After Scalia left the [University of Chicago Law School], it hired now-Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and started offering classes like Obama's popular "Current issues in Racism and the Law."
Scalia never mentioned Obama or any other professor. But Scalia bemoaned the proliferation of exotic law classes in the country's law schools.
"I took nothing but bread-and-butter classes, not "Law and Poverty," or other made-up stuff,["] Scalia said to laughter. He said his advice to law students was: "Take serious classes. There's so much law to learn. Don't waste your time."
The question posed to Scalia was what he thought of the ideological change at the University of Chicago Law School since he was a teacher there.
"I regret it," Scalia said. "I don't think the University of Chicago is what it was in my time. I would not recommend it to students looking for a law school as I would have years ago. It has changed considerably and intentionally. It has lost the niche it once had as a rigorous and conservative law school."
He also informed the crowd that he doesn't know anything more than "Joe Six-pack" about "homosexual sodomy," which makes me think I should, with anticipation, add the "funny in the comments" tag to this post. Please don't disappoint me.
Posts
68 comments:
Maybe he meant to say 'Joe Six-Pack Abs.'
There's nothing like listening to a homophobic racist Supreme Court Justice to get those comedic juices flowing. (And we're to mull over the possibility Scalia was "tacitly referring to Obama???)
Oh, and Ann...I loved your comment utilizing the well-worn term "exotic."
Do you mean "exotic" in the sense of living in Hawaii or being a specific color?
Didn't he say something about orgies a while back? I'd rather not enter that search term right now.
Its a shame he skipped statutory interpretation.
The responses to Ann's request that we should be "funny in the comments" sure reveals that some on the left are funny-deprived.
Michael_H: Which part of it did you think was "funny?"
Let me guess: Was it when he said; ""homosexual sodomy"??
A Supreme Court Justice who thinks "sodomy" is relegated to homosexuals...or maybe that just saying it would elicit a round of laughter from his sycophant audience?
Now, that's funny.
Again, the commenters from the left demonstrate that they are humor challenged.
How many lefties does it take to change a lightbulb?
That's not funny!
Once again, the ponderous humorlessness of the left shows up to tell us all that "That's not funny."
nibble, nibble..
(spit)
Wait. What about that whole "Law and Economics" thing? Is that a complete waste of time?
Although I never took a "Law and a Banana" course, those were all research paper courses, which in the hands of all the profs I knew, were quite rigorous. Some of my friends had their kicked back several times till they met standards. In contrast, exam courses gave you everything you needed to know, and required you only to write down as much analysis as you could in three hours. The research paper courses thus required far more time, effort, and initiative on the part of the student.
Scalia has plenty of guidance for the whole homosexual sodomy thing. He can get original meaning from CJ Burger's concurrence in Bowers v. Hardwick. Then he can decide if homosexual sodomy is a basic value implicit in the concept of ordered liberty. Simple.
Michael is becoming the DTL of race.
"Omigod! Scalia said he took bread and butter classes. Like white bread maybe? And what color is butter? Sort of a light yellow isn't it? So Scalia thinks that only whites and Asians should be in law school--what a disgusting racist!"
FLS said...
Now that's funny.
Michael: Was it when he said; "homosexual sodomy"??
A Supreme Court Justice who thinks "sodomy" is relegated to homosexuals
Gods you're daft. If he thought heterosexuals didn't engage in sodomy, why would he preface it with the qualfier "homosexual"?
Dude, its even in your own post.
Tell us again how much smarter you are then the rest of us. I'm losing faith.
"Michael said...
Oh, and Ann...I loved your comment utilizing the well-worn term 'exotic.'"
Before commenting on a blog, you should learn how to read one. It was the Sun Times who used the word.
Your righteous fury sure is blinding.
He said his advice to law students was: "Take serious classes. There's so much law to learn. Don't waste your time."
In principle I'd second that advice, but IIRC by the time you get to third year second semester the "serious" course offerings are considerably thinner.
-he's got a pair don't he coming down from the big bench talking like that? Only in America, baby, only in America....no pussy-footin' around in the windy city with our Antonin, no sir! city of big shoulders indeed.
