Demagogue

Does Manuel Miranda really have nothing better to do?

Last Monday I wrote a post about Miranda in which I called him a "megalomaniacal douchebag." He apparently didn't take issue with that, but he did take issue with a point I made regarding his assertion that the Pickle Report was a Bill of Attainder. I joked that since since Bills of Attainder impose the death penalty - and Miranda clearly has not been executed - that this assertion is nonsense. Arnold then pointed out that "in contemporary jurisprudence, [a Bill of Attainder is anything in which] the legislature single out a particular person for punishment" That's Arnold for you - always the stickler for "facts" and whatnot.

But apparently Arnold's point was not good enough for Miranda

Eugene from Oregon is a moron so he won't appreciate that fine point, or research the even the case which I cited. The Bil of Attainder analysis is based on the publishing of the Pickle Report, not an investigation. But the investigation itself was a problem because Congress is limited in its investigatory powers to matters aimed at potential legislation. Had the matter been an internal, non-public inquiry as Gilman conducted in the House when he found Democrat staff reading Republican papers, it would have been authorized by Senate rules.

In the article that inspired the original post,, Miranda argued that

A Bill of Attainder is a Congressional action, “no matter what the form,” that names an individual, alleges a crime, and inflicts punishment. See United States v. Lovett, 328 U.S. 303 (1946). See also U.S. CONST. art. I, § 9, cl. 3. There can be no doubt that hundreds of articles, editorials, and bold commentaries that responded to the Democrats spin constituted a cruel punishment for an adjudicated crime—the blast of media and internet “pillory,” a punishment with which the framers were well familiar when they forbade the Bill of Attainder.

My response follows

Whatever.

The idea that the Pickle Report was a Bill of Attainder is laughable considering that it most certainly did not inflict any punishment on you. By your own admission, you chose to resign from Frist's office so as to help him avoid having to answer questions regarding your actions. You didn't get fired, or have your pay docked or your parking space taken away. You resigned.

Secondly, the Pickle investigation was an internal, non-public inquiry. It was a confidential report that ended up getting leaked - just as the Democratic memos you read ended up getting leaked to the Wall Street Journal. You, of all people, shouldn't be complaining about the harm done when people leak documents to the press.

Finally, any "punishment" that befell you was a result of the report getting leaked and not designated by the report itself. But beyond that, your central role in Memogate was not even known until the report was leaked, which happened several months after you had already resigned from your position with Frist. You have not been punished in any matter whatsoever.

My remark about a Bill of Attainder requiring the death penalty was meant as a joke.

Your argument that the Pickle Report was actually a Bill of Attainder is a joke.

If Miranda has more to say on this topic, we encourage him to leave his remarks in the comments section.