This is a study of the way in which popular words and music relate to American life. The question of what popular song was, and why it came into existence, as well as how each song fitted within the context of the larger 20th century society are considered and explained clearly and fruitfully. The author also offers insight into why musical styles were seen to change as they did during this time period.

Drawing upon revealing and generally unpublished presidential papers associated with Lyndon Johnson's ill-fated nomination of Abe Fortas, and Richard Nixon's failed designations of Clement F. Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell, and culminating in a lively investigation of the Bork and Ginsburg cases, the author convincingly demonstrates that the Senate's negative actions can be traced to the exciting interplay of three factors. The author demonstrates that these decisions are based not only upon the nominee's ideology and the timing of the nomination, but also on the president's management of the confirmation process. He vividly illustrates that most failed nominations can be attributed to unwise choices, disastrous miscalculations, and outright blunders made by the presidents during the confirmation process. While other scholars have explained unsuccessful nominations by employing the factors of ideology and timing, the author breaks new and fertile ground in highlighting the role of presidential management in his explanation.

On the eve of a presidential election that may determine the makeup of Supreme Court justices for decades to come, prominent attorney James D. Zirin argues that the Court has become increasingly partisan, rapidly making policy choices right and left on bases that have nothing to do with law or the Constitution. Zirin explains how we arrived at the present situation and looks at the current divide through its leading partisans, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor on the left and Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas on the right. He also examines four of the Court’s most controversial recent decisions – Hobby Lobby, Obamacare, gay marriage, and capital punishment – arguing that these politicized decisions threaten to undermine public confidence in the Supreme Court.

Vols. 227-230, no. 2 include: Stuff and nonsense, v. 5-6, no. 8, Jan. 1929-Aug. 1930.