Chief Justice John Roberts: The Elephant in the SCOTUS Courtroom?
Everyone’s a-twitter about Jeffrey Toobin’s profile of Chief Justice John Roberts in this week’s New Yorker. And with good reason. We’re not sure whether the title of the profile, “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” is meant to describe Roberts or Toobin.
We’re sure you’re familiar with Toobin, the ubiquitous legal analyst whose resume includes gigs with CNN and ABC, as well a Harvard Law School degree, a stint as an assistant U.S. attorney, time on the Oliver North trial, a Second Circuit clerkship, and many books, including The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court. And he’s not yet 50 years old (though he’ll be 49 on Thursday, according to Wikipedia).
But back to Roberts. He gets a fairly harsh appraisal in the profile, coming across as a political stooge:
After four years on the Court, however, Roberts’s record is not that of a humble moderate but, rather, that of a doctrinaire conservative. The kind of humility that Roberts favors reflects a view that the Court should almost always defer to the existing power relationships in society. In every major case since he became the nation’s seventeenth Chief Justice, Roberts has sided with the prosecution over the defendant, the state over the condemned, the executive branch over the legislative, and the corporate defendant over the individual plaintiff. Even more than Scalia, who has embodied judicial conservatism during a generation of service on the Supreme Court, Roberts has served the interests, and reflected the values, of the contemporary Republican Party.
Toobin does not appear to be a fan of the Roberts Court. More on the elephant in the courtroom, after the jump.
Roberts has such a nice smile that his conservative fangs were ignored during the SCOTUS nomination process, says Toobin. Roberts’s charming manner concealed the rigidity of “a stealth hard-liner,” who’s now pulling the Court to the far right:
Along with Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and (usually) Anthony Kennedy, the majority of the Court is moving right as the rest of the country — or, at least, the rest of the federal government — is moving left. At this low moment in the historical reputation of George W. Bush, his nominee for Chief Justice stands in signal contrast to what appears today to be a failed and fading tenure as President. Roberts’s service on the Court, which is, of course, likely to continue for decades, offers an enduring and faithful reflection of the Bush Presidency.
Roberts — who graduated from HLS in 1979, just seven years before Toobin — is a youthful 55, so this Bush legacy is likely to outlast No Child Left Behind.
Toobin also seems annoyed that the “twangy” Roberts is supplanting the “effervescent” Nino as the most outspoken resident at One First Street:
When Antonin Scalia joined the Court, in 1986, he brought a new gladiatorial spirit to oral arguments, and in subsequent years the Justices have often used their questions as much for campaign speeches as for requests for information. Roberts, though, has taken this practice to an extreme, and now, even more than the effervescent Scalia, it is the Chief Justice, with his slight Midwestern twang, who dominates the Court’s public sessions.
In reading the piece, it looks like Justice Roberts refused to talk to Toobin. Not usually a good idea for a profile subject. That makes a journalist feel less badly about taking off the kid gloves and getting fierce.
We wonder if the end of the piece sent chills up Roberts’s spine:
[T]here is no disputing that the President and the Chief Justice are adversaries in a contest for control of the Court, and that both men come to that battle well armed. Obama has at most one more chance to take the oath of office, and Roberts will probably have a half-dozen more opportunities to get it right. But each time Roberts walks down the steps of the Capitol to administer the oath, he may well be surrounded — and eventually outvoted — by Supreme Court colleagues appointed by Barack Obama.
We can’t help but feel a little empathy for this imagined ideologically-lonely future for poor JGR. But we’re not sure if it’s an accurate journalistic prediction or wishful thinking on Toobin’s part.
No More Mr. Nice Guy [New Yorker]
(164) Comments
Comments
Toobin is such a hack.
Obviously cases should be decided based on the identities of the parties, and not on the legal interpretation issues and substantive merits.
Was Syracuse really the best law school DAVE GORDON, managing partner of LATHAM NY could get into?
lol
So a writer for the New Yorker is trying to rally liberals to select a liberal Supreme and we're calling it news- (or tabloid-) worthy? Weak.
Only law students and aspiring professors (pipe dreams) care about SCOTUS. Such a TTT post. Get a life ATL.
Nice job on the post, Kash.
"That makes a journalist feel less badly about taking off the kiddie gloves and getting fierce."
And you would know this how?! As a former journalist, I would hardly call what you guys do on this blog "journalism." Please refrain from making such stupid statements in the future. Thank you.
Countdown until Roberts is Lathamed by his seizures...
