RNC Jerks Knees, Knock Selves Out

Filed in National by on May 10, 2010

President Obama announced his nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan as his pick for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Kagan has a rather impressive resume. One item on Kagan’s resume is that she clerked with Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, whom she considers her mentor. Apparently the RNC thinks Kagan’s Marshall ties are a bad thing. They are upset about an article that Kagan wrote after Marshall’s death:

The comments in question came from a 1993 tribute to Marshall that Kagan penned in the Texas Law Review. She quoted from a speech Marshall gave in 1987 in which he said the Constitution as originally conceived and drafted was “defective.”

OMG, the Constitution is defective! How dare Marshall say such a thing! I wonder why Marshall would say something like that…

Marshall cited in particular the definition in the original Constitution to slaves as representing three-fifths of “free Persons” when counting the nation’s population. That reference was rendered moot after the Civil War with the ratification of the 13th and 14th amendments abolishing slavery and granting full citizenship to all people born in the U.S.

Oh yeah, that. Oopsie!

Even the Founding Fathers realized that the Constitution was imperfect – that’s why they made it amendable. In fact, they added the first 10 amendments.

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Comments (4)

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  1. jason330 says:
    May 10, 2010 at 11:46 pm

    This stupid line of attack shows how little the Republicans have to go on. Regardless, they plan to fight this appointment tooth and nail to push confirmation into the late summer if possible for election purposes. Again, it is all political gamesmanship all the time for the GOP.

  2. bamboozer says:
    May 11, 2010 at 7:41 am

    We have yet to reach the full extent of “anything and everything” for the Republican attack on Kagan but this bit about Marshall is a good start. Ridiculous, but a start.

  3. Unstable Isotope says:
    May 11, 2010 at 8:43 am

    Ah, here we go. Bay Buchanan says Elena Kagan (and Sonia Sotomayor) is dumb. That doesn’t seem much better than yesterday’s attack that Kagan didn’t learn to drive until she was in her 20s.

    Reader F.B. alerted me to Bay Buchanan’s appearance on CNN’s “Larry King Live” last night, where it was her job to destroy Elena Kagan’s reputation. What’d Buchanan come up with? She attacked the nomination because, as she sees it, President Obama has chosen a “dumb” attorney. From the CNN transcript:

    BUCHANAN: What he’s done is dummy down. He has dummied down the Supreme Court. He has given two of the best appointments of his administration to people who are not the best and the brightest. That’s unfortunate.

    BLITZER: Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, both of them, everybody who has dealt with them, including their critics, say their very, very intelligent women.

    BUCHANAN: Listen, Harriet Miers is an intelligent woman. She is a fine — just as fine an attorney as you could be.

  4. NANANA says:
    May 11, 2010 at 10:59 am

    You should all check the views of Glenn Greenwald, Johnathan Toomey, Francis Boyle and Johnathan Turley! These consitutional lawyers are raising big questions against Kagan. They all believe she is not only a centurist but will move the court to the right. Her views on “indefinate detentions without trial” should give you pause. Her position on the Board of Goldman Sacks yet another black mark. Obama has put up a woman who has NO track record. If Dick Morris thinks this woman is okay, libs and progressives better get more information. Many believe she will be Obama’s Harriet Miers for good reason. Just as Bush wanted Miers on the Court to give him protection, many think Obama is doing the same with Kagan. He has committed war crimes, is outside the Consitution and international law. She will continue to support giving more Powers to the President than the Consitution guaranteed. Why didnt he appoint a Latino, that group makes up a huge population without representation on the court. Or why not Diane Woods a known progressive…cuz this guy has no cahones. He is more interested in pleasing the right while continuing to throw his progressive base under the bus.

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