It is a wonderful idea. How can we make it happen?

God, look at the fucking shrieking in that comments section. Unbelievable. I especially love the wingnuts on "liberals are drunk with power" rants.

I don't blame Hill for not wanting the job. I thought her response was interesting.

Didn't we used to make fun of GWB-ish Republicans for being the party of "anything that annoys liberals"?

Didn't we used to make fun of GWB-ish Republicans for being the party of "anything that annoys liberals"?

Wow, the idea never occurred to me before this moment, but suddenly it seems as though, for half of my life, this has been my most fervent wish.

Didn't we used to make fun of GWB-ish Republicans for being the party of "anything that annoys liberals"?

I don't know who "we" is, Flippanter, but I never did. My primary grievance against GWB isn't that he annoyed me.

And Hill isn't like Harriet Meiers -- she's at least as well-qualified for the job as any of the sitting justices.

Damn, we all missed it. So obvious after the fact.

3,4: Repeatedly.

It really is amazing how many people see "black" as synonymous with "fat and happy as a result of handouts from the government". It might even be more people than see "black" as synonymous with "criminal".

6: I think Harriet Miers would have done better than either Alito or Roberts.

But agree with the general point; this annoyance swould result in a capable, empathetic person on the Supreme Court. Take that Conservatives!

Oh, and I don't even see "black".

I like her recommendation of Lani Guinier, too.

3/4: And now liberals need their own T-shirt.

It really is amazing how many people see "black" as synonymous with "fat and happy as a result of handouts from the government". It might even be more people than see "black" as synonymous with "criminal".

Yep. This is because the generation whose parents' racism went through the Reagan filter have come of age. They're not lazy, they're made dependent by the government. They're not stupid, they're victims of affirmative action and "reverse racism" (which is an awesome term). Etc . . .

3: Didn't we used to make fun of GWB-ish Republicans for being the party of "anything that annoys liberals"?

I, for one, was too busy making fun of them for being fucking wrong even by their own standards.

I think this would be totally awesome because if she was willing to go through with it, I'd expect Thomas to depart the court not long after. Sadly, I don't think she'd be willing to go through working with Scalia since I've no doubt he'd be down her throat, what with being the royalist bastard that he is. That kinda sucks, and I do not blame her in the least for not wanting to deal with that.

max
['Cute thought tho.']

Honestly, that's the marvelous gift that GWB gave to us. Thanks to the past 8 years, whatever else we may disagree on, we'll always have our shared hatred of Bush and his sycophants. It's like Paris, but better.

12: Just for a minute let's all do the Bork! Bork, Bork, Bork.

After Scalia gets hit by a bus on January 19th, 2013, I fully expect Obama to make good and nominate Bernardine Dohrn. (Apologies if someone already said that in the other thread. I was marching for immigrant workers' rights, so I haven't had time to read all of it.)

Aha! It was made last night when I was at a Walpurgisnacht bonfire.

I think we all had the "Dohrn for the Supreme Court" jokes queued up in our heads since September or so.

I'm now thinking Oscar Zeta Acosta.

10: I think Harriet Miers a bag of hammers would have done better than either Alito or Roberts.

IT LOOKS LIKE A NAIL TO ME!!!!1!!!

13: Actually, the old bullshit coexists with the new bullshit quite nicely. Those lazy, shiftless ni- ummm, African-Americans are either criminals stealing from you on the street, or welfare / Affirmative Action queens stealing your taxpayer's dollars*, and if they weren't doing the latter they'd probably be doing the former.

I thought her response was interesting.

I thought it was gracious, humorous, tactful, intelligent and concise.

I would love to have her on the Court, but I also have pretty strong principles against asking/letting/encouraging people to do things that are good for society but manifestly bad for themselves. Bad enough that we have so many of those jobs in the world already; we don't need to unnecessarily convert one of the jobs that isn't.

(Further to 22: of course, when they're "in the room," you talk about "reverse racism.")

23.1: Yes, those are all better adjectives.

23: What was her response? Oh, I guess I could google, but if someone has a link, that would be great.

It's in the link in the post.

Unlike the other branches, there's no requirement that Justices be U.S. Citizens (nor are there any other eligibility requirements in Article III, and the President's judicial appointment power can't be statutorily restricted). So I'd kind of like to Jeremy Waldron appointed.

I wonder who Ruth Bader Ginsburg would like him to appoint. I wonder if he'll ask her.

26: Apo, you of all people know the principle against reading anything linked in the OP.

29: Not to mention the more general principle of not clicking on any of apo's links.

