The takings clause of the Fifth Amendment is for conservatives what the equal protection clause of the 14th is for liberals.

The logic is often far-fetched - how does medical marijuana affect interstate commerce? - and some conservatives would like judges to start throwing out federal laws wholesale on commerce clause grounds. The court once again said no thanks.

A gaffe is a politician inadvertently telling an inconvenient truth.

He's nice enough not to want to be associated with a nasty remark but not nice enough not to make it. Lacking the courage of one's nastiness does not make one nice.

There is a deadening conformity in the culture of cyberspace in which we don't intend to participate.

Among the social sciences, economists are the snobs. Economics, with its numbers and graphs and curves, at least has the coloration and paraphernalia of a hard science. It's not just putting on sandals and trekking out to take notes on some tribe.

Journalistic conventions make it hard for reporters to deal with a big, complicated lie.