December 1, 2011

ABA Journal, listing 100 law blogs, identifies 2 as "conservative" and none as "liberal."

The 2 identified as conservative are mine and Volokh Conspiracy.

Do you find that odd?

ADDED: Here's email I sent in response to email sent to me by an ABA Journal editor:
Thanks for responding.

Your description of my blog is embarrassingly inaccurate. What "altercation" are you even talking about? The one where I was filming other people arguing and a man suddenly assaulted me? You portray me as jumping at every chance to say conservative things, but I've blogged about why I voted for Obama, written continually in support of same-sex marriage since the first month of my blog, written in support of abortion [rights], and many, many other things that challenge conservative readers. And my comments section has many liberal readers who argue with the conservatives. I resent the crude label, which wasn't imposed on any other bloggers.

You "admire" my blog, but you don't know much about it. As for "reader engagement," I believe you do admire/envy that, and I think that is why I was included on the list. I have the capacity to send traffic to your website, which, I would assume, is the main reason you do a top 100 list and set up a voting process.

I am not impressed. And I really don't care about amends you "may" make next year. You have embarrassing material in your supposedly professional journal that is out there festering right now.

128 comments:

Henry said...

Do you find that odd?

Not remotely. We all know how this game is played.

Gumby said...

I find this blog odd.

Geoff Matthews said...

Althouse offered her conservative take on why Obama was the better choice for president and same-sex marriage should be legalized.

Are you sure that they read your blog?

techsan said...

Odd? Yes. Unexpected? No.

rhhardin said...

These guys rate Supreme Court candidates, so it's not odd.

Amartel said...

Legal insurrection blog? Instapundit?
Perhaps they undercounted, ya think? (oh we searched and searched and could only find two neanderthals.)

glenn said...

Disappointing maybe, not surprising. and definitely not one of those unexpecteds we've all come to love since Barry came to town.

The Drill SGT said...

Ann,

to be clear, they didn't call you conservative. They said your fan base is.

ps: Bill Ayers likely thought most of the Weathermen were conservative. It's all viewpoint centric.

Ann Althouse said...

"Althouse offered her conservative take on why Obama was the better choice for president and same-sex marriage should be legalized."

Heh. It's like you read my first draft of this post, before I cut it way down.

Rose said...

Because "liberal" is normal and acceptable, and "conservative" is deviant and should be sent down the memory hole - dontcha know? You're not ALLOWED to ask questions or stray off the party line reservation.

Your commenters are just too sensible, thus you must be "conservative." We must have everyone in a neatly defined little box.

Irene said...

Not surprising, especially given the narrative characterizes an assault as a "altercation ... with a pro-labor demonstrator."

Ann Althouse said...

@Drill How do you figure that? They said: "In nearly eight years of blogging, Ann Althouse doesn’t miss a chance to offer her conservative take on the latest political dustup. "

bagoh20 said...

Of course, you realize this makes you a racist.

Anonymous said...

As long as political identifiers are getting tossed around... Jonathan Turley is not "lliberal"?

I'd say that's some kind of bias. "Journalism bias" is not what I had in mind.

Known Unknown said...

My condolences.

Ann Althouse said...

"Not surprising, especially given the narrative characterizes an assault as a "altercation ... with a pro-labor demonstrator.""

What does that refer to? The time I video'd other people talking and then a man hit me for filming? That's totally slanting. Embarrassingly slanted.

LoafingOaf said...

What is odd abut calling a conservative blog a conservative blog? It wasn't always a conservative blog, but it certainly has been for some years now. The blog also coordinates with InstaPundit as a propaganda tool for the right and the GOP.

Althouse offered her conservative take on why Obama was the better choice for president

She said she voted for Obama because McCain wasn't conservative enough.

Althouse wrote: Is there some sort of idea that if you think McCain is too liberal, you still have to vote for him, because if he's too liberal, then Obama is really too liberal? I don't buy that. Better a principled, coherent liberal whose liberal choices will, if they don't go well, be blamed on liberals than an erratic, incoherent liberal whose liberal choices will be blamed on the party that ought to get its conservative act together.

Althouse voted for Obama while planning to spend the next 4 years bashing him. I thought that was completely obvious at the time.

and same-sex marriage should be legalized.

