Lileks on freakin' fire. Excerpt:

For a modern analogue, albeit a broad and inexact one, you could be worried about the SCOTUS decision on the death penalty. It upended laws concerning the execution of juvies because five judges didnÂ’t much like the law, and were alarmed to find it was out of step with the direction of the drift of the emanations of the penumbra of several judicial decisions in Europe. IÂ’m not all that keen on the death penalty; I think it lets them off the hook. I want killers to die in jail, alone, forgotten, with their last meal consisting of steak-flavored mush and Sanka. But the reasonings donÂ’t seem based in that pesky Constitution itself, and the very idea of using foreign law as some sort of guide for American law unnerves me as much as it angers me. I know: letÂ’s use Iranian law to settle the constitutionality of divorce, right now. Someone bring a case.

ThereÂ’s a certain mindset that sees Janet JacksonÂ’s wardrobe malfunction and sees no problem; thereÂ’s another that sees a dank crude stupid S&M routine at the Superbowl and groups it with a flash of teat on a cable movie. I donÂ’t want either group setting the standards. Think of it this way: broadcast TV and radio is the front porch; cable and movies and satellite radio is the living room with the curtains down. We can all censure the man who stands on his own porch and moons the world while employing the full panoply of English cursewords. We have no business parting the curtains to see if heÂ’s in the comfy chair reading Henry Miller.

Might be time for me to re-read Tropic of Capricorn and Tropic of Cancer whilst I still can.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 06:59 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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