The Enlightened Despot

Tom Goldstein has a good primer on what to expect in the coming nomination fight. He goes over four lines of attack that we’re likely to see from right-wing ideologues. Here’s the first:

Opponents’ first claim – likely stated obliquely and only on background – will be that Judge Sotomayor is not smart enough for the job. This is a critical ground for the White House to capture. The public expects Supreme Court Justices to be brilliant.

Obliquely, eh? Only on background, you say? Rick Brookhiser, moments after the announcement, responding to Sotomayor’s claim that “a wise Latina woman” could come to a more informed conclusion on some issues than a white man:

It might be that we need a wise Latina, but doesn’t saying so qualify you as a dumb Latina?

That didn’t take long.

From February of 2005, a bold prediction of the imminent dawn of a neoconservative utopia:

Car bombs are bad news, but in the shadows is the real story: The terrorists are losing, and radical reform, the likes of which millions have never seen, is right on the horizon. So this American gloominess is not new. Yet, if the past is any guide, our present lack of optimism in this struggle presages its ultimate success.

A final prediction: By the end of this year, formerly critical liberal pundits, backsliding conservative columnists, once-fiery politicians, Arab “moderates,” ex-statesmen and generals emeriti, smug stand-up comedians, recently strident Euros — perhaps even Hillary herself — will quietly come to a consensus that what we are witnessing from Afghanistan and the West Bank to Iraq and beyond, with its growing tremors in Lebanon, Libya, Egypt, and the Gulf, is a moral awakening, a radical break with an ugly past that threatens a corrupt, entrenched, and autocratic elite and is just the sort of thing that they were sort of for, sort of all along — sort of…

Remember when all those liberal pundits and backsliding conservatives were forced to admit to the growing tremors of a moral awakening in Lebanon, Libya, Egypt, and the West Bank? That sure was embarrassing for them.

P.S. Bonus points for adding Islamophobic undertones purely through the use of quotation marks.

Mark Levin, on the Fairness Doctrine:

This is going to be one hell of a fight.

No it isn’t. Contrary to the most indignant on the left, there are influential Democrats in favor of bringing this foolishness back, most notably Nancy Pelosi. On the other hand, there is zero evidence of actual political will to act on the issue. Plus, Obama is not a fan. Write it down in pen: the Fairness Doctrine is not coming back during this presidency, nor will there be a major push for it.

Republican Senators Hatch and Graham - not a duo likely to bolt across the aisle any time soon - have downplayed the Treasury Secretary nominee’s history with (supposedly accidental) non-payment of taxes. Hatch says that none of us are perfect, while Graham pleads that this is not the time for partisan interference with appointments to top economic jobs. So, nothing to see here, right?

That is the conventional wisdom at this point, but Michelle Malkin laughs at convention (and isn’t so wild about wisdom, either):

Time for the Geithner withdrawal betting pool. My guess? Friday 6:45pm Eastern.

I’m going to go with March 2011. This seems like one of those scandals that will be slow to develop…

Igor Panarin, a former KGB agent, has spent the past decade telling anyone who will listen that the United States will disolve in 2010. The Kremlin has recently started paying him some attention, and, what with the economy and all, he’s moved his estimate for our demise up to this spring. Here’s a map of the post-USA:

The article doesn’t offer an opinion on whether Panarin is in on the joke, but whether this is thin propaganda or pure craziness, it’s clear that he knows very little about America. I like to keep an open mind: maybe Georgia will become a part of Mexico, and perhaps South Carolina is on its way into the European Union. I must confess, though, that I don’t see how both of those things could happen.

The Russian interest in Alaska is worth thinking about, though. What with the price of oil and the Palin aftermath, we might not be in a position to get a great return for our northernmost state, but it’s at least worth hearing some offers.