This weekend, I am thousands of miles from home
in a remote and isolated part of the world with erratic communications
and lack of basic services. No, not Washington, D.C. Things aren’t that
primitive, thank God. I’m in a rude Highland croft way up a far Scottish
brae, enjoying the simple life by choice, rather than because the
capital region of the global superpower is incapable of turning the
lights back on within a week.
Which is by way of saying that news from the imperial metropolis has
reached me in fits and starts. The other morning it was the intriguing
tidbit that Chief Justice John Roberts had written both the majority
opinion in the Obamacare decision and the dissent. He is
literally his own worst enemy. He’s apparently the Mike Myers of the
Supreme Court, able to play both Austin Powers and Dr. Evil, although it
has to be said that he seems rather more at home as the bumbling
swinger. If I understand correctly, the chief justice wrote the dissent
back when it was the 5–4 majority opinion, and then, after switching
sides, wrote the new majority opinion, and the four guys left holding
the old majority opinion decided to leave it as is, presumably as a way
of not so subtly underlining their total contempt for their squishy
chief. Fascinating stuff, I’m sure. An enterprising legal scholar should
pitch it to Paramount as a high-school musical or a particularly
dysfunctional reality show.Meanwhile, back in the real world, East Coast municipalities were canceling Fourth of July celebrations because of lack of electricity. In a novel, this would be rather too obviously symbolic of the hyperpower at twilight, but truth is crasser than art. So we had the spectacle of Martin O’Malley, governor of Maryland, turning up on CBS’s Face the Nation last Sunday as part of his not-so-subtle campaign for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. Across Montgomery County, his delirious constituents would have cheered, “President O’Malley? There’s the answer to our nation’s woes!” — except that their TVs weren’t working, so they never saw him. Unless they jumped in their Chevy Volts and drove to . . . oh, no, wait.
Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/304888/american-twilight-mark-steyn
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