Find your inner smurf: I am not sure I like the answer, but here it is:


Find your inner Smurf!

And the winner for most cited law review journal is . . . .: Trying to decide which law school will be lucky enough to publish your brilliant article? Here's some food for thought.

Out with the old, in with the older: Things are looking good for those who favor the adoption of Georgia's pre-1956 flag.

Abe and Richmond? Oil and water: Some of you may be aware that in eight (8) days, the City of Richmond, Virginia, former capital of the Confederacy, will receive a statue of Abraham Lincoln. This is shocking to say the least.

It may be hard for non-Southerners to understand this, but down South many people (myself included) aren't particularly fond of the man. Now don't get me wrong, I am not going to join the knee jerk neo-confederate chorus and compare the placement of a Lincoln statute in Richmond with that of an Adolf Hitler statute in Jerusalem. But I also do not view Lincoln, as many do in this republic, as being anywhere near the god-like status others bestow upon him. He was a tyrant who caused the needless death of many of my ancestors, so excuse me if I don't bow down at the almighty's throne (or his stinkin' statute).

Gods & Generals update: Through last weekend, the film has taken in $12,660,379. For this most recent report, click here.

Ah, sweet federalism: John Noel (D-Atlanta) and four co-sponsors filed a bill Tuesday with the Georgia General Assembly that would make it a misdemeanor "of a high and aggravated nature" not to offer sweet tea in any restaurant that serves iced tea. I am all for it, but I would go a step further and ban unsweet tea entirely. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment. Yuck!

Too mad to blog: I may post some today, but right now I am afraid of what I might write (Southern temper). Right now I very concerned for our troops. Kick ass folks. Kick ass and come home.

Praying for President Bush and our troops: Well, the war has started. I am no military expert, and there's not a lot of insight I can offer SA's readers about the ongoing conflict. All I can offer, dear readers, is what is going through my mind at this moment:

1. I am ever so grateful that George W. Bush is our president. He is a man after God's own heart, and I take comfort in knowing that he begins and ends ever day on knees praying to God for wisdom and guidance.

2. I am thankful for the brave men and women who are over in and near Iraq, placing themselves in harm's way so that the rest of us can remain truly free.

3. This is, notwithstanding the shallow protests of the Anti-American crowd, a just war. Saddam is a threat, and it is time to take his hindquarters out (and his idiot sons too).

4. The people of Iraq deserve the opportunity to be free.

5. The French continue to be a bunch of cheese eating surrender monkeys.

6. We should boycott Russia and China as well as France, especially China.

7. The people of South Dakota ought to be ashamed of having Tom Daschle as their senator.

8. I am not sure that I will ever listen to the Dixie Chicks again.

9. I never did really care for Sheryl Crow.

10. I like Dennis Miller even more than I used to.

11. We all need to pray on a daily basis for President Bush, his staff and administration, and our troops.

Just a few random thoughts.

More Union war crimes discovered: The FBI has recovered a valuable copy of the Bill of Rights that had been missing for 138 years. The document was one of only fourteen copies of the Bill of Rights commissioned by President George Washington, and is worth an estimated thirty million. It was stolen from the North Carolina Statehouse by a Union soldier during the Civil War. "A carpetbagger took it in 1865," said one official. "It's really priceless." For the complete story, click here.

Just call me Nino: To find out where your judicial philosophy lies on the Supreme Court continuum, click here.

This is not R.E.M.'s "Superman": Nope, this track by Eminem is a "shade" different. This guy is making millions by rapping about things that shouldn't leave his therapy sessions. Listening to him is kinda like looking at a car accident. You know shouldn't do it, but you just can't resist.

The latest numbers for Gods & Generals: The total take for G&G through yesterday (Mar. 16, 2003) was $12,301,000. You can access a more comprehensive report here.

Clerking for the Supreme Court of the United States: Here's a behind the scenes perspective. (Link via How Appealing)

Light posting for the time being: I am working on a fairly important case right now (much more important than your humble blogger), so my posting may be a little on the light side for a few days. In the meantime, pay a visit to "da club" with my hommie 50 cent.

