Scalia???

Over yonder at Southern Appeal, Steve Dillard has a post on an NPR interview he heard with new Senate minority leader Harry Reid of Nevada in which the latter expressed more openness to having Antonin Scalia as chief justice rather than Clarence Thomas. He said:

"If they [Republicans], for example, gave us Clarence Thomas as chief
justice, I personally feel that would be wrong. If they give us Antonin
Scalia, that’s a little different question. I may not agree with some
of his opinions, but I agree with the brilliance of his mind."

Setting aside the obvious, if implicit, insult that Thomas is a dumb-dumb, I think Reid is being disingenuous. It isn’t the brilliance of Scalia’s mind that he admires (Thomas is brilliant, too). It isn’t that he thinks Scalia would be a lot more palatable to a Dem point of view, for the two share the same general judicial philosophy and usually vote the same way. The reason is this:

Scalia is older.

A while back I did some calculations on the future of the Supreme Court based on when justices are likely to retire. While there is no guarantee that particular justices will retire in particular years, based on recent trends, Scalia would most likely retire about 2014, while Thomas isn’t expected to retire until about 2026.

(Here’s the math: Of late the average justice has retired at age 78, Scalia was born in 1936, Thomas in 1948. Would need more medical/family data to provide a more refined estimate of retirement.)

Reid is trying to keep an originalist from occupying the chief justice’s seat for longer than he has to.

The hypocrite.

I hope Bush nominates Thomas–one among several reasons being precisely the one Reid is afraid of.

Operations Note

There’s been some discussion in the comments box about a problem in the comments boxes.

Apparently, something in the html is causing certain fields (Name, E-mail, Web page) not to appear if you view the site through Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

I’ve contacted TypePad and they are working on the problem.

In the meantime, thought I’d note that you *can* still use the comments boxes in I.E. You just won’t be able to fill in the missing boxes. I’d suggest (so that we know who’s talking) that you sign your comments so we’ll know who they’re from. (It makes it difficult to respond to someone if you don’t know who to refer to in a comments thread.)

Also, do keep the comments coming. Getting to read people’s feedback (even when it takes issue with me) is one of the key rewards for me for the effort and money I put into producing the blog.

Thanks!

Incidentally, you could also switch to another (safer!) browser, such as Mozilla or Firefox or Opera and get around the problem.

The more people switch away from I.E., the better off we’ll all be. 🙂

Alter's Unaltered Five Books Of Moses

ORDER THIS BOOK NOW!

(If you’re secure in your faith, can exercise critical thinking skills, and want to learn, that is.)

Robert Alter’s translation of the Pentateuch is out!

For those who may not know, Alter is a major figure in the study of biblical literature. Though he is a secularist and doesn’t even believe that the Bible is the Word of God, he has led a revolution in biblical studies to take the Bible seriously as a work of literature and stop trying to deconstruct it into ever smaller and more dubious sources. He further has adopted a translation philosophy that allows the style and literary genius of the original text to show through into English, instead of trying to mask it with an artificial cloak of English style.

He’s been publishing excellent books on biblical literature for some years, and a few years ago he published a translation of Genesis, whose Introduction (concerning the flaws in contemporary translations) is worth the price of the volume all by itself.

Now he has supplemented his Genesis volume with translations of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, making it a complete set of the Torah, or Pentateush.

Here’s a CNN story on the subject (and, being CNN, it doesn’t fully appreciate what Alter is doing).

Alter’s work will help you view the Pentateuch through new eyes.

This guy may not be a Christian, but there is a lot one can learn from him, even if he’s not right on everything.

I’ve already ordered MY COPY!

Alter’s Unaltered Five Books Of Moses

ORDER THIS BOOK NOW!

(If you’re secure in your faith, can exercise critical thinking skills, and want to learn, that is.)

Robert Alter’s translation of the Pentateuch is out!

For those who may not know, Alter is a major figure in the study of biblical literature. Though he is a secularist and doesn’t even believe that the Bible is the Word of God, he has led a revolution in biblical studies to take the Bible seriously as a work of literature and stop trying to deconstruct it into ever smaller and more dubious sources. He further has adopted a translation philosophy that allows the style and literary genius of the original text to show through into English, instead of trying to mask it with an artificial cloak of English style.

He’s been publishing excellent books on biblical literature for some years, and a few years ago he published a translation of Genesis, whose Introduction (concerning the flaws in contemporary translations) is worth the price of the volume all by itself.

Now he has supplemented his Genesis volume with translations of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, making it a complete set of the Torah, or Pentateush.

Here’s a CNN story on the subject (and, being CNN, it doesn’t fully appreciate what Alter is doing).

Alter’s work will help you view the Pentateuch through new eyes.

This guy may not be a Christian, but there is a lot one can learn from him, even if he’s not right on everything.

I’ve already ordered MY COPY!

U.K. YAHOOS: St. Mary Magdalene School Should Take "Saint" Out Of Its Name

Might offend non-Christians, y’see.

There a bit in Star Trek VI where, after having just saved the world, the gang is told to bring the Enterprise in for decommissioning.

Spock replies:

If I were human, I believe my response would be . . . "Go To Hell." . . . If I were human.

Well St. Mary Magdalene was kind of close to someone who did saved the world and who made her a saint by his grace.

And I am human.

So, apparently, are a lot of the parents of St. Mary Magdalene School children.

GET THE STORY.

Note, especially, the response of the local Jewish folks.

U.K. YAHOOS: St. Mary Magdalene School Should Take “Saint” Out Of Its Name

Might offend non-Christians, y’see.

There a bit in Star Trek VI where, after having just saved the world, the gang is told to bring the Enterprise in for decommissioning.

Spock replies:

If I were human, I believe my response would be . . . "Go To Hell." . . . If I were human.

Well St. Mary Magdalene was kind of close to someone who did saved the world and who made her a saint by his grace.

And I am human.

So, apparently, are a lot of the parents of St. Mary Magdalene School children.

GET THE STORY.

Note, especially, the response of the local Jewish folks.

The U.N. Scandal

If you’re like me (i.e., not a total political news junkie) then you may have heard about the investigation and blossoming scandal involving the United Nations but you may not have a clear picture of what the issues are or what is being done (or not done) to address them.

HERE’S A GOOD OVERVIEW.

Sounds as if some folks in the Senate otherwise favorably disposed to the U.N. are getting fed up.