Short Takes

I'm sorry I can't do anything more substantive this morning, but here are a few things I noticed in reading the papers:

- E.J. Dionne's op/ed in the WaPo is a good look at how liberals in the Democratic party are "far more dependent than conservatively inclined Republicans on alliances with the political center," and the tough political row the Dems have to hoe at the moment.

- John Bunzel, a former member of the US Commission on Civil Rights and a political scientist at Stanford, has a piece in the LATimes urging voters to support Gov. Schwarzenegger's redistricting reform plan. He writes that the "blatant gerrymandering by partisan politicians tends to disenfranchise independent voters who might choose to cross party lines to support a candidate. But it also increases ... the power of the extremes of both parties and the 'ever-growing and ever more toxic partisan and ideological polarization of American politics.'" Agreed.

- The fat-fight in Congress seems to have fizzled ... and not surprisingly, guess which side won. Deficits, deficits, deficits.

- The rumors over the second Court vacancy have returned, and there is a chance that the nomination could come any time now, possibly today or more likely tomorrow. The Senate is planning to hold a final vote on Judge Roberts' nomination at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, so perhaps the nomination will come soon after that. Priscilla Owen is the newest pick of Erick at RedState, but he adds that Gonzales is still a possibility. There will be time enough for evaluation once we get the name for real, so I'll hold off on that for the moment.