I'd rather explain to a Guild Navigator that his supply of spice is now controlled by tribal fanatics on a desert planet in the middle of nowhere in the known universe instead of nominating Dave Gordon for SCOTUS.
Wait -- so a bleeding heart liberal doesn't like a conservative justice who will be top dog at the court for like the next 35 years ... shocking.
very lawyerly - attack Justice Roberts with broad brushes ad hominem and throw in personal predictions. Don't bother with reasoned analysis of his actual legal work.
Roberts is a worthless Morlock.
Dave Gordon would be the staunchest Roe v. Wade supporter in SCOTUS history. He laid off 50% of Latham NY first years with the skill of a back alley wire hanger abortionist with a Syracuse degree.
No disrespect to Kash, but how does Lat not write this piece?
If David doesn't care about this stuff anymore why should we?
Utter failure by Toobin -- he is a liberal hack. When he was first on CNN he at least attempted to be fair in his analysis, but the longer he has been a TV personality, the clearer his liberal ideology has become.
Why doesn't Toobin write a tough analysis of Roberts' decisions and explain why he thinks Roberts' ruled incorrectly instead of simply playing the class warfare card? Such a hack!!
Kash is plenty good to write this article. No need to invoke Lat's name every time an important piece comes around.
13, lol.
Why do you suggest that Dave Gordon bungled the massive layoffs of first year associates at Latham NY?
Was it the sheer numbers (which guaranteed many good first years would be let go)? Was it the cruel manner in which they were carried out (weeks of terrifying rumors but 0 days of official notice)? The haphazard way in which the victims were chosen?
This is less of a SCOTUS post and more of a journalism post. It therefore makes sense for Kash rather than Lat to write it (since she is the journalism student).
7 = Sad sack who could have followed his/her dreams and been a journalist, but chose the "safer" course of being a lawyer, and now, envious of those who get to write for a living, has become bitter and carping.
Every day, posts on this blog show that Latham laid off the correct half of their first years.
Clarence Thomas is an ugly Scotasslobster.
Toobin [heart] Roberts.
10, what stage Guild navigator?
I hope big Barry picks Sullivan to replace Souter. Cue a breakout of homosexuals sing Jagged Edge's "Let's Get Married."
Lawyer doesn't write for a living?
Kash,
I haven't read ATL in a while, but I swung by today and I'm glad I did. In my humble opinion, this is the best post you've written that I've seen. Well done.
8,
180
Kiddie gloves? Are they making gloves out of children now? I think you meant to say "kid gloves."
20 - you're guilty of several logical fallacies: and the fact of a discarded fetus shows that the right fetus was aborted, because nonaborted fetuses develop into babies while festering aborted fetuses do not.
Nice post. Read in its entirety. Please post more like this.
Wow 7, she was referring to Toobin being the journalist, not her. Inferiority complex much?
i agree with 29.
20 is probably dave gordon trying in vain to defend his TTT actions.
TOOBIN = LIBERAL IDIOT
TOOBIN = LIBERAL IDIOT
TOOBIN = LIBERAL IDIOT
TOOBIN = LIBERAL IDIOT
I mean, he really is dumb. Not unlike most people in media.
I make gloves out of fetuses.
Vera Wang
29, that is the most idiotic analogy I have ever heard.
I hope big Barry picks Sullivan to replace Souter. Cue a breakout of homosexuals sing Jagged Edge's "Let's Get Married."
33 = dumber than Toobin.
Just a reminder that you are all idiots and will go nowhere in life.
Skadden Sexcure
I'm surprised to learn that Toobin went to law school. Thanks for sharing that.
1 here... I was first!
Journalism cannot be achieved by those who masterbate everytime Obama opens his mouth.
CNN/MSNBC/WASHPOST et al. are "activist groups."
We have very little journalism left these days.
"Roberts's record is not that of a humble moderate but, rather, that of a doctrinaire conservative."
Why is that a bad thing? And is Toobin going to similarly attack Obama's choice (probably Kagan) for not being a humble moderate?
41 = Sarah Palin
28 ,
you read the entire article and all you came back with was "kiddie" vs. "kid".
I hope you work in a lunchroom somewhere serving "kiddies" food and not as a lawyer.
#8: Your statement is in poor taste. At best, you are a bizarre, socially inept person with a horrible sense of humor. Your statement is not "offensive" (which is a word that is overused and trotted out too often by supposed "victims"), but it is simply in extreme poor taste. Perhaps you make such statements because you can hide behind anonymity here, but it's disappointing and strange that you find a disability/disease to be humorous, whether it afflicts a conservative, such as Justice Roberts, or a liberal, such as Ted Kennedy. Weird. I thought Obama was supposed to change the tone and everything would all be magical and happy again.
