New York Post Writer Takes A Hatchet to Dean Koh
I was (very impolitely) reading someone else’s New York Post on the subway this morning. There was an article about outgoing Yale Law School dean Harold Koh, whom President Obama recently nominated to serve as the Legal Adviser of the State Department. The paper’s purchaser eventually stared me down, and I meekly said, “Sorry — I was surprised the Post had such a strong opinion about this Harold Koh guy.”
My subway interlocutor (I love NYC) offered: “Yeah. Well, the article says he was a Dean of Yale Law School. That’s a pretty good school right. You gotta assume that Obama wouldn’t have nominated somebody who knows nothing about the law, so I’m guessing the writer is just an idiot.”
I don’t want to assume anything, But the random guy on the subway seems to be at least as well-informed as Meghan Clyne, the “DC-based writer” who wrote an anti-Koh op-ed in today’s New York Post. Check out her analysis of Koh’s credentials:
Judges should interpret the Constitution according to other nations’ legal “norms.” Sharia law could apply to disputes in US courts. The United States constitutes an “axis of disobedience” along with North Korea and Saddam-era Iraq.Those are the views of the man on track to become one of the US government’s top lawyers: Harold Koh.
Umm … context, please?
Wait, what am I talking about? Context? In the Post? Check out the latest terrorist sympathizer in the Obama administration, after the jump.
There are legitimate criticisms that can be leveled at Harold Koh’s views (as well as his stewardship of Yale Law School). But Clyne’s analysis does not seem particularly sophisticated. If you don’t know anything about Dean Koh, international law, or where babies come from, Clyne makes him sound pretty scary:
It’s a job where you want a strong defender of America’s sovereignty. But that’s not Koh. He’s a fan of “transnational legal process,” arguing that the distinctions between US and international law should vanish.
I’m sorry, I must have missed the bit in law school where one learns that being a “fan” of a multi-jurisdictional approach to international law was at odds with a fully developed concept of America as a sovereign power.
But that’s not all. Under Koh’s “radical” approach to international law, Clyne would have us believe that burglars in the U.S. will pay for their crimes in dismembered hands:
A New York lawyer, Steven Stein, says that, in addressing the Yale Club of Greenwich in 2007, Koh claimed that “in an appropriate case, he didn’t see any reason why sharia law would not be applied to govern a case in the United States.”A spokeswoman for Koh said she couldn’t confirm the incident, responding: “I had heard that some guy … had asked a question about sharia law, and that Dean Koh had said something about that while there are obvious differences among the many different legal systems, they also share some common legal concepts.”
Score one for America’s enemies and hostile international bureaucrats, zero for American democracy.
Sorry, Koh just texted me on the Marx-Engels mimeograph — everybody who contributed to Obama got one — and I had to go out and stone a woman for her clear violation of the Kyoto Protocol.
Of course, Clyne has a point for all of this, whatever you want to call it:
What happens to Koh in the Senate will send an important signal. If he sails through to State, he’s a far better bet to make it onto the Supreme Court. So Senate Republicans have a duty to expose and confront his radical views.Even though he’s up for a State Department job, Koh is a key test case in the “judicial wars.” If he makes it through, which he will if he gets even a single GOP vote, the message to the Obama team will be: You can pick ‘em as radical as you like.
I just love the smell of a fresh culture war in the morning. But I didn’t pay for a copy of the Post today. Take that, Rupert.
OBAMA’S MOST PERILOUS LEGAL PICK [New York Post]
(74) 
Comments
first to say milbank pushed back start dates
first goddammit.
Where the hell are my bracket updates?
WTF are you people doing?!
I NEED to know which firms are safer, and I want to see it in bracket format on ATL, damn it!!!
thirdsty? pretzels?
"The mysterious boom and flash of light seen over parts of Virginia Sunday night was not a meteor, but actually exploding space junk from the second stage of a Russian Soyuz rocket falling back to Earth, according to an official with the U.S. Naval Observatory."
Wow, I wonder if MIB used that flashy thingy on the people who witnessed this...
harold koh is a nutball who wants to use the nebulous BS known as "international law" to overhaul the american legal system. eff him. the new york post is right. elie, save your lengthy screeds for the gillibrand hatchet pieces that everybody can condemn, not something like this.
