December 14, 2017

"For 20 years, I’ve felt it was too early to speak up about Judge Alex Kozinski. Now I fear it’s too late."

"He Made Us All Victims and Accomplices," by Dahlia Lithwick (at Slate).
I have seen Judge Kozinski dozens of times in the past two decades, moderated his panels, sat next to him at high-powered, high-status events and dinners. My husband will tell you he once fielded a call from the judge to my home, in which Kozinski described himself as my “paramour.” I have, on every single such occasion, been aware that part of his open flouting of empathy or care around gender was a show of juvenile, formulaic bad-assery designed to co-opt you into the bargain. We all ended up colluding to pretend that this was all funny or benign, and that, since everyone knew about it, it must be OK. It never was....

But now it’s 2017....
You don't want to be thought of as a cog in a complicity machine.

Get out!

134 comments:

bleh said...

Oh God, I'm so tired of this. The more I hear or read this sort of whining the less I give a crap about the plight of professional women. Seriously. This is becoming very counterproductive.

Tell me about the single mother working multiple jobs who gets her ass pinched by her manager at the diner but she can't quit the job because her kids are relying on her. Don't tell me about the high-profile, well-educated lawyer whose husband had to endure hearing a federal judge joke about being her paramour. Anyone who has had a federal appellate clerkship has nary room to make such complaints.

Michael K said...

Whereas, the judge in the Gay marriage case in California ruled that the Prop 8 passed with 60% of the vote was unconstitutional and then married his gay lover..

No mention of his conflict of interest.

Back in February of 2010 it became rumored that retired federal Judge Vaughn Walker – who presided over the case at the District level – was a practitioner of the homosexual lifestyle. It was further reported that he had a longtime male lover. Judge Walker refused to confirm or deny the rumors. At the time I was one of the few people to publicly call for his recusal. It’s inexplicable that attorneys defending Prop 8 didn’t make such a motion.

Of course, California did not appeal the ruling.

tim maguire said...

The one good judge and (seemingly) decent man on the 9th Circuit is going down. This one saddens me more than perhaps any other.

I guess there finally is no reason at all to keep the 9th around.

Bay Area Guy said...

Kozinkski's a good man. The #metoo movement is cheapened when they lump together harmless goofiness (Kozinski) with active predators (Weinstein).

But the Left will run with it to punish their political enemies. That's how they roll.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Lots of regret all around. We can do better.

Anonymous said...

Oh,goodness! She got ogled. Oh, the humanity. Oh, the diversity!
Stripped naked by his eyes!


The hysteria with which this phenomenon is being addressed is a
good reason these people should never have their hands on the levers of power.

Lucien said...

It's not too late for former clerks of Judge Kozinski to give him bad reviews, not too late for prospective clerks to vote with their feet & simply not apply for clerkships with him, & not too late for any employee who thinks they have a legitimate harassment or discrimination claim against him to make one.

It might be too late to spend a lot of time writing articles about stories you heard over the years, though.

Chuck said...

The significant "remedy" for wrongs committed by a federal judge is impeachment.

Has anybody figured out what it may have been, that was done by Judge Kozinski, that merits impeachment? So far, what I gather is that Kozinski is "guilty" of talk that some of his female acquaintances/clerks/staff found to be creepy. What else?

I expect that Kozinski, like Trump, is not going to be impeached for decades-old complaints of creepy behavior.

Article III. And Article I.

Rick.T. said...

I especially enjoyed the ask for money by joining Slate Plus at the end.

Ray - SoCal said...

Reads like another reputation hit job, but it blew up in her face.

This tells you a little about her views...
Dahlia Lithwick: Justice Neil Gorsuch Proving to Be “Far to the Right” of Antonin Scalia
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/6/27/dahlia_lithwick_justice_neil_gorsuch_proving

I guess she won't be moderating any more of his panels.

David said...

That's quite a pile of sympathy seeking blather from Lithwick.

Amid the barrage, she says "I take no joy in this reporting. Kozinski is brilliant and wickedly talented. He has done important work on police and prosecutorial misconduct in particular, and if he is to be replaced, it will likely be with a 35-year-old Trump pick who diminishes women systemically, if not recreationally. Not a net win, if we are even trying to keep score for women anymore."

