1606 Judge with a Dunce Cap

1606 Judge with a Dunce Cap

Scalia was right.  About what? About there not being enough diversity on the Supreme Court.  Of course, when a guy like this talks about diversity, he is talking about white men different from the other white men.

Specifically, he had said there are no evangelical Christians.  And yes, all the male justices are white except Clarence Thomas.  

All the members are either Roman Catholic or Jewish. Most went to Ivy League colleges.  Scalia was a New Yorker.  So are Ginsburg, Kagan and Sotomayor.  Roberts is from Buffalo which is almost New York and Alito is from New Jersey which also is almost New York.

So six out of nine and now five out of eight come from the same geography.

Like them or not, most of the justices have relatively high IQs, though some use that better than others.

So if you want real diversity, let’s hear it for someone -- anyone -- with a low IQ.  The ideal candidate would be a midwestern dummy with firmly held wrong ideas about the way America really works-- or should.  Someone who could fit right in with all those professors but not be one of them.  Someone the Senate would be comfortable confirming if President Obama defies The Will of The People by actually nominating someone.

(Reagan was near the end of his second term when he nominated Anthony Kennedy.  Democrats controlled both houses of congress then. How quickly we forget.)

Intelligence doesn’t always result in right decisions, now does it?  So let’s hear it for the nomination of a high-functioning moron, but one with a little common sense and no law degree. (You knew being a lawyer is not a prerequisite to sitting on the Supreme Court, right?)

But wait.  Here’s another thought.  In the traffic jam system of government now in wide national and local use, maybe the president ought not to name someone. This would reduce the number of cases approved or rejected.

A 4-4 tie would mean the court hasn’t ruled and the law under scrutiny remains unchanged.  Given the way this court has rolled, there’s a great chance that good laws could not be struck down or bad ones upheld.

It’s not a perfect system.  But democracy is messy anyway.

Quote of the day: “He’s a liar.” -- every candidate for the Republican presidential nomination about every other candidate.

Shrapnel:

--The GOP is destroying itself by pitting a bunch of rabid pit bulls against one another. Pit bull jaws lock when they bite. So once the actual candidate is picked, there’s no way short of killing the rest to unclench the jaws.

--Smell test failure.  NBC’s New York outlet, WNBC has hired Lester Holt’s 29 year old son Stefan to anchor a new 4PM newscast and “family ties” had “nothing to do with it.”  Much as Lester is liked and respected by the people he works with, NBC, Stefan’s going to be eaten alive.

Grapeshot:

-Olivia Munn’s supporting role in “X-Men Apocalypse” makes what surely will be one of the stupidest films of all time worth seeing.

I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®

Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.com

© WJR