Is The Chief Justice Throwing Shade At Donald Trump?

The head of at least one branch of government knows that being a f*cking good sport is an important life skill.

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Last month, Chief Justice John Roberts gave the commencement address at his son’s middle-school graduation from the elite Cardigan Mountain School. That’s a pretty standard occurrence, and in normal times, whatever platitudes the leader of the judicial branch of government could muster would receive no more than a passing mention. But we do not live in normal times.

In his graduation speech, Roberts calls on the all-male graduating class to be just, loyal, humble men — in other words, nothing like the president. And no, you aren’t the only one who sees the speech as calling out the president.

Roberts takes a left turn from the tradition of good wishes for the graduates, instead urging them to accept and learn from the bad things that will inevitably come their way in life:

From time to time, in the years to come, I hope you will be treated unfairly, so that you will come to know the value of justice. I hope that you will suffer betrayal because that will teach you the importance of loyalty. Sorry to say, but I hope you will be lonely from time to time, so that you don’t take friends for granted. I wish you bad luck again, from time to time, so that you will be conscious of the role of chance in life and understand that your success is not completely deserved and the failure of others is not completely deserved either.

Then this bon mot of a line, which seems more than a little pointed towards our Tweeter-In-Chief:

And when you lose, as you will from time to time, I hope every now and then, your opponent will gloat over your failure. It is a way for you to understand the importance of sportsmanship.

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See, the head of at least one branch of government knows that being a f*cking good sport is an important life skill.

Roberts, despite being fairly privileged himself, also took a swing at those who are privileged and act like it. Sound like anyone you know who has the launch codes to nuclear weapons at his disposal?

Through his son, Roberts had come to know many of the students, he said, and “I know you are good guys.”

“But you are also privileged young men, and if you weren’t privileged when you came here, you’re privileged now because you have been here,” Roberts said. “My advice is: Don’t act like it.”

He urged them, at their next school, to introduce themselves to the people “raking the leaves, shoveling the snow or emptying the trash.” Learn their names, smile and call them by name. “The worst thing that will happen is you will become known as the young man who smiles and says hello,” he said.

Yes, it is actually news that a government leader encouraged children to grow up to be decent human beings. That’s the dystopia we live in.

Watch the full speech below.

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The best thing Chief Justice Roberts wrote this term wasn’t a Supreme Court opinion [Washington Post]


headshotKathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).