-shrug- The possibilities are endless. He could have an Indian step-dad or his dad might’ve been 3/4 Kashmiri, M.Pradeshi or U.Pradeshi or something and 1/4 Patel(I don’t know if Patels are very common in Kashmir,UP or MP). This looks like a secret he’ll carry with him to his grave, like some sort of Indian superhero and his secret identity.

From the picture of Andrew Patel, he looks in his late fourties, so I would be really surprised if he had a Patel step-Dad. Intriguing !!!

Judge Marilyn Hall Patel married in. Andrew Patel is more puzzling.

Still, there is something noteworthy about Judge Luttig’s opinion in this case. His opinion on the merits in the Padilla case was rather deferential to the administration, overly so in the eyes of some critics. He certainly was more deferential than the 2nd Circuit was in the very same case, before the Supreme Court transferred it. Luttig also wrote a dissenting opinion (pp.20-39 in the PDF) in one of the Moussaoui appeals that was similarly quite deferential to the administration’s national security claims.

Of all the federal judges in the country who might look upon the administration’s claims about national security with some skepticism, one wouldn’t have predicted Luttig to be one of them — he hasn’t been the most civil-liberties-protective judge in the handful of cases that have come before him so far….

Or perhaps he’s interpreting the law as he always has in the past. I disagree with the views judges like Luttig and Alito espouse; but I don’t think they are out to erode civil liberties like the Bush administration. Simply they are ultra conservative people as is their right.

People are starting to talk at least.

Where do you guys find the time to come up with such well-written and well-researched posts everyday?

First of all thank you. The answer is that most of us are single and do this to fill the void in our lonely lives. Someday I am sure my efforts on SM will be sabotaged by an amorous young thing. Then I will just post crap

A lawyer I know who has worked with him before says, no, or at least that it’s not apparent if so — she’s says she’s pretty sure that he’s “New York Jewish.” Though I’m guessing Abhi is probably right.

Did anyone else notice that both John Dean — who knows a thing or two about such matters — and Bruce Fein, who was Reagan’s deputy AG, says that Bush has now become the first President to admit to an impeachable offense?