From the “Constitution itself”

“Should the World Court be imbued with the authority to determine how Texans run their justice system? Does the president have the authority to impose an international court ruling on a state? Would such a notification have altered the outcome of the trial?”

Not really.

Sex, lies and corrupt politicians

“Are we too puritanical when it comes to sex? Europeans, we are told, will often have a great laugh at our squeamish expense. Why do Americans, they wonder, worry about the sexual antics of elected officials? Who cares?

How prudish are we, really? Read the news lately and you will have fodder for a riveting three-act porno screenplay. Our recent political scandals are completely filthy, and if they were only about the sex, we’d all be laughing. (OK, some of us are laughing anyway.) ”

Rest of the column.

Obama wants it both ways

My take.

Olympic boycott would at least be interesting

“Why any rational person would spend time watching the summer Olympic Games is a mystery. But, according to event organizers, around 3.2 billion earthlings will tune in to catch water polo, archery and other assorted oddities.

Sure, one supposes, the Olympics can hold geopolitical rooting interests (Go Estonia!). And the Games are unavoidably tied to politics, whether we’re talking about Hitler’s 1936 extravaganza, the Soviets’ socialist super athlete, or even the majestic Lake Placid hockey gold. For this reason, the 2008 Beijing Games are of paramount significance to China.”

Entire column here.

For voters, race indeed matters - but so what?

Today I chime in on one of the latest kerfuffles.

Obama’s connections are fair game

Or so I say in today’s column.

Are Heroes (Super and Otherwise) Truly Gone?

Elisabeth Rappe at Cinematical believes I have it all wrong on superheroes. She makes some good points.

First, she points to recent adaptations of X-Men, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and Superman — and the myriad of other superhero movies on the horizon — as proof of how wrong I am. And actually, the X-Men movies in many ways epitomize precisely what I’m writing about. Rather than a fight between Good and Evil we are presented with a complex narrative and, quite often, heavy-handed moralizing (humans are often mutant-phobic, read: racist …) that plays in the politically murkiness I see so often these days. (This complexity, incidentally, appeals to me as an adult.) Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and Superman all deal with self-involved revenge fantasies or dealing with existential threats to mankind beyond traditional themes of good and evil.

She goes on …

But heroes don’t always need super powers — even if they do seem to have a penchant for capes. We’ve had our fair share in the past few years. What about Aragorn or Frodo? King Leonidas? Even when all seemed lost, they soldiered on to defend their homeland. Or do such heroes not count because they fought for Middle Earth and ancient Sparta? Is the implication in Harsanyi’s article that the only good heroes are American ones? (I think it is, but as he claims the 80’s were a time when “revenge and justice, in fact, could be unearthed everywhere in pop culture,” I think Hobbits and Spartans are worthy examples as to where heroism can be found today.)

The Hobbits and Spartans are superb illustrations of decency and wickedness I was writing about. Then again, much of the Lord of the Rings series was created during World War 2, it’s moral fault lines are created by now-historic battles rather than contemporary ones. And, obviously, the Spartans had their days thousands of years ago. In fact, “300″ was widely panned for very same politically incorrect themes I speak of in the piece.

Finally, I made no judgment call on whether I think the lack of simplistic heroes is a positive development or a negative one. I understand there are generalizations here. But I think overall my theory stands.

Where have all the superheroes gone?

( Marvel Comics, The Associated Press )

My Sunday prespective piece.