So what? The ball got rolling on that whole issue when conservative (at the time) Andrew Sullivan wrote a book about it. And no one should suggest that Althouse is like those political blogs where they never have an opinion that isn't right-wing-approved. It's sad, though, that you seem to think wanting to deny rights to gay people is one of the key, defining issues for conservatives.

vnjagvet said...

From 1990 through 2005, I was active in one of the larger sections of the ABA, and attended numerous section annual and leadership meetings run by the ABA national staff. They were fine people and were very able at what they did, but almost all of them were orthodox liberals, and big on "diversity" and "social justice".

I am pretty sure that for them, Lindsey Graham and John McCain are right wing zealots.

vnjagvet said...

I meant to add that the ABA Journal editorial personnel are selected by the ABA Staff.

wv: priest -- really.

RoBanJo said...

Is that tacit acknowledgement that ALL the other blogs are liberal?

coketown said...

There seems to be a few conservative blogs on the list that were not identified as such (WSJ, Bainbridge), so I don't find it too odd. It's more odd that only two were identified ideologically at all. And it's odd that Althouse is considered to have a conservative viewpoint. But even more odd still is that the hard-boiled egg I flushed down the toilet last night (it had spoiled in the fridge and I couldn't risk it breaking open in the garbage) resurfaced this afternoon.

The Drill SGT said...

Ann Althouse said...
@Drill How do you figure that?


LOL,

poor reading comprehension, tired and strained eyes that read it as:

In nearly eight years of blogging, Ann Althouse doesn’t miss a chance to offer her conservative BASE, the latest political dustup.

:)

Amartel said...

Althouse and Instapundit are propaganda tools for the right wing and the GOP? Project we much? Most of the links and discussions are about the conventional wisdom on both sides and in-between and whether it is (1) conventional and/or (b) wise. It's not specifically political one way or the other.
(Conspiwacy!!!!)
I suspect you're just so used to getting your daily dose of news of the world all from one (lefty) perspective that Instapundit and Althouse sound right wing.
(Agit-pwop!!!!!!)
And then there's the links to Amazon for markdowns on toys and discussions about whimsical rickshaws at Anthropologie?
(Tools of the oppwessor!!!!)

Irene said...

Althouse said, "What does that refer to? The time I video'd other people talking and then a man hit me for filming? That's totally slanting. Embarrassingly slanted."

I think it does refer to that incident. Worse than embarrassingly slanted, I think.

I'm Full of Soup said...

"None as liberal" is what you are surprised at right?

Robert said...

They've just defined their set-point. They're so far to the left they can't call anyone 'liberal' in relation to them.

Jason (the commenter) said...

Do you find that odd?

Yes! Talk about padding.

edutcher said...

She's Conservative on some issues, Lefty on others; how that adds up to
Conservative shows only that the ABA isn't very flexible or perceptive.

kimsch said...

AJ,

That's what I thought too. 100 blawgs, 2 are "conservative" and 0 are "liberal."

wv: oalis

cassandra lite said...

Conservative: Someone who doesn't favor having Cheney kidnapped, sent to a rendition safe house, and, after Torquemada is through, sent to the Hague for a show trial.

Jason (the commenter) said...

Althouse and The Volohk Conspiracy are listed as opinion blogs, of which they include five. I can understand not labeling any of the other blogs by political affiliation. The real comparison should be 2 out of five, not 2 out of 100.

And I see that the "(all male)" The Volohk Conspiracy is getting more votes than any of the other opinion blogs. Will Althousians rise to the challenge?

Ralph L said...

After a few more years with Meade, you can achieve "ultra-" status, or is it "arch-" that comes first?

Rose said...

LOL @ cassandra lite

Tyrone Slothrop said...

It's a hallmark of liberalism that its adherents fashion themselves as middle-of-the-road, and all conservatives as extremists. That's how Walter Cronkite got away with scamming the American public for so long-- telling us endlessly how middle of the road he was, and we believed him. On the other hand, right wingers are proud of where they are, and don't feel the need to fog the issue with self-deceit and euphemism.

Loafing Oaf said..

The blog also coordinates with InstaPundit as a propaganda tool for the right and the GOP.


I can't help but notice that your comments are published here without let or hindrance. Liberal blogs don't do that. If you don't agree with them, they "moderate" your comment, that is, bury it. Of course, that's another hallmark of liberalism-- free speech for me but not for thee.