Oh well never mind.

Ray - SoCal said...

Reminds me of PieGate, and how that rebounded on the accusers.

And Sarah Sanders documented her baking of pies for the press.
http://dailycaller.com/2017/12/14/sarah-sanders-gracefully-ends-piegate/

Tyrone Slothrop said...

Mark my words, there will come a day-- may I live to see it-- that women will regret cutting the figurative balls off an entire gender.

AlbertAnonymous said...

Another article where I'd mutter over and over again "F You"....

Fortunately I just read the blog post and the clipped language, not the article. But I still muttered "F You"

I do NOT want to read these stories. If you chose to do nothing for 20 years, then live with your choices. I'm not going to read or listen to your sob stories now. Not interested in the least.

Fernandinande said...

BDNYC said...
Oh God, I'm so tired of this.


Moral panic over trivia is good for the digestion when it's followed by a big "who gives a" shit.

LarsPorsena said...
Oh,goodness! She got ogled.


Male gaze!

http://patterico.com/2008/06/16/alex-kozinskis-wife-speaks-out/

(Posted 2X - or more! - to see if they'll both disappear).

Fernandinande said...

BDNYC said...
Oh God, I'm so tired of this.


Moral panic over trivia is good for the digestion when it's followed by a big "who gives a" shit.

LarsPorsena said...
Oh,goodness! She got ogled.


Male gaze!

http://patterico.com/2008/06/16/alex-kozinskis-wife-speaks-out/

(Posted 2X - or more! - to see if they'll both disappear).

Fernandinande said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fernandinande said...

BDNYC said...
Oh God, I'm so tired of this.


Moral panic over trivia is good for the digestion when it's followed by a big "who gives a" shit.

LarsPorsena said...
Oh,goodness! She got ogled.


Male gaze!

http://patterico.com/2008/06/16/alex-kozinskis-wife-speaks-out/

(Posted 2X - or more! - to see if they'll both disappear).

buwaya said...

To pull a title from Noam Chomsky,

"Manufactured Withrawal of Consent"

Mental fashions rule our passions.

JPS said...

For some reason, I've been thinking lately of Thomas Sowell's hypothetical example of how activists like to generate alarming statistics:

"Did you know that 13 million women have suffered murder, torture, demoralization or discomfort at the hands of their left-handed husbands?"

I think we're getting down into the demoralization and discomfort end of The Reckoning spectrum.

Bob Loblaw said...

I have seen Judge Kozinski dozens of times in the past two decades, moderated his panels, sat next to him at high-powered, high-status events and dinners.

What is Lithwick doing at "high-powered, high-status events and dinners"?

Big Mike said...

So Kozinski is a clod when it comes to women. That scarcely makes Lithwick a victim nor does it make Kozinski a bad jurist. A world where Kozinski is on the Supreme Court and Dahlia Lithwick cleans rest rooms to put food on the table is better than the world we currently live in.

Saint Croix said...

I would suggest you watch this infamous video from 1968 of the future judge delivering an egregious kiss to his prospective date on an episode of The Dating Game.

Fire him!

He kissed egregiously in 1968!

Saint Croix said...

You know, for 21st century feminism, this is remarkably old-fashioned.

Jim at said...

Mark my words, there will come a day-- may I live to see it-- that women will regret cutting the figurative balls off an entire gender.

At this point, I don't care. I'm already married for life. I run my own business and only hire independent contractors. My friends are already lifetime friends and I have no need for new ones.

I can - without any effort whatsoever - spend the rest of my years not dealing with another, unknown female and I'll be just fine.

And that's pretty much how it's going to be.

Fernandinande said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fernandinande said...

Saint Croix said...
"...The Dating Game..."

He kissed egregiously in 1968!


He was the inspiration for Rodney_Alcala.

Fernandinande said...

Saint Croix said...
"...The Dating Game..."

He kissed egregiously in 1968!


He was the inspiration for Rodney Alcala.

Fernandinande said...

Saint Croix said...
"...The Dating Game..."

He kissed egregiously in 1968!


He was the inspiration for Rodney Alcala.

Henry said...

to co-opt you into the bargain

That is an interesting phrase. Co-opt sounds vaguely sinister, but it simply means that everyone was party to the bargain. The question is, what were the actual terms of the bargain?

