.  “When a surfer sees another surfer with a board, he can’t help but say something that brings them together.”

Tanned and shirtless, Paskowitz emerged grinning at the Israel-Gaza border crossing after handing over the dozen boards to Palestinian surfers waiting on the other side.

He said he was inspired after reading a story about two Gaza surfers who could not enjoy the wild waves off the coastal strip because they had only one board to share between them.

….He described his mission as a “mitzvah”, Hebrew for a “good deed”.

During his visit, Paskowitz said he wanted to “do something spectacular”, like getting all the surfers and paddling around the waters of Gaza”.  But those plans were scuttled by security concerns.

Arthur Rashkovan, a 28-year old surfer from Tel Aviv, said Paskowitiz’s project was part of a larger effort called “Surfing for Peace,”, aimed at bringing Middle Eastern surfers closer together.  He said eight-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater, who is of Syrian descent, is expected to arrive in Israel in October to take part in the drive……

                                               * * * * * * * * * *

The account of this blinding idiocy continues for several more paragaphs.  Being of a certain age, I’ve paddled in the hot pools of the sybaritic lifestyle that has boiled Paskowitz’s brain to cream cheese; I know that he means well, but still have a rough time conjuring a Jam-wearing Yassar Arafat shooting the curl, unless it involved a pistol and a Hasidic Jew.

Paskowitz’s effort is the moral dead end of upper-middle class fancies, the place where the trimmed hedges conceal the despair and devolution of the Palestinians, whose unemployment, choked ambitions and hatreds will never be washed away by blue water, health drinks and bikinis.   Kelly Slater, of Syrian descent, probably does not live in Syria.

Finally, when surf bunnies go looking for a gnarly dude, do they have an 86-year-old in mind?  Probably not.  Go back to Hawaii, you dope.

 

He calls himself a Republican. Can you spell RINO!

 After a satirical post about Peter Welch (D) VT saying it’s his money, life proves me right about politicians.  More earmarks produces loud oinking!

North to Alaska

Rep. Don Young attacked his fellow Republicans on the House floor Wednesday, as he defended education funds allocated to his home-state of Alaska.

“It’s my money,” Young stridently declared before warning conservatives that, “Those who bite me will be bitten back.”

Young took extreme exception to an amendment by Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) to strike money in a spending bill for native Alaskan and Hawaiian educational programs.

Conservatives have stoked the ire of their fellow Republicans for years by challenging federal spending, both broadly and on specific projects. But it’s rare that their GOP colleagues express that displeasure openly on the floor. [snip]

And lest we forget, Young, who used to chair the House Transportation Committee, is responsible for the so-called “Bridge to Nowhere,” a proposed span connecting Ketchikan, Alaska, with the tiny island of Gravina that would have cost $315 million – and eventually came to symbolize profligate spending under Republican rule.

Garrett refrained from asking for an official reprimand, but he and other conservative Republicans took after Young’s declaration that the funds in question represented his money. The assembled conservatives then launched into a general attack on earmarked spending. [snip]

Once more, we find the impudence of our elected gluttons rising to new heights. He’ll learn hubris has comeuppance attached, by definition.

We’re in trouble when our elected critters and their staffers ask a Washington, DC, airport ticket agent these questions.