He may not be dead, but he needs to have someone teach him how to tie a bow tie: Some students at Vanderbilt University (in Nashville, TN), produced a student paper look alike and "reported" that the school's chancellor, Gordon Gee, had passed away. As this photo demonstrates, Gee has a pretty good sense of humor about his "demise." He desperately needs help, however, with tying his bow ties. Yikes! Chancellor Gee, I suggest you purchase the following video from Beau Ties Ltd. of Vermont, maker of the finest bow ties in the world.

Does anyone really care what Pat Buchanan has to say anymore?: Ol' Patty B. is at it again. Here's the deal folks, Mr. Buchanan believes that the Republican Party, indeed the entire conservative movement, has been hijacked by Jewish conservatives:

We charge that a cabal of polemicists and public officials seek to ensnare our country in a series of wars that are not in America’s interests. We charge them with colluding with Israel to ignite those wars and destroy the Oslo Accords. We charge them with deliberately damaging U.S. relations with every state in the Arab world that defies Israel or supports the Palestinian people’s right to a homeland of their own. We charge that they have alienated friends and allies all over the Islamic and Western world through their arrogance, hubris, and bellicosity.

Not in our lifetimes has America been so isolated from old friends. Far worse, President Bush is being lured into a trap baited for him by these neocons that could cost him his office and cause America to forfeit years of peace won for us by the sacrifices of two generations in the Cold War.

I have a question Mr. Buchanan: Who are these "old friends" you speak of? The various Arab states (most of which have cultures that breed hostility toward the United States and only tolerate us because we bribe them)? France (a country led and populated by cheese eating surrender monkeys)? Germany (whose motto should be "We started two world wars and all we got was a big 'ol ass whuppin each time)? With friends like these . . .

You see Pat, it's about weapons of mass destruction. If you think that little tyrant from North Korea is bad, just wait and see what we will have to deal with if Saddam gets his ruthless hands on nukes. Will a liberated Iraq benefit Israel? I think it probably will. But why is that a bad thing, Pat? Protecting the interests of the United States is almost always beneficial to our allies. So get over yourself, and quit acting like such a kook.

Does Mel Gibson want to "undo Vatican II"?: A prominent Jewish leader, Rabbi Marvin Hier (who is dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center), is asking Mel Gibson "to make certain that his new film on the last 12 hours in the life of Christ does not portray the Jews as collectively responsible for the crucifixion." For the full story, click here.

A blog sticker with Southern Appeal: Maybe I'm biased, but I like this one:



Want to create one for your blog? Pay Blogstickers a visit. (Thanks to the Palmetto Journal for the link)

Zell Miller zings 'em again: O.k., I am convinced. Sen. Zell Miller is a freakin' stud. His op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today, entitled "Senate Math--41 is greater than 59!" [re: the filibuster of Miguel Estrada], is most excellent. Unfortunately, it is not currently available to non-WSJ subscribers. But here is just a taste of what he wrote:

The word "filibuster" comes from the Spanish word for "pirate," and that is exactly what the filibuster does; it hijacks the democratic process. The way it is being used in the Senate gives the minority an absolute veto on everything.

And it just gets better. Go pick up a hard copy of the WSJ to read the full article. It will be well worth it.

Update: Miller's op-ed is now available at this link.

Gods & Generals at the Box Office: According to this web site, Gods and Generals fell 53% to an estimated $1.4 million giving it $11.1 million in 17 days. The site speculates that "[t]he Warner Bros. title [will] surrender at around the $14 [million] mark." That's disappointing to say the least. I am optimistic, however, that DVD and rental sales will generate quite a bit of money. Whether it will be enough for Ted Turner et al. to make any money, or encouraging enough for them to go forward with "The Last Full Measure," remains to be seen.

America admits suspects died in interrogations: Cry me a freakin' river.

Apparently, everything is gay (especially the Super Bowl): According to this very disturbed young man. (Thanks to the Bitch Girls for the link)

Gods & Generals: Go see it this weekend!

Slip Doggie Doo: This slip and fall case has something in common with all other slip and fall cases. Care to guess what the common thread is? (Thanks to How Appealing for the link)

Is Southern Appeal popular?: I am not sure what this is all about. It's always good to be mentioned though.

The New Georgia Flag?: I like this option.