Anonymous said...

Just showzz dat listmakorz gotta copromose wen makin d lists. N like 99 botls a beer, its tuff gettin 2 d end, n u start russian

DADvocate said...

It's so unusual for them not to be a mindless liberal they need to point out those who stray off the plantation. Wonder why Instapundit wasn't included.

As others have pointed out, you're not conservative in the traditional sense at all, and neither is Volokh.

They're just used to people that vote straight Democrat tickets without any thought.

Fritz said...

Man bites dog...

Jason (the commenter) said...

Also, these 100 were picked from the ABA's "blawg" directory. I searched it and found several labeled "liberal" or "progressive" along with a few others labeled "conservative".

Althouse should have stuck with, "It was an honor just being nominated".

Jason (the commenter) said...

Fritz: Man bites dog...

Yep, a total lack of critical thinking from the comenteriate, as usual.

J said...

Any cyber-stooge who plagiarizes one of Pynchon's characters (Slothrop) and then discusses how Althouse and V-lokh aren't sufficiently conservative has no business discussing politics anyway. Maybe finish that chiropractic cert. Tyronius AZZcid.

Jose_K said...

Legal insurrection is not conservative?

Anton said...

"Do you find that odd?"

No. the MSM (ABA, whatever...) never identifies anyone or anything as liberal. It's just a whatever it is, or a Conservative/Right-Wing whatever it is...

Tyrone Slothrop said...

Boycott J.

Chip S. said...

It would've seemed much odder if Brian Leiter's blog had made the cut, but it didn't.

So they appear to be applying some sort of quality filter. Or is it simply that he gets that little traffic?

sakredkow said...

Of course you know, this means war.

J said...

Boycott plagiarists, more like Tyronius (you even suck at that...like you did back in yr...thespian days). IM pretty sure Henry Holt would agree as would Maestro TP.

hasta la buh bye, blowhard . Yr little email and j-o chat sessions wit' yr new palsies won't help you either chester

Mike said...

Beldar is not conservative? Patterico is not conservative?

Scott M said...

That does seem a tad odd.

Peter said...

I find it odd that AA is considered conservative being as how she is a woman of the moderate left. This says little about Althouse and much about the ABA Journal.

Joe said...

(The Uncredentialed, Crypto Jew)


Boycott J.

Don't tell me what to do you MormanWiccaSatanist LDS-Alt-tard! I've got your number now you Gray Alien Sock-Puppet! You just wait the hammer is about to fall!

Chip S. said...

If anyone would take the time to glance at the list before commenting, you'd save yourself the trouble of asking whether "blog X" is conservative or not. The blogs listed are mostly "inside baseball" type sites (anyone here who reads the Delaware Corporate & Commercial Litigation Blog regularly?), and is not an exercise in political taxonomy.

The reference to AA's politics was offered more in the way of a throwaway line to give non-readers an idea of what to expect (namely, a personal approach to newsworthy events).

Joe said...

(The Uncredentialed, Crypto Jew)


That does seem a tad odd

What's odd is the fact that Joo-lover like you hasn't been promoted to the front office of the Koch Brothers/Zionist Financier Cabal...

I have little to offer on this topic, but felt even if I won't feed the troll and can at least mock it...

Henry said...

I've written it before. Althouse is conservative. She is conservative in standing for principle over expediency. She is conservative in treating politics as theatre. Miss Manners is conservative and Dave Berry is conservative and so is Ann Althouse.

(I have no idea who Miss Manners would vote for, and she probably thinks that's none of your business.)

If you want to gain some insight into subconscious bias, compare the blurb on Althouse to the blurb on Jonathan Turley.

With Althouse, "Readers less interested in her commentary on pop culture or politics can 'make Althouse an all-law blog' in her main nav bar."

With Turley, "Of course, we also get a kick out of the occasional random, off-topic posts, especially the penguin videos he shared after his son Ben pointed them out."

themightypuck said...

I don't think their goal was anything other than to identify. This blog is mostly about politics and it leans right. I suspect the editors and readership are mostly liberal so there is no need to point that out.

sakredkow said...

I don't know if I would characterize Althouse as very conservative but this is a very conservative blog. So what?

Rob said...

We all know that anyone right of Ted Kennedy is right, and everyone else is moderate and/or centrist. Duh. Oh, I guess Marx was mildly left.