A Scotasslobster says What?
42, No, no, no. Don't you understand? The activist groups posing as "journalists" assure us that all radical left-wingers are "moderates."
If you don't understand that, you must be an extremist.
I would gladly pound Sara Palin in the ass in exchange for a nice pair of fetus gloves.
"After four years on the Court, however, Roberts's record is not that of a humble moderate but, rather, that of a doctrinaire conservative."
You mean G.W. Bush's appointee to the SCOTUS was not a humble moderate? Stop the fucking presses.
In other news, "The Nine" has a half-dozen good anecdotes but, beyond that, it is straight-up partisan hackery, which is what Toobin does.
Thanks for regurgitating int Kash, I'm sure it seems real smart to you when you avail yourself of no counter-arguments. Check out the inevitable response by either Volokh or Orin Kerr.
39,
don't worry, when you finally get to go to a law school you'll know more about others who went there.
liberal and loving it.
Really, 33? All caps? Repetition? "dumb" ? That's the best you can come up with? I hope to god you're not a lawyer. I'd hate to see what one of your complaints looks like.
1. DEFENDANT SCREWED ME OUT OF MONEY AND HE IS DUMB!!!
2. DEFENDANT SCREWED ME OUT OF MONEY AND HE IS DUMB!!!
3. DEFENDANT SCREWED ME OUT OF MONEY AND HE IS DUMB!!!
4. WAH WAH WAH!!!
Prayer for Relief: Pay me in Enzyte cuz I have a little dick.
43, Sara Palin is a good example. Has Katie Couric gone after all of the stupid things Biden has said (and continues to say) to the same extent she went after Palin??
Uh, no.
Liberal activism does not equal journalism. And that's why most Americans are tuning out and stopping their "news"paper subscriptions.
52,
they are stopping their subscriptions becasue they read the news for free online. Even Homer Simpson knows that.
52,
they are stopping their subscriptions because they read the news for free online. Even Homer Simpson knows that.
The real question is, will LATHAM latham/abort DAVE GORDON?
I used my law school student loan money to buy a used Buick Grand National. The school kicked me out for not paying tuition and now I have a Grand National but no JD.
50,
You sound like my grandmother's bumper sticker.
3, if Syracuse is good enough for Joe Biden, it's good enough for Gordon. If you criticize Syracuse Law, that means you're criticizing Joe Biden, which means you're criticizing Obama's actions, making you a RACIST.
"Biden had inaccurately recollected graduating in the "top half" of his class, that he had attended [Syracuse] law school on a full scholarship, and had received three degrees in college. He had in fact earned a single B.A. with a double major in history and political science, had received a half scholarship to law school based on financial need with some additional assistance based in part upon academics, and had graduated 76th of 85 in his law school class."
-- Joe Biden's Wikipedia page
Each post today is so well written that I read with delight, and think, wow, Elie's getting better. Then I look at the name and think, "oh".
toobin is a good writer but an obnoxiously partisan liberal asshole.
Toobie accusing anyone of being a political hack is funny.
I'll take the legal scholarship of Roberts over the ravings of a gossip columnist like Toobin any day of the week.
Whatever the intent of the piece, there's some interesting substance here. Is the statement "In every major case since he became the nation's seventeenth Chief Justice, Roberts has sided with the prosecution over the defendant, the state over the condemned, the executive branch over the legislative, and the corporate defendant over the individual plaintiff" true, or is it not?
If it is true, it's interesting. (would be interesting to see the records of the other judges over that same period of time).
Michele Obama's penis is HUGE!
Toobin is the one who politicizes everything he does, more so than Roberts, and Toobin doesn't do it very well. Not much of a scholar.
Kash - I hope that you know how to swallow more than just Jeff Toobin's partisan talking points.
52,
I don't think anybody had to "go after" Sarah Palin. Am I right or am I right? Biden is outspoken but has done a hell of a lot more for this country than she has.
enzyte lol
Louis Zaccareli is completely cognizant of the fact that you are all worth a considerable amount less than him.
I picture all you weird little Rush Limbaugh clones hunched over your computers, pecking away in a dark room while cackling and drooling onto the keyboard.
Good luck gettin laid, bitches!
Keep whining you losers... more for me.
When do 3L's get their starting stipend!!! Our firm gave us start date letters, but not a word mentioned about the stipend! WTF!
Please remove the abortion references. Comparing Dave Gordon's layoffs at Latham NY to abortion is beyond the pail.