•  I had a New Hampshire Congresswoman ask for an aisle seat so that her hair wouldn’t get messed up by being near the window.  (On an airplane!)
• I got a call from a candidate’s staffer, who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to Explain the length of the flight and the passport information, then she interrupted me with, “I’m not trying to make you lookstupid, but Capetown is in Massachusetts.”  Without trying to make her look stupid, I calmly explained, “Cape Cod is in Massachusetts, Capetown is in Africa.” Her response - click.
• A Vermont Congressman called, furious about a Florida Package we did.  I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando. He said he was expecting an ocean-view room.  I tried to explain that’s not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state.  He replied, “Don’t lie to me, I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state!”
• I got a call from a lawmaker’s wife who asked, “Is it possible to see England from Canada?”  I said, “No.” She said, “But they look so close on the map.”
  An aide for a cabinet member once called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas.  When I pulled up the reservation, I noticed he had only a 1-hour layover in Dallas.  When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, “I heard Dallas was a big airport, and we will need a car to drive between gates to save time.”
• An Illinois Congresswoman called last week.  She needed to know how it  was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:30 a.m. got to Chicago at 8:33 a.m.  I explained that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois, but she could not understand the concept of time zones.  Finally, I told her the plane went fast, and she bought that.
• A New York lawmaker called and asked, “Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know whose luggage belongs to whom?” I said, “No, why do you ask?”  She replied, “Well, when I checked in with the
  airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said (FAT), and I’m overweight. I
  think that’s very rude!”  After putting her on hold for a minute while I
  looked into it (I was laughing).  I came back and explained the city code for Fresno, CA is FAT - Fresno Air Terminal, and the airline was just putting a destination tag on her luggage.
• A Senator’s aide called to inquire about a trip package to Hawaii. After going over all the cost info, she asked, “Would it be cheaper to fly to California, and then take the train to Hawaii?”
• I just got off the phone with a freshman Congressman who asked, “How do I know which plane to get on?”  I asked him what exactly he meant, to which he replied, “I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these planes have numbers on them.”
• A lady Senator called and said, “I need to fly to Pepsi-Cola, Florida. Do I have to get on one of those little computer planes?”  I asked if she meant fly to Pensacola, Fl. on a commuter plane.  She said, “Yeah, whatever, smarty!”
• A senior Senator called and had a question about the documents he needed in order to fly to China.  After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded him that he needed a visa.  “Oh, no I don’t. I’ve been to China many times and never had to have one of those.”  I double-checked and sure enough, his stay required a visa.  When I told him this he said, “Look, I’ve been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express!”
• A New Mexico Congress woman called to make reservations, “I want to go from Chicago to Rhino, New York.”  I was at a loss for words.  Finally, I said, “Are you sure that’s the name of the town?”  “Yes, what flights do you have?” replied the lady.   After some searching, I came back with, “I’m sorry, ma’am, I’ve looked up every airport code in the country and can’t find a Rhino anywhere.”  The lady retorted, “Oh, don’t be silly! Everyone knows where it is.  Check your map!”  So I scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, “You don’t mean Buffalo, do you?” The reply? “Whatever!  I knew it was a big animal.”

 Do you think these clowns even know where the Mexican border is. Now you know why the Government is in the shape that it’s in!

Earlier this month, Vermont Woodchuck posted some humorous examples of people who vote in this country. Here is one to add to the list that Dean Barnett found over at the Daily Kos:

Whenever you blow up stuff deep underground, you run the risk of forcing the tectonic plates to shift.

Recall how there were no nukes in North Korea under Clinton, when the adults were in charge of foreign policy. I hope that Hawaii residents can put two and two together and vote Democratic because the GOP’s idiotic mishandling of North Korea is a clear and pleasant danger. Heh, the smoking gun just fired, Dee-dee-dees!

GWB’s hard-on for more war and instability in the Middle East (the successful results of his conscious actions and inaction) have led to a world that is less safe in myriad ways.

Fortunately, the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005 went down:

The Senate yesterday dashed efforts to give indigenous Hawaiians some of the same powers of self-governance granted to American Indians, with critics warning that it could lead to race-based privileges in a state known for its diversity.

A procedural vote fell four short of the 60 votes needed to keep the bill on the Senate floor. The legislation, promoted by Senator Daniel Akaka, Democrat of Hawaii, over the past seven years, is now effectively dead for this session of Congress.

The vote was 56-to-41 in favor of proceeding with the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act. All 41 opposing votes were cast by Republicans. Thirteen Republicans and one independent joined 42 Democrats in supporting further action on the bill.

Thirteen Republicans voted for a bill described by the US Commission on Civil Rights thusly:

The US Commission on Civil Rights, in a May report, recommended against passage, saying it “would discriminate on the basis of race or national origin and further subdivide the American people into discrete subgroups.”

John Fund has an excellent article describing the dangers of this bill:

The potential dangers of approving the Akaka bill–which has already won House passage in a previous Congress–are immense. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee warns that establishing “a new sovereign nation within the United States based solely on race . . . could turn the United States into the United Nations.” Linda Chavez, a former executive director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, warns that other groups could use the precedent of a new Native Hawaiian government to lodge their own demands. She notes that a group of Hispanic separatists in Arizona once tried to get legislation passed that would have barred anyone whose ancestors were not living in Arizona at the time of the 1848 Mexican War from living in most areas of the state.

