During a press conference on the swine flu outbreak in Mexico City last week, an earthquake of magnitude 5.6 rocked the country from Acapulco to the capital. “Great, just what Mexico needs,” one of the health officials said. No doubt, an earthquake seems like piling on for a country at the epicenter of a...
Monthly Archives: May 2009
Obama’s Border Czar Alan Bersin is Taking on Drug Gangs and Illegal Immigrants
With the body count climbing in Mexico’s drug wars and illegal immigrants still crossing north, it’s somewhat surprising to hear the nation’s new border czar, Alan Bersin, say that the border isn’t actually the problem. “It’s better to think of the border as a thermostat for the larger, long-term issues that both our countries...
Even With Souter Retirement, Obama Faces Limits on Remaking Courts
The news that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg received surgical treatment for pancreatic cancer just weeks after Inauguration Day triggered a predictable flurry of speculation that the court’s sole female jurist might retire. But it was Justice David Souter who moved first, signaling that he is stepping down in June. For her part,...
With Souter Retiring, Obama Has Many Choices for First Supreme Court Pick
Supreme Court Justice David Souter never enjoyed living in the District of Columbia, where the humid, sticky summer air is so stifling that just drawing breath can be a chore. “The world’s best job in the world’s worst city,” he once said. Even worse than the weather, Souter grew weary of the court’s grinding...