64 - lol. do you even realize what you are saying?
one is a journalist,
and one is the CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES.
...me thinks one should be political, and one should not.
"The kind of humility that Roberts favors reflects a view that the Court should almost always defer to the existing power relationships in society."
Anybody who can write twaddle like this is either a Marxist or an imbecile.
Apparently the new nonsense jargon among the critical legal theory crowd is "existing power relationships in society" instead of the plain English "democratically enacted laws."
5 = 6 = needs his multiple personality meds.
WE NEED EMPATHY!!!
73 - "democratically enacted laws" - just like their support of all the laws promoting torture...oh, right.
72, journalists should be political? I thought they should be impartial. Silly old me.
The Chief Justice gave me herpes.
I'd laugh if a xanax crazed gorilla tore dave gordon's face off
I miss the latham truths guy
62, along the lines of your inquiry, I would be curious to see what criteria Toobin used to define "every major case" for purposes of his analysis.
CHOMPERS to Supreme Court Justice!
Yawn. New Yorker = liberal. Toobin = liberal. Of course they are going to slam a conservative justice when they pen a piece on him just before what is sure to be a huge fight over a liberal nominee. I don't see why this is on ATL, and I didn't get anything out of Kash's commentary. (Don't worry Kash, 90% of your work is excellent.)
"The kind of humility that Roberts favors reflects a view that the Court should almost always defer to the existing power relationships in society."
Kind of like the SCOTUS during Justice Taney's tenure when he issued the Dred Scott decision -- not one of the Court's finest decisions.
The implication is that if Roberts had been in the SCOTUS during Taney and pre-Civil War, he'd vote to uphold Dred Scott.
John Roberts: Defending America from socialism
I had been thinking about buying Toobin's book. But ad hominem attacks on our outstanding Chief Justice? Screw him. (Not that he probably cares, but that'll be a few fewer pennies in his pocket.)
I like Toobin. He's a great pop historian of the court. I think he struggles to get the mix of personality and politics in his books right and IMO he succeeds.
Sadly, today's New Yorker is just another run-of-the-mill liberal echo chamber. If not for the cartoons and band/play/etc. listings, it would be indistinguishable from Salon.com.
This should come as no surprise. The Obamaites and the left have made it clear over the past several months that Roberts is going to be their next attack point. Obama has the House and Senate, so gettting control of the Supreme Court is all he has left to do to consolidate his dictatorship over America. It won't be long before the Impeach Roberts bumper stickers hit the bumbers of hybrids near you.
83 - Dred Scot was not an originalist decision.
It was a blatant attempt by a partisan court to resolve the most contentious social issue facing the country, and it was condemned for precisely that reason by President Lincoln in his First Inaugural Address.
76, sorry, it should have said "can" be political. Saying Toobin is "more political than Roberts" is a ridiculous comparison. First of all, of the two, a journalist SHOULD be more political than a JUDGE, for christs sake. And secondly you're admitting Roberts is political. Journalists are political all the time. I bet the retards on fox news call themselves journalists! But I don't give a shit. People can write about whatever the hell they want. I do care, however, if the chief justice of SCOTUS is political. Shit aint right.
66, lol on Biden. I assume you're being sarcastic, right?
Biden sure has done a lot for this country, the latest being revealing to al Qaeda security bunker locations that cost millions of taxpayer dollars to construct.
Lay off John Boy. Meanwhile, I've told Obama that Cheney will shut up if Harriet is nominated for the Souter seat. I've also told him that Alberto needs a job if he is looking to nominate an Hispanic.
SURVIVAL TIPS FOR LATHAM NY SUMMERS:
1) be a hot chick
2) flirt with lecherous influential partners
3) offer vagina/ass
How many of you mouth-breathers have actually clicked the lnk and read the entire article?
all your guys are retarded partisan hacks. all my guys can do no wrong. you can tell it's true because i said it in an internet comment forum.
There are NO fans of the Roberts Court. At least with brains anyway...
"Obama has the House and Senate, so gettting control of the Supreme Court is all he has left to do to consolidate his dictatorship over America."
When Bush and Co. wanted the same thing, THAT was fine with you, yes? But now it's a dictatorship? Lose perspective much?
Anyone who has read The Nine knows that Toobin is a huge political hack
BIDEN: "Look, John Edwards' last-minute economic plan does nothing to tackle the number one job facing the middle class, and it happens to be, as Barack says, a THREE-LETTER word: jobs. J-O-B-S.”