You can probably guess the 13 voting for discrimination without too much trouble:

Cochran (R-MS), Coleman (R-MN), Collins (R-ME), Domenici (R-NM), Grassley (R-IA). Hagel (R-NE), Kyl (R-AZ), McCain (R-AZ), Murkowski (R-AK), Smith (R-OR), Snowe (R-ME), Specter (R-PA), Stevens (R-AK)

No surprise John McCain is the leader of this pack.  I shudder to think what a McCain presidency would be like.  McCain abhors free speech.  He supports tax cuts only grudgingly.  He supports racial spoils systems.  If you are even remotely conservative, I have no idea how you support a McCain nomination push outside of Hillary Clinton fear.

The EU delivered its list of “incentives” to the Iranians:

Javier Solana, the European Union’s most senior diplomat, has formally offered Iran a list of incentives that the major powers hope will be enough to persuade it to stop enriching uranium.

And what happens with the next Iran? Any agreement Iran makes today only solves the problem of nuclear proliferation for a short time. Technological advances and the proliferation of knowledge are rapidly expanding the number of nations capable of sustaining their own nuclear programs.

Offering every new nuclear nation incentives, which are more commonly referred to as bribes, is not a viable long-term solution to this problem. What guarantees do we have that the recipient stays bought? How many blackmailers are happy with their current incentives and would not like to boost their payout? Whose bank account is large enough to keep up with the expanding list of recipients? Providing incentives is a policy you pursue only if you really have no other options.

Fortunately, we have options and some of them are under development right now:

The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Weapon System with a prototype signal processor successfully tracked several advanced ballistic missile targets in separate tests off the coast of Hawaii in April. Lockheed Martin develops the Aegis BMD Weapon System and serves as the combat system engineering agent for the U.S. Navy and Missile Defense Agency (MDA)’s Aegis BMD program.

The BMD and similar technologies are taking on critical strategic importance and represent our best bet in defending ourselves from the threat of nuclear proliferation. Expanding the funding and scope of these projects is critical. A missile is not the only way to deliver a nuclear device, but we have to start plugging the holes somewhere.

And what were Democrats doing while this threat was building? They roundly criticized President Bush for leaving the ABM treaty to begin work on missile defense. They laughed when President Reagan presciently called for a missile defense system in the 80s. They steadfastly refused to support defending ourselves for fear of escalating an arms race that was already well underway. It is fortunate we never rely on Democrats for visionary leadership since they never demonstrate any.

As some readers may have noticed, I have been engaged in a running dialogue with Optimistic Patriot regarding the meaning and application of the Fifth Amendment’s “takings clause,” to wit:

“[n]or shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

The debate has arisen (it comes as no surprise) in the context of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in KELO V. CITY OF NEW BRITAIN, where the Court upheld the eminent domain power of the City to take private properties in the context of a “economic development plan” in which some private property was to be given over to other private parties for development.

Pat (as I have endearingly referred to him) takes what I would call (I hope he thinks fairly) a “strict constructionist” approach to the meaning of the term “public use,” calling upon the immortal words of Justice Chase uttered in 1796:

An act of the Legislature (for I cannot call it a law) contrary to the great first principles of the social compact, cannot be considered a rightful exercise of legislative authority … . A few instances will suffice to explain what I mean… . [A] law that takes property from A. and gives it to B: It is against all reason and justice, for a people to entrust a Legislature with such powers; and, therefore, it cannot be presumed that they have done it.” Calder v. Bull, 3 Dall. 386, 388 (1798) (emphasis deleted).

Interestingly, the case in which Justice Chase’s words appeared had nothing to do with the power of eminent domain – in fact the Congress did not enact a federal statute governing the federal government’s practice until 1888. Act of Aug. 1, 1888, ch. 728, 25 Stat. 357. See 1 Nichols’ The Law of Eminent Domain Sec. 1.24 (J. Sackman, 3d rev. ed. 1973). Consequently, Justice Chase’s remarks constitute what is called “dicta,” made for the purpose of articulating broader principles at issue in that case (which involved the power of the state of Connecticut to enact an “ex post facto” law), but without any particular legal effect. And lacking any particular set of facts against which the language is applied, it is impossible to discern what is was that Justice Chase abhorred.