Kozinski offered access -- to himself and his contacts.

His clerks offered confidentiality.

One of the most intriguing revelations in Heidi Bonds' story is how shaken she was by Kozinski's failure to respect her vow of confidentiality. He was two-timing her religion.

But without confidentiality, there is no access. That is the Faustian bargain. The bonafides of Kozinski's access was his monstrousness. Kozinski offered a great deal on his side of the bargain -- the secrets that his paramours could use to destroy him.

BarrySanders20 said...

She claims her silence made her an accomplice. In Lithwickville, this justifies doing nothing about his allegedly horrible behavior.

I'd like to know what Mr. Lithwick did or said when the judge said directly to him that he was fucking his wife.

rhhardin said...

That women are so into piling on is why they never accomplish anything significant.

Jupiter said...

Dahlia Lithwick has a husband? A *real* husband?

n.n said...

Friendship with "benefits"? Human life is debased under a cloak of privacy.

n.n said...

Civil rights are denied in an elective abortion, lynching, bullhorn prosecutions (e.g. trial by press, extrajudicial activism), and denial of due process.

BarrySanders20 said...

Wiki says Dahlia "was a regular guest on the Al Franken Show."

All the storylines are getting tangled. It will only take her another 20 years to disclose the Frankengropes.

hombre said...

Dahlia Lithwick, sex object? Seriously?

For lefties, sexual history begins as recently as is convenient. For Roy Moore, forty years ago was convenient because "child molesting." For Weinstein #metoos the historical casting couch folkway never existed so history begins with the oldest complaint. For female snowflakes like Lithwick, history began when she woke up and noticed she was offended by tasteless sexual jocularity that allowed her to pretend she is sexually attractive.

Unknown said...

I'm sure Inga is so proud of her party, because they are coddling Representative Kihuen, a Democrat from Nevada who just had another accuser step forward.

Republicans didn't elect Moore, but the left is very happily endorsing sexual predators in Kihuen, Franken (Still hasn't resigned! Democrats are eerily silent about making sure that happens) and Bob Menendez.

So far we have stories of Republicans (Inga's buddy Farenthold, Judge Kozlinski, Brown) who are quitting due to saying creepy things; while we have Democrats who are staying in power despite doing creepy things.

So why are only the Republican politicians quitting? What's worse, speech or actions?

--Vance

Wince said...

“He completely ignored me and appeared to be undressing you with his eyes,” he wrote. “I had never seen anyone ogle another person like that and still have not seen anything like it. Was so uncomfortable to watch, and I wasn’t even the subject of the stare.”

I like the eyes and the "Psycho" intro music, all in black and white...

Dahlia

I saw the light on the night that I passed by her window
I saw the flickering shadows of love on her blind
She was my woman
As she deceived me I watched and went out of my mind

My, my, my, Delilah
Why, why, why, Delilah

I could see that girl was no good for me
But I was lost like a slave that no man could free
At break of day when that man drove away, I was waiting
I cross the street to her house and she opened the door
She stood there laughing
I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more

So before they come to break down the door
Forgive me Delilah I just couldn't take any more

She stood there laughing
I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more

So before they come to break down the door
Forgive me Delilah I just couldn't take any more
Forgive me Delilah I just couldn't take any more

Francisco D said...

What ever happened to the concept of adulthood and taking responsibility for one's own life?

If someone with power over you is abusive in any way, you have two choices: (1) quit or (2) read him or her the riot act.

Don't complain 20 years later that you did not have the courage to act like an adult.

MadisonMan said...

Was so uncomfortable to watch, and I wasn’t even the subject of the stare

I was there, and saw it all, and did nothing, said nothing, at the time!

Why are lawyers so weak?

madAsHell said...

Dahlia Lithwick. Never heard of her. She's either the headliner at the Lollapalooza, or the antagonist in an Emily Bronte novel.

Ken B said...

This is another problem with delayed accusations. They established a kind of jesting rapport. She was part of doing that. Now, suddenly, after years of establishing the in-jokes and the references she finds it expedient to say it was all an imposition. Well, maybe it was, and maybe it wasn't, but there is no way for us to tell, and no way for us to tell if there was just misunderstanding abetted by her.

