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

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.

A gaffe is a politician inadvertently telling an inconvenient truth.

Many 'hard' scientists regard the term 'social science' as an oxymoron. Science means hypotheses you can test, and prove or disprove. Social science is little more than observation putting on airs.

In 1977, at least, he wished to have people believe that he shared and was proud of an attitude toward women that is not acceptable in a politician. In 2003, all he has said is that he doesn't remember the interview.

So the danger of conservative judicial activism has been averted for another year. Stay tuned.

If sexual intercourse, as the poets tell us, began in 1963, it was another decade and a half before the American political system began to take notice.