28: I'm not sure I follow why her opinion would be of special interest or importance?

I also think it would be hilarious and I think I would have the last laugh.

James, you made a reference to humour! That's adorable!

31: Because she is the only woman on the Court right now and as such has a unique and IMO valuable perspective on the interpersonal dynamics at play, because she came of age during the modern feminist movement and helped fight to establish in the law principles that many of us hold dear, because she has had to suffer through writing dissents in recent cases where her colleagues have figuratively spat upon those hard-won gains (e.g. Kennedy's opinion in Carhart), because surviving a confirmation hearing as a woman is difficult in ways that are different than for a man and she might have valuable input on how various potential nominees might survive it....shall I go on?

Nominating Ralph Nader would prevent him from running for president again. Probably.

Oddly, a number of things I've read recently that refer to Brandeis' nomination to the supreme court, all say it was as if someone had nominated someone like Nader to the court. These references are all from things written before Nader's perpetual presidential candidacy.

Nominating Norm Coleman might finally get him to give up on appealing the Minnesota Senate race. Probably.

ARE YOU SUGGESTING, WITT, THAT WOMEN ARE DIFFERENT FROM MEN?

LOL, I KNEW THE FEMINISTS WOULD GIVE UP THE FIGHT EVENTUALLY

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Guys, what's the best supermarket level gin I can buy? (Um, by this I mean something I could buy at the supermarket, not actually a supermarket brand. Aka, no No. 209 gin or things that I've never seen at a store).

|>

I like me some Bombay Sapphire.

You can buy gin at the supermarket? What is this magical place where you live?

Gilbey's is just fine, Gordon's likewise. Nine bucks or so a fifth.

37 obviously did not play doctor enough as a child. It's okay, Grandpa, there's still time.

38: We can't buy gin at supermarkets here in the great state of Texas, so I'm not sure what's generally available (you're in California?). By "supermarket" do you mean cheap(ish)? Or just widely distributed?

Tanqueray, Bombay Sapphire (regular old Bombay is pretty dire), and Seagrams are all in the decent range and seem generally available . Plymouth is very good. Brokers too. Hendricks is different from your averagbe gin, but also quite tasty, and seems to have wide distribution. Do you have a list of choices?

I really love Junipero but it's definitely boutique. However, it is made by the same folks who make Sierra Nevada, so might be more widely available in CA.

40 is correct re: Gilbey's and Gordon's.

42 is incorrect re: the spelling of "average".

Thanks, guys. And yes, M/tch, I just meant widely distributed - I always forget that different states have different liquor laws re: selling in supermarkets. I've seen almost all the things on your list (not the last for sure) in my normal grocery store.

45: Are you thinking mainly mixed drinks like gin and tonic? Because if so I'd just buy whichever of the ones of those listed so far is cheapest.

Martinis are another matter and probably worth spending a little extra for one you particularly like, although none of those listed will make an especially bad martini.

I keep the Junipero around for martinis and use a cheaper brand for your gin and tonics, tom collins, etc. Hendricks is nice, and very handy for people like Sir Kraab who don't really like traditional English gin (aka pinehaters).

I recently bought a bottle of Damrak, but have yet to delve into it. I'll report back when I do. I wasn't very fond of Boomsma Oude. To me it had a somewhat vegetal, low-end tequila taste to it. I had some great Dutch and Flemish gins when I lived in Belgium and am trying to rediscover what they were.

Vaguely, related, I love maps like this.

I don't have any advice on gin because I don't know much about gin, but realizing that inspired me to look it up. The history of gin turns out to be very interesting. I also learned that there are a lot more species of juniper than I had thought.

In New Mexico you can buy hard liquor in gas stations. So at least we've got that going for us. Also, no swine flu. (Yet.)

That is an awesome map!

I think I'd like the Hendricks (I suspect I fall into the category of pine haters); I'm not huge on gin and tonics myself but they seem like a de rigueur summer drink and I should have some on hand for when I get around to having people over - it might as well be something that I'd like to drink as well.

||
From Wikipedia:

twenty-nine police were injured by two hundred protesters shouting anti-capitalist slogans at them in Berlin

Man alive! We need to get us some of those German anti-capitalist slogans around here! We didn't manage to injure a single cop with our slogans.
||>

The history of gin turns out to be very interesting.

Its history in England as a drink of the poor and as an anesthetic to the pains of industrialization is fascinating - you get some good cultural and social history from it.