Sebastian said...

"For 20 years, I’ve felt it was too early to speak up about Judge Alex Kozinski." Why? If what he did was so egregious, why was she so weak and spineless? Of course, the statement itself nicely illustrates the driving force in the witch hunt: women's feelings.

"He Made Us All Victims and Accomplices" Victims of what, exactly? Accomplices, willing and spineless?

"My husband will tell you he once fielded a call from the judge to my home, in which Kozinski described himself as my “paramour.”" OMFG, lady.

"aware that part of his open flouting of empathy or care around gender was a show of juvenile, formulaic bad-assery designed to co-opt you into the bargain." Flouting of empathy! No "care around gender"! Bad, bad, judge! Doesn't he know that "care around gender," i.e., exquisite sensitivity to women's feelings, is the first commandment of prog feminism?

@AA: "You don't want to be thought of as a cog in a complicity machine." Well, you don't. But they do, willingly, gleefully. They were cogs, you see, manipulated into complicity by mean men, unable to speak up. They were just women! Now hear them roar! Roar for justice and revenge! . . . happily fetishizing their cogness.

This not an Althousian world.

Yancey Ward said...

Oh, so everyone knew you don't moderate panels with Kozinski, sit next to him at high-powered, high-status events and dinners. Good to know.

On a serious note, what do you think the odds were that Kozinski was telling Lithwick's husband the literal truth of the matter?

1775OGG said...

Enough pithiness, back to hard hitting postings, such as an article about the dating habits of Thames Swans and how to cure them of their peculiar predilection!

Cheers.

Michael K said...

I can - without any effort whatsoever - spend the rest of my years not dealing with another, unknown female and I'll be just fine.

That is getting to be a popular refrain among adult men.

Somebody even wrote a book about it.

Kevin said...

Considering that this is Dahlia Lithwick, known for her vicious mischaracterizations and character assassinations of her political opponents, how credible is her story?

Gahrie said...

What ever happened to the concept of adulthood and taking responsibility for one's own life?

Women must never be held responsible for. or be made to feel bad about, anything.

stever said...

I've run out of "give a fucks"

Gahrie said...

I'd like to know what Mr. Lithwick did or said when the judge said directly to him that he was fucking his wife.

He curled up into a fetal position on the couch, in the dark, eating a quart of Haaden-Daaz as he sobbed.

traditionalguy said...

Why are lawyers so weak? Well maybe you would understand why if you had a professional career that brings you back again and again in front of the JUDICIAL POWER of a jealous asshole that can sabotage your client's cases with a crafty gotcha word actually aimed at the lawyer whom he wants to teach a lesson.

The lawyers have to take it. And have to take it. And have to take it. And after we retire, no one still facing that Judge wants to hear from us then.

So I sincerely am glad this monster is gone.

Yancey Ward said...

I can see the conversation that took place:

"Honey, Judge Kozinski called and said you two were sleeping together."

"Oh, that Kozinski! Babe, he was just pulling your leg! Don't you worry about it! Ok, I am going out, don't wait up."

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Perhaps we should start requiring men to wear blinders, except that instead of wearing them on the sides of their eyes like the ones made for horses, male blinders will keep them from seeing anything below a woman's neck. That will keep these poor, delicate dears safe from any unwanted male gazes downward at boobs or bottoms.

StephenFearby said...

'My husband will tell you he once fielded a call from the judge to my home, in which Kozinski described himself as my “paramour.”'

Another snippet of Kozinski's penchant for engaging in role play. This time a lothario. The previous example I gave was a controlling EST trainer (No, you must not leave your seat at the seminar if you have to go to the bathroom. You must learn how to hold it.)

Precious Snowflakes like Dahlia Lithwick seem less able to process the ambiguity of role play and take it much too literally.

Politically Incorrect Role Play: a Class A macroaggression punishable by relentless outing.

sean said...

I don't get this at all. We all know plenty of people who behave inappropriately in social settings: they are overly flirtatious, or overly affectionate, or they drink too much, or they make extremist political comments, etc. The remedies for that sort of behavior are, first, to gossip derisively about it with friends and, second, if it really annoys you, to avoid the person. It hardly justifies a big magazine article attacking the individual.

