Guest Post by Morbo
I know it’s not considered polite to say mean things about someone when they die. But when that person was kind of jerk, I see no reason to lard on the hagiography either.
Consider recently deceased Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. The man was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1971, served as chief justice for 19 years and basically stank up the joint. History is going to judge his legacy, and history will not be kind. Why not cut out the middle man and get to it right now?
Alan Dershowitz already has. In a recent column that ran on Ariana Huffington’s website, Dershowitz laid out the case against Rehnquist, pointing out that his early career was as a Republican hack charged with intimidating minority voters in Phoenix, a job he did all too well.
Dershowitz charges that Rehnquist was possibly an anti-Semite, citing sources who say that as a student at Stanford Law School, Rehnquist told anti-Semitic jokes and once outraged Jewish students by goose-stepping around their dorm.
On the high court, Dershowitz notes, Rehnquist consistently sided with the far right.
He generally opposed the rights of gays, women, blacks, aliens, and religious minorities. He was a friend of corporations, polluters, right wing Republicans, religious fundamentalists, homophobes, and other bigots.
Dershowitz asserts that despite Rehnquist’s 33 years on the high court “no opinion comes to mind which will be remembered as brilliant, innovative or memorable.”
I can hear right-wingers trying to defend Rehnquist now with one of their favorite tricks: pointing out that Hugo Black had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan as a young man in the South. Read Black’s opinions and tell me if they reflect Klan philosophy. Black grew. He evolved and changed. He was astute enough to transcend the prejudices of his day and time. He moved beyond them.
Rehnquist never grew. He started out stuck in the 19th Century and never tried to leave. He liked it there. He urged others to join him.
What case will Rehnquist most likely be remembered for? The appalling legal train wreck known as Bush v. Gore, an opinion so poorly reasoned, incoherent and obviously partisan that even many right-wing legal scholars could not buy it. (And oh, he’ll also be remembered for sticking those garish chevrons on his robe. Here’s hoping Chief Justice John G. Roberts’ first act is to ditch the “Pirates of Penzance” look.)
As I’ve said before, you get one shot at this life. Better make it count. If you come up short, chances are history won’t take notice, since most of us live lives of quiet obscurity. Not so with Rehnquist. History will notice his failures and call him to account for them. The day will come when members of a future generations read his opinions, shake their heads and say, “The Supreme Court actually said that once?!”
It’s cold comfort for us right now, but at least it’s something for your great-grandchildren to look forward to.