Here’s the text of the latest RNC resolution on Israel: BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the members of this body support Israel in their natural and God-given right of self-governance and self-defense upon their own lands, recognizing that Israel is neither an attacking force nor an occupier of the lands of others; and that peace can be afforded the region only through a united Israel governed under one law for all people. This is arguably a little vague, but between the claim that Israel is not...

Cross-Posted to the Debate Link For the past few years, Republicans have incessantly attempted to argue that Barack Obama — one of the most authentically Zionist politicians America has ever seen — is “anti-Israel”. It was always a laughable claim. But it’s more so given the three Republican candidates who finished in an essential dead-heat for first place amongst Iowa Caucus voters: Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul. None of them can lay a strong claim to being...

I’ve got a new paper just posted on SSRN, entitled “Post-Racialism and the End of Strict Scrutiny”. Abstract is below, comments are appreciated! In recent years, a growing social consensus has emerged around the aspiration of a “post-racial” America: one where race is no longer a fault line for social strife or, perhaps, a morally significant trait whatsoever. This ambition, however, lies in tension with the most basic constitutional principle governing our treatment of race...

A huge victory for the Obama administration before a tough DC Circuit panel, which included two extremely prominent conservative judges (Laurence Silberman and Brent Kavanaugh, alongside liberal Harry Edwards). Silberman (joined by Edwards) upheld the ACA in its entirety, while Kavanaugh dissented … because he thought the court lacked jurisdiction to even hear the case at all. That’ll leave a mark (perhaps literally, as the DC Circuit is very influential and Silberman in particular is...

It’s Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL), taking the Hamas line of a one state solution with a single sovereign governing from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. This, of course, would almost certainly result in the demise of Israel as a Jewish democratic homeland and, with it, the end of the Zionist dream. Since this eventuality is part of the reason why a two-state solution is the overwhelming consensus amongst American Jews, we must assume that Walsh is acting with open eyes in snubbing the Jewish...

This is a combination of two posts I put up at The Debate Link. * * * The United Nation’s long-awaited Palmer Report on the Gaza flotilla incident has now been released, and, from Israel’s perspective it has to be seen as a major win. The committee firmly decides that the blockade is legal and notes that an essential element of a legal element is that it has to be enforced consistently (which means intercepting folks trying to breach it, and can entail forcibly boarding resisting vessels)....

Last year, I posted on research by Dan Kahan’s “Cultural Cognition Project” which found, in effect, that increased political and social education is associated with increased political polarization. Contrary to conventional wisdom, where greater education should cause a convergence amongst political actors (as their greater factual knowledge reveals the “right” policy path), Kahan has consistently found the opposite — greater education and knowledge is typically...

The critical vote was cast by conservative heavyweight Judge Jeffrey Sutton. You might be reading a lot of coverage that seeks to establish Judge Sutton’s conservative bona fides by noting that he was a clerk for Justice Scalia and was appointed by George W. Bush. And those are, indeed, indicators. But let me just say that — wholly independent of those biographical facts — Judge Sutton is known to those of us who keep an eye on these things as a rising star among conservative judges....

The Supreme Court rules that allowing poor candidates the ability to respond to rich ones violates the latter’s First Amendment rights. Chief Justice Roberts: “All else being equal, an advertisement supporting the election of a candidate that goes without a response is often more effective than an advertisement that is directly controverted.” Can’t argue with that logic!

Cross-posted to the Debate Link A group of five American Representatives travelling to Israel sought but were unable to attain a meeting with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, or, it seems, any members of his cabinet (it is still possible they’ll meet with Likud’s Miki Eitan, Minister of Improvement of Government Services). The snub appears to be prompted by the quintet’s association with J Street, which is sponsoring the trip. The five Representatives are Reps. Steve Cohen (D-TN),...

Foreign Policy Magazine blogger Josh Rogin has a piece up announcing “White House: Jewish ‘refugees’ right of return should be ‘on the table’”. I read that, and I was rather shocked. “Right of return” for Jewish refugees? That would be rather bizarre. While there were a little less than a million Jewish refugees forced to flee from their homes in Arab countries during the time surrounding the War of Independence, they’ve never asked for or desired...

Cross-posted to The Debate Link The blogosphere is abuzz over Judge Richard Goldstone’s reconsideration of his commission’s report on Operation Cast Lead. Judge Goldstone, more or less, states that he’s satisfied with the results of Israel’s investigation into the accusations, that he no longer believes Israel can fairly be accused of targeting civilians as a matter of policy, and that he regrets that Israel did not cooperate with his commission’s inquiry, as the evidence...

Cross-posted to the Debate Link Really, Reuters? A bomb planted in a bag exploded near a bus stop in a Jewish district of Jerusalem on Wednesday, killing a woman and injuring at least 30 people, in an attack police blamed on Palestinian militants. [...] Police said it was a “terrorist attack” — Israel’s term for a Palestinian strike. It was the first time Jerusalem had been hit by such a bomb since 2004. Mmm … I don’t think that it’s just an Israeli idiosyncrasy...

One of the key inflection points in any revolution is the ultimate decision by the armed forces as to whether they will fire on the protesters. Generally, any decently-entrenched regime with a powerful military can survive street protests if the military continues to back it. If the military decides to stand down, however, things get a lot more interesting. This is one of the key differences between Egypt in 2011, and Iran in 2009. Iranian military and paramilitary forces were effectively deployed...

I oppose all radical clerics who advocate a “one-state” solution in Israel. Mike Huckabee is no exception. As Jon Chait observes, Huckabee’s objection in principle to the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank is a position not even taken by the Likud Party (indeed, it’s not even taken by Avigdor Lieberman’s extreme-right Yisrael Beiteinu party). Virtually the only folks who share Huckabee’s views are those who expressly advocate Israel’s dissolution,...

Barbara Bush (Dubya’s daughter, not his mother) has just appeared in an HRC video spot promoting marriage equality in New York. In terms of Bush’s actually influence, this isn’t all that important — Bush is only a political figure because of who she’s related to; she’s expressed little interest in entering the public sphere on her own terms (even less than, say, Meghan McCain — another gay marriage supporter). But what it does demonstrate is that, even among...

The Vagabound Scholar has resurrected the late “Jon Swift’s” yearly roundup “The Best Posts of the Year, Chosen by the Bloggers Themselves”. It was a great thing Jon did, and a great thing the Vagabound is doing, both for the blogosphere community and to honor Jon’s memory. Head over and check it out.

Over the past several years, the case of Michael Vick has registered a continual and deep discomfort with a lot of how we talk about (and practice) crime and punishment, and the disjuncture between the moral justification of punishment and the way it is actually operationalized in our society. As Vick is enjoying a successful year in the NFL, there are still those who are outraged that he is even allowed to play in the NFL — that he is permitted to return post-punishment with seemingly no permanent...

I’m pleased to announce the publication of my Comment: David Schraub, The Price of Victory: Political Triumphs and Judicial Protection in the Gay Rights Movement, 77 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1437 (2010). Enjoy!

I’m doing a liveblog over at my place.