And accusing someone of inappropriately sexualized behavior on The Dating Game is simply incoherent.

I wonder if the looking at women inappropriately reflects an autism spectrum disorder.

Darrell said...

Just say her picture. The Judge said pair o' 'more, as in Claymore--anti-personnel mines.

Darrell said...

Just say her picture. The Judge said pair o' 'more, as in Claymore--anti-personnel mines.

Darrell said...

Just saw her picture. The Judge said pair o' 'more, as in Claymore--anti-personnel mines.

Michael K said...

"I wonder if the looking at women inappropriately reflects an autism spectrum disorder."

Maybe the impression by the woman is Autism Spectrum. Women get it to, you know.

Darrell said...

Just saw her picture. The Judge said pair o' 'more, as in Claymore--anti-personnel mines.

Comanche Voter said...

Ah Ms. Lithwick. Too soon old, too late smart --or at least smart enough to complain about something that(may have) happened 20 years ago.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

A NY Times reporter tweeted out today that Donald Trump Jr said "Fuck you, bitch"to a friend of hers, a preschool teacher. It supposedly happened when he was 3 years old. Clearly, this is grounds for impeachment. She was so scarred and wounded by what a 3 year old brat supposedly said to her that she still has not recovered.

geez, Ritmo says "Fuck you, bitch" to me at least 6 times a month. I remain strangely unfazed by it.

Larry Walker threw a rock at me when we were 6 and it hit me in the head and made me bleed. I cried and told Larrys mom and she gave him a swat on the butt and said "Why did you hit her with a rock?" Larry cried and said "Because I like her!"

I want Larry fired from his job immediately.

mtrobertslaw said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

When you lose the FOX News viewers:

"Trump’s favorability rating has dropped 32 points between June and December among respondents who said they trust Fox over any other news network. In June, the number was 90 percent, and in December, just 58 percent"

Gahrie said...

"Trump’s favorability rating has dropped 32 points between June and December among respondents who said they trust Fox over any other news network. In June, the number was 90 percent, and in December, just 58 percent"

What were the favorables for Congress and the MSM?

Darrell said...

What were the favorables for Congress and the MSM?

-0.5%

tcrosse said...

Trump’s favorability rating has dropped 32 points between June and December

Does this mean he can't appoint any judges or roll back any regulations until his numbers improve ?

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

What were Trumps favorablity ratings in October 2016?

D 2 said...

Cogs reminds me of Pawns.

A comment well off any respectable mark
Froze Salma Hayeks blood
Said by Mr Big Producer name
She had been left in the dark when the handlers remarked
What might be an Oscar aim
Yet they knew the man's brain
But they can't be blamed
Theys only a pawn in his game

A SNL senator preaches to his good liberal fans
You got more than the Right don't complain
You're better than them, you have virtue within, he mansplains
And the conservatives name is used, it is plain
For the tit gropers gain as he rises to fame
And the bourgeois remain on some old style marriage train
But them proper virtue voters ain't to blame
Theys only a pawn in the game.

Drago said...

"Trump’s favorability rating has dropped 32 points between June and December among respondents who said they trust Fox over any other news network."

This marks the 4,356th time since Jan of 2017 that Trumps approval numbers have dropped with no corresponding improvements.

That would explain Trumps current negative eleventy-jillion rating and why Trump has no path to defeat Hillary.

Michael K said...

ARM is having an orgasm over poll numbers.

Remember November 7th ?

Drago said...

At this rate Trump should probably give up any dreams of taking Massachusetts in 2020.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Drago, I'm telling you, this is the END of the Trump presidency! He is going to resign or be impeached before the week is over!

(Fervently repeated by ARM, Inga, and millions of other leftists everyday since Nov. 8 2016. In the meantime, my stock portfolio is looking pretty damn good...)

HoodlumDoodlum said...

The lesson? Don't hire women. Don't be friendly with women at work or outside of work--you might be making them feel uncomfortable as they hang around you for DECADES and one day they'll wake up and smear you in a shitty webzine can claim that you were a hurtful monster all along. Pence rule it up, baby, and always keep in the back of you mind that any woman has the power to end your career and destroy your reputation with any accusation, no matter how stale.

