the prodigal son returns

for those of you who were upset and have been biting your nails in anticipation of my return this post is for you. haha that's just for me, like entries in this blog will be from now on. to write is to explain, and to explain is to understand, or at least trying to. either way it requires critical thinking and reflection, not to mention articulation, all important skills.

i'm writing again because someone once told me that i have a terrible memory. ok more than once, more like once a day. its hard to remember things, even important things like what i believe in, my principles, my values, what the cute girl sitting next to me in that presentation yesterday wore. ok i m lying about the last one, she wore skinny jeans (sevens?), black knit sweater and a black beret, but you get the point.

i can't remember what movie i watched a couple of weeks ago, and what was the fifth to last book i read (america's constitution: a biography, the river at the center of the world, team of rivals...), i mean the fourth, i do that sometimes, pick a random number of examples before i actually know how many i can come up with...

im currently reading the brethren: inside the supreme court (does that make it the fifth, do i start counting from the book im currently reading or the last one i've completed). it covers the supreme court's 1969 to 1978 terms and begins with earl warren's resignation as chief justice and warren burger's (i wonder if the last name first name connection was the selection criteria they used? continuity is all the rage: see dallas cowboys; but thats for another day) subsequent rise to from the district court of appeals to replace him. as i read the account of burger's initial days in the court, when he proceeded to unilaterally redecorate the supreme court building and overhaul the court's protocol while the associate justices were on holiday reminded me of george w bush and everything that's wrong with the modern day republican party. going thru the details would be too tedious, read im lazy so here is a list of action and what it meant:

1. relocating his office into the conference room where justices traditionally reserved for case deliberation without consulting the other justices signify a penchant for childish impulsiveness and inability or unwillingness to compromise and/or build consensus. doing so because he thought his original office was too small to entertain foreign dignitaries ("what would they think?") shows a preoccupation with appearance; forgiveable, but annoying

2. censoring and emasculating his law clerks; forbidding them to talk about the case or him with the law clerks of other justices. shows an obvious insecurity and dislike for discourse and criticism that he cannot control; very annoying and counterproductive.

this is just the first few pages, i'm sure i'll encouter more things to dislike about burger, albeit i already don't like him and anything i read will be with the intention of looking for more reasons to dislike him.

that brings me to nixon, who rode the wave of the moral majority (the south) and barely stepped into the oval office before beginning to implement his plan to reverse the judicial precendents that the warren court established (who needs civil rights?). his first act in this masterplan was dispatching fbi director j edgar hoover (another shiny character whose name brings smiles and giggles to countless americans) to dig up dirt on sitting members of the high court (remind anyone of watergate?) and using such info to force out hostile (i.e. liberal) justices. he would continue this pattern of shady and underhanded executive behavior, culminating in his coup de grace, watergate.

this is y i believe nixon is in fact and in deed the worst president in american history. yes there have been others who have brought great misfortune to this nation -- herbert hoover (great depression), andrew johnson (drunk and bitter fights with reconstruction congress), lyndon johnson (vietnam, altho i dont think thats his fault and instead that of the super overrated jfk), etc. -- no other president has ever so intentionally subverted the basic principles of popular sovereignty and betrayed the trust of americans and assasinated the constitution that he swore to preserve, protect and defend as nixon did with watergate.

thus the most dispicable attribute of george w bush wasnt his obstinate refusal to budge on the issue of iraq or the misguided tax cuts that he pursued in attempt to emulate ronald reagan, but rather the insistence on rewarding loyalty and alienating and punishing detractors that reminds me so much of nixon's cynicism. it has led to almost all of the most significant missteps of the administration -- trusting donald rumsfeld to run the iraq war despite his demonstrated incompetence, rampant cronyism ala fema and the katrina disaster, and rejection of coalition building (either you;re with us or against us) and most unforgivable of all, polarizing a nation that he promised to unite following a contentious and rancorous election in 2000.

that's enough ranting for one day... writing is hard, it's too intimate