Cody Jarrett said...

Yep. Yours should have been listed under the "commercial" category.

Hagar said...

Well, you do get pretty picky about logic and truthfulness and things at times.

Heart_Collector said...

Your either a liberal, or a conservative, according to liberals.

geokstr said...

I've been a regular reader and commenter on Volokh since 2006. It has a stated Libertarian perspective.

However, I don't see how they could call them conservative if they're looking at the fan base. Over the years, the comment section has been taken over by committed, rabid leftists, with a bad case of Koch-envy. They're just as doctrinaire and dishonest as the Garage, but since most are lawyers trained in Critical Legal Theory and Alinsky, they've learned to lie with considerably more erudition. (CritLegal is the leftist theory that the Constitution, laws, morals, ethics, standards, etc, are just words, written to favor the rich, so they are justified in reading anything they want into them in order to stick it to the Man. It is indoctrinated at most law schools.)

The first time I ever commented there it was in response to a leftling that called the NY Times a rightwing rag. It has gone downhill since.

madAsHell said...

There's a psychologist a Harvard that claims Obama lost %5 of the vote because of his skin color.

Hmmm....I'm really glad to see that Blogger still detects Obama as a spelling error.

J said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
J said...

Torts at the A-house hardware store...TORTS? Ain't that like some frenchy pastry or some sheet?

Even V-lokh and AA's legal sludge above the average Gumphouser

MadisonMan said...

So what is the default status?

J said...

You're too tasteless and untalented for satire Joey Spineless (and too cowardly to link to a real blog). Stick to the Harvey Fierstein imitations, or just go back to Rahm.com

Unknown said...

Don't tell me what to do you MormanWiccaSatanist LDS-Alt-tard! I've got your number now you Gray Alien Sock-Puppet! You just wait the hammer is about to fall!

I hope you don't mind if I "hear" this in a faux French accent. And would you please throw in something about hamsters and elderberries? Thanks!

Fen said...

to be clear, they didn't call you conservative. They said your fan base is.

Thats fair. And surprising.

Known Unknown said...

Don't tell me what to do you MormanWiccaSatanist LDS-Alt-tard! I've got your number now you Gray Alien Sock-Puppet! You just wait the hammer is about to fall!


Too coherent. Not enough Byro. Try again.

Fen said...

Althouse and Instapundit are propaganda tools for the right wing and the GOP? Project we much?

No kidding. Instapundit is a gatekeeper for stories the MSM doesn't think we need to know. I keep going back to:

"If your stock broker withheld information about Enron from you, would you still use him? And yet people still use CNN and the NYTs as their information broker"

Talk radio wouldn't exist if not for liberal bias in the MSM. Setting up a parallel venue to discuss issues from a conservative perspective is a natural outcome of that.

So why does Althouse exist? For me (and several others) its one of the few (if only) sites where a liberal hosts conservative guests without limiting their free speech.

ie. she doesn't ban you for making a good argument that happens to challenge her political values.

Its just unfortunate that the liberals we get here are so feeble. But perhaps thats the best "team" Liberalism can field these days?

sakredkow said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chuck66 said...

Fen...about MSM withholding info. Its been said the MSM anti-gun bias caused Algroe the 2000 election. Al didn't realize that many real Americans support 2nd amendment rights, as MSM portrayed gun-rights people as a small, isolated group of wackos. So he supported gun control.

Algore lost his home state of Tennessee by a few votes in 2000, costing him the election. Many people maybe would have voted for him if it wasn't for his anti-gun rights stand.

Chuck66 said...

This is one of the few places that has a free exchange between liberals and conservatives. And even the liberals here aren't too wacko. Example, few goofy conspiracy theories that dominate the debate elsewhere.

I would much rather debate and informed intelligent liberal than a goofy-ass one who thinks there is a secret society of Jews controlling the country.

Valentine Smith said...

The left is so utterly fragmented they have no idea who they are. Comes from not standing for anything. As Groucho sang, "whatever it is, I'm against it!"

An old girlfriend swore that Obama was a centrist. Ran into her the other day, now she sez O's a right winger. And she believes it.

People will not give up their delusions without a knockdown drag out.

Fen said...

