The Seventh Sense

In Stark Contrast To The Post Immediately Below

Robert Confirmed as new Chief Justice

Constance Baker Motley, 1921-2005

From the NY Times:

Constance Baker Motley, a civil rights lawyer who fought nearly every important civil rights case for two decades and then became the first black woman to serve as a federal judge, died yesterday at NYU Downtown Hospital in Manhattan. She was 84.

The cause was congestive heart failure, said Isolde Motley, her daughter-in-law.

Judge Motley was the first black woman to serve in the New York State Senate, as well as the first woman to be Manhattan borough president, a position that guaranteed her a voice in running the entire city under an earlier system of local government called the Board of Estimate.

Judge Motley was at the center of the firestorm that raged through the South in the two decades after World War II, as blacks and their white allies pressed to end the segregation that had gripped the region since Reconstruction. She visited the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in jail, sang freedom songs in churches that had been bombed, and spent a night under armed guard with Medgar Evers, the civil rights leader who was later murdered.

But her métier was in the quieter, painstaking preparation and presentation of lawsuits that paved the way to fuller societal participation by blacks. She dressed elegantly, spoke in a low, lilting voice and, in case after case, earned a reputation as the chief courtroom tactician of the civil rights movement.

Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama and other staunch segregationists yielded, kicking and screaming, to the verdicts of courts ruling against racial segregation. These huge victories were led by the N.A.A.C.P.'s Legal Defense and Education Fund, led by Thurgood Marshall, for which Judge Motley, Jack Greenberg, Robert Carter and a handful of other underpaid, overworked lawyers labored.

In particular, she directed the legal campaign that resulted in the admission of James H. Meredith to the University of Mississippi in 1962. She argued 10 cases before the United States Supreme Court and won nine of them.

Judge Motley won cases that ended segregation in Memphis restaurants and at whites-only lunch counters in Birmingham, Ala. She fought for King's right to march in Albany, Ga. She played an important role in representing blacks seeking admission to the Universities of Florida, Georgia Alabama and Mississippi and Clemson College in South Carolina.

I gave an oral argument before her once, and I saw her lecture several times.  One hell of an interesting lady.

Pardon Me

Here are 14 people that Bush pardoned yesterday -- the day when Delay got indicted.  They include 4 drug dealers.

Probably not the best timing.

Speaking of crime, Bill Bennett posed an interesting solution:

But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down.

Wanker.

Freedom Haters Succeed In Yanking Plans For Freedom Museum

The hysterical moonbats won one:

Governor George Pataki said today he will direct development officials to drop plans for a museum of freedom at the World Trade Center site, saying it has stirred ``too much opposition, too much controversy.''

The International Freedom Center would have been put in a cultural center adjacent to a memorial for the Sept. 11 victims, and was part of the master plan for redeveloping the devastated 16-acre site of the nation's worst terrorist attack.

In the last several months, some victims' families, groups of firefighters and police officers and public officials said the center, which would feature historical exhibits expressing the worldwide struggle for freedom, would detract from the Sept. 11 themes and provide a possible forum for anti-U.S. messages.

``Today there remains too much opposition, too much controversy, over the programming of the IFC and we must move forward with our first priority, the creation of an inspiring memorial to pay tribute to our lost loved ones and tell their stories to the world,'' Pataki said in a prepared statement.

``I am directing the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. to work with the IFC to explore other locations for the center,'' the governor said.

The rightosphere objected to the International Freedom Center, seeing it as unrelated to the events of 9/11.  Ironically, the rightosphere thinks the liberation of Iraq is related to the events of 9/11.  So, go figure.

Delay Indicted

This just in...

WASHINGTON - A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, forcing the House majority leader to temporarily relinquish his post.

DeLay attorney Steve Brittain said DeLay was accused of a criminal conspiracy along with two associates, John Colyandro, former executive director of a Texas political action committee formed by DeLay, and Jim Ellis, who heads DeLay's national political committee.

"I have notified the speaker that I will temporarily step aside from my position as majority leader pursuant to rules of the House Republican Conference and the actions of the Travis County district attorney today," DeLay said.

Related:  SEC commences formal investigation of Frist

Not a good day to be a Republican leader.

The "Most Challenged Books" Meme

Via Majikthise: 

"How many of the American Library Association's top 100 most frequently challenged books have you read?"

Mmmmm....

3.  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

5.  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

6.  Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

13.  The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

18.  The Color Purple by Alice Walker

41.  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

47.  Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

52.  Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

56.  James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

59.  Ordinary People by Judith Guest

69.  Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

77.  Carrie by Stephen King

84.  The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

That makes thirteen . . . not so good.

Don't Dream It, See It

I generally don't write about local events, but my weblog stat counter thingee informs me that I am averaging a couple hundred hits a day now, and many of you are from the Triad region.   So to anyone within driving distance of Winston-Salem, have I got a show for you to see.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the cult film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show".  Yup, thirty years.  Feel old?   I do (and not just because my birthday is Tuesday).   Yes, I was one of those people who went to the occasional midnight showings of "Rocky Horror" in Boston or New York in the 1980s.  (The film, in fact, practically invented the concept of the midnight showing, not to mention "goth" fashion).  Usually my Rocky Horror movie-going was a spontaneous outting with theater friends -- something to do post-rehearsal and under the influence of less-than-legal mind-altering substances.

So I was extremely pleased and a little nostalgic when my theater group announced that it was mounting a production of "The Rocky Horror Show" (the stage musical on which the movie is based).  I opted not to audition -- I was musical-ed out at the time (and singing/dancing isn't my strongest suit) -- and I almost instantly had regrets for that decision.

The saving grace was that I actually got to see the production Saturday night at a one-time-only midnight performance.  And seeing a stage version of "Rocky Horror" is pretty damn close to being a part of the production, what with the audience participation and all.  And man, was it fun!  Even without less-than-legal mind-altering substances.

Sheehan Just Arrested

Good.  More headlines for us.

Doesn't look like she's too upset. And, I might add, it's nice to know that civil disobedience can be, on occasion, disobedient.

Would You Believe?

Don Adams ("Agent 86" on Get Smart, as well as the voice of Inspector Gadget) is dead?

I blame CHAOS.

Republicans Screw The Pooch

This news as huge ramifications for the upcoming elections.  From Political Wire:

As the 2006 midterm election season approaches, Political Wire has seen a copy of a new Winston Group (R) poll that shows Americans turning away from the Republican party. (There's no link yet on the firm's website.)

Those surveyed had less confidence in Republicans to handle a wide range of issues, including education, Social Security, health care, jobs and energy prices. Democrats beat Republicans by at least 9 percentage points in each category. In addition, Democrats were also viewed as better able to handle war in Iraq and the economy.

In fact, the only bad news for Democrats is that they are viewed as overly partisan. In particular, Democrats were seen as more likely to instigate partisan attacks over two recent issues in the news -- the federal government's hurricane response and the nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court.