On Inconsistent Pleadings: Another Thing White People Like: Judging
This is only a partial answer, but here is the breakdown of the 43 nominees, by last job held: 8 federal judges, 5 federal magistrate judges, 14 state or local judges, 12 private practitioners, 1 bank executive (former US Attorney), 1 professor (former state supreme court justice), 1 district attorney, and 1 federal public defender. If anything surprises me in these numbers, it's the lack of public sector/public interest lawyers.
Judicial elections are pretty insane. I find it interesting that this is the one substantive issue that O'Connor has tackled post-retirement from the Court. (She has said that she regrets her vote in one judicial elections case, Republican Party of Minn. v. White.) The one bright spot is that, regardless of state recusal rules, litigants can always argue that recusal is required under Massey, a recent Supreme Court case dealing with campaign contributions and recusals. Maybe it's time to see how Massey claims have fared thus far.
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On Inconsistent Pleadings: Smith v. Spisak and Mumia's Three Decades of Appeals
For the curious, here is the 269-page, painfully thorough opinion of the federal trial court that rejected all of Abu-Jamal's contentions, save one:
http://www.paed.uscourts.gov/documents/opinions/01D0951P.pdf
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On Inconsistent Pleadings: When and How to Say "F***ing" At Work
This made me laugh.
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On Inconsistent Pleadings: ACLU v. Grayson County, or, America's Heritage
You can see part of the display if you watch the video in this link: http://www.kentucky.com/181/story/1100913.html?storylink=omni_popular
You would think, based on the reaction of the spectators, that the Elgin marbles were returning home.
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On Inconsistent Pleadings: What is the Internet If Not a Clearinghouse for All Manner of Off-Topic, Anal-Related Comments?
That's a very good question. The law on this issue is not settled. I, too, learned the rule about homosexuality and per se defamation (when I was studying for the New York bar). But in a case brought by Howard K. Stern (Anna Nicole Smith's former attorney), a federal court in New York declined to apply the per se rule, pointing to the monumental shifts in attutides toward gays. I have a very hard time believing that a court applying California law would disagree, especially in light of the special protections afforded to gays under California law (e.g., heightened scrutiny)