Al didn't realize that many real Americans support 2nd amendment rights, as MSM portrayed gun-rights people as a small, isolated group of wackos. So he supported gun control.

Exactly. I think the term "blowback" applies to propaganda resulting in an own goal

SunnyJ said...

Hell no...MSM uses the terms conservative/right/right wing 100 times to 1 time left/liberal/left wing. This blog is guilty of actually having diviersity in positions, which makes you conservative/right/right wing. Same reason they trash Fox News...you either go along with party meme or you're the enemy. Just that simple.

Personally my experience inside Wisconsin higher education, is that there is no place on the face of the earth less interested in diversity.

Fen said...

If information is power, relying solely own the MSM is ill-advised.

If I had a nickel for every liberal that lost the debate because he simply didn't know about instances like Fast and Furious, Climategate, etc.

Fen said...

J: You're too tasteless and untalented for satire blah blah Spineless blah cowardly blah blah Harvey Fierstein imitations blah

I see that J provided us with an example of the Liberal A Game on Althouse.

Truly. This is the best they can field.

sorepaw said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chuck66 said...

Fen, its amazing how many liberals think Governor Palin really said "I can see Russia from my house", but don't know that Obama said "I've been to almost all 57 states", or "the great state of Eau Claire".

My favorite current MSM thing...the few stories they will run on Climategate, always refer to the leaked emails as "stolin emails". Get it, kind of a way to turn the debate against the whistle blowers.

Bill Beeman said...

Not really odd. But, clearly they don't read enough blogs. And it demonstrates that the Pauline Kael effect is alive and well.

Seeing Red said...

I don't know if I would characterize Althouse as very conservative but this is a very conservative blog. So what?

LOLOL

This blog is as conservative as Barney Frank is "moderate."

Rick67 said...

Two words: Brian. Leiter.

I mean, Come on.

PaulV said...

AA is so conservative that she is a liberal or so liberal she is conservative. Either that or a classical liberal.

jimbino said...

Huh?

David Friedman of
http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/

and

Becker & Posner of http://uchicagolaw.typepad.com/beckerposner/

Wally Kalbacken said...

As long as they spell your name right, who cares?

JAL said...

@ Geoff Matthews

They read the comments?

But they must have have missed Titus.

Levi Starks said...

No liberal law blogs!?
Why it's a travesty, clearly the result of an uneven playing field.
What we need is some liberal law blog affirmative action.

Fen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fen said...

Chuck: My favorite current MSM thing...the few stories they will run on Climategate, always refer to the leaked emails as "stolin emails". Get it, kind of a way to turn the debate against the whistle blowers.

Yup. Perfect example of how they try to shape the narrative:

A) If the CIA leaks a phony NIE on Iran's nuclear program, the story is all about "Bush Warmongering"

B) If a CRU insider leaks evidence of the AGW hoax, its all about "stolen" emails.

My fav is the Insty "unexpectedly" meme. The MSM thinks its readers are stupid enough to not recognize a pattern of failure from Obama. Yes, lets all pretend surprise that housing starts fell for another quarter. Lets all pretend the unemployment rate "unexpectedly" rose yet again.

At this rate, Obama will "unexpectedly" lose the election.

AllenS said...

Another meme over at Instapundit is: name that party.

Toad Trend said...

Not surprising.

It reminds one of the same MSM penchant for including the 'R' for GOP lawmakers but not including the 'D' for democrats. Same tactic.

Toad Trend said...

Fen said

"If your stock broker withheld information about Enron from you, would you still use him? And yet people still use CNN and the NYTs as their information broker"

Or, just as you wouldn't hire a painter to overhaul your electrical in your home, you probably shouldn't hire a present-voting community-rabblerousing racist soothsaying junior senator with a scrubbed 'academic' history as your president.

I see parallels to Stockholm syndrome. When will people see that actions trump words???

One big ass mistake America!!!

Roger J. said...

I have been a regular reader of the Professor's blog for 4 years--Assuming I can infer her political philosophy from her posts, I would characterize her as a classical liberal (Millsian). Irrespective of her political leanings, she covers the territory in an eclectic fashion and I have enjoyed her blog and will continue to do so.

Keep it up Professor.

Marine Mom in St Paul said...

