Supreme Court nominee Kagan
May 10, 2010, 3:20 pm
Posted by Joseph A. Komonchak
The Washington Post on-line has an initial description of the criticisms that Elena Kagan is receiving from both left and right. If this holds up, it will make for a more interesting discussion than one focused on a single issue.
sorry, could you please repost that link? The one above doesn’t seem to work.
Sorry. I think I’ve fixed it.
Here is a NYTimes post on Kagan’s early years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/us/politics/11kagan.html?hp
My daughter pointed this out to me because she went to school with Elena Kagan’s younger brother, Irving! I remember him as a sweet and nerdish young man. He now teaches at Hunter where they all went and the Kagan’s older brother teaches at Bronx Science. This may not be a world for which the rest of the country has much fondness, but honestly they were/are amazing kids. The country is lucky to have them (I hasten to add I have no idea what kind of Justice Elena Kagan will make but experiences suggests she is smart and funny, and that can’t be a bad thing for this Court).
I think Jeffrey Toobin’s comment about the similarity between President Obama and Elena Kagan, whom Toobin knows, is telling:
“[Obama] takes no outlandish stands or unnecessary risks. He is an exquisite curator of his own career. All of this is true of Kagan as well.”
Of course, if confirmed, Kagan will have the benefit of lifetime tenure. If it’s true she’s been risk averse to date in her career (and I don’t know if that’s the case or not), it will be interesting to see if the government gold plan in job security changes her decision making process.
This from Jim Sleeper at TPM (quasi-irony alert):
Barack Obama’s vision of American justice seems a bit parochial, with Attorney General Eric Holder hailing from the New York City borough of Queens; Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg coming from a once-proud, upwardly mobile Jewish section of Brooklyn that contains her alma mater Abraham Lincoln High School and is near Coney Island; Justice Sonya Sotomayor coming from a public housing project in the Castle Hill neighborhood of the South Bronx; and, now Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan coming from a part of Manhattan’s Upper West Side (right near Zabar’s) that could have been Woody Allen’s (but wasn’t).
What this suggests is that if Obama ever needs a new FBI director or Homeland Security chief, he’ll have to go to the fifth and last borough, Staten Island, where disproportionate numbers of New York City firefighters and cops live. Which, come to think of it, makes a lot of sense. Unless, of course, you happen to be from anywhere else in the world, which to most New Yorkers means New Jersey. And, as most New Yorkers will also tell you, there’s no justice there beyond the Sopranos.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/
I think Kagan is a wise choice as a bridgebuilder in our hyperpartisan world.
I just hope the confirmation hearings are not overly partisan – but I’m also not overly optimistic.
There is a rumor that Kagan once remarked that there is no constitutional right to gay marriage. Can anyone verify this? If it is true, the hearings will undoubtedly be interesting!
But does she play a musical instument? I had been rooting for Diane Woods ever since learning that she plays the oboe. Orchestras teach thinking, preparation, expression and teamwork, all of which seem helpful for a Supreme Court Justice. More evidence of Kagan’s scanty record?!
How about the kazoo?
Here is a Kagan quote on gay marriage:
From AKA William’s fantastic roundup of Kagan’s big gay positions: “When Kagan was asked whether she believed that there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, she responded, “There is no federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage.” And there is all kinds of talk about what she really meant. And it really does come down to what the meaning of “is” is. Does this mean that the Olson/Boies challenge is now doomed? Maybe. But maybe not.”
Bob — is AKA William part of your regular online reading? I’m gay and I’ve never heard of him.
Jimmy Mac:
I’m sorry I neglected to include a web address; I got the quote from Huffington. I’ll see if I can locate the AKA William web address and get back to you.
Jimmy Mac:
Here’s the address:
http://www.akawilliam.com/
Jimmy Mac:
Here’s a better address for the actual quote:
http://www.towleroad.com/2010/05/kagan-there-is-no-federal-constitutional-right-to-samesex-marriage.html
Nice piece on Kagan by Stephen L. Carter in nYT Week in Review,
Need more intelligent and knowlegable commentary like that.