Contra Dworkin

Here I respond to Ronald Dworkin’s criticisms of Scalia’s application of public meaning originalism by giving an example in which an analysis like that which Dworkin deploys against the Eighth Amendment fails to identify what a statement means (or expresses).
Recall from last post that Dworkin and Scalia agree that a statute means whatever a competent [...]

Some More Thoughts on Tuesday Night

I rarely watch TV, getting most of my information and entertainment straight from the tubes.  But Tuesday night, with the two contests and three speeches by the major candidates being back-to-back-to-back, I figured I might tune in to MSNBC and see what the hub-bub was all about.  It was a fairly unenlightening affair, improved only by [...]

Obama’s Weak Offer

Obama’s speech last night was pretty good.  Notone of his best, but at least he largely avoided the empty New Age-y appeals he was making in January.  He was focused on what he would do as President and very adeptly contrasted himself with McCain.  I did notice he referred to his primary opponents as “men [...]

McCain’s Smiling Problem

I think I am one of the few people who liked McCain’s speech last night, at least the text of it.  It made I think a strong case that he is something different than your average Republican and that Barack Obama is absolutely your average Democrat.  It’s the reformer with results image that people have been [...]

What Hillary could be aiming for

A common line of thought among political commentators on the internet these days is that the Clinton campaign is building a narrative now to explain a potential Obama loss in November.  The narrative basically sums up to Obama’s inexperience, perceived arrogance and elitism, fluffy New Age style, and leftish stances will kill his chances amongst [...]