BIDEN: "Vice President Cheney's been the most dangerous vice president we’ve had probably in American history. He has the idea he doesn’t realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that’s the executive — he works in the executive branch. He should understand that. Everyone should understand that.” [Um, that would be Article II, moron.]
BIDEN: "When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened.’” [But, see: Roosevelt wasn’t president when the market crashed in 1929, and television wasn’t available to the general public until at least ten years later.]
BIDEN: "You CANNOT go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent ... I'm not joking." Available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIT3jUrNTX0
BIDEN (Unable to remember the website for Recovery.gov): "You know, I'm embarrassed," Biden said. Turning to someone off screen, he asked, "Do you know the website number?"
BIDEN: Repeatedly demands wheelchair-bound war veteran Senator Chuck Graham, "Stand up, Charlie! Stand up!" Available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2mzbuRgnI4
BIDEN: "Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more than I am to be vice president of the United States of America…and quite frankly it might have been a better pick than me."
... you can say that again, Mr. Biden.
Whatever you think of Toobin, the New Yorker, or President Obama, there is something to be said of Robert's positions, and it is not good. While I disagree with Robert's legal arguments in many instances, that is not the issue. Being "conservative" is fine, being a Republican-as-jurist is not. For example, when a judge always rules in favor of the government in 4th amendment cases, there is a problem (here in Texas, there are many judges who have never (or almost never) found a 4th amendment violation--that makes them an advocate, not an "umpire"). To illustrate, in the punitive damages cases, Scalia sticks to his federalism arguments and leaves the Republican camp. Thomas does so in a few narrow areas as well. Roberts does not have a single issue in which he parts ways with the established Republican viewpoint. That is a problem and reflects poorly on his tenure. You can be conservative or liberal, but you cannot fit that bill in every case.
--Texas.
releasing Chompers into Dave Gordon's office and closing the door would be wrong
Haha nice one 91...
....or not. At a dinner, Biden supposedly told an editor of Newsweek (not al Qaeda, although I see how you could get them confused) where Cheney's AIDES stayed while Cheney was in lockdown. Aides. Not VP. Those are the editor's words who broke the "story".
Yet the Retardlican spin machine grabbed ahold of this nothing and worked its magic to spit out what you see in post 91 above.
Biden's spokesperson Elizabeth Alexander publicly confirmed no classified information had been revealed. The room (for the aides) he was talking about was converted into a bedroom because it's in the VP's RESIDENCE, not "security bunker locations that cost millions of taxpayer dollars to construct."
Nice try you idiot fear monger. Read something besides fox news.
Is it just me, or does it seem like there is a lot of shill commentating by Kash today?
103 - It's not just you. Kash is a solid journo but she does not have the chops to be a legal commentator. Nothing against her personally - she simply doesn't have the minimum requisite knowledge. Not surprisingly then, her more serious posts tend to be regurgitative, rather than original.
99 Really? You have the gall to oh-so-viciously cut and paste BIDEN quotes considering how embarrassingly moronic nearly everything that comes out of Palin, Bush, Bachmann, & Stevens* is?
* I could go on and on, but I'm busy doing work on the google, which is, you know, a series of tubes. Oh hay there's Russha!
89
A decision resting on the 3/5ths language of the Constitution.
According to Taney, the drafters of the Constitution had viewed African-Americans as "beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations, and so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect."
A good explanation of the pre-14th Amendment Constitution as any.
102: "Biden's spokesperson Elizabeth Alexander publicly confirmed no classified information had been revealed."
ha, ha, well that's enough for me!!
Idiot.
P.S. Once something sensitive gets out, those who wish you harm listen. "Loose lips sink ships" remains true. And no, that's not a quip on your mom.
kash were is your lobster
100,
Acceptable points on Roberts. HOWEVER, when is the last time that STTTevens did not rule that government action involving religion violated the Establishment clause? (ANSWER=NEVER?)
Roberts has been on the Court for 3 years, how long has Stevens been on the Court? (ANSWER= LONGER THAN MOST PEOPLE READING THIS HAVE LIVED)
105, in fact you can see Russia from Alaska. So what's your point?
106, the 3/5ths language was put in there by the Northern anti-slavery faction at the Constitutional convention. It has nothing to do with how they viewed the value of blacks. Learn a little bit of history and figure out why they did it.
Everyone knows that Taney misunderstood the original drafters. Nice try though.
Is Toobin really Ellsworth Toohey?
105, not only can you see Russia from certain parts of Alaska, but Sarah Palin never said she could see Russia from her house. Those were spoken by Tina Fey in a PARODY of her. I know reality is confusing but you should know the facts before you speak. Tina Fey is not Sarah Palin.