Obviously there are no "liberal" lawyers, only you and Volokh are biased. The others are all neutral. /sarc

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

I think Althouse is definitely liberal. What dives the left crazy, however, is that she isn't a partisan. She doesn't toe the company line. She is ready and willing to expose hypocrisy and stupidity wherever she finds it. And Madison just happens to be a target rich environment.

Tibore said...

Explicitly labeling the professor here as conservative while not even commenting on whether others are liberal or not says more about the ABA Journal than it does about the blogs they review.

I think Rose has it right: They made comment on "conservatism" because to them, that's unusual enough - and in their view possibly even deviant enough? - to merit mention. Whereas liberal political stances are "the norm" and therefore goes without saying.

SJC said...

This just means that the ABA Journal considers that 98% of law bloggers are to the left of Althouse.

J said...

It's rather optimistic to expect the Meyer lanskys of A-house to distinguish between conservatives and liberals---eg, one of the yokels calling AA "Millsian". What a sad joke. JS Mill was nearly socialist. Not Ayn Rand

Mitch said...

Walter Olson overlawyered.com must be steamed at being left out (so to speak) of that exclusive club.

TMink said...

Do you find that odd?

No, just commonplace hubris and dishonesty that is so typical of the left.

Trey

the wolf said...

How exactly do they ascertain the political leanings of a blog's "fan base?"

Fen said...

J said: [....]

Coward.

Roger J. said...

Alas--not my day to fuck with J. I assume someone else can step in for me.

SGT Ted said...

It's an old, old lefty propaganda trick, in use at least since 1918. Trotsky became "rightwing" when be opposed Lenin.

The international commies, fronted by the old USSR, smeared other national socialist movements as "fascist" and "rightwing" in the 1930s, a fiction maintained to this day for use on libertarians and conservatives by leftists when their arguments fail.

In other words, this is nothing new.

Anonymous said...

No, it just shows how liberal ABA is

ndspinelli said...

A "one man wolf pack"..I love it! The howling is a nice touch.

Carnifex said...

Merely expected professor, as everyone else has stated. Because you let even nut jobs like me express opinions they deign reactionary at best, you MUST agree with them.

My answer to people like this has always been "I've been called worse things by better people". I would like this opportunity to say thank you. Much like the 2nd amendment, most leftist think the first only applies to them.

Again, thank you, you are a gracious hostess.

ABA? You can kiss my big fat...no on second thought, I wouldn't want those lips anywhere near me.

David Gaw said...

Perhaps they don't label the other law blogs as "liberal" for the same reason cars sold in the US aren't labeled "left hand drive?" When something is assumed, only exceptions get labeled.

Lance Burri said...

This is a law blog? I thought it was a blog written by a law professor.

Astro said...

Let's see: 100/2 = 50; that's an integer. And 2/2 = 1; that's an integer.
So no, I'd say 100 and 2 are both even numbers.
Nothing odd about any of this.

rcommal said...

And my comments section has many liberal readers who argue with the conservatives.

"Many"? Not from what I can tell.

virgil xenophon said...

Jack Balkin et al must be gnashing his/their teeth--can't even get any love from his ABA fellow lefties..

RS said...

There are no liberals or socialists either.

Only those enlightened people who think like the elite and those to the right - ugly racist Neanderthal Nazi conservatives.

FleetUSA said...

Although the ABA and the AMA supposedly represent their professions, neither is necessarily representative of the universe of lawyers or doctors in the US nor of their thinking.

The ABA and AMA have proven themselves to be much like AARP, a left wing political operation. Most Americans don't understand that.

David R. Graham said...

Reading post and comments reminds me of an old thought: "liberal" and "conservative" are useless, divisive, constraining descriptors. I am unaware of suitable alternatives because the purpose of those descriptors is to hurl FUD, not to describe reality or even intent. When terms taken to represent polar opposites apply equally well to a person or situation, such as Althouse and Althouse plus readers, they are without value, or, they are inseparable. What's to get excited about?

David R. Graham said...

"Again, thank you, you are a gracious hostess."

Yes, hearty concurrence in that sentiment.

Jaske said...

Once upon a time, the pack paused when a wolf barked.

wv: deera, one letter off

Mick said...

Please, if Volokh and Althouse were "Conservative" then it would mean adherence to the Original meaning of the Constitution. We all know that neither will inform the public, which should be their duty, that the putative President is a Usurper. I would say Faux Conservative sites.