Another interesting fact (about which I am certain Pat will vehemently disagree), articulated in the very first Supreme Court case that dealt with the subject, is that “the right of eminent domain, that is, the right to take private property for public uses, appertains to every independent government. It requires no constitutional recognition; it is an attribute of sovereignty.” MISSISSIPPI & RUM RIVER BOOM CO. v. PATTERSON, 98 U.S. 403 (1878).

Applying the sovereign right of eminent domain to the states, “The clause found in the Constitutions of the several States providing for just compensation for property taken is a mere limitation upon the exercise of the right. When the use is public, the necessity or expediency of appropriating any particular property is not a subject of judicial cognizance.” Id.

And, according to the PATTERSON case, this power does not limit the sovereign to exclusive ownership of the property so taken:

“The property may be appropriated by an act of the legislature, or the power of appropriating it may be delegated to private corporations, to be exercised by them in the execution of works in which the public is interested.” Id.

The question whether a particular intended use is a public use is clearly a judicial one, CITY OF CINCINNATI V. VESTER, 281 U.S. 439, 444 (1930), but the Court has always exercised a high degree of deference to the legislative determination. So, when Congress created the Tennessee Valley Authority (a private entity) and gave it authority to take private property for its mammoth dam project, the Supreme Court upheld Congress’s determination that such was a public use. U.S. EX REL. TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY v. WELCH, 327 U.S. 546 (1946).
Accord, BERMAN V. PARKER, 348 U.S. 26 (1954): ”Once the object is within the authority of Congress, the means by which it will be attained is also for Congress to determine. Here one of the means chosen is the use of private enterprise for redevelopment of the area. Appellants argue that this makes the project a taking from one businessman for the benefit of another businessman. But the means of executing the project are for Congress and Congress alone to determine, once the public purpose has been established. The public end may be as well or better served through an agency of private enterprise than through a department of government–or so the Congress might conclude.” Id. at 33-34.

While all of the attention has been paid to Kelo recently, perhaps the most dramatic example of the Court’s involvement in the public-private issue came over twenty years ago in HAWAII HOUSING AUTHORITY v. MIDKIFF, 467 U.S. 229 (1984). Here is a description of the statutory scheme involved in that case:

To reduce the perceived social and economic evils of a land oligopoly traceable to the early high chiefs of the Hawaiian Islands, the Hawaii Legislature enacted the Land Reform Act of 1967 (Act), which created a land condemnation scheme whereby title in real property is taken from lessors and transferred to lessees in order to reduce the concentration of land ownership. Under the Act, lessees living on single-family residential lots within tracts at least five acres in size are entitled to ask appellant Hawaii Housing Authority (HHA) to condemn the property on which they live. When appropriate applications by lessees are filed, the Act authorizes HHA to hold a public hearing to determine whether the State’s acquisition of the tract will “effectuate the public purposes” of the Act. If HHA determines that these public purposes will be served, it is authorized to designate some or all of the lots in the tract for acquisition. It then acquires, at prices set by a condemnation trial or by negotiation between lessors and lessees, the former fee owners’ “right, title, and interest” in the land, and may then sell the land titles to the applicant lessees.

In a unanimous opinion, the Court held

The Act does not violate the “public use” requirement of the Fifth Amendment. Pp. 239-244.

(a) That requirement is coterminous with the scope of a sovereign’s police powers. This Court will not substitute its judgment for a legislature’s judgment as to what constitutes “public use” unless the use is palpably without reasonable foundation. Where the exercise of the eminent domain power is rationally related to a conceivable public purpose, a compensated taking is not prohibited by the Public Use Clause. Here, regulating oligopoly and the evils associated with it is a classic exercise of a State’s police powers, and redistribution of fees simple to reduce such evils is a rational exercise of the eminent domain power. Pp. 239-243.

(b) The mere fact that property taken outright by eminent domain is transferred in the first instance to private beneficiaries does not condemn that taking as having only a private purpose. Government does not itself have to use property to legitimate the taking; it is only the taking’s purpose, and not its mechanics, hat must pass scrutiny under [467 U.S. 229, 231] the Public Use Clause. And the fact that a state legislature, and not Congress, made the public use determination does not mean that judicial deference is less appropriate. Pp. 243-244.

