September 4, 2005
Requiescat In Pace II
Atilla at Pillage Idiot speaks to Cheif Justice Rehnquist's determination and courage. It's easy to forget how liberal the court he joined was.
But those of us who were in law school when Rehnquist was only an Associate Justice have a more vivid memory of him as a principled and lonely defender of an approach to law that had been all but turned on its head during the Warren Court. Rehnquist got the nickname "Lone Ranger" by filing solo dissents and refusing to go along with much of the legal doctrine then prevailing. (It goes almost without saying that Rehnquist was the target of a disproportionate number of barbs in the law school show, a comedy written by students. Students today have a larger number of targets.)
UPDATE: Taranto does a Sunday Best Of The Web, including a transcript of Alan Dershowitz's interview discussed in the comments below.
Alan Dershowitz said some nice things.
Posted by: AlexC at September 4, 2005 10:46 PM"He started his career by being a kind of Republican thug who pushed and shoved to keep African-American and Hispanic voters from voting."
As for Dershowitz, no one can have a higher opinion of him than me, and I think he's a filthy little beast.
Posted by: johngalt at September 5, 2005 12:37 AMLike Krugman, one has to view Dershowitz as a warning against hyper-partisanism.
I read a collection of his "Taking Liberties" essays a long time ago and was enlightened by some of his ideas and elevated opinion of several organizations based on his brilliant exposition.
Sadly, he has become not only a partisan hack, but has truly lost all reason. I think it happened during the Clinton impeachment contretemps, but I'll accept evidence that it happened sooner.
Yet both he and Krugman were once smart guys and serious thinkers. I am glad that I am STARTING life as a partisan hack, so I don't have to worry...
Posted by: jk at September 5, 2005 12:54 PM | What do you think? [3]