What is a Federal Judge, Alex?
The more I read about Justice Alito's other worldly and totally detached from reality opinion in the Hobby Lobby case, the more I miss Sandra Day O'Connor and other supremes who were not ripped from the federal courts.as it were. O'Connor was a legislator and practical politician at heart who would have looked at this case and spotted it as one that should have been laughed out of court. She would have then instructed her clerks to translate her common sense opinion into legalese. Her successor on the court has done the opposite and has opened up a can of worms that will lead to endless litigation and, even worse, to federal judges ruling on what constitutes "a sincere religious belief." Doesn't sound very " conservative" to me.
One of the most endearing things about Bill Clinton's Presidency was his desire to appoint someone who had served in elected office to the Supreme Court. He wooed Mario Cuomo who, in classic fashion, played Hamlet and initially accepted but finally rejected the offer. Clinton, quite correctly, believed that many of the most distinguished Justices had never wielded a gavel before joining the High Court: Warren, Black, Douglas, Brandeis, and Frankfurter to name a few.
With the exception of Justice Kagan, the current court is made up of lawyers who, for good or ill, have spent the majority of their careers on the bench and outside the hurly burly of American public life. The whole thing reminds me of a story about Lyndon Johnson and his mentor, Speaker Sam Rayburn. LBJ raved about the "best and brightest" who surrounded JFK and Mr. Sam said: "I'd feel better about those fellas if one of them had ever run for Sheriff."
Sam Alito has not only never run for Sheriff, he has no clue as to what life outside the judiciary is really like. I'm not sure exactly who President Obama or his successor should nominate, but no more judges please.
We miss you, Sandy, baby. Your appointment was the best thing Ronald Reagan ever did.