Sarah Palin merely said that she has dealt with Russian trade delegations.
107 - wow, you really cannot read. Nothing sensitive came out! If you read what the "source" (newsweek editor) actually said, it was the meeting place for the aides, not Cheney. How stupid are you?
It's called checks and balances, people. Shows the genius of our forefathers in creating a tripartite government. Don't know about Toobin's statement about Roberts being surrounded by liberal jurists either. I don't think any of the other conservative Justices are planning to retire during Obama's term or even if Obama gets re-elected. It's pretty much all the liberal ones who are hanging on for dear life (e.g. Stevens and maybe Ginsburg).
And don't know how the thread got on this topic, but Biden is a complete retard. The man pops off without any thought. If Obama just needed a dumb yes man then he certainly got one.
This is a corageous piece by a wonderful journalist. It's quite a fair profile. Roberts is a right-wing weirdo, and Toobin had the balls to not suck up to him, but to call a duck a duck. Good for him, and bad for us that we are stuck with this right-wing wacko for the next 35 years.
This is a courageous piece by a wonderful journalist. It's quite a fair profile. Roberts is a right-wing weirdo, and Toobin had the balls to not suck up to him, but to call a duck a duck. Good for him, and bad for us that we are stuck with this right-wing wacko for the next 35 years.
John Roberts is defending National Socialism for America. Roberts is the chief ball licker for the anti-democratic forces in the party formerly known as the Republican.
When it comes to counting votes, he can only count to five. He cares not a wit for the plebians, so long as the police don't get hurt while knocking their heads, the army can imprison dark skins without hope of trial, and Bank of America can wring the last dollar out of their customers.
Chief Justice Taney, nee Roberts, is the Cheney/Bush legacy. Too bad for all of us.
111
"Everyone knows that Taney misunderstood the original drafters. Nice try though."
Taney misunderstood the original drafters to the extent that six justices agreed in the majority opinion and only two dissented?
And the 3/5ths language was inserted at the behest of states that were concerned that slaves would be counted for population apportionment in the House of Representatives.
But nice skewing the facts.
Give it up, 114. Even the Biden spokesperson said that Cheney himself used it.
111 & 113... no shit it was a joke. As it was when I used it. Funny you couldn't pick up on that, and funny it's the only thing you commented on.
But to soothe your tight-sphinctered soul, here's some Sarah Palin quotes we can all enjoy:
“They’re our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.” –Sarah Palin, on her foreign policy insights into Russia, ABC News interview, Sept. 11, 2008
"All of 'em, any of 'em that have been in front of me over all these years." --Sarah Palin, unable to name a single newspaper or magazine she reads, interview with Katie Couric, CBS News, Oct. 1, 2008
"[T]hey're in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom." --Sarah Palin, getting the vice president's constitutional role wrong after being asked by a third grader what the vice president does, interview with NBC affiliate KUSA in Colorado, Oct. 21, 2008
"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media." --Sarah Palin, getting First Amendment rights backwards while suggesting that criticism of her is unconstitutional, radio interview with WMAL-AM, Oct. 31, 2008
"I told the Congress, 'Thanks, but no thanks,' on that Bridge to Nowhere." –Sarah Palin, who was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it
Biden = flaming idiot
Toobin = partisan hack
Roberts = hardline conservative
Which is worse?
114: I know that your ability to think is limited, but the facts are as follows:
* For over a year, construction was taking place at the V.P. residency, and citizen neighbors were not told what was taking place. It was sensitive, and kept quiet. I saw it happening myself.
* Google actually blurred their satellite map during the construction phase out of national security concerns.
* Biden started yapping to a far-left journalist at a public event, and the journalist suggested that this was the undisclosed location we've heard so much about -- in her opinion.
* Biden's spokeswoman said the facility "was frequently used by Vice President Cheney and his aides."
* Biden's spokeswoman ALSO said that the location was "converted into an upstairs guestroom when the Bidens moved into the residence."
Of course, the spokeswoman isn't going to say, "Yep, that's the secure location alright!" She's going to try to minimize the damage done.
So the choice is this: Do we want to believe far-left idiot Eleanor Clift, or left-wing nobody known as the "Biden spokeswoman"?
I think we all know what happened. Biden regularly makes gaffes -- why would this be any different?
Nice article, Kash. Why are you only the assistant editor?
104 - I think you are right, but I was actually pointing to a number of comments that attacked other commentators for being critical of Kash's article. Since some of these comments seem a little too defensive (see 44), I wouldn't be surprised if Kash herself was behind them, that's all.