I'm going to hear the CJ of the Ky Supreme Court talk tonight, the Hon. John D. Minton and maybe if I were an attorney, it might not be a bit of a let down after what our Tony has said in chicago
Old fogey returns to Alma Mater, says things were better in the olden days.
This is news!
The only thing Scalia or any other justice needs to know about "homosexual sodomy" is that it's not in the enumerated powers at the federal level.
It is therefore a matter for the States, and he was correct to dissent in Lawrence on that basis alone.
I would work willingly for the overturn of a sodomy law in this state ... but Lawrence was as poorly decided as Roe, and for the same reason.
And, oh, for those who care, today is Constitution Day.
I was fairly contemptuous of "law and" courses long before I knew Obama taught one, FWIW. I agree with Scalia - too much puffery.
former law student said...
"Wait. What about that whole "Law and Economics" thing? Is that a complete waste of time?"
I wondered who'd bring that up first. The answer's no; "law and economics" isn't a "law and" class, it's a somewhat misleading shorthand for "economic analysis of law."
"And, oh, for those who care, today is Constitution Day."
I'm going to start the celebrations just as soon as I've finished teaching Joe Six-Pack here a thing or two about homosexual sodomy.
Surprise surprise, Justice Scalia, possessor of a first rate mind, does not suffer fools and the foolishness they promulgate gladly.
Michael said...
There's nothing like listening to a homophobic racist Supreme Court Justice...
LIAR. You cannot point to one statemnt he ever made that makes him racist or homophobic. Not one.
Peter, since you've proved Michael wrong, he is obviously lying now.
Quod erat demonstrandum.
The phrase "Olden days" always makes me laugh.
Seriously, what dark secrets does Justice Scalia think there are to homosexual sodomy? It's not really that complicated. I would hope for his sake that his imagination is somewhat better than he implies with this statement.
And I've met a few "Joe Six-Packs" who, contrary to appearances and comportment, know quite a bit about "homosexual sodomy".
Two lefties walk into a bar...
Wait, two lefties walk into a Starbucks. No.
Two lefties walk into a vegan reasaurant. Dang.
Two lefties go to a protest. Nah.
Ya know, there is nothing funny about lefties. No humor what so ever.
It was the Sun Times who used the word.
Affectionately referred to in Chicago as the Scum or Slum Times.
Back in the days when Scalia — the court's most vocal supporter of adhering to the text of the constitution — used to teach at the school, which was then more associated with conservative economist Milton Friedman. The courses had more rigor and the school had a more conservative ethos
I'm not a lawyer so I didn't see anythiung funny in Scalia, a conservative jurist arguing that UoC should be conservative about how they teach law and teach conservative law.
The article did ring my Friedman bell however. I'm an economist / OR guy when I'm not out shooting things or bayoneting babies.
The Econ department at UoC which was led by Friedman and is world class (as in 25 Nobel prizes in Econ by the Faculty and Alumni) proposed to build a Friedman Institute funded privately. This would reinforce the standing of uoC,but apparently had the moe liberal (leftist) and less talented parts of the facultly upset. They either:
a. thought that being asociated with capitalist economics was terrible, or
b. wanted somebody to fund their pet projects instead.
of course this was outside money, not university funds, and those funds would only be given for the Institute, but they were stil whining with their hands out. Particular whibers seemed to be the Theology department
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/27/AR2008082703193.html
Petey says: "Two lefties walk into a vegan reasaurant. Dang."
How about two lefties who know how to spell?
Dang.
Olden Days!
Olden Days!
I think that Chicago should use that on their recruitment materials - "I would not recommend it to students looking for a law school" by Justice Scalia
Sarge, were you the one talking about McCain being inside Obama's OODA loop the other week? If so: I read the wiki article and it's an interesting concept; I'm wondering if you can tell me what I should read next on it?
I can't think of a good Scalia joke, or a good law school joke. I can think of some good homosexual sodomy jokes, but they are rude, crude, and vulgar.
So I'll just give the set up lines:
Why do practitioners of HS make the best travel companions?
How do you separate the men from the boys in Greece?
Did he happen to mention anything about Infant Development specialists for children at risk? They might have some of them at the UC now, too.
Palladian said...
