Return of The Mummy

Comes news this a.m. that we have Ed Meese to thank for Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. You remember Ed Meese? Ronald Reagan's Attorney General, chief domestic policy advisor ... "There-are-no-hungry-children-in-America" Ed Meese. (Actually, he said, "I don't know of any authoritative figures that there are hungry children. I've heard a lot of anecdotal stuff, but I haven't heard any authoritative figures ... I think some people are going to soup kitchens voluntarily. I know we've had considerable information that people go to soup kitchens because the food is free and that that's easier than paying for it ... I think that they have money." Makes you almost miss the bland but honest cruelty of the Republican Party of 20 years ago, doesn't it, before they learned to wrap their callousness in "compassionate" gestures?)

Ed Meese pioneered the political movement toward "original intention" (as in, "the original Constitution doesn't say anything about giving rich people's money to poor people, which makes welfare unconstitutional"). John Roberts is said to have sat at Meese's knee, feeding from his hand, yipping for a treat.