Dahlia Lithwick, Slate's resident awesome Supreme Court Reporter, has outdone herself with her recent report on the oral arguments presented last week in the somewhat odd free speech/ freedom of religion case concerning the quirky Summums in a righteous battle for equal "monumental" representation. The implications are interesting to say the least, and Lithwick's playful prose adds significantly to the enjoyment.
Also, I've been talking for a while about all the dastardly things Lame Duck Bush may get up to while everyone is (rightfully) distracted by the President Elect and his administration-building. Well, looks like the Times was paying attention as well (again, this is over a week old, but still very relevant); they scratched the surface of the likely and current goings-on, and will hopefully keep poking around.
And for the truly important thing: The frankly insulting and devastating passage of four anti-gay (anti-American, more like) ballot measures. First, it's important to note (though its been ably debunked by many already) that the increased black voter turnout is not what doomed Prop 8 to passage in California. As Nate Silver of my favorite site fivethirtyeight.com explains, it's really all the old fogeys' fault, and luckily were looking at inevitable and eventual success (though I'm the first to say that any success is long overdue). Dan Savage corroborates hilariously on Colbert:
Dan Savage also talked about the oft-overlooked Arkansas ballot measure, which strikes an egregious blow against the rights of a significant chunk, if not the majority, of adults in Arkansas and almost certainly spells disaster for the foster care system in the state. Savage explains it far better than I, but it's just flat out disgusting what millions of people voted in favor of this past election day. We're talking about people and families and love. I leave you with Keith Olbermann and his words of wisdom. Right on!