"Seriously, what dark secrets does Justice Scalia think there are to homosexual sodomy? It's not really that complicated."
I had a couple of flip responses lined up, but lookit, what he's getting at - this is a standard theme of his speeches - is that the Supreme Court shouldn't be in the business of prescribing moral standards for the country. There's no warrant for them to do so in the Constitution, judges have no special capacity to answer profound moral questions anyway, and such issues ought to be squabbled over and fought out in the democratic process.
former law student said...
"I can't think of a good Scalia joke, or a good law school joke. I can think of some good homosexual sodomy jokes, but they are rude, crude, and vulgar."
Hey, line 'em up. Titus hasn't been around for a while, and a little vulgarity might break the tension.
Mad Man:
I swear I am laughing out loud. Can't help it.
Law and Poverty and homosexual sodomy was an early concept album by Sonic Youth, combining a rock dialectic with noise puffery and gentle audio lubrication.
After listening to the entire piece (best done wearing chaps and little else), and then completing the requisite cigarette, one has the irresistable urge to date a burly Italian who seems as entranced by your rare clumbers as he is by your belting out the album's refrain, all Judy Garland, The Fraaamers, The Foouunnnders, Say it wid' meeeeee.
Scalia's answer is pretty tricky. The fact is that Joe Six-pack is a flaming fudge packer who spends his time drinking Schlitz and pounding men by the dozen when he's not hanging drywall down at that new strip mall development by the Interstate.
Mikey,
Still looking for Obama’s ancestral home in Chicago, where he grew up?
froggyprager: You got that right.
And there's nothing like a professor, badmouthing his former employer.
*I wonder what Bork, Ashcroft and Cheney think of his appraisal.
Peter, if you keep this line of attack on Michael up, you will make him mad.
He will rush to point out that 23 year old men are "youth."
Petey, you've become a one-trick-pony.
Read a book, find something new.
Good lord...
Michael, really.
You shouldn't rise to the bait. You are much more intellectually savvy than that, aren't you?
Perhaps you are busy digging up the source of the Westbrook Pegler quote?
A young Northern fella is travelling through Hope Arkansas on his way to hunting camp. He stops in the diner and takes a seat. Several of the good old boys are there and start to make fun of him; in a friendly way. It is the South after all .
One of them settles down and asks the Northerner what he does for a living.
The northerner replies that he is a taxidermist.
It gets quiet. The boys are thinking this one over.
Guy with a John Deere hat asks him if that is some kind of doctor or dentist.
The Northerner replies that it is not.
Another feller asks him just what a taxidermist does.
The Northerner, after some thinking to make the answer easy, responds that he mounts animals.
All the good old boys start laughing and whooping it up. The guy with the John Deere hat yells. Hey, this Yankee is just like us.
Michael said...
Petey, you've become a one-trick-pony.
Read a book, find something new.
Good lord...
Hey, aren't you the guy who got that information from books and biographies? Hmmm, guess all them books ain't so good to read are they.
BTW, a 23 year old college graduate is an adult. Write that down.
I too am one who thinks that law schools have turned from educating lawyers to social activism. I think the reality though is that if you want a serious education from law school, it is there in most law schools.
I do have regrets in the courses I took in LS. For example, my Alternative Dispute Resolution class was a waste - not from the subject matter, but rather from the teaching of it. And I do think I should have snuck a Remedies class in.
It is the social activism and social engineering classes that I fault the most. Pretty much anything and the law is almost guaranteed to be a waste of time in preparing you for the practice of law.
But, of course, the problem is that many LS faculty don't see the purpose of law school to be turning out the best lawyers they can, but rather, to change society through social activism to a Utopian society as they see it. And this is understandable, since many full time faculty never seriously practiced the grubby job know as the law.
I also found it interesting that the paper had to point out another meeting of attorneys going on at the same time who were congratulating themselves on defending illegal combatants at Club Gitmo. That this had to be added to the article is evidence, to me, of the biases of the reporting.
Fen writes - "Was it when he said; "homosexual sodomy"??
A Supreme Court Justice who thinks "sodomy" is relegated to homosexuals"
Gods you're daft. If he thought heterosexuals didn't engage in sodomy, why would he preface it with the qualfier "homosexual"?