Fuck Dahlia Lithwick.

Unknown said...

News out about Democrat Senator Tom Carper, from Delaware. He admits to slapping his wife back in 88 (not even thirty years ago, I would say) where he had previously denied it.

Under the left's "Abuse of women means you resign now" rule, or the Judge Moore rule... . why is this guy still a Senator? Surely ARM and Inga and the gang must demand his immediate resignation.

Just like they are demanding Franken actually resign and Bob Menendez quit..... Oh yeah, of course they aren't. It's all a massive hypocritical display. Democrats can beat women without consequences. His wife should be glad he didn't kill her--that's a strong possibility with Democrats and leftists. Amazing how dead women show up around luminaries like Ted Kennedy, Gary Condit, Joe what's his name that's married to Mika, etc etc etc.

No leftist cares, not at all.

--Vance

Big Mike said...

Fuck Dahlia Lithwick

I wouldn't. Even if I was single. A manly man has to have standards,, you know.

David said...

Even witch hunts with actual witches run out of real targets at some point. Not there yet but it will be interesting when we are.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Ken B said...This is another problem with delayed accusations. They established a kind of jesting rapport. She was part of doing that. Now, suddenly, after years of establishing the in-jokes and the references she finds it expedient to say it was all an imposition. Well, maybe it was, and maybe it wasn't, but there is no way for us to tell, and no way for us to tell if there was just misunderstanding abetted by her.

Yep. If I were a lawyer I'd make some analogy to the concept of adverse possession--the longstanding agreement to that kind of banter and/or relationship (without complaint) having given the other party a reasonable expectation that the relationship can be "used" in that way (treating one another informally instead of worrying about a proper formal bearing, etc)--but I'm not a lawyer, so I'll just say fuck Dahlia Lithwick.

bleh said...

Subtext: "Look at me! Me too! I was once an object of sexual desire! I wasn't just smart and accomplished, I was beautiful!"

Bay Area Guy said...

ARM is having an orgasm over poll numbers.

I had an ex-girlfriend who used to have the best orgasms. But then she told me she was an epileptic. [ba-dum-DUM]


Big Mike said...

I just want to say that considering all of the quirky and bitchy and pathological types of women we men have had to deal with during the course of our respective careers, I think Dahlia and that romance novelist could have learned how to put up with a guy who is clueless about dealing with women.

@Althouse, your gender ain't perfect either.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I'm undressing all of you WITH MY MIND, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!

Qwinn said...

For now, Char Char. For now. Muhahahahaha.

Quaestor said...

Dahlia Lithwick.

You can't even say that name aloud without risking a sexual harassment charge.

Drago said...

Its just amazing how so many lefty harassers were able to co-opt legions of lefty chicks into their shenanigans.

And now all of us get to be held accountable for them.

Fantastic.

Jupiter said...

AReasonableMan said...
"When you lose the FOX News viewers:"

Since we're changing the subject, ARM, have you quit beating your wife?

Ampersand said...

I've met Kozinski at a few law related functions and sat at his table. He is an iconoclastic, uninhibited,egocentric, non-PC guy. He is also brilliant and (last I knew) hard working. These complaints are self-refuting. Nobody actually says he did anything that harmed them in any meaningful way.

Ampersand said...

I've met Kozinski at a few law related functions and sat at his table. He is an iconoclastic, uninhibited,egocentric, non-PC guy. He is also brilliant and (last I knew) hard working. These complaints are self-refuting. Nobody actually says he did anything that harmed them in any meaningful way.

Big Mike said...

@Char Char, I know you aren’t undressing me with your eyes; I hear no sounds of retching.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

ARM - at this rate Trump will never beat Hillary in November.

Tim said...

Don't forget Menendez! at the apex of the Democrat party.

Michael K said...

"I had an ex-girlfriend who used to have the best orgasms. But then she told me she was an epileptic. [ba-dum-DUM]"

I heard about the guy who asked his girlfriend why he could never tell when she was having an orgasm.

She said, "That's because you're never here."

I guess that wasn't you.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

You guys might like this book: Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States, by James Scott. Although Scott seems to be a leftie and (horrors) an environmentalist he actually comes to very similar conclusions about the state as you guys. In his telling you are the last of the barbarians, a group he views very positively.

