Courts

Neil Gorsuch's New Book Gets Dragged

New piece goes ham on Neil Gorsuch's antiquated notions of civility.

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(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

So, Neil Gorsuch wrote a new book. Maybe you’ve heard about it? Anyway “A Republic, If You Can Keep It,” is the book by the Supreme Court justice and apparently in the tome he goes off about the “civility crisis” facing the country. And yes, of course it just smacks of all the respectability politics designed to keep disenfranchised populations from making too much ruckus.

But not one to let this nonsense stand, the good folks at the satire website McSweeney’s have a new piece that just drags the book and the so-called civility crisis. Styled as a first person essay in the fictionalized voice of Gorsuch himself, People Were More Civil Back When Women Couldn’t Vote simply lampoons the justice.

When I was a boy, everyone agreed that the Constitution should be interpreted according to its original meaning, particularly as it was written by men who owned slaves and believed women weren’t their equals. Now, unmannerly buffoons want to upend that most ethical of interpretations, just because of a few marginal mass murders.

Traditionally, if you were a Senator, you could block life-saving legislation and never have to explain yourself or admit to taking the dark money that got you elected. Voters would say reverently, “What a beacon of wisdom you are, Sir. Thank you for leading us!”

And yes, the irony of Gorsuch — the man appointed by the least civil president — going after civility is not lost:

The framers of our Constitution believed that the rule of law depends on keeping all three government branches in their proper sphere, and if the man who appointed me decides to blur the borders between those spheres, we owe it to him, as a law-abiding society, to be civil about it.

I remember a time when the President of the United States could be openly racist, and no one would crassly point it out. He could spread false information, and no one was vulgar enough to correct him. He could be deemed a treasonous traitor, and no one was uncouth enough to mention it. Why, he could even rape women without anyone criticizing him for it.

It’s worth more than a few chuckles.

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headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. 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).

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