Another liquor recommendation: One of this blog's most loyal readers sent me the following e-mail in response to my recommendation of Jefferson's Reserve:

You gotta try Bunratty Potcheen, Irish Moonshine! Long outlawed by those wanker Brits, now available for public distribution in Ireland and export. Are there any better spirits than forbidden spirits?

Gods & Generals, the DVD release, and the "Last Full Measure": The director of Gods & Generals, Ron Maxwell, had this to say about the DVD release of the movie (this remark was made in an interview with Jim Farber--sorry no link):

"We have a six-hour cut of the film. And 12 to 18 months from now, after the initial DVD release, we'll release the six-hour collector's edition that will have the whole Battle of Antietam (which does not appear in the movie), all fully scored, with all the special effects. It will also have all the shots restored that we took out when we went from an R to PG-13."

And for those you who, like me, hope that the final film in the trilogy, "The Last Full Measure," will be made, Maxwell had this to say:

"We're waiting to see how this film does. We have to perform at the box office. Ted's got $60 million in the film and another $30 million in prints and ads. We have to do some decent numbers. If we do, he really wants to do "Last Full Measure." And although right now I couldn't be more exhausted, so do I."

So if you are waiting for the DVD to come out because the movie is too long, DON'T! Go see the movie this weekend, or the "Last Full Measure" may not get made. I don't care what the leftie critics say, G&G is a great film. The four hours I spent at the movie theater watching G&G went by awfully fast.

Another great comment on Gods & Generals: From the latest issue of National Review:

Writer-director Ronald Maxwell's epic new film Gods and Generals is an act of public courage. Based on the Jeff Shaara novel, Gods and Generals examines key battles in Virginia during the early part of the Civil War, chiefly through the eyes of Confederate generals Lee and Jackson. The film dwells on the personal motivations, particularly the religious concerns, driving these men into battle. What we see foremost is tragedy: Lee and Jackson opposed secession and wanted slavery ended, but believed they had an overriding duty to defend their Virginia homeland. Though the film invites understanding instead of judgment, it is by no means a romantic apologia for the Lost Cause; rather, it is a reminder that history is rarely a Manichean struggle between pure good and uncut evil, but more often a drama played by actors with noble ideals, perhaps, but blind to their flaws. It is an indictment of the hubris of our politically correct age that a film asserting this perdurable truth about mankind's affairs will strike many as offensive. But truth it is, and conservatives should be grateful to Maxwell, and Ted Turner, the film's financier (yes, that Ted Turner), for daring to tell it.

Madonna, renowned author of children's books?: Joe Queenan (in the WSJ) has this hilarious take on what kind of children's books the "material girl" might write. Does anyone really take this woman seriously anymore?

From the "what it's worth" department--Georgians like Estrada! We really do, Miguel!: So sayeth the AJC.

Dubya and Gods & Generals (the greatest movie ever): This post by Rod Dreher of NRO is spot on:

Over on Touchstone's blog, David Mills slices and dices a Newsweek report that badly misreads the effect President Bush's Christian faith has on the way he approaches his the war on terror. It's yet another simplistic error of the sort that's constantly being made by journalists who seem not to know any religious believers, to say nothing of religious teaching. Says Mills: "For the writer to miss this because he does not know Christian theology is to miss something rather important about the man he is writing about, and attempting (or pretending) to explain. ... This helps explain why the characters in Gods and Generals are so foreign to these people. Note to Newsweek's editors: if you want your writers to understand George Bush, make them watch Gods and Generals till they know how those men thought and felt."

Amen, brother.

Along those same lines, Patrick Reardon of Toucstone had the following to say about Gods & Generals:

A FAITHFUL MOVIE:

Today I observed an exchange about Gods and Generals in which one man praised it and another criticized it for the same reasons. The first wrote:

Gods and Generals is about the Civil War and is unique in many ways. The violence is not graphic. There is no profanity. There is no nudity. The Scripture is quoted on numerous occasions. Characters are often shown in prayer.

The second answered:

In the Civil War there was real gore, there was real cursing, there was real tobacco smoking, chewing, spitting. And there was real praying on both sides. To allow Hollywood to sanitize the horror is to legitimize the Hollywood enterprise over history telling — the great bane of American culture. Something as important as the Civil War deserves better. . . . Ken Burns has given us that.