Rick67 said...

Oh my. One hopes never to get on your "bad" side.

AlphaLiberal said...

Ann keeps repeating herself on this subject, soo.....

Ann, you frequently repeat Rush Limbaugh's statements; you say the corporate media working for those conservative billionaires are somehow liberal; you attack critics of torture, child labor, and Wall Street like any other right wing attack dog, you mount ad hominem attacks on scientists studying global warming; you attack any Democrat with plain vanilla Republican caricatures, etc, etc.

Get over it and quit yer bitchin'. You're a conservative. I hope the ABA won't back down.

gerry said...

I like coming here and reading an Althousian post ordering, "Calm down, people!"

It always gives pause and is cheaper and more effective than that damn therapist Woody Allen recommended.

geokstr said...

AlphaLiberal said...
Get over it and quit yer bitchin'. You're a conservative. I hope the ABA won't back down.

So, Alph, should the ABA also label at least some of the other 98 "liberal"?

I suppose not, because how can they be biased in any direction if they always agree with you , right?

Kirby Olson said...

I think your principles are conservative, which to me is the same thing as non-totalitarian (or, pro-liberty). I think this is a good thing.

Your position on homosexuality has to do with your family, not your principles (you make an exception, because of a family member).

As for the vote on Obama, I think you were taken by his looks. Lots of people were. He's really extremely handsome. He's starting to wilt around the edges some, though.

Mitt is holding steady.

Newt doesn't look handsome at all. He's a mess, let's face it.
I like his forceful clear ideas, and will take him or any other Republican over the Big O, but I appreciate that you seem to be at least open to conservative ideas.

I'm not sure why that's so intolerable.

You're also pretty feminist, though, so I think that's another way in which you're still a liberal.

wildswan said...

You cover the news about Wisconsin and the protesters against Governor Walker better than anyone. That's why I originally read you. But I think we disagree about quite a lot - abortion, single sex marriage, other stuff. I would say that they say you are conservative because you don't make ugly hostile remarks about conservatives. I think that's required on the left these days.

Hope Change said...

You are not conservative. I agree.

You actually go out of your way to be more original than that.

But here's the thing: you apply common sense, and you have principles that matter to you, and you ask people to THINK.

So you are a threat to the Left. You may have voted for Obama, and you may support some socially left-leaning positions, but you apply common sense, reason, feeling and logic to reach your conclusions.

Further, you're asking other people to think. You even sometimes model the process for them in case they're not sure how it's done.

What would happen if everyone were to do that?

If people apply common sense and think about things, it is unlikely that they will end up at an OWS camp. Ditto, unlikely they will end up as a suicide bomber. Or giving a "protest" Nazi salute when someone is lighting a Christmas tree.

You know how when the Soviets made a pact with Hitler, the Communist Party USA turned on a dime to support Stalin? Whittaker Chambers left because of that, I believe. Well, then he was in danger for his life from the CPUSA. Principles will not be tolerated.

I think your real danger to them is that you're NOT conservative, but more of a quirky free-thinker. That cannot be tolerated. You might influence the others. You must be stopped. So they're laying the groundwork so they can dismiss you later.

Gene said...

Irene: I think it does refer to that incident. Worse than embarrassingly slanted, I think."

Since you apparently were there too and saw the whole incident why not tell us what you saw?

Cincinnatus said...

Prof. Althouse, I think your email to the ABA Journal was dead on.

Calling you "Conservative" shows a complete ignorance of your actual postings at best and is more likely intentionally dishonest. Calling Volokh's group blog "Conservative" is equally false and makes me more suspicious of their good faith. While your postings wander around the political map, nothing could be more explicitly Libertarian than the Volokh group.

LoafingOaf said...

Robin: Calling Volokh's group blog "Conservative" is equally false and makes me more suspicious of their good faith. While your postings wander around the political map, nothing could be more explicitly Libertarian than the Volokh group.

Althouse deceived you, knowing you wouldn't click on the link to find out.

Here's what they said about Volokh Conspiracy:

"The 19 or so (all male) contributors to the Volokh Conspiracy present and debate constitutional law and headlines that grab them at the moment. While commentary generally flows libertarian and conservative, no opinion is likely to go unchallenged by other contributors or their active reader base."

Althouse isn't concerned that she misled you. It was intentional!