Sounds like the article got the standard loonie-leftie views about right:
"Judges should interpret the Constitution according to other nations' legal "norms." Sharia law could apply to disputes in US courts. The United States constitutes an "axis of disobedience" along with North Korea and Saddam-era Iraq."
Well, as far as we can tell Obama's vetting process seems to consist of throwing a bunch of glossies down a flight of stairs and nominating the guy whose picture slides to the bottom first. Heck, he tried to nominate CNN's "paging Dr. Gupta" guy for Surgeon General -- a position so intellectually strenuous that previous occupants such as Dr. C. Everett Koop now hawk Life Alert on late night cable. And Dr. Gupta turned him down! Turned down The One -- a stoning offense under Koh's apparent world view. So let's save the anti-Post snark until Koh at least gets through his hearings without spitting acid into an orphan's face or otherwise torpedoing himself like 95% of Obama's other nominees.
Another fairly decent post. I'm beginning to wonder if Elie has outsourced himself.
Hmmm. If Barry's financial nominees didn't understand the tax code well enough to pay their taxes then it stands to reason that his legal nominees probably don't understand the Constitution well enough to have a grasp of the law.
This is why conservatives don't really exist in academia or at the highest levels of any profession. A prerequisite to offer the "conservative" argument in the media is a glaring ignorance of and allergy to complexity and nuance. No wonder no one takes conservatives or conservatism seriously (not to mention social conservatism - the biggest joke of all).
In all honesty, the quality of legal analysis in the Post generally surpasses that of most of your posts, Elie.
Calling all brownshirts!
Guys in my high school used to outsource themselves all the time. It was strange and gross and they were ostracized.
Crap, Elie's heading back into the gutter of politics. Elie, isn't reporting on law firm shenanigans more than enough for you to handle? If not, then your time would be better spent studying the calendar.
Well number 11, you seem to have everything figured out. I guess if you think that differing opinions are such hogwash, then surely they must in fact be hogwash. Typical liberal, ego-centric view - so open-minded about everything except different opinions.
This is why liberals can only really exist in academia. A prerequisite to support the "liberal" argument is a lack of understanding of reality that can only exist in the ivory towers from whence it came. No wonder no one takes liberals seriously.
um, "obama's most PERILous legal pick"? against an asian nominee? am i just paranoid? or is my discomfort just caused by the fact that the post used a 3-syllable word when there are any number of shorter synonyms. hmm.
um, "obama's most PERILous legal pick"? against an asian nominee? am i just paranoid? or is my discomfort just caused by the fact that the post used a 3-syllable word in a headline when there are any number of shorter synonyms. hmm.
12 - That was a really really stupid comment. In all honesty. Good post Elie. I normally insult you but this was a good one.
How about an update on the Yolanda Young lawsuit? Covington filed its answer to her complaint, and in doing so appended a response to her previous EEOC complaint. It basically lays out her low credentials and mediocre performance reviews for all to see.
I want coverage!
Amen 17
Koh, like most people affiliated with or graduated from YLS, is completely unqualified to do anything but contemplate his navel. Hey Elie, there is this thing called the real world, and in the real world, Koh's ideas lead to the destruction of national sovereignty and the advancement of anti-western and--ironically--anti-liberal (well, at least classic, Edmund Burke-style liberal) ideas. Oh well, Koh is just par for the course in the affirmative action collection posing as Obama's legal braintrust.
Amen to 21. Elie stick to the Legal Happenings and maybe the web site would be half as good as it was when Lat ran it
20 = Elie
Pretty much everyone posting so far has this write - he may be a bright guy - but just because the GREAT OBAMA has nominated him doesn't mean that his ideas about the law are best for this country. Why don't you keep your knee-jerk liberal reactions to yourself?
What's next? Is he going to legalize nterracial marriage?
Republican whining sustains me.
has this RIGHT. excuse me.
It's the Post. Are any of you actually surprised?
Angry white men of the internet unite! Rise up against your oppressors! Seize what is yours!