It is entirely ironic that Justice O’Connor penned the HHA unanimous opinion, and twenty years later wrote the dissent in Kelo, reciting Justice Chase’s words from 1796. She says:

“To reason, as the Court does, that the incidental public benefits resulting from the subsequent ordinary use of private property render economic development takings ‘for public use’ is to wash out any distinction between private and public use of property–and thereby effectively to delete the words “for public use” from the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.”

Justice O’Connor rejected out of hand the notion that “economic development” could be legitimately determined by a state legislature to serve a public purpose (even, one must assume, if the land taken were to be designated as public parkland in the scheme of the surrounding private development?), but was comfortable with the “public purpose” to be served in the HHA case:

In Midkiff, we upheld a land condemnation scheme in Hawaii whereby title in real property was taken from lessors and transferred to lessees. At that time, the State and Federal Governments owned nearly 49% of the State’s land, and another 47% was in the hands of only 72 private landowners.

Concentration of land ownership was so dramatic that on the State’s most urbanized island, Oahu, 22 landowners owned 72.5% of the fee simple titles. Id., at 232. The Hawaii Legislature had concluded that the oligopoly in land ownership was “skewing the State’s residential fee simple market, inflating land prices, and injuring the public tranquility and welfare,” and therefore enacted a condemnation scheme for redistributing title. Ibid.

There is the basis for the “public use” – to remedy the skewing of the residential fee simple market and its effect on land prices.

If that is indeed a legitimate public use, it seems to me that an urban redevelopment scheme may be based upon the exact same principles.

In earlier back-and-forth between us, Pat closed his opinion with the simple statement that giving private property to Marriott for a hotel cannot in any circumstances be a public use.

But I want to test the foundation of his position.

What if, for instance, the private property taken were highly desirable waterfront property in an urban location upon which the public currently had no right of access, and the economic development scheme required the private developer to incorporate a significant public park area which would open up the land to public use? It seems to me that is at least as legitimate a determination of public use as O’Connor found appropriate in HHA.

What is clear is that there is over a hundred years of precedent that, contrary to Justice Chase’s apparently simplistic denouncement, recognizes that “public use” does not equal “public fee ownership,” and the determination of what is “public use” is a legislative one, not a judicial one.

And that, my friends, is how it should be, in my humble opinion.

Some lawmakers are going the price control path:

Hawaii, which often has the highest gasoline prices in the nation, has already gone beyond talk: Lawmakers have mandated a moving cap on the wholesale price of \ gasoline — that is, the price as it leaves in-state refineries.

Swing states such as Missouri and Wisconsin are also proposing such legislation. This would be a huge economic mistake. Liberals loved the line “worst job creation record since Herbert Hoover” last year to attack the President’s economic performance. The truth is, Hoover implemented policies that were anti-trade such as the Smoot Hawley act of 1930. Hawaii’s energy price control could prove liberals wrong and President Bush’s anti-tax policies right.

The Washington Times is reporting that soldiers who work at Gitmo criticized the harsh comments made by Senate Democrats including Dick Durbin:

Pentagon officials said soldiers criticized the harsh comments made recently by Senate Democrats. Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, last month invoked widespread military outrage when he compared Guantanamo to the prison labor systems used by communist tyrant Josef Stalin, Cambodia’s Pol Pot and Adolf Hitler. “They got stiff reactions from those home-state soldiers,” one official told us. “The troops down there expressed their disdain for that kind of commentary, especially comparisons to the gulag.” A spokesman for Mr. Kennedy had no comment. A spokeswoman for Mr. Akaka confirmed that the senator met with soldiers from Hawaii but did not recall receiving any complaints during the meeting.

This is wonderful news and of course the MSM is nowhere to be found on it. Durbin and Kennedy’s presence on the Judiciary committee could become a serious liability for Democrats if John Roberts’ confirmation hearing get ugly. Either way, Dick Durbin will certainly serve as the GOP punching bag come the 2006 mid-term elections. Free speech works both ways and slandering the troops has consequences. Just ask John Kerry.

