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Eric—I just played your logic game. It's fun. But here's my question: Why do you prefer the M-Box? After all, nothing in logic makes it any better than a C-Box. Both could be accurate, and both could be inaccurate. And yet, I see from your earlier posts that deference to the executive (the M-Box!) is one of your guiding principles. You must have ...

Like all good conspiracy theorists, Jack posits that a complex outcome must be the result of either ''dumb luck'' or ingenious strategizing by an all-powerful and all-knowing single actor. Here, the complex outcome is that Republican presidents—despite having numerous chances to fill Supreme Court seats—have not been able to do what the ...

Jack—You really should not be required to repeat yourself, and so I apoligize for making you go through it all again. But at last, I get it! It's not the justices who are acting strategically, only the presidents who appoints them. Once they appoint them, justices do as they do. Which is why Reagan appointed ...

At least one leading conservative believes the court fell down on the job in Heller if it views its job as making decisions in ways that create political debates sure to help Republicans, adding further support for my view that the claims by some that the court's approach to Roe (bend it, don't break it) thus far is best explained ...

Can the House really believe the new FISA bill means that it has reined the president in? The New York Times reports, ''yes.'' And here's why: Perhaps the most important concession that Democratic leaders claimed was an affirmation that the intelligence restrictions were the ''exclusive'' means for the executive branch to conduct ...

to Boumediene, and it's pretty much like Bush yesterday, only more condemnatory but less direct in raising the possibility of a legislative response that would seek to prevent the protections the court has ordered—absent a valid suspension—from going into effect. Should we start boning up on articles like this one?

A sign of what's to come? Here's the president's statement in response to Boumediene, courtesy of CNN: President Bush, who is traveling in Europe, said he disagreed with the Guantanamo ruling but promised to abide by it. ''Congress and the administration worked very carefully on a piece of legislation that set the appropriate procedures in ...

There’s much fulminating in the dissents about the court usurping the judgment of the political branches, accompanied with the contention (particularly forcefully asserted in Scalia's dissent) that the court’s recognition of habeas rights creates a grave security threat to the nation. But it’s worth recalling one basic fact about this whole ...

I am confused. The New York Times first reports that John McCain now agrees with the Bush administration that the president has the constitutional power to disregard FISA. Now, today it publishes a story saying Bush is alarmed he'll lose the statutory authority Congress recently gave that permits him to get around the old FISA framework. But ...

Here's an interesting post laying out a quite troubling scenario (at least to me): McCain loses the popular vote by more than 1 millon, but wins the election due to the electoral college. Perish the thought.  But what if? Obviously, one solution for the future is to scrap the electoral college altogether, something ...