Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Arizona

  • Nick Gillespie on Cartoonist Steve Benson

    There are several reasons why I don't subscribe to the Arizona Republic, and Steve Benson is one of them. Here.  Editorial cartooning is indeed the lowest of art forms. 

  • The Tucson Massacre: Paul Krugman et al. Continue to Get Pounded

    And rightly so: Roger Kimball:  Loughner’s pistol was probably still warm when Krugman wheeled into print in an effort to make political capital out of the tragedy.  “Assassination Attempt in Arizona” should join that rogues’ gallery of disgusting Times stories that wallow in the gutter of political innuendo and mendacity even as they preen themselves…

  • The Arizona Shooting

    Here is excellent commentary from Victor Davis Hanson to offset the leftist scumbaggery emanating from Paul Krugman and his ilk with his irresponsible and vile talk of a Climate of Hate.  How preternaturally moronic our leftist pals who cannot distinguish conservative dissent from hate!  You see, leftists think they own dissent, a bizarre conceit I…

  • The Giffords Assassination Attempt: Now the Blather Begins

    Shooting Stuns Nation screamed the headline of this morning's Arizona Republic.  Brace yourself for the crapload of liberal-left blather that has already begun to descend upon us in the wake of this terrible event.  Perhaps later I will weigh in on this, but for now I refer you to Jack Shafer, In Defense of Inflamed…

  • Halcyon Arizona October

    Chilly nights, good for sleeping with windows open, warm dry days of lambent desert light.  October's sad paradise passes too soon but its dying light ushers in the month of Gratitude in my personal liturgy.  The 28th already. Savor each day, each moment, each sunrise and moonset, moonrise and sunset.  Drink green tea in the…

  • Arizona Citizenship Proof Law for Voters Overturned by Court

    Here. Excerpt, emphasis added: A three-judge panel of the court, in a 2-1 decision, said the proof-of-citizenship requirement conflicted with the intent of the federal law aiming to increase voter registration by streamlining the process with a single form and removing state- imposed obstacles to registration. The federal law requires applicants to “attest to their citizenship…

  • Where Were You on 9/11/01?

    I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I first of heard about the acts of 9/11 Islamoterrorism.  It was a cool and bright Arizona morning, dry and delightful as only the desert can be.  I had just returned from a long hard bike ride.  Preliminary to some after-ride calisthenics I…

  • Illegal Immigration and Liberal Irresponsibility

    Peggy Noonan, America Is at Risk of Boiling Over: To take just one example from the past 10 days, the federal government continues its standoff with the state of Arizona over how to handle illegal immigration. The point of view of our thought leaders is, in general, that borders that are essentially open are good,…

  • Paradoxes of Illegal Immigration

    Philosophers hate a contradiction, but love a paradox.  There are paradoxes everywhere, in the precincts of the most abstruse as well as in the precincts of the prosaic.  Here are eight paradoxes of illegal immigration suggested to me by Victor Davis Hanson.    The titles and formulations are my own.  For good measure, I add a ninth,…

  • Another Strange Tale of the Superstitions

    The Superstition Mountains exert a strange fascination.  They attract misfits, oddballs, outcasts, outlaws, questers of various stripes, a philosopher or two, and a steady stream of  'Dutchman hunters,'  those who believe  in and search for the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine. This nonexistent object has lured many a man to his death.  More men than Alexius von Meinong's golden…

  • A Day on the Salt River

    Mike Valle and I spent four and a half hours floating down the Rio Salado on truck tire inner tubes yesterday.  That's Mike and a bit of my left knee in the first shot.  The second depicts some thirsty wild horses.  The third offers a fine view of Red Mountain.

  • Is Rhode Island in Violation of the Supremacy Clause?

    Rhode Island is already doing what Arizona is fixin' to do come the end of this month. As William A. Jacobson, Associate Clinical Professor of Law, Cornell Law School,  reports over at Legal Insurrection, ". . . Rhode Island already has implemented the critical piece of the Arizona law [S.B. 1070], checking the immigration status of…

  • Gallup Poll: Americans Oppose Federal Suit Against AZ Immigration Law

    Here.  The notion that the Obama Justice Department would waste millions suing  a state for passing a law that mirrors the content of a Federal law is absurd on the face of it, especially when the same Justice Department turns a blind eye to sanctuary laws which actually do violate the Supremacy Clause; but also from…

  • The Empty Suit Suit: U.S. vs. Arizona

    The ridiculous lawsuit the DOJ is bringing against Arizona could be called the 'empty suit suit' inasmuch as  behind it are a bunch of empty suits in line behind the Empty Suit in Chief. See Lawrence Auster, The Gravamen of the DOJ's Case Against Arizona. It is nice to know that not everything in The Arizona Republic,…

  • Feds Sue Arizona Over S.B. 1070 and the Etymology of ‘Shyster’

    Here is the full text of the complaint.  Dive in if you can stomach it.  It lends credence to Martin Luther's "Reason is a whore."  But these days, with the upgrading of prostitutes to 'sex workers,' the saying should go, 'Reason is a lawyer.'  Pay them enough, and they will argue anything. The complaint alleges that…