Cass Sunstein is one of the authors of Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness. I'm assuming that this is the Yiddish sense of "nudge," pronounced "noodge," meaning constant nagging until you get what you want. For your own benefit, as defined by others, of course. I don't know that Mr. Sunstein would appreciate my definition of it. This book had much made of it in Britain among the governing classes, who seem somehow to mock Americans and then swallow anything that we come up with and the worse the more credulous they are.

Mr. Sunstein is a friend of President Obama and is the nominee to head the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Or the regulation czar. The nasty little monster who gets to tell you what to do. Because he knows best.

Of the many irritating accretions to the Imperial Presidency recently one of the worst is the appointment of these Czars. Czar is of course Russian for "Caesar," and as a small-d Democrat (remember that small d), I don't much like caesars or czars, kings or princes. Or popes in the White House. These czar parties all smack of party in a frat house made entire of poli-sci majors and if there is one image that ought to wobble your tripes, it is that.

Mr. Sunstein believes, among many other things of questionable value, that animals have the right to file suit using humans as representatives; he advanced this claim, and I cannot call it an argument, in his 2004 book Animal Rights. I have wracked my brain for days trying to think of an idea more amenable to leftist mischief and cannot.

Mr. Sunstein is of the view that the Internet is anti-democratic because of the way that users can filter out information of their own choosing. In other words, it is a ThoughtCrime to choose your own news. I doubt sincerely that Mr. Sunstein is bothered by the relentless far-left tocsin of MSNBC; does his advocacy of a Fairness Doctrine apply to the twitching Keith Olbermann? Would the MSNBC website be forced to put in links to Rush Limbaugh?

Internet user after Cass Sunstein's Internet Fairness Doctrine for the Prevention of ThoughtCrime

But it's more than controlling websites. He's after your email too.

"We propose a Civility Check that can accurately tell whether the e-mail you're about to send is angry and caution you, 'warning: this appears to be an uncivil e-mail. do you really and truly want to send it?...(Software already exists to detect foul language. What we are proposing is more subtle, because it is easy to send a really awful e-mail message that does not contain any four-letter words.) A stronger version, which people could choose or which might be the default [and you know sure as hell it would be required], would say, 'warning: this appears to be an uncivil e-mail. this will not be sent unless you ask to resend in 24 hours.' With the stronger version, you might be able to bypass the delay with some work (by inputting, say, your Social Security number and your grandfather's birth date, or maybe by solving some irritating math problem!)."

Mr. Sunstein is of the opinion that nonprofit organizations should be forced to publish on their websites information which is counter to their beliefs and their missions. I will make take any bet that Planned Parenthood or NARAL wouldn't be forced to have a link to a pro-life site.

Mr. Sunstein is a true believer in censorship: in his book the federal government has not only a right but an obligation to determine what information you get, censor your email, and force you to host beliefs repugnant to you, and proposes to do it in the most irritating of therapeutic tones. I'd rather have the jackboot, thanks. It's more honest and we might as well get used to it.

So much for the First Amendment.

In Mr. Sunstein's book Radicals in Robes (there's truth in advertising) he allows: [A]lmost all gun control legislation is constitutionally fine. And if the Court is right, then fundamentalism does not justify the view that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear arms. Two Amendments down and out, in Mr. Sunstein's perfect world.

The Third Amendment is "No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law." That sounds like someone being forced to put up repugnant information on his website.

Three down. Now for the Fourth Amendment: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." Forcing people to wait twenty-four hours before sending off an email sounds very like not being secure in your papers. Well, Mr. Sunstein--shall we stroll on?

For the Fifth Amendment: "No person shall be held to answer for any capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." I hate, well, love, to keep banging the drum of being forced to air opposing views, but having information and links to things and which you revile, on a site that you pay for, is certainly not for your use. Public use? I think that is his design.

Mr. Sunstein has also delivered himself of "limitless individual choices, with respect to communications, is not necessarily in the interest of citizenship and self-government." It is infinitely in the interest of citizenship, if you believe in a free citizenry. It is not in the interest of the totalitarian state and Mr. Sunstein, and all of Mr. Obama's little friends, are starting to look more and more totalitarian all the time.

Cass, none of this is any of your goddamned business. Shut up and goose-step on home, you self-righteous, brown-shirted busybody.

At his nomination as the Regulation Dictator, His O'liness spake thus: "As one of America's leading constitutional scholars, Cass Sunstein has distinguished himself in a range of fields, including administrative law and policy, environmental law, and behavioral economics...He is uniquely qualified to lead my administration's regulatory reform agenda at this crucial stage in our history. Cass is not only a valued adviser, he is a dear friend and I am proud to have him on my team."

May I please use the f-word now?