(no subject)

[dexeron.livejournal.com]

Quoting Ed Brayton:

"This is the single best argument for voting Democratic in the presidential election. I don't expect Hillary Clinton to be easily distinguishable from a Republican on most issues. She's a virtual neo-con on foreign policy and has always been in the pocket of Wall Street. But when it comes to judicial nominations, the difference is stark and the stakes are extraordinarily high. Just imagine what would have happened with just one more liberal on the court and one less conservative over the last decade. No Citizens United. No Hobby Lobby. The outcome of dozens of cases would have been different and usually in the right direction. If you want more Ginsburgs and Kagans and fewer Alitos and Scalias, this is an open and shut case, even if you have to hold your nose to do it."

"...you have to understand how the two parties pick their judicial nominees. They come from lists compiled primarily by two group, the Federalist Society for Republicans and the American Constitution Society for Democrats. The list put together by the ACS and the pipeline of more liberal judges that are ready for a Supreme Court appointment will be far better than the one compiled by FedSoc by nearly any measure."

I find that I agree with Brayton's assessment. HRC is the center-right candidate in a system where we have two viable parties: one center-right, and one far-right. I'd much rather see a Warren or someone farther to the left run. But the fact is that HRC is going to be the Democratic candidate, and when we look at the actual outcomes of a Democratic or Republican presidency, they're going to be different. Both parties aren't the same, and this plays out in tons of arenas and expressions of policy, both domestic and foreign. Is HRC more hawkish than I'd like? Sure, but she's not about to railroad us into a war with Iran. And despite any number of things on which I disagree with her, her SCOTUS nominations are going to be far better than anything from a Republican president. She's not my perfect candidate, but she's absolutely better than what the other side is offering. As Barney Frank once quipped: "We may not be perfect, but they're nuts!"

150th annivesary of President Lincoln's death

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Today is the 150 anniversary of President Lincoln's death.


Editorial cartoon from 1865.The caption reads: (Johnson): "Take it quietly Uncle Abe and I will draw it closer than ever." (Lincoln): "A few more stitches Andy and the good old Union will be mended."







President Lincoln's gold pocket watch (kept at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History) was only recently discovered to have been signed by several watch keepers for normal maintenance, the graffiti was only discovered in 2009. The inscriptions are transcribed below.

"Jonathan Dillon April 13- 1861 Fort Sumpter [sic] was attacked by the rebels on the above date. J Dillon," the brass underside of the watch movement reads. It continues: "April 13- 1861 Washington thank God we have a government Jonth Dillon." The back of the watch movement also bears two other inscriptions: "LE Grofs Sept 1864 Wash DC," probably engraved by another repairer, and what appears to be "Jeff Davis." Whether the latter was intended as a retort by another watchmaker to Dillon's pro-Union sentiments is unknown.



While at Ford's theater, President Abraham Lincoln was shot attending a performance of Our American Cousin and died from his wounds the next day on 15 April, 1865. The body was buried in Springfield, Illinois, and on its train journey there, several stops were made in cities including New York, where the funeral cortege passed underneath Theodore Roosevelt's home on Broadway near Union Square (he can be seen in the window as a young boy in the image below).