Meghan Clyne was a classmate of mine at Yale. She's conservative obviously, but it's hardly fair to call her an idiot.
elie critiquing the writing and legal analysis of another? FTW?!?!?
http://eliemystttalspeaks.ytmnd.com/
elie critiquing the writing and legal analysis of another? FTW?!?!?
http://eliemystttalspeaks.ytmnd.com/
elie critiquing the writing and legal analysis of another? FTW?!?!?
http://eliemystttalspeaks.ytmnd.com/
elie critiquing the writing and legal analysis of another? FTW?!?!?
http://eliemystttalspeaks.ytmnd.com/
elie critiquing the writing and legal analysis of another? FTW?!?!?
http://eliemystttalspeaks.ytmnd.com/
32 - All conservatives are idiots who can't understand nuances. You must be too.
-11
11/38. I love how you exemplify the understated and nuanced approach of liberals in your posts.
Everyone, 11/38 is a flame. You should not respond. Best way to spot a flame is upon their second post. It will invariably respond with the most offensive part of the original post and add absolutely no explanation for the flaming opinion.
11 - I have two words for you.
Jack Goldsmith. You could also read this as:
Curtis Bradley
or
Eric Posner
or
Adrian Vermeule
This assumes, of course, that you can read and that your comment wasn't transcribed by helpful hands from your low gurgling.
There is an upside and a downside to the Koh nomination:
Whatever negative influence he may have on State Department Policy as Hillary's technical legal advisor will be more offset by the benefit to Yale Law School - which can now put the unfortunate"Koh Era" behind it, and recover all the ground it lost during his (mercifully short) tenure.
Kudos to Hillary for taking him off Yale's hands and sticking him in a 3rd TTTier bureaucractic slot.
Koh is a douchebag who seems to be deeply anti-American. And I doubt 99% of the subway scum in NY even know what a "good law" school is or would offer an opinion on it.
So where is the context? Since you didn't provide it, should I assume there was none and the Post was generally accurate?
"Umm ... context, please?"
... says the writer who completely failed to provide the "context" that would refute Ms. Clyne's assertions.
Critics of Koh = TTT Republicans. lolz, glad to see you all have so much time to comment on blogs in between searching for jobs!
Critics of Koh = TTT Republicans. lolz, glad to see you all have so much time to comment on blogs in between searching for employment. maybe you should spend less time on ATL (or its sponsor LateralLink) and more time on the classified pages or Craigslist, where you're most likely to find your next job!
Harold Koh is a disaster.
46/47 - premature e-postulation?
I'm with 21, let's get a post with links to Covington blasting that nutball.
True True and True:
"Judges should interpret the Constitution according to other nations' legal norms."
There are plenty of instances when other nations legal norms matter to constitutional interpretation. Won't be dispositive, but sounds important.
"Sharia law could apply to disputes in US courts."
Arbitration. next.
" The United States constitutes an axis of disobedience along with North Korea and Saddam-era Iraq."
Not sure what this means, but it sounds kinky -- Abu Graib anyone?
I went to Yale with Clyne. She wrote an asinine and incendiary column in the YDN. Facts and reason seem not to be her thing.
52: That sounds about par for the course for the NY Post, Fox News, all conservative blogs and those beyond-annoying morons who populated the College Republicans at every institution of higher learning.
Koh is a loony. Period.
YLS grad here, 47's succinct analysis is right on.
What's wrong with Sharia law anyway?
47 and 55-You are incredibly narrow-minded and intolerant. Koh is a partisan hack who opposed all Bush-appointees and did very little to make conservatives comfortable at Yale. The only silver-lining is he is leaving Yale for a sub-position.
Elie, you claimed when you took over this blog that you would keep your politics out of your posting. You have not kept up your word.
Obviously some people love Koh's leftist ideas, others hate it, but what is telling is his actual performance. Under his tenure as Dean, he managed to chase away many very good professors. The man cannot get off ideological high horse long enough to deal with reasonable people who have different opinions. This is well and good for a news anchor/political hack, but I think it should disqualifiy anyone from a position of power.
Let's face it, Rumsfeld was a dick and Koh is too. He is a disaster in waiting, albeit a different kind.
This pretty much sums it up:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meghan_Clyne
I cannot stand this political bullshit. If you want to write crappy left-wing political crap do it on another blog. You are terrible. Terrible.
Is he really that good? Is he the Cure
I think he is a man of reason so why don't we give me a chance?
56 - Go live in SA for a few years and come back and tell us what's wrong with it. If you live long enough.