Respectfully, I have seen Gods and Generals twice, and I would be hard pressed to justify "sanitize" as a description of it.

The longest battle scene, by far, was the Battle of Fredricksburg, and I cannot imagine any battle scenes more graphic than that. There was far more gore and violence than what is actually visible in Ken Burns's noble effort. I am thinking, not only of the constant fall of bodies all over the battlefield, but of scenes such as that in which a Union soldier, whose arm has just been shot off, comes up and asks Adelbert Ames for permission to return to the rear. Death and gore were everywhere; one thinks of the very graphic scenes in makeshift hospitals. There was one scene in which a table in the background was stacked with amputated limbs.

Indeed, there is no profanity in Gods and Generals, but nearly all the dialogue in the movie is between individuals who would never have used profanity anyway: Lee, Blair, Jackson, Chamberlain, Longstreet, Stuart, and certain female characters. From reading biographies of these characters, I cannot imagine any of them using profanity.

The only time tobacco is mentioned in the movie is in a conversation between Stuart and Jackson, where each man confesses that he does not use the product. Jackson's reason: "I find that I am too fond of it." For the rest, there was no attempt to hide Longstreet's cigars or the smoking of the other soldiers. Indeed, there is one scene (historically documented in the sources) where a Confederate soldier shares his pipe with a Union soldier in exchange for a cup of coffee.

Respectfully, I found Gods and Generals in every sense a satisfactory film, completely out of character from what we usually expect from Hollywood. I don't know that I have ever seen a film more faithful to the historical sources which I have read.

I couldn't agree more Mr. Reardon. Well said.

BTW: I have added Touchstone to my links list, as it is a most excellent source of information.

Will Queen Hillary Rodham Clinton run for president in 2004?: I doubt it. Dubya would beat her like a narc at a biker rally. But one can dream. Oh yes, one can dream. For the latest speculation, click here.

Dennis Miller rules!: This Dennis Miller quote comes from NRO's The Corner (it was Jonah Goldberg's "Thought of the Day"):

"I’d like to have allies, too, but what’s happening in this world right now is we’ve got a competency chasm – we’re getting really good at what we do, and the whole rest of the world is going to hell in a handbasket. As that gap gets wider, they’re going to hate us more, and more, and more. You have to remember, we are simultaneously the most hated, feared, loved and admired nation on this planet. In short, we’re Frank Sinatra – and the chairman didn’t get to be chairman lying down for punks."

Nice to have you on our side, Gunga Din.

Estrada as a recess appointment?: Ramesh Ponnuru wonders whether "the thing to do is for President Bush to give Estrada a recess appointment to the bench." His reasoning: "[t]his wouldn't set a bad precedent the way applying a 60-vote standard would, since President Clinton made a recess judicial appointment," and "Democrats who claim they don't have enough evidence to evaluate Estrada could be told to check in two years from now, when he can be renominated having judged in many cases."

I am inclined to agree.

Important people actually read this blog: I just received a kind email from an individual whom I greatly admire (regarding my bourbon recommendation), and who just might be nominated by President Bush to serve as a federal appellate judge. It's hard to believe that anyone of his stature would even be remotely interested in my "random musings." I gotta admit, blogging is pretty cool.

Feddie's liquor recommendation: Since Bashman is making whiskey recommendations (see "Alco-blogging (it's Mardi Gras, part one"), I thought I would recommend a most excellent Southern bourbon, Jefferson's Reserve. It just doesn't get any better than JR.

Whitey iz feelin' Snoop Dogg: Maybe it's just the feeling that comes with securing gainful employment, but Snoop's latest rhyme "Beautiful" is stuck in my head. Maybe it's 'cause I "paid tha cost to be da boss." So check out that shizzle at this link (you will have to register first to see the video).

Job offer!: Well, I am pleased to announce that I received and accepted a job offer from a law firm in Georgia (my first choice). They are a great group of people, and I am looking forward to practicing law again. For the time being, I am going to enjoy the remaining months of my clerkship--the greatest job a law geek can have (other than donning the black robe).