Notes From D.R. | Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene

In a bizarre, potentially dangerous ruling, the US Supreme Court rules 5-3 that President Bush was wrong to hold war crimes trials for detainees at "Club G’itmo." More from the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, National Review, Power Line, and Michelle Malkin.

UPDATE: More from the Wall Street Journal, Thomas Sowell and the Washington Times.

The Supreme Court rules on redistricting. More from the Washington Post.

Illinois Senator Barack Obama chastises Democrats for alienating religious Americans. Wonder what Obama’s buddy, Massachusetts Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick, makes of the Senator’s proclamation?

UPDATE: Obama gets raked over the coals.

The anti-flag-burning amendment fails in the US Senate.

The Washington Post launches a disgusting attack on Maryland GOP Senate hopeful Michael Steele.

UPDATE: What if Michael Steele wins…and Deval Patrick loses?

SECOND UPDATE: Another attack on Steele.

The renewed controversy over WMD in Iraq.

Israel ambushed. More from the New York Times.

UPDATE: Israel retaliates. More from the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe and the New York Times.

SECOND UPDATE: A tragic turn of events. More from the New York Times.

Click changes the channel to first place.

The tenth anniversary of the Khobar Towers murders.

Legendary TV producer Aaron Spelling passes away at 83. More from the Washington Post.

School systems nationwide anticipate next year’s Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of racial quotas in school assignments. I assume that Massachusetts Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick will be chagrined by a ruling striking them down…

Norman Mineta leaves the Bush Administration. More from the New York Times.

Feds foil terror plot in Miami. More from Michelle Malkin, the New York Times, the Washington Post and Captain’s Quarters.

UPDATE: Is the New York Times trying to make the US lose the War on Terror? More from Michelle Malkin.

SECOND UPDATE: Still more from the Boston Globe, the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Review, Captain’s Quarters, Michelle Malkin, Jeff Jacoby and the Weekly Standard.

When will the Democrats understand that we cannot, will not, and should not "cut and run" in Iraq? More from the New York Times, the Washington Times, the Wall Street Journal and Power Line.

In the 2006 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, the Republican candidate will run unopposed.

No, not officially: Kerry Healey will technically face independent candidate Christy Mihos and a Democratic candidate to be named later. However, from an intellectual standpoint, Healey’s name is the only one on the November ballot.

Those concerned about protecting and enhancing what is great about the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will have three choices. They can select a candidate who will gladly genuflect to the whims of a legislature increasingly divorced from the concerns of average voters. They can select a candidate whose campaign is based not on impressive ideas but on ego enhancement. Or they can select a candidate who believes that exorbitant taxes are to be cut, that immigration laws are to be enforced, and that the interests of the electorate are to be respected.

All of the candidates say they’re willing to listen to the voters. However, it’s fairly obvious that one candidate demonstrates sincerity–and the other candidates demonstrate scorn. How exhausted we are by the parade of self-promoters who declare themselves to be new leaders with new ideas–"new ideas" that sound strangely liked the old, discredited concepts so fraudulently labeled "progressive" (i.e., no reduction of the state income tax, no death penalty for our most savage predators, deliberate dismissal of American immigration laws, and judicial interpretations substituted for democratic debate).

We shake our heads with incredulity at those who profess to be Democratic, but whose political visions are in conflict with democracy. We also lament the sad spectacle of self-love masquerading as independent leadership, the embarrassment of a sideshow with nowhere to go.

There is only one candidate who respects those who labor every hour of every day for their keep, only one who recognizes that the fiscal rapaciousness of the Massachusetts Legislature must be repelled. There is only one candidate who believes that those who violently force others to forfeit life must lose theirs as suitable punishment. There is only one candidate who believes that our immigration statutes are benign, not bigoted, and that those statutes must be followed, not frowned upon. There is only one candidate who believes that Massachusetts is made better by innovation, not by regulation; only one candidate who recognizes that the power of individuals, not the grip of government, is responsible for the past, present, and future greatness of this state.

This upcoming election is not a multiple-choice exam.

There’ll be a Republican. There’ll be a Democrat. There’ll be an independent.

There’ll be a leader, there’ll be a follower, and there’ll be someone who’s not even on the path.

The selection isn’t subtle.

This fall, in Massachusetts, there’s only one choice.

And that’s Kerry Healey.

UPDATE: The contender vs. the pretenders in September.

SECOND UPDATE: Healey opens a new campaign office–and extremists show up to protest.

THIRD UPDATE: Boston Magazine on Healey.