120 - no shit he used it. It's in the VP's house.
121, you're quite pathetic. Your point was that Sarah Palin makes gaffes on the level of Biden. So as an example, following a Stevens quote, you quote Tina Fey talking about Russia in her parody of Palin. Good job. And now you say it was always intended as a "joke."
What Sarah Palin said about Russia being visible from an island in Alaska is true. What's the gaffe about Russia?
it's the only thing she could cite as foreign policy experience, 127.
126, how could it be "the meeting place for the aides, not Cheney" (114's statement) if Cheney also used it for meetings? Self-contradiction pwned.
128 - So as a state governor, she didn't have foreign policy experience. How is that a gaffe?
121, all of those are reasonable if not factual responses/statements. The only one that I could see Libs getting upset about is the claim that the V.P. is in charge of the Senate. Any liberal complaining would be a result of liberals' general lack of knowledge of history or the Constitution:
According to the U.S. Constitution, the Vice President is President of the Senate.
And he votes when it comes to breaking ties.
He oversees the count of the electoral college.
Nice try though. Nothing comes close to the gaff-tastic duo known as Biden and Obama.
How is it that Biden got away with this comment about Indian-Americans and Dunkin' Doughnuts?
122- Obviously Roberts. He is in the strongest position to prejudice the lives of Americans for the next 50 years.
Toobin and Biden's detrimental impact on our lives is minimal.
127, get what ever is stuck up your ass unstuck. yes, the asterisk was a joke, and it was not "quotes," it was bush's the google, stevens' tubes, and palins russia all in one.
It's a gaffe because someone so back woods should not be a heartbeat away from the presidency. Hey remember the 2008 elections? You lost. She's why.
I bet you're tons of fun at parties.
128, I don't think a "gaffe" means what you think it means. Step back and take a look at your sad partisan self. If Janet Napolitano said that she has foreign policy experience because she has dealings with Mexican delegations, and Mexico is naturally close to and visible from Arizona, that would be a Biden-level "only Indians can go to 7-11s" "gaffe" too, right?
I know nothing about gaffes. Of course, people continue to misunderestimate me.
132, liberals can make racist statements anytime they want. But if a republican tells a dying/retiring senator that he "would have made a good president," well watch out.
Obviously, Trent Lott meant that he wanted to put chains on all black people.
Liberalism is a mental disorder. I don't say this as an insult to the libs on here; I want you all to get help. You've been indoctrinated and your ability to reason as been erased. Deep down, you've been trained to hate yourself and your society and your liberty. Sad, indeed.
I know nothing about gaffes. Of course, people continue to misunderestimate me.
133 - Is that "obviously" supposed to substitute for a more reasonable argument? Biden is the vice president and Toobin is in many ways representative of the modern trend in media. Roberts may impact (prejudice?) the lives of Americans for the next 50 years in ways you believe are detrimental, but that doesn't get beyond the initial premise of your argument: hardline conservative = negative trait. So how 'bout an argument...
129:
the issue was where Cheney was secreted away when he was at an "undisclosed location." When he was at an "undisclosed location," it was not the same room that Biden was talking about where his aides hang out during that time. However, that particular room has probably seen the likes of Cheney since was in his house. Jesus christ this is getting old.
who uses pwned anyways? are you the same dude who made an idiot of himself on an earlier thread?
134: Angry drunk at the party who's frustrated no girls will talk to him. Covered in sweat, puke, and liberalism.
134, in your little "joke" (and I used that term lightly) to counter gaffes made by Biden, you referenced statements made by George Bush, Ted Stevens, and Tina Fey. One of these does not belong with the others. Why don't you quote Will Ferrell's impression of Bush to show how Bush is always prone to hilarious "gaffes"? Apparently, politicians and their parodies are the same person.
And btw, Palin's statement was not about her foreign policy experience, but a direct response to a question about Russia's proximity to Russia:
GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?
PALIN: They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.
GIBSON: What insight does that give you into what they're doing in Georgia?
PALIN: Well, I'm giving you that perspective of how small our world is and how important it is that we work with our allies to keep good relations with all of these countries, especially Russia. We will not repeat a Cold War.
AND FOR THE RECORD, the GOP lost the 2008 election because John McCain is a liberal idiot who worships Ted Kennedy.
But I truly hope Barack "I don't have a birth certificate" Obama enjoys the remaining 4 years of his time in the White House.