Absolutely. Something a woman can really wrap her mouth around!
I text'd my wife - "3 cheers for heterosexual sodomy!"
Response - "Explain what you're talking about when I get home.."
===============
I think Nino would actually love it if some foreign country made goat fucking by Muslim men legal.
Something else he could needle Breyer, Ginsberg, and Kennedy on about their cites and use of "wiser laws and Constitutions overseas, especially in Europe and Israel"
FLS - How do you separate the men from the boys in Greece?
With a crow bar.
But not since the Greeks threw the Muslims out.
================
Simon,
For an interesting red, I'd say "Boyd"
http://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Fighter-Pilot-Who-Changed/dp/0316881465/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221681853&sr=1-4
if you want an operations research text, there are several. what is you interest in learning more?
What's the difference between an epileptic queer and a whore with diarrhea?
That should be exotic enough to hold you for a while.
All I know is that my law and economics course was a pain in the ass!
He doesn't know any more than "Joe Six Pack?" What a dodge. Who does he think the guy in the hard hat is?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Atb5nlQ3O4
Ruth Anne,
Boys don't make passes
at anhydrous lasses.
""I regret it," Scalia said. "I don't think the University of Chicago is what it was in my time."
Yeah, yeah, we know..."There's no Corps like The Old Corps!"
Yawn.
My college certainly sucks these days.
On the other hand, it's lots easier to get into.
I'm going to start the celebrations just as soon as I've finished teaching Joe Six-Pack here a thing or two about homosexual sodomy.
Palladian wins.
Madison Man: Old fogey returns to Alma Mater, says things were better in the olden days.
This is news!
Exactly my reaction, though it may not have been if I knew anything about law.
My father was a non-practicing chiropractor. The State of California required him to take courses in chiropractic medicine periodically to keep abreast of the changes in the field. It was also required in order to keep his license active.
It is a fact that the Constitution gives assholes like Scalia and Thomas a life tenure and that their pay can never be reduced like it can for you and me in Bush-tax-breaks-for-the-rich seriously fucked up economic times. But where is it written that judges cannot be required to take refresher law classes to make them aware of trends in society as reflected in the law? I would immediately require of him that he sign up for a class in Poverty and the Law, as well as a course entitled Homosexuals and the Law. I would also require him to take courses in environmental law, women's and workers rights, animal rights, etc. to perhaps help him overcome his arrogance about his rigourous toilet training in the law that he got at the University of Chicago. I admit that I dislike everything about the man and his disgusting hubris. He needs to be sodomized to know what it feels like. Knowing was a full-of-shit human windbag that he is, I don't expect that he will be humbled or empathtic to victims of rape and sodomy, but perhaps it will help his enlarged prostate if he sodomized with his gavel on a regular basis. He really needs to recuse himself when he's doing gavel anal therapy. It might work wonders for his hemmoroids, too.
FLS
Can you "think of some good homosexual sodomy jokes" about Joos for Cedarford?
Inwood - FLS
Can you "think of some good homosexual sodomy jokes" about Joos for Cedarford?
Funny thing is that male Jews appear to have the highest genetic propensity to homosexuality of any ethnic group.
That was a good thing for me in the late 80s and early 90s before I got hitched as there were lots of excess Jewish women seeking straight goys and "schwartzes" to drill them because so many Jewish guys preferred the "down low" life. Some of those gals were actually quite nice, good-looking, and smart. Status conscious, but nice and all the rest. Including great oral skills.
"What the hell is it with the preemptive 'funny in the comments'??"
You mean you haven't figured out that "Michael" is the new comic relief around these parts? Or, to borrow a part of the discussion on another thread here today, around these "private" parts?
Toolbag theatre, in full schwing!
Althouse asked for funny and all she got was totalitarian leftist hate and anti-Semitic rants.
A shame.
Too much pressure to perform. Comedy is a delicate flower -- you can't just command that it appear.
I think that Chicago should use that on their recruitment materials - "I would not recommend it to students looking for a law school" by Justice Scalia
In the spirit of what lawyers are about, they should be required to disclose it, in writing.
It has changed considerably and intentionally. It has lost the niche it once had
As has the Supreme Court since you joined, Tony.
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