Misdirection is the magician’s practice where by they distract the audience with a flourish, while at the same time putting the proverbial rabbit into the hat. I sometimes think this is exactly what is going on in Washington with the debate over many social issues, Gay MarriageTM being the one in vogue at the moment.

Cato’s Ed Crane seems to concur:

The silver lining to the bad decisions they’ve [The Supreme Court] been handing down is that they may be a wake-up call for those of use who believe in limited government to realize that the debate over judicial philosophy has to transcend Roe v. Wade. It is wrong that the litmus test for a new Supreme Court justice is his or her position on abortion. The religious right has more or less hijacked the debate over judicial philosophy, and I’m not so certain that the left doesn’t feel comfortable debating Roe v. Wade and avoiding the more important issues, like federalism and private property.
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I think one of the interesting things about these cases is that the so called liberal bloc on the Supreme Court was unanimous in decisions that clearly harm the little guy at the expense of the powerful. … Liberals in this day and age are more interested in enhancing the power of the state than they are in protecting the rights of individuals. Of course, far too many conservatives.. feel the same way.