Posted by
The Hermit Crab on Saturday, April 28, 2012 2:25:29 PM
Department of Fog
I was reading an unintentionally hilarious article written by one Joan Biskupic, and published at the Reuters blog. It is a classic of Tiger Beat reporting, as the author is clearly infatuated with her subject. (Go ahead and make the joke. I probably would, too.) The article tried to persuade the reader that Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan is an intellectual giant, easily capable of besting Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln on the same day. Quotes like "... she can also match wits with Chief Justice John Roberts and Antonin Scalia..." and the opening sentence, "During three days of arguments ... Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan put on a display of rhetorical firepower, reinforcing predictions that the newest liberal justice is best equipped to take on the conservative, five-man majority controlling the bench." had me desperately suppressing my laughter, as I did not want to awaken my sleeping wife. Then I was brought to a full stop when I read this:
Marshall ... was, with the late Justice William Brennan, a standard bearer for a liberalism that has all but disappeared from the federal bench. (I wish. -- HC) They ... favored broad-scale solutions for past racial discrimination."
When you read "broad-scaled solutions" in the above sentence, you should read it for its true meaning -- rewarding those who suffered no harm by punishing those who did no wrong.