Iowa, Wisconsin and New Mexico have still not been officially called on various networks and all of Maine ended up going to Kerry. If the totals hold, Wisconsin will go to Kerry and Iowa and New Mexico will go to President Bush. That means the Electoral College will come to Bush 286, Kerry 252. Not as good as the 301-237 I had predicted but I will take it. I was only wrong about Wisconsin, Hawaii and the 2nd district of Maine. VodkaPundit, Outside the Beltway, and Priorities & Frivolities all predicted right.

I’ll be live blogging throughout the night so keep checking back to this post for updates.

7:21 - I find it hard to believe that South Carolina and Virginia are too close to call. I think it is more of a lack of data issue than anything to do with the closeness of the race.

7:24 - MSNBC shows Bush has a 51% approval rating in their exit polls.

7:30 - Fox News calls West Virginia for Bush. Not ready to call Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina or obviously Ohio. The states other than Ohio just don’t have enough tallies in but they should go to Bush soon. Current electoral count is Bush 39, Kerry 3. I will be checking the comments if anyone wants to chat.

7:37 - OK, Change of plans. I need to walk over with my wife for her to vote. I will be back in about 30 minutes or so depending on the lines.

8:06 - OK, I’m back. There was absolutely no line so it was quick. SC, TN, OK, AL and KY have gone for Bush. No surprises yet. Current count is Kerry 77, Bush 74.

8:31 - Fox has now called NC and VA for Bush. Some people were trying to hint that VA may go Kerry. Not! Current count is Bush 102, Kerry 77.

8:34 - CNN says Alleghany county in western PA has extended their voting hours by 1.5 hours. This may be good news for the president.

8:43 - I’m hearing Bush is beating his numbers in central and western Florida. Their are thousands still waiting to vote in the panhandle.

9:07 - Michael Barone is making me feel good about Florida. Bush outperforming his 2000 count in many counties. The exit polls were complete crap this year (again).

9:08 - Bush takes NB, WY, TX, ND, SD, and KS. Kerry takes NY, RI. Still no surprises although I’m disappointed about NJ. Current count is Bush 156, Kerry 112.

9:31 - LA goes to Bush. Current count is Bush 165, Kerry 112.

9:46 - NBC calls MS for Bush. Current count is Bush 171, Kerry 112. Still no surprises. None of the big battleground states have been called yet.

9:52 - CNN has a cool electoral map that drills down to the county level.

10:00 - Utah goes to Bush. Count is now Bush 176, Kerry 112. Bush needs 94 more votes to win.

10:06 - On the Senate side of things it looks like Bunning may pull it out but Spectre looks like he may be in trouble. That would be a shock.

10:18 - MO and AR go to Bush. Yahoo has a good map also that shows which way the states are leaning. Electoral count is Bush 193, Kerry 112. Also Bunning has pulled it out.

10:39 - Yahoo now has NH leaning Bush but tied at 50%.

10:47 - Check out this post at Kerry Spot about NH.

10:57 - PA has gone to Kerry, oh well! Coburn, DeMint, and Burr have all won Senate races for the GOP. Current electoral vote is Bush 193, Kerry 133. Kerry’s number will be shooting up with the West coast results coming in.

10:59 - ID goes to Bush. So far they are unable to call CA, OR, WA, or HI. Bush’s lead rises to 197-133. He only needs 73 more to win.

11:04 - Thune has a small lead with 42% reporting.

11:07 - WA goes to Kerry. Count now stands at Bush 197, Kerry 144. Spectre has pulled it out for the GOP and now the ACLU has filed a lawsuit in Florida over absentee ballots. This may mean Florida can’t be called tonight.

11:24 - AZ and MT go to Bush. Bush is up in Florida 52-47 with 94% reporting. He has a 300,000 vote lead. Electoral Count is Bush 210, Kerry 144. Still no surprises.

11:36 - Dan Rather doesn’t look happy. He keeps saying “it’s not over”. Yeah right Dan, keep telling yourself that.

11:38 - Lot of long faces on the local stations covering Kerry campaign HQ in Copley Square. 97% reporting in Florida, Bush still up 52-47.

11:40 - Anonymous Kerry sources are saying they have lost Florida. So much for revenge over 2000.

11:44 - Looks like the Guardian’s attempt to influence Clark county in Ohio has backfired!

