Friday, September 16, 2005

A little fun with Senator Schumer

I recently had a little fun at Senator Chuck Schumer's expense. I was helped by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and the Senator himself, although I should tell you Schumer's help was unintentional.

Schumer started it all when he wrote to President Bush advising him how to select judges. Schumer identified for the President a person whose method of choosing judges was so exemplary, Schumer wanted Bush to follow his example. The person Schumer was referring to was, you may have guessed, Schumer himself.

"I start by encouraging you to use the same principles that guide me in evaluating judicial nominees. I consider three criteria: excellence, diversity and moderation."

Well, you wouldn't expect someone as sharp as Scalia to pass on the chance to puncture an ego as bloated as Schumer's, would you?

Speaking recently at Chapman University Law School in California, Scalia said:

"Now the Senate is looking for moderate judges, mainstream judges. What in the world is a moderate interpretation of a constitutional text? Halfway between what it says and what we'd like it to say?"

When I read Scalia's remarks, I said it was understandable Schumer would oppose Judge John Roberts. After all, do any of us want people around who point out our foolishness, especially if they have lifetime appointments?

So there was all of that, and then along came National Review's September 26 issue in which it noted Scalia's remarks and added: Teach, Scalia, teach.

Yes, teach, Scalia; and we'll all understand if Schumer doesn't learn.

Hat Tip: Raymond Keating, Newsday.

2 comments:

Barry said...

Brilliant response by Scalia. He calls 'em like he sees 'em. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Anonymous said...

I'm telling you, can you imagine the riff's Roberts will get off when he's running the show?

He was puncturing egos galore during the confirmation hearing.

-AC