December 14, 2010

The "very effective way" Elena Kagan was told "you’re part of the community, you’re part of the institution."

The new Supreme Court Justice describes the tour of the Court she got from Chief Justice John Roberts, beginning with the robing room:
She noted each wooden locker, including that of Justice John Paul Stevens, had a plaque displaying the name of the individual justice. By the time the 15 minute tour was completed Roberts brought Kagan back to the robbing room and Stevens’ nameplate had been replaced with her own.
ADDED: From the same interview (which will be on C-SPAN this Sunday):



AND: Meade points out the misspelling in the quote above: "robbing room." Ha. Reminds me of Woody Guthrie singing about Pretty Boy Floyd:
Well, as through this world I've rambled
I've seen lots of funny men.
Some will rob you with a six-gun
And some with a fountain pen.
And Bob Dylan picked it up:
Now, a very great man once said
That some people rob you with a fountain pen
It didn’t take too long to find out
Just what he was talkin’ about
A lot of people don’t have much food on their table
But they got a lot of forks ’n’ knives
And they gotta cut somethin’

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Roberts brought Kagan back to the robbing room...

I'm guessing that should be "robing"?

Word verification: demeres.

T J Sawyer said...

"...back to the robbing room ... guessing that should be robing..."

No, they changed the name after Kelo.

MadisonMan said...

I wonder which Justice had the honor of removing Stevens' nameplate.

I do like this anecdote.

amba said...

Classy! Roberts, I mean.

vw: anomisms

KCFleming said...

"Stevens’ nameplate had been replaced with her own."


"Soon you will have forgotten the world, and soon the world will have forgotten you."
~Marcus Aurelius


"It's always sooner than you think, too."
~Pogo

AllenS said...

Nameplate: The Kagan

Clyde said...

"Now coming onto the ice, at left wing, number 9, Elenaaaaa Kagan!"

Clyde said...

And in honor of Justice Kagan and that last reference, a song for you.

Warren Zevon - The Hockey Song

GOOOOOOOOOOAL!!

traditionalguy said...

They left out the hazing part . But being stuck into this one job for life can be demoralising. Do they have a softball team? They have nine players, and they seem to enjoy using their bats to smash lower court judges. The could be called The Team That Cannot Lose... or we will reverse you!

Ann Althouse said...

I think Roberts should have had all the name plates in the "robbing room" replaced with "No Labels."

traditionalguy said...

That was the quintessential Bob Dylan lyric. I have used it many times to explain motives to human conduct.

damikesc said...

The intellectual contributions of Stevens will be even easier to replace than his name on his old locker.

rhhardin said...

It's a little show they put on for the ladies.

Women like it.

A guy would tell Roberts which locker he wanted.

Saint Croix said...

I'm special. I'm in the club.

I think there ought to be some naked hazing ritual involving shaving cream.

Without any pictures, thanks.

traditionalguy said...

The name plate labels could be all the same. No smart robber goes in without masking their identity first. But then Sotomayor's Wise Hispanic mantle could end up in Scalia's locker thus blurring Scalia's strong opinions.

Ann Althouse said...

"A guy would tell Roberts which locker he wanted."

Oh, yeah? So, if Obama had appointed Cass Sunstein, Cass would be all "Gimme Scalia's locker"?

Clyde said...

And to complete the circle, Dylan sang "Pretty Boy Floyd" on 1988's Folkways: A Vision Shared - A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly. Excellent album. The incandescent version of "Rock Island Line" by Little Richard and Fishbone is worth the cost all by itself!

(Regrettably, no YouTube video of the Dylan song is available.)

bgates said...

So, if Obama had appointed Cass Sunstein, Cass would be all "Gimme Scalia's locker"?

Nah. He'd start trolling blogs, leaving comments like "OMG Scalia hogging nice locker".

Then if that didn't work, he'd nudge Scalia into changing lockers without taking away his freedom of choice, by taking Scalia's stuff out of the locker each evening and dumping it in the parking garage.

WV "mingst". The closest Ming the Merciless ever got to angst.

MadisonMan said...

The interview is very nice. She clearly admires and likes Roberts. Thanks for the link.

Saint Croix said...

Nah. He'd start trolling blogs, leaving comments like "OMG Scalia hogging nice locker".

LOL.

rcocean said...

Its good Kagan has filled the unofficial Gay seat left open by Souter.

And is physical unattractiveness a requirement for liberal judges?

Trooper York said...

What's the big deal?

It's not like Stevens is Thurman Munson or something.

Trooper York said...

I guess it is now time to:

"RELEASE THE KAGAN!!!!!"

Opus One Media said...

Seems like a nice gesture well performed. Good traditions are like that.

One shouldn't snark ok Trooper

Ralph L said...

Kagan looks like she's spent a little too much time in the Enrobing Room.

Saint Croix said...

Seems like a nice gesture well performed. Good traditions are like that.

One shouldn't snark ok Trooper


Oh Lord. If she was joining a sorority, liberals would snark. Any kind of private club, Kiwanas, boy scouts, whatever, liberals snark. Tradition in general, liberals snark.

But when it's the Supreme Court, the elite, the powerful, liberals get hushed and obsequious.

Oh we love our philosopher kings. Even their titles are insane.

Justice. Your Honor.

They sit on a frickin' raised dais, and wear robes like they are on loan from God.

I mean, this is the same institution that defined black people as commodities, and then 100 years later they defined babies as commodities. I think maybe they've earned a little mocking and scorn.

And I appreciate how happy she must feel to be in such an exclusive place. I'd be happy, too, if it were me. But if this was some billionaire club and they were going on and on about how cool it was to be a billionaire, I think I would get irked by somebody telling me not to snark.