“The National Review,” Racist Writing, and the Legacy of William F. Buckley, Jr.

In a Boston Review essay collected in my book Inventing American History, and then selected by Greil Marcus for Best American Music Writing 2009, I had occasion to explore the early writings of William F. Buckley, Jr., on racial segregation. I argued then that Buckley’s famous 2004 apology for having once held racially regressive positions [...]

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Fantasy White House Press Corps

Obama’s Press Secretary: Bill? Me: The other day the President told reporters that the courts of the 1960′s had perhaps been overly activist. Now we’re getting reports that the administration is exploring possible qualifications of the Miranda rule, in cases of people suspected of terrorism. Would it be fair to conclude that the Miranda rule [...]

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“Times” airs out Obama’s comments on activist judiciary

Yesterday I wrote about my perplexity over Obama’s comments on the history of federal judicial decisions. This morning’s New York Times – though not exactly playing the story up — unpacks some of the issues involved. Writing fast, I mentioned only hot-button items like abortion rights and affirmative action as products of those liberal courts; [...]

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Obama confuses me regarding the history of “judicial activism”

Talking to reporters on Air Force One yesterday, President Obama pointed out, no doubt rightly, that conservative federal judges have been engaging in their own brand of activism. I heard the soundbite on “Morning Edition,” and here it is in print, from CBS: In the ’60s and ’70s, the feeling was, is that liberals were [...]

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