AmSpec Blog

Ted Kennedy Didn't Have Stroke

info@spectator.org (James Antle) — Sat, 17 May 2008 17:45:17 EST

That's what the latest reports say about his seizure from earlier today. Senator Kennedy is said to be conscious, talking, and resting comfortably. ...

Re: Gay Marriage, Cont'd

info@spectator.org (James Antle) — Sat, 17 May 2008 17:25:23 EST

John, you're right that what I'm proposing wouldn't resolve controversies over childrearing or whether same-sex couples should receive legal recognition identical similarly situated heterosexual couples. If those questions could be resolved, there wouldn't even be a debate over same-sex marriage. But it would, I think, do a better job of arriving at the compromise that many civil union supporters mistakenly think their preferred policy reaches: Making tangible benefits available to gays (and others) without devaluing marriage as a union between one man and one woman. Pensions, hospital visitation, the ability to easily share property and pool economic resources, bereavement -- the desire for these and other benefits come up at least as often in these debates as issues involving children.

There are maybe 270,000 children in the United States who are being raised at least partly by same-sex couples, including some 65,000 who have been adopted and 14,000...

Anarchy in the USA

info@spectator.org (Jeremy Lott) — Sat, 17 May 2008 15:23:15 EST

The folks at the Free Liberal are holding a debate tomorrow afternoon in a bar -- and a good bar at that. Starting at four at Galaxy Hut Jan "the Libertarian Borat" Helfeld will face off against Michael "stole Matt Welch's funktacular glasses" Owen. The question for debate is "Who cares about anarchy when you can have limited government?" More details here. ...

Missing the Point

info@spectator.org (John Tabin) — Sat, 17 May 2008 13:19:02 EST

Dave Weigel:

- FDR never talked to Hitler, except when he did.

The link goes to one of Roosevelt's prewar communiques. As Tom Maguire pointed out last week, this is completely irrelevant to the debate at hand:

RETURN TO SENDER: No, letters don't count (and I already had pointed out the Roosevelt-Hitler letter) - letters do not provide the sort of propaganda photo-op being criticized. Besides, Bush has sent a letter to Kim Jong Il<...

Hillary slogs on in Oregon

info@spectator.org (Robert Stacy McCain) — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:14:12 EST

Friday, Hillary Clinton held a conference call with her blog supporters, and slammed Barack Obama for ducking a TV debate in Oregon:

"I'm calling you from Oregon … I'll end up tonight doing a broadcast town hall. Both Senator Obama and I were invited. He declined. He refuses to debate me anymore. He refuses to really stand side-by-side with me and have to talk about the issues, answer tough questions. I think that it's been a real disservice to the people here in Oregon and the other states where he has not been willing to debate. So when the TV station offered us both 30 minutes, I accepted, and when he refused, they offered me the whole hour. So I'll be doing a town hall with undecided voters and answering their questions, as I have throughout this campaign.

It has been a month since Obama and Hillary debated in Philadelphia, generally viewed as debacle...

The 'Bush-McCain' meme

info@spectator.org (Robert Stacy McCain) — Fri, 16 May 2008 21:15:00 EST

Ben Smith of the Politico quotes Obama spokesman Bill Burton, reacting to John McCain's NRA speech:

What's reckless is continuing the Bush-McCain foreign policy that has cost us thousands of lives and a trillion dollars in Iraq, strengthened Iran, enabled Hamas to take Gaza, took our eye off al Qaeda, failed to capture Osama bin Laden, failed to finish the job in Afghanistan, and left us less safe and less respected in the world.

Even though President Bush won't be on the ballot, Democrats want to make November a plebiscite on the Bush administration. Not only will you hear Obama's campaign repeatedly use the phrase "Bush-McCain," but other Republican candidates can expect to find themselves portrayed as joined at the hip to a

Re: Gay Marriage, Cont'd

info@spectator.org (John Tabin) — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:56:33 EST

Jim: The trouble with "the decoupling of benefits associated with marriage from marriage itself except where those benefits are fundamental to the purpose of marriage (e.g., related to children and reproduction)" is that the child-rearing benefits of marriage are exactly what a lot of gay couples want -- that is, they want to be parents (via adoption, artificial insemination, etc.), and they want to be treated as such. The mothers of married homosexuals -- who are unlikely to be any less inclined than the mothers of married heterosexuals to ask "When am I going to be a grandmother?" -- are likely to be a rather powerful force in preserving the traditional link between marriage and child-rearing.

The evidence that gay parenthood is harmful to children is rather weak -- and it's incontrovertibly better for a child's well-being to have two parents than it ...