(I suspect I fall into the category of pine haters)

Genever gin (like the ones Myotch linked to) generally has a more subtle juniper flavor, and is lovely for other reasons as well. There are also saffron gins, which I'd quite like to try.

50: It's not the content of the slogans, it's the language they're yelled in. German is an inherently more dangerous language than English.

Plymouth is very good

Absolutely correct.

Are you thinking mainly mixed drinks like gin and tonic? Because if so I'd just buy whichever of the ones of those listed so far is cheapest.

Absolutely wrong.

When I was a child, I used to climb up our douglas firs. Sometimes I'd climb up to the smallest branches that would hold me, 140 ft up. When I fell I could always catch one branch or another, except for the last ten feet, because douglas firs are like that, and there was a juniper bush to catch me, which it did, successfully, many times. To this day gin stinks of injured failure.

We seem to go through a lot of gin. I dis-recommend New Amsterdam, which claims to be a gin but seems more like a citrus-infused vodka to me (although if what you want in a gin is a lack of juniper it's fine, and it mixes well in recipes that call for vodka like, say, a bloody mary).

I like Bombay Sapphire, but it's sort of a hot mess of a gin and wouldn't be worth paying a premium price for unless you already know it's what you want. Beefeater is quality stuff and generally pretty reasonably priced. We made it through an entire fifth of Boodle's without it making much of an impression on me. Tanqueray is excellent for a gin-and-tonic; in a martini I've come to think that it requires orange bitters to balance its particular herb-y flavor.

We're probably fans more of Plymouth, Hendricks, and Bluecoat than anything else, but if you can figure out what they have in common besides being labeled 'gin' you're ahead of us.

To this day gin stinks of injured failure.

Well, sure. What does this have to do with the rest of your story?

51: Indeed. Contemporary accounts from that time sound remarkably similar to hysterical accounts of the crack epidemic of the 80s.

And re: old maps, I'm a total sucker for them. Those birds-eye view ones produced before human flight was available are damn amazing.

Edinburgh had quite a lot of shops with old maps for sale and during my year there I liked to have people visit me so as to have a decent excuse to go browsing. The maps were all really expensive, so I never bought any, but rationalized these trips by thinking that perhaps my guest might buy one (never happened).

52: Wow. Saffron gin sounds very intriguing.

57: Gin=Dutch:Genever=English:Juniper. Being introduced to the subtle taste of juniper via multiple high velocity impacts is unlikely to endear you thereof.

Tangueray, people. Tangueray. It has exactly the right mix of affordability and drinkability. Beefeater's, meaning no (okay, some) disrespect to the above endorsement, is fucking horrible.

I really love Junipero but it's definitely boutique. However, it is made by the same folks who make Sierra Nevada

Right idea, wrong brewer. Anchor Steam, not Sierra Nevada.

60: it's tricky to spell, though.

Tangueray, people. Tangueray.

It's like you Canadians have a different word for everything.

Gin=Dutch:Genever=English:Juniper

Gin equals Dutch is to Genever equals English is to Juniper?

I think I'd like the Hendricks (I suspect I fall into the category of pine haters); I'm not huge on gin and tonics myself but they seem like a de rigueur summer drink and I should have some on hand for when I get around to having people over - it might as well be something that I'd like to drink as well.

A Hendricks & Tonic with a slice of cucumber instead of the traditional lime or lemon is very refreshing. It's a bit on the innocuous side for my tastes, but it's definitely a crowd pleaser.

Absolutely wrong.

Given a decent non-ass-tasting gin, discerning the difference between say Tanqueray and Plymouth once you've mixed in tonic and a lime or lemon squeeze is certainly possible, but I'm not sure it's worth the extra expense, especially after the first couple of sips.

But if you're buying, I'll insist on the top shelf stuff. Your tonic better be up to snuff too.

61: Right. Damn.

63: Mind your g's and q's, young man.

63: Blame Snoop Dogg and the Crips for that one. I'm rollin' down the steet, smokin' indo as we speak... type... whatever...

Given a decent non-ass-tasting gin, discerning the difference between say Tanqueray and Plymouth once you've mixed in tonic and a lime or lemon squeeze is certainly possible, but I'm not sure it's worth the extra expense, especially after the first couple of sips.

I dunno if it's worth the extra expense, but it's definitely better. Actually, for gin and tonics I don't really care, but more elaborate drinks always seem to respond well to Plymouth.

Then again, I like regular ol' Tanqueray in dirty martinis, so I may well be idiosyncratic in my ginthusiasms.

35: Oddly, a number of things I've read recently that refer to Brandeis' nomination to the supreme court, all say it was as if someone had nominated someone like Nader to the court.

