Elena Kagan Nominated to the Supreme Court

I'm not for her-and none of the yenta's in my mother's mah johnng club would've turned their back on her;but,I thought she gave the only memorable response that I paid attention to,since Clarence Thomas called his confirmation hearing,"a high-tech lynching."...

She is going to get a pass because the oil leak, piss poor economy and the upcoming elections are sucking all the political oxygen out of official Washington.

Liberal? I would say Solicitor General Elena Kagan most certainly is. And of course, any potential Barack Obama appointment is likely going to be as such. The argument against her for many on the right side of the aisle besides the fact she is a liberal is that Kagan leaves little of a paper trail since she has never been a judge at any level, let alone on the federal bench. Most of what can be said about her ideological nature will be from notes taken from her time as White House counsel or from her tenure as the first female law dean of Harvard. However, she does come with awesome array of academic and professional credentials such as being a distinguished law professor at the University of Chicago, and serving as one of Bill Clinton's associate counsels during the 1990's. A very intelligent, articulate woman, the reason I give her only 3 stars as far as her nomination to the United States Supreme Court is concerned is that she is essentially replacing another liberal in Senior Assoc... Read more

Yawn.....nominating a John Candy lookalike is not anything special unless you were a huge fan of Uncle Buck (what's your record for consecutive questions asked? 38). Anyway, the Supreme Court is a bunch of partisan ivy league political hacks. W/the exception of Sotomayor, it looks like the night of the living dead in that fucking place.

Initially I thought this pick showed Obama's reaction to his loss of popularity with Independents in light of the likely erosion of majority by democrats (and perhaps, loss of) in November, this would likely be his last chance to get a radical socialist approved for the Supreme Court. The more I read of her views and beliefs, it becomes clear this is a very intelligent, savvy, thoughtful radical socialist, whom you really have to dig in on to see her radical side, requiring a depth of research on the part of any dissenter. This is the reason she will be overwhelmingly approved by the Senate, as was the zany, liberal dingbat Ruth Bader Ginsburg 15 years ago. But, an intellectual giant like Roberts squeaks by after contentious hearings because he has been labelled (appropriately) as conservative. The point of Obama assuring that the court is being stacked with justices who will uphold his Obamacare plan against any and all challenges, is well taken, and I believe that is his litmus... Read more

I'm not going to argue over "how left" Kagen is. Obama picked her, that should say enough. While I never cared much for Stevens, I viewed him as a thinker, a person who could be persuasive. I'm certain there are better legal minds on the left than this woman.

Another kinda "what the fuck?" pick. Critics can't decide if he's throwing darts or carefully sifting through his dangerous radical cronies to appoint people to these positions...

I know that wealthy, aging, white men are famously judicious at considering the interests of all people in important matters of life, liberty and the ability make a living, but it’s nice to see some progress in reflecting the diversity of America in its important social institutions. USSC 1925: USSC 2005: USSC 2010:

Franks has contributed to the strength of RIA at every turn. Take a look at his collection of USSC "team photos" from 1925 to present. More remarkable than Justice Kagan's inclusion of late: Chief Justice Roberts appears in all three photos without aging. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/justices/roberts.b io.html

"Sean Wilentz painstakingly read each page of this thesis - occasionally two or three times. His comments and suggestions were invaluable; his encouragement was both needed and appreciated. Finally, I would like to thank my brother Marc, whose involvement in radical causes led me to explore the history of American radicalism in the hope of clarifying my own political ideas." "In our own times, a coherent socialist movement is nowhere to be found in the United States. Americans are more likely to speak of a golden past than of a golden future, of capitalism's glories than of socialism's greatness. Conformity overrides dissent; the desire to conserve has overwhelmed the urge to alter. Such a state of affairs cries out for explanation. Why, in a society by no means perfect, has a radical party never attained the status of a major political force? Why, in particular, did the socialist movement never become an alternative to the nation's established parties?"(pp. 127) Through its own inte... Read more

SCOTUS blog has a good summary of Kagan's history, experience and judicial philosophy here: http://www.scotusblog.com/2010/05/9750-words-on-elena-kagan/ What strikes me here is that Obama has very well developed ideas with respect to what he's looking for in a justice. It should come as to no surprise, since he is trained in the law. He mentioned the word "conciliatory" several times earlier this week when discussing his appointment of Kagan. He seems to look for justices who are moderate in temperament, who won't upset the apple cart in terms of ideological polarization, who will try to bring together differing points of view. Obama may very well leave a court that is actually more conservative than he originally found it. He seems to be replacing strong liberal voices like Souter and Stevens with more moderate justices who might be inclined to be more open towards certain conservative doctrines like the principle of a unified executive branch. In short, you're not going... Read more