Ann Althouse said...

Blogger is putting some good comments in spam. If this is happening to you, don’t keep trying to repost, because it might make you look more like spam. I’m going in there and releasing the comments but I’m only doing that every few hours, so you may have a bit of a wait. Sorry.

Bay Area Guy said...

Dahlia Nitwick, you need to lighten up, Baby!

readering said...

From news report on Kozinsky self-reporting for court investigation:

Additionally, a clerk spokesman confirmed that “one or more” of Kozinski’s current clerks had resigned. Above the Law reported earlier Thursday that three Kozinski clerks had decided to leave in the wake of the scandal.

Bay Area Guy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Earnest Prole said...

Dahlia Lithwick is the female Jeffrey Toobin: a Democratic activist masquerading as a legal journalist, and dumber than a sack of hammers. If you want a schadenboner, read her blueprint for an electoral college revolt against Trump that ran in the New York Times about a year ago.

Sebastian said...

"Nobody actually says he did anything that harmed them in any meaningful way."

Unknown, you must be an unknown male. It's good you're unknown, cuz otherwise we're send the thought police after you. Quit the male supremacist act, and get it through your head: women felt bad, therefore the judge harmed them in a meaningful way.

MacMacConnell said...

"Dahlia Lithwick is the female Jeffrey Toobin"

Dahlia Lithwick had an illegitimate child with one of her colleague's daughters?

Henry said...

ARM: Seeing like a State is also recommended.

narciso said...

So the economy is improving, there is no high attrition engagement like in Iraq in 2004-2006, what ergot are those polled consuming.

Henry said...

As for Trump's poll numbers: never underestimate the winning a one-term president can so much do.

I give you... James Knox Polk!

Breezy said...

MetooFullOfMyself
MetooLate
MetooUncredible
MetooNeedyOfAttention

Original Mike said...

"Drago, I'm telling you, this is the END of the Trump presidency!"

Mueller is closing in!

Henry said...

"Nobody actually says he did anything that harmed them in any meaningful way."

Horrible bosses can harm people in very meaningful ways. It can be harder to figure out if they've harmed people in quantifiable ways. The law goes only so far.

Then there's the paradox that dealing with an objectively difficult or abusive person does not necessarily damage you. You could end up thinking that what a person did to you was unfair or abusive and yet not carry the madness forward.

Nevertheless, if you look at the celebrity industry -- politics, sports, entertainment -- there is a pattern. 1) People are thrown together with vast differences in status. 2) The coin of advancement is access to the celebrity. 3) The entry-level position tends toward the young and inexperienced.

Lithwick sees now that playing the game of seduction and deflection is very different for her -- a celebrity in her own right -- than it is for the law-clerkship she avoided by chance.

Kozinski finally taught her something meaningful -- if not so quantifiable.

And I'm not convinced she gets it.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

In the meantime, David French (who is no Trump fan) writes in NR that ISIS has largely been defeated. that is momentous. we won a war and we don't care. We're too busy focusing on whether mr. x made ms.z feel uncomfortable 20 years ago.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Henry, also, the world of celebrity attracts not only the young, but the young and beautiful, who are frequently more than willing to trade on their good looks to get ahead. As Mark Steyn noted tonight on Carlson's show, it's rather unlikely the feed store in his New Hampshire town has a casting couch, because there is a remarkable dearth of young lovelies who will do anything to sell fertilizer to farmers. So the idea that this sort of behavior is rampant across America and men everywhere need to face the Reckoning is absurd.

Qwinn said...

And we now have Comey's initial Hillary evaluation before it got massaged by pure political partisanship. There were TWO instances of the term "gross negligence" that got removed, and the words "reasonably likely" that Hillary's server was hacked by a foreign power was changed to "possible".

This is smoking gun obstruction of justice. If this doesn't qualify, what possibly could?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Hillary blamed Comey for her loss. What bullcrap. The liars and corrupt hacks inside the FBI saved her criminal ass.

Henry said...

@exiledonmainstreet -- Yup.

Qwinn said...

Oh, and Hillary and Huma were allowed to remove multiple boxes of evidence that they claimed was "personal".

