New SCOTUS nominee - Page 2

Psi U MC Vito · #1 05-10-2010, 02:29 PM

She isn't the first Solicitor General to be selected is she? Also wasn't there speculation she would have been the person appointed by a democratic president, before she ended up becoming SG?

pbear19 · #2 05-10-2010, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psi U MC Vito

She isn't the first Solicitor General to be selected is she?

Nope! There may have been others, but I read earlier this morning that Thurgood Marshall was SG before being selected, which was a trivia fact because Kagan clerked for Marshall.

DrPhil · #3 05-10-2010, 03:58 PM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_540276.html

AOII Angel · #4 05-10-2010, 05:00 PM

tsk, tsk, Ghostwriter. Chas is a man (or I'm sure you'd say wants to be one.) Elena Kagan clearly is a woman, wears women's clothing and jewelry, and is not trying to be anything other than a woman.

Ghostwriter · #5 05-10-2010, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

tsk, tsk, Ghostwriter. Chas is a man (or I'm sure you'd say wants to be one.) Elena Kagan clearly is a woman, wears women's clothing and jewelry, and is not trying to be anything other than a woman.

Nope, I think they are the same person.

AOII Angel · #6 05-10-2010, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghostwriter

Nope, I think they are the same person.

You are rotten

Drolefille · #7 05-10-2010, 11:55 PM

I think she's well qualified and will bring a different perspective to the Court. I'm disappointed because I fear most of the discussion about her will be of the "transgender/lesbian/ugly" variety. (not to say of course that the three are inherently connected, just that all three will be used as a way to slam her.) If she were the first transgender or lesbian Justice that'd be awesome, but she's not.

SydneyK · #8 05-11-2010, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrPhil

It is about both gender and sexual orientation. They are correlated.

I said it wasn't about gender because I think EW would've made a similar remark about a man who doesn't appear to fit the heterosexual mold. Perhaps a better way of putting it would've been that EW wasn't making a sexist remark. And generally, imo anyway, when people complain that a woman is being judged on something other than her credentials, it's a complaint that's rooted in sexism.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drolefille

I think she's well qualified and will bring a different perspective to the Court. I'm disappointed because I fear most of the discussion about her will be of the "transgender/lesbian/ugly" variety.

I think you're right, and GC's response (this thread) = case in point.

hijack
Welcome back, Drolefille! You do know we still love you even though your translation services are no longer needed on a regular basis, right? Stop being a stranger!

/hijack

Psi U MC Vito · #9 05-11-2010, 12:02 AM

Though I wonder why he didn't appoint her the first time around.

Drolefille · #10 05-11-2010, 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psi U MC Vito

Though I wonder why he didn't appoint her the first time around.

She was interviewed at the time. Perhaps Obama made a mental priority list? He could have expected/hoped for 2 appointments in this term. And he could conceivably have a third.

Kevin · #11 05-11-2010, 09:29 AM

She's as qualified as anyone and she's replacing Brennan. The Court needs a strong liberal voice. I figure since guys like Roberts and Alito got a pass, she should too. I am a little disappointed in the fact that she is yet another justice selected from the ivory tower sorts of institutions. I wonder whether we'll ever see an attorney who has been in solo practice, who didn't graduate from an Ivy League school appointed to the SCOTUS. Looking back at the maelstrom that followed Miers' nomination, I doubt it.

MysticCat · #12 05-11-2010, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin

She's as qualified as anyone and she's replacing Brennan.

You mean Stevens? Or do you mean philosophical successor?

Quote:

I wonder whether we'll ever see an attorney who has been in solo practice, who didn't graduate from an Ivy League school appointed to the SCOTUS. Looking back at the maelstrom that followed Miers' nomination, I doubt it.

Solo practice, not likely. Not the right "track," I'm afraid. As for Ivy League, Stevens went to Northwestern Law School, and O'Conner went to Stanford. Not exactly Podunk College of Law, but not Ivy League either.

OT: Are you and your family okay after the storms in OKC?

Kevin · #13 05-11-2010, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MysticCat

You mean Stevens? Or do you mean philosophical successor?

Pardon my cerebral flatulence.

Quote:

Solo practice, not likely. Not the right "track," I'm afraid. As for Ivy League, Stevens went to Northwestern Law School, and O'Conner went to Stanford. Not exactly Podunk College of Law, but not Ivy League either.

Probably so.

Quote:

OT: Are you and your family okay after the storms in OKC?

Just fine. There was some damage 5-10 miles away from us, but we were unscathed. Didn't even see the softball-sized (wtf) hail. Luckily, most of the storm hit in the middle of nowhere out near southeastern Oklahoma, which is basically a godforsaken place where the chief exports are meth and marijuana. Any damage down there probably qualifies as blight removal. Any crop damage down there is probably uninsurable.

MysticCat · #14 05-11-2010, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin

Just fine. There was some damage 5-10 miles away from us, but we were unscathed. Didn't even see the softball-sized (wtf) hail.

Glad to hear it!

OT2: In light of your wistfulness about whether anyone will ever reach SCOTUS through other than the usual paths, may I highly recommend (to you and anyone else) Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley. Blurb:

In bestselling author Christopher Buckley's hilarious novel, the President of the United States, ticked off at the Senate for rejecting his nominees, decides to get even by nominating America's most popular TV judge to the Supreme Court.

President Donald Vanderdamp is having a hell of a time getting his nominees onto the Supreme Court. After one nominee is rejected for insufficiently appreciating To Kill a Mockingbird, the president chooses someone so beloved by voters that the Senate won't have the nerve to reject her--Judge Pepper Cartwright, star of the nation's most popular reality show. Will Pepper, a vivacious Texan, survive a Senate confirmation battle? Will becoming one of the most powerful women in the world ruin her love life? Soon, Pepper finds herself in the middle of a constitutional crisis, a presidential reelection campaign that the president is determined to lose, and oral arguments of a romantic nature. Supreme Courtship is another classic Christopher Buckley comedy about the Washington institutions most deserving of ridicule.

KSigkid · #15 05-18-2010, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin

She's as qualified as anyone and she's replacing Brennan. The Court needs a strong liberal voice. I figure since guys like Roberts and Alito got a pass, she should too. I am a little disappointed in the fact that she is yet another justice selected from the ivory tower sorts of institutions. I wonder whether we'll ever see an attorney who has been in solo practice, who didn't graduate from an Ivy League school appointed to the SCOTUS. Looking back at the maelstrom that followed Miers' nomination, I doubt it.

I could see a non-Ivy grad being appointed, but even then I think it would be someone from Northwestern, Stanford, NYU, or another similar school.

I'm fine with the Kagan nomination - I was kind of hoping for Judge Wood to be nominated, but Kagan is certainly bright enough. I think she'll be a bit more moderate than most people expect...I could see her being popular with some conservatives once she gets on the Court.

ETA: Also...Kagan's straight. Not that it matters, but it's interesting that so much time has been spent on wrong information.