It’s good news, but it’s sad that our courts have so little regard for the Constitution that there was ever a question as to how the Supreme Court would rule:

Writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia said that an individual right to bear arms is supported by “the historical narrative” both before and after the Second Amendment was adopted.

The Constitution does not permit “the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home,” Scalia said. The court also struck down Washington’s requirement that firearms be equipped with trigger locks.

(Source: The Evansville, Indiana Courier & Press)

Of course, it’s the stereotypical 5-to-4 ruling… which basically means half of the current judges presiding over the Supreme Court are complete idiots. (Really: if you have a feeling the vote is going this way, isn’t this like telling every potential “freak militiaman” to start gunning for you? It doesn’t make any sense to me… because now you don’t have gun bans to hide behind. I just don’t get it.)

Popularity: 35% [?]

Yup, that’s my name on the board. Just made my first-ever political contribution. Certainly wouldn’t give my money to any of the other candidates!

Popularity: 9% [?]

Last night was primaries night here in Maryland, which meant my ol’ buddy Dave was in a six-way race for the Republican nomination for Harford County Sheriff. As much as I’m behind him, I couldn’t vote for him. Why? Two reasons: first, I don’t live in Harford County. Second, you’ve got to be a registered Republican to vote in the Republican primaries. (That is to say, I vote Constitution Party.)

While L. Jesse Bane coasted to an easy victory for the Democratic nomination for sheriff, the Republican results were less clear. Cochran and Price were virtually deadlocked and barely ahead of four challengers. It could take a week for election officials to count absentee and provisional ballots and determine a winner.
— Baltimore Sun, Wagner loses as old county names falter

You can get the latest results at the Harford County’s election results page. It looks like there’s a definite gap between Cochran/Price and Tritt/Benedetto, but you never know what may turn up during recounts and such.

Hey, even if Dave doesn’t make it, he can always run as an Independent… right?

Popularity: 9% [?]

From Solari MoneyChanger Calculator:
…when you pay another person in silver or gold, you are giving them real value and substance rather than merely handing off the hot potato of paper money and Federal Credit. Talk about “coming clean!”

Don’t know what they’re talking about? Listen to Episode #68 of The American View. In the meantime, I’m going to find out what my salary really is…

Popularity: 12% [?]

This is so annoyingly inane that I just can’t believe it’s true:

“A suit alleging that the Bush administration is engaged in ongoing, widespread violations of our criminal laws must be dismissed because the alleged wrongdoer, the Bush administration, asserts that any adjudication of the issue would be counterproductive. In other words, under the administration’s legal theory, the administration gets to determine unilaterally which of its actions will be subject to judicial review.

“And while it assures us that the program is perfectly legal, the administration claims it cannot even divulge whether the named plaintiffs (Christopher Hitchens, Larry Diamond, etc.) were spied upon without harming national security. As Jack Balkin put it:

“If the issue were not so grave, the government’s arguments would simply be farcical. If the federal judiciary accepts the government’s argument to dismiss the case without requiring the government to make somewhat finer grained distinctions about what it can and cannot disclose, it might as well close up shop….”

From Unclaimed Territory: Orwellian Doublespeak by Glenn Greenwald.

You know what? If the U.S. was just a giant corporation—and all these “laws” just internal policies—then I could totally understand this response. But we’re talking about the Law here! You know, Lex Rex and all that? The President is not the ruler of this nation; the Law is. Bush must submit to the Law; not vice-versa.

Surely… hopefully… there’s someone in his cabinet who knows how stupid this all is?

I say from here on out, corporate CEOs should be barred from running for President. They’re just too power-hungry.

Popularity: 8% [?]