Did that happen during John Doe II?

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Original Mike said...

"The liars and corrupt hacks inside the FBI saved her criminal ass."

I'm a pretty cynical guy, but I'm beginning to wonder if she's not in danger. In light of Strzok's texts the outrageous behavior of the FBI in the Clinton email investigation may be reexamined.

mockturtle said...

OT, but Paul Ryan is retiring? Good!

Qwinn said...

I'm curious to hear what mountain of bullshit our resident lefties will deploy in an attempt to claim that we don't already have enough information in the public sphere for several convictions of obstruction of justice, and that we really should lock her up now.

narciso said...

Possibly, they raise squirrels like that neolithic penguin, David weigel has turned it into an art form.

Drago said...

"Mueller is closing in."

I'm surprised "straight-shooter" Mueller didn't just hire Hillary to head up the collusion investigation and cut out all the FBI/DOJ democrat middlemen.

Quaestor said...

"Mueller is closing in."

Godot is due shortly.

George said...

I didn't think it was possible for me to think less of Lithwick. But here we are.

walter said...

Ann Althouse said...I’m going in there and releasing the comments.
--
Be strong ;)

Lucien said...

I think exiledonmainstreet is right. The Reckoning has targeted Hollywood, the MSM, PBS, NPR and (for the most part) Democrat politicians. These are all industries/groups who have gotten a pass on sexual assault & harassment for years because they had the right politics. Now they are finally being held to the same standard as the rest of America and it's been a bloodbath.

You would have been crucified if you behaved like Weinstein, Franken, Clinton, Spurlock, etc, in a typical industry, like oil, mining, automotive, heavy machinery, whatever - anytime in the last 20 years. I think "normal" people working in "normal" industries won't have to change their behavior in response to the Reckoning, because the type of behavior under scrutiny has been a firing offense in normal industries for decades.

Will their be some "enhanced" training in the mandatory HR workshops for the next couple of years? Sure. Wholesale change of culture & behavior? Hopefully not - because honestly, what's left?

Darrell said...

Blogger is putting some good comments in spam. If this is happening to you, don’t keep trying to repost, because it might make you look more like spam. I’m going in there and releasing the comments but I’m only doing that every few hours, so you may have a bit of a wait. Sorry.

Can't Zeus do it?
As one of the commenters getting junked repeatedly, it feels like a targeted attack. Like someone hacked your account and choose certain names. Or someone at Blogger. Can names be designated as Spam? Nobody is going to go back and re-read a long thread. The damage is done.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

is impeachment the only option, should a federal judge refuse to step down?

walter said...

"She's going in..to release the comments."
(this voice)
"..except..Darrel's."

n.n said...

Complicity. Go along to get along. The "good" American. History is replete with examples. In the Soviet Union, it meant the difference between life and a private lynching. In America, it means the difference between life and a public lynching.

Leora said...

I can't remember who offended me last month, much less 20 years ago. I couldn't pick my bad dates from 40 years ago out of a line up and I probably couldn't come up with their names. These ladies need something else to think about.

Ann Althouse said...

"As one of the commenters getting junked repeatedly, it feels like a targeted attack."

You are, in fact, one of 2 commenters this is happening to.

I doubt if someone hacked my use of Blogger to get at you and this other person.

Is there anything odd you did in comments in the last week? I know you've tried to deal with the problem by reposting and reposting, so that might be part of the problem. Hopefully, my releasing the comments will help the machine learn you're not spam.

It may be the downside of some recent improvements Blogger has made. It does need to keep working to exclude real spam. If it didn't do that and have a strong automatic filtering, it would not be possible to have a comments section. Spam would just flow in continually.

Henry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Darrell said...

You are, in fact, one of 2 commenters this is happening to.

I doubt if someone hacked my use of Blogger to get at you and this other person.


Spite is a powerful motivator.

Darrell said...

Is there anything odd you did in comments in the last week?

Sure, blame the victim! Yeah, I wore shorts skirts and there was that day when my knickers were in the wash.

Darrell said...

It's been more than two hours now and my comment did not come back.

Is there anything odd you did in comments in the last week?

Sure, blame the victim! Yeah, I was wearing a short skirt and there was that day me knickers were in the wash.