So, how about the analysis that Kash failed to provide on the Toobin piece:
Toobin has a personal stake in who Obama chooses for the Court. His good friend, 1L study group partner, and fellow HLR editor on vol. 98 & 99, Elena Kagan, is a front-runner with a short paper trail. She is always described as moderate and friendly, a darling of liberals yet liked by conservatives. She seems like a natural choice, but conservatives are already gearing up to make any nomination and confirmation a difficult ordeal.
So, Toobin is trying to reframe the debate. If he can paint Roberts as worse than a Scalia (a Thomas... gasp!), he can rally liberals to back a vocal and far-left candidate before Obama makes his pick. Conservatives, who are gearing up for a fight, will then be more willing to accept a compromise candidate like Kagan in lieu of a nominee like Pam Karlan.
According to liberals, it's not a big deal if the Vice President says that only Indians feel welcome in 7-11s.
But it's a huge gaffe to talk about Russia's proximity to Alaska when asked about Russia's proximity to Alaska.
Partisan hackery aside, the shocking thing about the article is that . . . it's just not very good. It reveals more about liberals than Roberts himself. Unless you're predisposed to hating Roberts based on his politics (nothing wrong with doing so), it's hard not to come away from this with a better impression of the guy.
What I did learn is that, by and large, liberals believed that "modesty" meant "political moderate" in their minds when they evaluated Roberts the nominee.
I also learned that liberals (or perhaps ones that don't get out very often) seem to think that being a nice person and being an unapologetic conservative stand in tension.
The hilarious thing is that Toobin is trying to paint Roberts as a meanie based on his demeanor and questioning at oral argument (throwing in the occasional adjective or adverb to make him look like a jerk). The sheer absurdity of this is mystifying -- oral argument is for testing the outer bounds of the party's legal theory. Questions will be tough, probing at motivations of the parties as to where they want the law to go in the future. None of the examples of Roberts at oral argument suggest that he ever loses his cool, yet Toobin seems there's enough to paint him as not the nice Justice everyone thought he'd be.
Can anyone defend this piece as decent journalism?
OMGz, supreme court justizes r political !! wow someone put this on the interwebz to get the werd out. judiziaries r to be ind3p3nd3nt wtfz!!!!!!
omg omg omg omg omg omg.
Toobin is an idiot, wrapped in a douche, inside an ego-maniac.
A fine journalist does not a Harvard Law School degree make.
TTTool-bin.
I'm shocked that Palin has fans on this website. Isn't this a community of educated lawyers and law students? From a thinking conservative, I'd expect only shame and disgust when Palin's name is uttered. Are there mouth-breathing hicks from flyover states trolling ATL?
151: Elitist snob. Aka, typical liberal.
RoberTTTs
152: Kansas paralegal with a she-mullet.
152,
I didn't even know it was possible to get an extra chromosome surgically attached.
"The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race." So simple, yet so brilliant.
@152 - since you're so down-to-earth and of the people, you'll condemn all attacks on Biden for being working class, TTT, dumb, etc?
Wow. I guess "elitist snobs" is a good way to describe democrats.
- Independent
111 might be the most asinine post I have ever seen on ATL. You are truly an idiot.
I also propose that we institute a rule whereby only those who have drafted opinions for federal judges before as law clerks (your shitty social security opinion doesn't count, intern) can comment on stories like this. That way we weed out dumbasses like 111.
I love left wing hacks.
116, I suspect you are one of those tools who believes that anyone who has a view different than yours is a "whacko". I have two words for you: the first one starts with F and the second one sounds a lot like U.
Toobin's piece is a spot-on assessment of Roberts' tenure. Roberts proclaimed himself to be an apostle of judicial moderation and his praises were sung by people on both sides of the aisle during and after his confirmation hearings.
What's actually happened is that Roberts has simply transformed his cookie-cutter conservative policy preferences into law. He has no principles. Without going into the merit of conservative policy preferences, Roberts has failed as a principled voice on the Court.
157, I don't think I'd refer to Biden as being "working class." I think he lost that characteristic when he went to law school -- you know, the place he regularly plagiarized?
Is he TTT? I've never heard that claim.
Is he "dumb"? Well, he sure is foolish. See #99, above.
I still like Kash even if she wrote this.
"Roberts has sided with the prosecution over the defendant, the state over the condemned, the executive branch over the legislative, and the corporate defendant over the individual plaintiff"
Kash - Got an assignment for you: go look up JGR opinions and prove Toobin wrong. Hell, you don't even need to read anything other than the syllabus. They even sort the opinions by author. Here: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/opinions.html
You should call BS on this BS (and I don't even like JGR).