Liberalism Run Amuck

Though the Theft/Pork bill is certainly the biggest news of the day, there are still other things going on.  For example, Patterico brings us some commentary on an L.A. Times story about criminals being released in California:

The L.A. Times reports:

A panel of three federal judges, saying overcrowding in state prisons has deprived inmates of their right to adequate healthcare, tentatively ruled Monday that the state must reduce the population in those lockups by as many as 57,000 people.

The judges issued the decision after a trial in two long-running cases brought by inmates to protest the state of medical and mental healthcare in the prisons.

Although their order is not final, U.S. District Court Judges Thelton Henderson and Lawrence Karlton and 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt effectively told the state that it had lost the trial and would have to make dramatic changes in its prisons unless it could reach a settlement with inmates' lawyers.

Wow. 57,000 fewer criminals in state prison. Now how could that possibly be a bad idea?

(Of course, the judges and newspaper editors hasten to tell you that prison officials need not release 57,000 inmates in order to reduce the prison population by 57,000 people. Instead of releasing 57,000 inmates, you could also reduce the number of people sent to prison — i.e. take people who would normally go to prison, and just not send them there. There! Aren't you comforted?)

So these judges — Henderson, Karlton, and Reinhardt — who appointed them? Anyone know?

Not L.A. Times readers. They are never told.

And when I say never, man, I mean never.

As I said in December about a previous article on the same general topic:

For example, you'd never know by reading the article that all three judges were appointed by President Jimmy Carter.

Or that Lawrence Karlton is the same judge who ruled the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional — a decision that legal experts across the land derided as absurd. Or that Thelton Henderson is the judge who blocked Proposition 209, California's anti-affirmative action proposition — a decision that was later reversed by the Ninth Circuit in a unanimous ruling. Or that Stephen Reinhardt is so pro-defense that (like Rose Bird) he has never met a death penalty case where he didn't reverse the death verdict — in over 25 years as a federal judge.

Shocker, I know.

Brace yourselves, Californians.

So, not only is the state just a breath away from bankruptcy, it's about to get a flood of criminals unleashed upon it.  Strangely, both of those problems have been brought on Californians by liberals.  Hmmm...

In other liberal progressive news, the Obama administration has taken the next step toward ensuring high energy prices and dependence on foreign oil for the foreseeable future:

Gee... We're All Shocked.
More hope and change for America.

For decades, Democrats have blocked efforts to responsibly develop this nation's energy resources, transforming vast areas of opportunity into "The No Zone."

Over the past 30 years:

Democrats have blocked the development of new sources of petroleum.
Democrats have blocked drilling in ANWR.
Democrats have blocked drilling off the coast of Florida.
Democrats have blocked drilling off of the east coast.
Democrats have blocked drilling off of the west coast.
Democrats have blocked drilling off the Alaskan coast.
Democrats have blocked building oil refineries.
Democrats have blocked clean nuclear energy production.
Democrats have blocked clean coal production.

Already this year democrats scrapped oil and gas leases in Utah and opened the 111th Congress by introducing a bill to permanently prohibit drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Today, the Obama Administration blocked offshore drilling.
SFGate reported:

President Obama is shelving a plan announced in the final days of the Bush administration to open much of the U.S. coast to oil drilling, including 130 million acres off California's coast from Mendocino to San Diego.

On Tuesday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar ordered the plan be put on hold while his agency conducts a 180-day review of the country's offshore oil and gas resources. Salazar's critical comments about the plan signaled that the new administration will seek to rewrite it if not completely scrap it.

The Bush proposal "opened the possibility of oil and gas leases along the entire Eastern seaboard, portions of offshore California and the far eastern Gulf of Mexico with almost no consultation from states, industry or community input," Salazar said at a news conference in Washington. "In my view it was a headlong rush of the worst kind."

But, honestly... Barack Obama is going to free America from our dependence on foreign oil.
He's going to create or save(?) 4 million jobs.

Remember this the next time gas prices go to $4.00 per gallon.

Prairie Pundit adds this:

They knew Republicans were getting voters attention on the issue so they pretended to agree to get themselves through November. Obama did give some hints when he only committed to "look" at offshore production. I guess he has had his look.

Oh, and windmills are a carbon-saving scam.

Is anyone else seeing a pattern here?  Maybe something along the lines of liberals consistently doing everything they can to harm America?  Nah, surely not.  We know they stand for responsibility, patriotism, and the American little guy.

Don't they?

There's my two cents.