Ye gods. Another lame Elie Mystal political "critique."
Shorter Mystal: "Dean Koh is awesome because he hails from Yale!"
Really? Because John Yoo is awesome too as he hailed from Yale.
I hate Koh on that picture of him alone.
62: No, dummy, John Yoo is a moron because he's a conservative. What is so hard to understand? Conservative = stupid; liberal = nuanced and thoughtful. Get it straight.
Why would any law school want conservatives on its faculty? I still don't understand this aspect of "diversity." It's like the media giving equal time on shows (because it wants to be fair) to both the social scientist who has conducted rigorous studies showing that gay parents are just as effective and healthy parents as straight parents and the right-wing "think-tank" person (think: Tony Perkins) who peddles bigoted hate-speech about gay families based on the bible and "traditional values." Or it's like the climate change debate between an actual scientist and someone like Sen. James Inhofe. The media likes to give both sides an airing, but that doesn't mean both sides merit equal respect and stature.
Conservatives have been wrong about nearly everything for the last 160 years. They've been on the wrong side of history when it comes to civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, etc. etc. And now conservatives want a place at the serious table with serious scholars? Disgusting. It's repugnant to western values. They are repugnant to reason, rationality and serious discussion of serious issues. Imagine how much better off our country would be without people like Tony Perkins, Cheney, Gonzalez, Tom DeLay, etc. etc.
This "DC-based writer" (read GOP hatchetwoman) is a former Yalie whack-a-doodle herself. Here's another op-ed she wrote, about yet another op-ed she wrote:
http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/7965
Basically its her whining that people treated her badly after she called out the entire school for failing to live up to her expectations "patriotism"-wise after 9/11. Shocking, calling thousands of your colleagues unpatriotic after an attack on our country causes them to actively dislike you.
Its that kind of brilliant thinking that undoutedly led to her citing as "evidence" of Koh's perilous nature the "fact" that some guy heard him say something that sounds questionable out of context once. From what I understand, Mr. Stein is her mother's sister's dog's hairdresser's mailman's cat's cousin. So you can trust him.
On the upside, if she's hot enough, FoxNews will give her a show!
I was hoping to find a better attempt at a counter-argument, but all Elie Mystal could come up with is bloggy snark.
P.S. Here's a discussion of HK supporting illegal activity and corruption:
http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/006885.html
This is a war of ideologies, not a culture war. Multiple cultures can exist within an ideology. Sharia law presumes supremacy over all. That is why multiple cultures have a worldwide engagement with terror courtesy of Islamic ideology. Those of the Islamic persuasion have said as much themselves, and repeatedly. Listening is a life skill, and not just for lawyers, although it would be nice if lawyers listened the most.
Yet another great political commentary, MysTTTal. To sum up: Fuck the Constitution; if this guy says we need global law then damnit, we need it. I mean, he's from YALE.
Kenji Yoshino easily dispatches this repulsive "conservative" moron's points, one by one: http://balkin.blogspot.com/2009/04/defending-dean-koh.html
Why do people like Meghan Clyne exist? Our country would be so much better off if she threw herself in front of traffic.
Got here from Dahlia Lithwick's hyperventilating over at Slate Magazine. Hey lefties: boo-hoo. Ever heard of Robert Bork? Your side started this kind of business, and now you're reaping the whirlwind of your own viciousness. I hope the "far right" continues to "slime" (Lithwick's phrasing) anyone even slightly Left of center in the judicial realm - they've earned it after their sliming of Bork, Clarence Thomas, Roberts, Alito, and a million other conservatives up for similar jobs.
I find it difficult to believe that anyone with a straight face could claim that liberalism has been on the "right" side of history about *anything*: it is the American Left that has been wrong about *everything* the last seventy years, from the Soviet Union to Detroit. The Alger Hiss's of the country gave us a prolonged Cold War with millions of liberals backing appeasement and treason; the so-called "civil rights movement" gave us an unflinching look at what the consequences of "tolerance" amount to while the white liberals flee to the suburbs: Detroit, Michigan, and a thousand smaller places and a million outrages just like it. The Left in America is responsible for nearly every social ill we have currently raging in this country.
66 - Right. The only country we want is one full of people who think exactly like we do!