ACK! Governor Mayor Attorney General Moonbeam! If you need a white male for the SC at some point here (future openings soon!), he seems like the guy.

Feh. I forgot: he's old. Also, he might run for Governor.

max
['Still, that would be perfect one-for-one replacement for Souter.']

Feh. I forgot: he's old.

He works out at my gym. He may be old, but dude's in good shape.

Its history in England as a drink of the poor and as an anesthetic to the pains of industrialization is fascinating

The histories of tea and sugar in England are likewise fascinating. Cheap calories with the sugar, and the caffeine in the tea provided a much-needed jolt. Could England have industrialized if everyone had still been drinking small beer for breakfast?

I hate gin. But like DS says, it's Tangueray, people.

Then again, I like regular ol' Tanqueray in dirty martinis, so I may well be idiosyncratic in my ginthusiasms.

I like a dirty martini from time to time, but as with gin and tonics, the obsucration powers of the mixer tend to drown out much distinctiveness in the gin. It's hard to mask harsh raw alcohol flavors (see, e.g. Bombay non-Sapphire, Beefeater), so in my opinion it's definitely worth spending to avoid gins that exhibit that, but given strong-tasting mixers, you don't get much nuance for your buck.

Its history in England as a drink of the poor and as an anesthetic to the pains of industrialization is fascinating - you get some good cultural and social history from it.

Indeed, and that's the part I was vaguely aware of before (plus the fact that it's flavored with juniper berries). But it turns out there's so much more.

I hate gin. But like DS says, it's Tangueray, people.

O RLY?

Plus: if you hate the product, why care about the spelling? Have another drink.

But it turns out there's so much more.

Like how delicious it is?

Or were you referring to something else?

73: oh, fine, fuck you: comity.

I was thinking more of your wackier cocktails (you know, flips and things with St. Germain and whatever) as benefiting from a better gin. On the other hand, the gin and tonics I made last summer with Plymouth and that absurdly overpriced tonic were pretty dynamite.

Maybe Tangueray is some cheap Canadian knockoff.

Mmm, Tongueray.

Gin is gussied up juniper berries. I was trying to present an etymological case, but that's the claim.

Huh. I pre-searched the thread for Tangueray, but not Tanqueray. How 'bout that.

Obviously, my version is correct.

Like how delicious it is?

Eh, it's okay, I guess. I'm not much of a hard liquor person in general.

Or were you referring to something else?

Everything else.

I was thinking more of your wackier cocktails (you know, flips and things with St. Germain and whatever) as benefiting from a better gin.

I'm sure you're right, Mr. Fuckyou Man.

On the other hand, the gin and tonics I made last summer with Plymouth and that absurdly overpriced tonic were pretty dynamite.

I'm afraid I'm going to need proof to be convinced. Have your people talk to my people and we'll set up a tasting.

82: Like what? I really am curious.

You mean this tonic, Sifu?

84: The Dutch origin, for a start, which I take it is well-known but I didn't know, and the introduction of it to England during the Glorious Revolution, then the massive increase in popularity in the early eighteenth century due to specific regulatory decisions of the English government (tariffs on foreign liquors but no restrictions on domestic gin production). Then, somewhat later, the origin of the gin and tonic as a way to make the quinine go down easier for far-flung British colonial officials. Also the fact that the the word "gin" derives etymologically from "juniper" (which, again, is probably known to many but wasn't to me, though it seems pretty obvious in retrospect).

I've always been kind of vaguely intrigued by the connection between gin and juniper, which is a type of tree with which I am extremely familiar; it's a very common tree in vast areas of the southwest, including this one, and right now the overwhelming majority of trees I see on a daily basis are junipers. It's always been a bit puzzling to figure out the connection between the junipers I know out here and gin, which I strongly associate with eighteenth-century England, but I now realize that the juniper berries used in gin are from the communis species, which is widespread in northern Europe, rather than the monosperma species we have here.

Fascinating stuff, all of it.

I'm afraid I'm going to need proof to be convinced. Have your people talk to my people and we'll set up a tasting.

Dude. Let's do this thing.

Unfogged gin drink meetup!

85: the very stuff.

I love a Hendricks martini with a rose petal. The first time I had Hendricks I went crazy trying to identify the familiar-but-unplaceable odor until I finally read the label, duh.

||

The Rex Grossman of English football

There have been quite a lot of edits to his Wikipedia page. Me, I just love the name Titus Malachi Bramble.

|>

but I now realize that the juniper berries used in gin are from the communis species, which is widespread in northern Europe, rather than the monosperma species we have here.