11:45 - Everyone other than Fox has called CA for Kerry. This moves the electoral vote to Bush 210, Kerry 199.

11:57 - Retread points out in the comments that ABC has called Florida for Bush So far no other network has followed suit. I’ll go with it, that puts Bush up 237-199. Everything is riding on Ohio and the other midwest states.

12:13 - Bush campaign says they feel confident about Ohio. I hope they are right because Bush is currently down in all the midwest Gore states and NH. Still to early to call them though.

12:15 - The Kerry campaign won’t let the media film him watching the results. Gee, wonder why?

12:18 - Kerry only won NJ by 4 points. Fox now says OR goes to Kerry which leaves Bush up 237-206. Still no surprises yet.

12:24 - Bush takes CO. He now leads 246-206. He only needs 24 more to win! Go Ohio!!!

12:27 - Polipundit point out that Kerry’s lead in Massachusetts is less than Al Gore had.

12:37 - Bummer, Fox has given NH to Kerry. It is the first flipped state of the night but not much of a surprise. Bush still leads 246-211. The popular vote nationwide stands at Bush 51, Kerry 48 with 71% reporting. Bush may be the first President to break 50% since 1988.

12:41 - WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fox has called Ohio for Bush. No other network has followed suit yet. That puts Bush at 266-206. AK will make it a tie and NV or NM will put him over the top. So basically BUSH WINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

12:44 - Dan Rather is still holding out hope for Kerry. Give it up Dan. All of you attempts to help Kerry have failed.

12:51 - Vitter wins in LA, no runoff needed!

12:53 - CNN gives MN to Kerry and Fox gives the 1 vote from the 2nd district in Maine to Bush. Ohio is tightening, no other network has called it yet. Bush leads 266-217. WI and IA are very tight right now.

12:58 - James Carville is on CNN saying if Kerry loses, the Democrats will need to do some serious soul searching. I agree, they can start by kicking Michael Moore in the ass!

1:00 - Alaska goes to Bush, now leads 269-217. As long as OH holds Bush has won!

1:03 - MSNBC has now given OH to Bush! The question now is will Kerry concede or turn to the lawyers in Ohio.

1:12 - There are a lot of long faces on the networks, especially Dan Rather. Someone better put a suicide watch on him! Got anymore documents Dan?

1:18 - There is only one thing that will make this night better and that is a Thune win over Daschle! Thune is currently leading

1:19 - The biggest losers tonight are the mainstream media, Michael Moore, Hollywood, George Soros, the terrorists, pollsters (especially Zogby) and whoever did that exit polling! The winners are Hillary Clinton, the people of Iraq, the military and Vietnam Veterans.

1:29 - Deja Vu, Fox says Kerry is refusing to concede. I will lose what little respect I have left for him if he drags this country through another mess like 2000. Do the right thing Senator like Nixon did against your idol JFK!

1:33 - Bush now leads in Iowa and Wisconsin is very close.

2:11 - Fox reports that Ted Kennedy is visiting John Kerry’s townhouse. Maybe he is slapping Kerry upside the head and telling him to concede but I doubt it.

2:19 - Mort Kondracke just said on Fox that the Red Sox owner is chartering planes to ferry lawyers to Ohio. Here we go again. This is ridiculous, when Gore challenged he at least had the popular vote. Kerry is losing that it 3%. If he drags this on he has no shame.

2:28 - John Edwards has just made it clear that they are not going to concede. Assholes!

2:34 - Kathryn Jean Lopez at NRO nails it: “IS THERE NOT A GENTLEMAN IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY?”

2:44 - Fox called Michigan for Kerry. That puts it at Bush 269, Kerry 238.

2:47 - Fox calls Hawaii for Kerry. Bush still leads 269-242.

2:55 - Bush’s lead has increased in Ohio to over 130,000 votes. Give it up and be a man Kerry!

3:00 - Thune, Martinez, and Murkowski are all leading in their Senate races that are still too close to call. If they all win, the Rebublicans will have a 5 seat majority. Overall a great night for the Republicans. Nobody on TV seems to think that Kerry can overcome the deficit in Ohio. Hopefully he will concede tomorrow. It is 3AM and I giving up for the night. Good night!