Happy Birthday to John Schuck, 73. C'mon: he's been a friend of Mary and Rhoda; a Cardassian and a Klingon; he was in Roots; he's been in Woody Allen and Warren Beatty movies; and that's not to mention that he was one of Altman's regulars. OK, I liked him best on McMillan, but he's one of my real favorites.
I did find some of the good stuff despite being a bit behind, what with the Super Bowl and all (I liked the desert Coke ad quite a bit).
1. Josh Ryan on how Senate reform will affect, or not affect, conference committees.
2. Gerrymandering does not cause polarization. Really. John Sides tries to convince everyone.
3. Sarah Posner on the new policy for religious exemptions on contraception.
4. Ann Friedman, on haters.
5. And the (National Journal) Hotline's Last Call, RIP. It's been a while since I had Hotline access, but as I've said before, I'm a huge fan. Fortunately, it looks like they'll be retaining some of the spirit of Last Call elsewhere.
Posner is publicizing an interesting point about the new contraception rules. Imagine, for example, that a church has moral objections against blood transfusions, or against medical treatment for children in general. Why aren't their concerns given similar treatment to the Catholics' objections to birth control?
ReplyDeleteCommon law system: someone will have to bring an actual case for something like that to be adjudicated.
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