Oh man I was so ready to bust out the botanical knowledge while reading the first part of that paragraph.

"Actually, teo, the juniper berries used in gin are from the communis species, which is widespread in northern Europe, rather than the monosperma species we have here".

Damn.

This part of Texas is chock full of ashe juniper, a monosperma, locally referred to as cedar. There are a couple of micro distilleries in the area trying to develop local gins based on it.

87: A grand idea.

And how was Aviation gin, Sifu? I haven't seen it available down here.

Poor Titus. I do like the last line of that article:

"Most still agree however that while Bramble remains a professional footballer, there is hope for us all."

Yeah, that about sums it up.

93: I don't think I've had it? Did I say I had?

91: Heh. Botany's never been a strong point of mine, but visitors ask questions about plants all the time and the process of figuring out the answers has improved my knowledge considerably. I can now tell the difference between greasewood and saltbush, for instance. And that plant with the broad green leaves that's been springing up all over lately is wild rhubarb.

wild rhubarb

I've heard tell it's so wild, if you make a pie with it, the pie throws itself off the roof.

I miss drinking.

98: All the cool people are doing it. In case you were wondering.

97: Its scientific name is "M-fun rhubarb."

Josh I think the problem is that your internal organs just don't want you to be cool.

Stupid internal organs!

In other news, I believe it is time for me to drink some Fernet Branca.

I don't think I've had it? Did I say I had?

Oh crap, that was Jesus McQueen in that link from 85.

RTFA more carefully, M/tch!

How was Aviation, Jesus?

Um. Plymouth gin is a different style to London gin (Gordons, Tanqueray, etc.), in the same way as Scotch/Irish whisk(e)y. You should make gin and tonic with London gin. Drink Plymouth with a little water.

103: pfft!

I mean, I agree it's a different style, but it still tastes good with tonic.

You brits think you own gin! That's my ethnic heritage, man!

Also everything I said above (about fancier/weirder cocktails and Plymouth gin) holds.

Tangueray

I have to assume that, like a shine screwdriver, this is the bargain basement gin and "juice."

The Dutch and the British were responsible for the crude early gin-drinking styles, starting with the one where you passed out in the mud of Gin Lane, but the further developments can be attributed to Sifu's people, especially if he has New Orleans or Hawaiian ancestry.

I was assuming that Sifu was claiming Dutch (or at least Menorcan) ancestry.

You know, my gin soaked friends, a new gin bar -- with tasting flights, etc.! -- has opened near my office.

108: That's incredible.

Hmm, Sifu, I had a delicious cocktail at Deep Ellum last weekend on an absolutely gorgeous 85° day.

I love rum. This was some Brazilian stuff spelled with a C with ginger, honey, lime and mint. Strong too.

Cachaça! Nomnomnom.

102: Sorry, went to bed. Anyhoo, Aviation, like everything that distiller makes, is delicious but assertively flavored.

That would be a terrible thing to do to Anita Hill, but hot damn I'd love to see her step into that breach. Heeheehee.

My sister and sister-in-law are serious G&T drinkers (as are the rest of the SIL's sisters), and are pretty firm in preferring Plymouth. They also have a tonic preference (among the common 3), but I don't drink G&T, so I dunno what it is.

The otherwise-useless state store system has a semi-decent free magazine, which taught me that the basis for the recent gin renaissance is less-juniper-y gins. Hendricks is the starkest example, but Sapphire and Tanq10 also play up the citrus over the pine.

IME genever is delicious and tastes nothing like British gin. Like, I would characterize the difference as much bigger than whisky/whiskey, possibly exceeding whiskey/bourbon.

113: most G&T enthusiasts say Seagrams in the little individual bottles is the way to go, as I recall.

114: That sounds right. I know it's not Canada Dry, which leaves Seagrams and Schweppes. And why not go with the product of the liquor multinational as your mixer?

I suspect I fall into the category of pine haters

The nice thing about Hendrick's is that it has a fresh taste that is absolutely perfect with a couple of slices of cucumber. Cucumber mitigates the piney taste of other gins, too, and is lovely in non-piney gins in addition to Hendrick's. I dare you to follow that sentence.

I know that cucumber is good with other gin on account of I had in some schmancy hotel lobby in Philadelphia before I went to have dinner with Witt. (Who also sent me on an awesome mural tour earlier in the day.)

it

(Who also sent me on an awesome mural tour earlier in the day.)

Did she also tell you to avert your eyes from the ugly murals?