1st of July, Washington DC (Sandy)

Please excuse this horrible pun of a post title, which I'm especially ashamed of since it completely butchers my second favorite Springsteen song.

But who woulda thunk it, Sandra D leaving the bench? Surely this must mean, Rehnquist won't retire until the big guy upstairs tells him - which I can't decide is good or bad. If Rehnquist were to quit in the very near future, you can bet that at least one of the Bush nominees will be an anti-abortion wingnut and the Dems wouldn't filibuster two nominees, would they?

Then again, Rehnquist could last a couple of years longer but drop before 2008, then maybe Bush will be more likely to nominate two radicals. I don't know, I'm not a SCOTUS expert by any means so I'll let WaPo talk about the possible nominees and Slate about the Notorious S.D.O.'s legacy.

Well, I will add this - I prefer my SCOTUS justices moderate and as non-partisan as possible (which is the whole purpose of the Court's existence, of course). As long as you don't get too activist or too laissez faire but make firm stands when appropriate, you're cool with me.

Okay, one more thing. Naturally, I'd like the same for the replacement - I don't care whether he/she's liberal or conservative leaning, as long as it's just leaning and not knee deep. And at the risk of getting my Liberal Card revoked, I'm not entirely too comfortable with Roe v Wade being the litmus. Don't get me wrong, I understand that it's a very important case and why it is the litmus test. And all things being equal, I do want Roe to stand.

At the same time, liberalism is not a one-issue ideology. It's about creating opportunities, eschewing concentration of power, maintaining a viable middle class, maintaining a separation of church & state, etc etc. It is not a simplistic, all-or-nothing dogma. I do hope that the Democrats don't dismiss nominees simply because of their stand on abortion. Chief justices should be judged by their reading of the Constitution, not their positions on particular issues. Well, not necessarily, anyway.

Linkatharsis, y'all.

Looks like I need to save even more money for next year's World Cup in Germany. Heavy fines planned for World Cup streakers.

From Flickr user tangentialism, Orchard Street, As It Once Was:

Chilltop? G Love?

Man, I like G and all, but I'm not feeling this at all. I mean, do people even remember the original "Hilltop", that saccharine, ethno-condescending piece of schmaltz from the 70s? And what kind of title is "Chilltop"? I can only assume someone has a picture of G in bed with a certain War of the Worlds star not named Dakota and a certain lead singer of Matchbox 20.

Sweet. This Christo-like art installation covers up all advertising and branding in Vienna's 7th district for two weeks.

Nothing says "Culture of Life" than sending your fetus to die in Iraq.

Over a hundred songs from the Simpsons available for download (via BV)

I bet people who spent $15 on that the Simpsons Sing the Blues CD a few years ago feel really silly right now. I know I do. Still, superawesome.

It's only appropriate that I read this Village Voice piece on alternative hip hop's very white audience right after the highly disappointing Central Park triple bill. No, that doesn't sound right.

Well, I guess my point is that "mainstream" hip hop and "indie" hip hop are becoming more and more segregated, and the indie types perhaps try a little too hard to not be "commercial". Or not.

More and more, Bush is preaching to the choir:

You can stream or download the Overheard guys' appearance on WNYC.

I can always count on Cityrag Cathy for the truth. Such as: Tom likes a he

That's it. Have a great long weekend, Happy birthday, America. Fuck yeah!