Via Exeuctive Order, Florida Governor Rick Scott today ordered mandatory drug testing for newly hired state employees, and periodic testing for existing employees.

Scott issued an executive order requiring each of his agencies to amend its drug testing policy within 60 days to require pre-employment screenings of all job applicants and random testing of the existing work force.

The American Civil Liberties Union, though, pointed out that a federal judge in 2004 ruled random drug testing of most state employees was an unconstitutional violation of privacy rights.

The ACLU says in order for a drug-testing requirement to pass constitutional muster, there must be some connection to safety, or some evidence of illegal drug use.

The order may also violate labor union contracts and collective bargaining rights .[More...]

Paul Krugman discussing Yves Smith's post on Elizabeth Warren:

My general view of politics and policy is that there are no saints and no geniuses; place too much faith in anyone, and you’re bound to be let down. But there are villains, and they need to be fought.

Words to live by. And yes, this does provide me with an excuse to again post my refrain, pols are pols and do what they do:

Citing Matt Yglesias, Paul Krugman writes:

[T]he only way we’ll get any budget deal now — or, I’d say, any time in the next several years — will be if conservatives come up with an offer. And they won’t.

[. . . W]hat Republicans want is for Obama to propose [spending] cuts– and therefore to take the political heat — while they give up nothing whatsoever. Not going to happen.

(Emphasis supplied.) Krugman is entirely too sanguine about this. Time after time, the GOP's Norquist strategy has worked on Obama. The Deal in December being the most prominent. Unlike Krugman, I do not have confidence that Obama (especially with Tim Geithner being a key player) and the Dems will not propose spending cuts to key programs. After all, in the ongoing budget negotiations, they have done so already. Obama and the Dems have proven to be inept political bargainers

Speaking for me only

Elizabeth Taylor has passed away:

Elizabeth Taylor, the actress who dazzled generations of moviegoers with her stunning beauty and whose name was synonymous with Hollywood glamour, died on Wednesday of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, her publicist, Sally Morrison, told The Associated Press. She was 79.

R.I.P.

Former NY Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor was sentenced to six years of probation today for to sexual misconduct and having sex with an underage prostitute.

Attorney Gloria Allred gave a press conference after the sentence, accompanied by the underage woman, whose identity up until today was kept under wraps. Gloria, of course, was unhappy Taylor wasn't sentenced to life plus cancer.

She was even more upset the judge didn't allow the accuser to read a victim impact statement in court. The judge pointed out that it's allowed only for felonies.

Allred's presser rendered Taylor's attorney, Arthur Aidala, completely apoplectic. He then took to the mike. TMZ has the video of him excoriating Allred. Allred was present during the tirade. She laughed through the whole thing.

Over the years, I have written often about The Living Constitution. See, e.g. On Constitutional Interpretation: Originalism v. A Living Constitution; Scalia's Nonsense on Originalism,Dred Scott,Originalism and A Living Constitution, Constitutional Interpretation: Originalism v. A Living Constitution, Uncertainty In Life:Justice Souter's Harvard Commencement Address. I spilled tens of thousands of words on the subject, but Justice Souter's commencement address at Harvard last year wonderfully described the philosophy that I believe underpins the Living Constitution idea:

[B]ehind most dreams of a simpler Constitution there lies a basic human hunger for the certainty and control that the fair reading model seems to promise. And who has not felt that same hunger? Is there any one of us who has not lived through moments, or years, of longing for a world without ambiguity, and for the stability of something unchangeable in human institutions? I don’t forget my own longings for certainty, which heartily resisted the pronouncement of Justice Holmes, that certainty generally is illusion and repose is not our destiny.

[. . .] If we cannot share every intellectual assumption that formed the minds of those who framed the charter, we can still address the constitutional uncertainties the way they must have envisioned, by relying on reason, by respecting all the words the Framers wrote, by facing facts, and by seeking to understand their meaning for living people.

Brilliant words from one of the finest of our modern Justices (now about that Twombly decision. . . .) It is important to realize that this concept does not always redound to consequences that we may feel are optimal. One of those for me is the modern understanding of the war power under the Constitution. The words are simple enough. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution provides:

Open Thread.

The unrepentant sexist Andrew Sullivan:

Quote For The Day

"God bless [Clinton]" - Karl Rove, on the secretary of state's success in starting the war in Libya.

(Emphasis supplied.) Poor hen pecked Obama sez Sully. It's no wonder he is a Tweety favorite.

Speaking for me only

Via Echidne, The Nation's Robert Dreyfus has a problem with women. The Nation's Katha Pollit responds:

In a post entitled “Obama’s Women Advisers Pushed War Against Libya [1]" (originally titled “Obama’s Women” tout court) he’s shocked-shocked-shocked that UN Ambassador Susan Rice, human-rights adviser Samantha Power and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were keen on intervening militarily in Libya. The piece is dotted with arch and sexist language—the advisers are a “troika,” a “trio” who “rode roughshod over the realists in the administration” (all men) and “pushed Obama to war.” Now it’s up to the henpecked President to “reign (sic) in his warrior women.” Interestingly, the same trope—ballbreaking women ganging up on a weak president—is all over the rightwing blogosphere. [. . . C]an you imagine a piece in The Nation titled “Black President Opts for Bombs” or “Qaddafi, a Man, Threatens to Massacre Rebels, Most of Whom Are Also Men”?

Misogyny—it’s the last acceptable prejudice of the left.

Indeed.

Speaking for me only

Via Atrios, Media Matters reports on NRO's sexism:

[T]he problem is not with women leaders — the enemies of the Virgin Queen and the Iron Lady can attest to that. The problem is not even with the president having strong female subordinates. Rather, Obama's pusillanimity has been hugely magnified by the contrast with the women directing his foreign policy and the fact that they nagged him to attack Libya until he gave in. Maybe it's unfair and there shouldn't be any difference from having a male secretary of state do the same thing, but there is.

The title of the piece - They Know Who Wears the Pants in This Country. Nice.

Speaking for me only

The irony is too rich for it not to make headlines: The Las Vegas assistant D.A. who prosecuted Paris Hilton and Bruno Mars is himself busted for coke possession. But once you get past the titillating factor, I'm not sure the facts add up.

Clark County Deputy District Attorney David Schubert, who for the past two years has been assigned to a federal-state task force, and who prosecuted Paris Hilton and Bruno Mars for cocaine possession last year, was arrested this weekend in Las Vegas after having someone purchase a "rock" of cocaine for him.

According to the arrest report, police on routine patrol (in plain clothes) observed a man in a BMW (DA Schubert) pick up an African American male, identified as Raymond Streeter, in a neighborhood known for drug trafficking. They drove to an apartment complex where Streeter exited the car and went into the complex. Schubert drove around the block for a few minutes then returned to pick up Streeter. The officer says Schubert then made a turn without signaling, so he stopped the car. Streeter bolted, but the cop chased him and with the help of a second cop, captured him. Streeter waived his Miranda rights and ratted out Schubert, saying Schubert had been using him to buy cocaine several times a week for months. [More...]

A new season of Dancing With the Stars begins. We don't have Bristol to kick around any more. Unfortunately for viewers, pro dancer Derek Hough is taking the season off. I'll be mildly curious to see how Kirstie Allie and Sugar Ray Leonard do. Otherwise, I'm not too interested. I'm going to watch The Triangle Waist Fire instead.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.