Via Friend of Crescat Maggie Samuels-Kalow I see that Chief Justice Rehnquist has thyroid cancer. He seems to be faring relatively well for now.

One note. The article quotes a Republican pollster saying:

Anybody who is sophisticated enough to worry about the makeup of the Supreme Court has already decided whom they're going to vote for ...

Like many people, I am yet undecided as to how I will cast my presidential vote on November 2. For all of the usual libertarian reasons I am unenthusiastic about both of the contenders and like Professor Levy, some of Badnarik's major positions turn my stomach preventing me from outright deciding to vote lp. (Though not confidence inspiring, his tax evasion, lack of employment, inexperience, incompletion of school, and general nuttiness are somewhat overlookable to me.)

Though my vote is still undecided, of the two realistic possibilities, I would like to see John Kerry in office more than I would like to see George Bush in office. Living in the swing state that I do, I have been lectured multiple times on why that means I should vote for John Kerry. I have also been told that my vote really doesn't matter and that I should vote expressively, that my vote matters a lot and that I should vote expressively, and that it's all a sham and I should stay home. I like to vote so I won't take the latter piece of advice. This means that I am either voting for John Kerry or Michael Badnarik, flawed though they may be.

I'm tired of thinking about this and thus have a hairbrained proposal for someone who meets the following criteria:

1) you are registered to vote in Ohio
2) you plan to cast a vote for president next week
3) you don't want to see John Kerry take office
4) you are afraid that if John Kerry wins Ohio, he will take office
5) you don't really want to vote for Bush though you would prefer him to Kerry
6) you plan to either vote for Bush or vote for Badnarik but as of now, in good faith, you can't decide between them

Basically, if you are in my situation with the Republican and Democratic candidates reversed, read on.

I will make a pact with the first person who emails me in agreement and meets the above criteria. Our pact will be thus: we will be undecided no more. We will both go to the polls next Tuesday and vote for Badnarik, believing that our vote might not be helping the guy we don't want to see in office win our crucial state. It isn't a perfect or even pretty plan, but we can tell ourselves that we voted against both guys without enabling the one we don't want to win. I'm not versed in the intricacies of the election process and know that tactically this may not be true but it appeals to my sense of justice and it might appeal to yours too.

If you are interested in my proposal and meet my criteria, email me at bplocharczyk at crescatsententia dot org. I promise that, in the unlikely case that I get multiple replies, I will only make the pact with one person and that I will uphold my end of the deal.