Catherine Crier was on the Tim Russert Show last night, talking about her new book, Contempt: How the Right is Wronging American Justice. No histrionics, no name-calling, no "sky is falling" demagoguery. Just thorough research, substantive opinions, and insightful views about what the future holds. Among her observations:

The Burger Court of the early 1980s was considered "conservative" at the time, with Burger and several of the justices having been appointed by Republican presidents. That same court is now considered quite liberal. The conservatives have waged a carefully planned, highly successful, long-term plan to shape the court system, beginning in the 1970s. The first fruits of this plan emerged in 1994 with Newt Gingrich and the Contract with America. Arguments over strict vs. liberal interpretation of the Constitution are silly. The Founders wrote very specifically in some areas, very generally in others. Clearly, the broad areas were done that way for a reason. Judicial Review wasn't well understood 200 years ago. It still isn't. We keep working through it a little at a time. Today conservatives are expanding further, beginning to look at state courts and supporting the campaigns of elected judges who have conservative views. The Democrats, aka liberals, have been unable to mount any substantive counter offensive. They are disorganized, factionalized, and unable to stay on point and on message. There is no indication the balance of power will shift in the foreseeable future.

by Jo-Ellan Dimitrius

Reading People : How to Understand People and Predict Their Behavior-Anytime, Anyplace

This is a very good book if the concept of reading people is new to you. It tells you the proper attitude to have when doing you read. It helps you avoid hasty generalizations and does not classify people into narrow catagories. If you absorb and apply the principles in this book you will be fairly good at understanding people. However, if you're looking for something more advanced then this book is NOT for you. It seems meant to be a general introduction to people who traditionally were not accustomed to reading people or did not understand their actions. The only way they could have improved this book (and it's the same with most people reading books) is that they NEED PICTURES! It's so much easier to learn this way, rather than having to visualize what the authors are saying from their prose