Well done, Reverend. I was very saddened to get this note that the mighty Rev. E.V. Hill passed away late Monday. I was very blessed to hear him preach once -- at my law school baccalaureate. He preached on "His eye is on the sparrow." This was one of the greatest sermons I ever heard. This man did a lot for the Kingdom of God -- he will be missed here, but he has earned his rest. He was faithful to the call of God and he was truly blessed.

Victory for Speech. Now that it's decided -- announced just minutes ago -- it doesn't seem surprising that abortion protesters can't have RICO ("Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act") penalties imposed on them. The constitution does protect the right of free speech and assembly, right? Not according to Justice Stevens and the rest of the abortion acolytes -- however, even the pro-abortion rights justices will occasionally defer to the constitution, and did so here. (8-1 decision, although Ginsburg issued a concurring opinion.)

I was actually expecting to see the Victor's secret case today and thought this one might wait for a month or so.

More This editorial in the WSJ today notes that when this case was argued in the Circuit Court, it was Larry Tribe, Sarah Weddington, no, that's not right -- it was Miguel Estrada who argued against those nutty abortion protestors. Miguel Estrada -- isn't he the one who is being fillibustered right now by the left-wingers?

BTW, I'm angelic. Since it's getting overloaded, I'm not linking the graphic. If I was, you'd see I'm "not evil in any way, shape or form. In fact, [I am] the opposition of all evil. It's too bad there aren't more people like [me], or this world would be a much better place to live."

Sure my jibe at Glenn, below, was lame, but I do have a point. First, the point is that his little jibe was pretty lame itself. If you think it was witty or insightful, perhaps you've had one too many hits yourself.

Glenn, being like a law professor, should know better. It's pretty basic stuff you learn in elementary school -- the job of the attorney general is to carryout and enforce the law. The job isn't to disregard law enforcement just because you might disagree with the law. If you disagree with the law, the proper thing to do is to get the law changed. And who passes the laws boys and girls? That's right, it's a legislative function.

Lame, Glenn, lame.

Down. Yeah, it looks like Haloscan (comments) is down again. It's either me, blogspot, blogger, or haloscan -- we can't all seem to be going at once.

More agreeance. We are on the precipice of war. The American public is constantly reminded we are under high to very high terror alerts, and Glenn Reynolds is "busy with meetings and classes"?

Idiot Watch. "agreeance?" What the hell is "agreeance" Fred?

Knock Three Times. The Supremes will be taking up a "knock and announce" case next term. According to the AP:

The Supreme Court said Monday that it would consider a government appeal that asks if a SWAT team went too far by breaking down the door of a suspected drug dealer while he took a shower.

An appeals court ruled that authorities acted unreasonably by using a battering ram to knock down Lashawn Lowell Banks' door just 15 to 20 seconds after demanding entrance. The masked officers found Banks naked and soapy, emerging from the bathroom.

A friend of mine -- a former Assistant U.S. Attorney who's gone on some of these raids has told me the procedure he's observed has been /bam-bam/Police-we-have-a-search-warrant/WHAM[down goes door by battering ram].

This case comes out of the infamous Ninth Circuit --

Magazines. I'd probably skip both this weekend. Time's cover story seems to share the shallow thinking of those who are anti-Bush that the President desires a war. "Do You Want This War?" it asks with GWB made up to look like James Montgomery
Flagg's Uncle Sam. Actually, Bush has given me the impression that he doesn't want this war -- unlike Clinton who would bomb a country at the drop of an intern, GWB's reluctance has been agonizing. And that's a good thing in my opinion.

On the other hand, Newsweek goes for a soft news story -- a sociological pieceon Black Women.

. . . and Generals. My parents came up for the weekend to celebrate the birthday of my niblings -- we nervously monitored the rising creek out back -- my father-in-law's basement flooded. I did taxes and fiddled with the computer -- adding memory and starting to network all the home PCs.

I'd hoped to see the new movie, Gods and Generals, but clocking in at almost 4 hours -- it doesn't seem likely. My parents laughed that they haven't gotten Chicago or The Hours, but GnG is opening this weekend in the Outer Banks. I was disappointed to see it got a 9% rating on the Tomatometer and did read Ebert's review panning the movie.

One criticism that seems to be universal among the Hollywood critics is that the movie explains the reason the South would go to war to withdraw from the union. This from the same group that thinks the 9-11 attacks were understandable if you were a Muslim. Those of you who have read this site know I am no fan of the Confederacy, nevertheless, for the period in question -- Bull Run to Fredericksburg -- and the main subject matter -- the leaders -- the Confederate generals clearly should be the focus of the movie. Consider this from Gary Arnold's article on the movie:

Asked about the emphasis on Southern military leaders in "Gods and Generals," Mr. Lang answers that the years 1861 through 1863 pretty much dictate it. "It is hard to do a film about the Virginia theater of war at that time," he argues, "without having Jackson as the focal point. ... He was one of the most famous men in the world. ... Northern mothers used him as a boogeyman to admonish their children. Lee didn't provoke that sort of reaction. Jackson was instrumental in victory after victory. During the campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, he acquired this mystical quality of appearing and disappearing."
Warming to the subject, Mr. Lang reflects, "This particular time frame was the high-water mark for the Confederacy. Just look at the generals who commanded the Union Army. Would you make a movie about McClellan? Or Hooker or Meade or Burnside? Seriously.
"Don't forget, there's still one more book. If Ron gets the chance to film 'The Last Full Measure,' the Jeff Shaara book that deals with the final years of the war, the focus will shift back to the Union side. That's where Grant and Sherman enter the picture. And there's the sustaining figure of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Jeff's character. If you take the trilogy as a whole, he'll be the unifying figure."